Chapter 49
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Jane woke to muted voices and hospital smells. To her right, a bouquet of flowers and a small balloon on a stick told her to Get Well Soon. Another next to it said, Congrats! It’s a girl!
Funny. Jane didn’t recall giving birth.
She blinked at the IV and felt bruised all over when she took a deep breath. Her right forearm had been plastered in a pink cast.
She hated pink.
“I told them it’s your favorite color,” Raine said as she came into Jane’s vision, knowing full well she liked blue. Then Raine leaned in and raised each of Jane’s eyelids to look into her eyes. “She’s back.”
Jane tried to shake her cousin off and felt woozy. “Cut it out.”
“They have you on some nice pain meds. Enjoy.” Her cousin leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “That’s what you get for trying to be a hero.”
The past came rushing back. “The others?”
“Well, let’s see. Jenn Sullivan is recovering nicely. They sewed up a small tear in her hip that bled a lot but that didn’t do much damage otherwise. Her cutie boyfriend is glued to her hip, so that trauma bonding might be something to watch out for. Your hot merc, Rapp?”
Jane nodded.
“He’s banged up like you but only suffered a major concussion. I think he fell on you, and that’s why you’re more banged up than he is.”
“He’ll hate that.” Jane laughed, probably harder than the idea warranted. Stupid drugs.
Raine grinned. “The Mazzucas are all in custody, well, except for Junior, who’s dead. I told you his guys shot him by accident. Williams is under arrest and in surgery to repair one of his wrists. Nice job.” Raine gently squeezed her good hand. “Hmm. What else?”
“Does the family know about all this?”
Raine made a face. “I think Hal has been watching from some hidden camera somewhere. He warned me to stick to you like a fat, happy tick.”
“Gross.”
“Yeah, Hal’s not all that poetic. He and Joe are wrapping up their ‘thing’ early,” she said, using air quotes. “They’ll be here soon. Oh, and you have some visitors that want to come in. Are you up for that, or do you want me to keep them waiting?”
Jane felt like crap, but she also wanted answers. “Bring ‘em in.” She had so many questions still buzzing in her brain. She just needed to focus to get all the alphabet soup in her mind to make sense. “ABCs,” she muttered.
Raine frowned. “Are you sure you can handle visitors?”
“And water.”
Raine fished an ice chip out of a nearby cup for her instead and slid it between her lips. “There. Enjoy. I’ll be back.”
She left, and Gina and Diego entered.
“Oh, cool. War wounds!” Diego grinned and held up a Sharpie. “Can I be the first to sign?”
“Be my guest.”
Gina studied her. “You look better than I’d expected for having two hundred pounds of Marine thrown on top of you.”
Diego paused to look at Gina, who flushed.
“Okay, that didn’t sound at all how I meant it. Rapp is waiting to come in. He feels bad about landing on you when the explosion hit.”
“Bring him in.” Jane wanted everyone to explain what happened after the big boom.
Gina flagged him in.
Rapp entered, looking wan. Almost brittle, which made little sense considering his large stature. He hadn’t lost any muscle mass or limbs from the blast that she could tell.
When he saw her, he smiled with relief. “Oh good. You’re not dead.”
Diego snickered, and even Gina cracked a smile.
“What happened?” Jane needed to know.
“Well, after I traded myself for the hostages, Phillip let me inside. We chatted for close to an hour before you arrived. He would sound sane and super smart one minute, mentally unwell the next. I still don’t know if he got his mission from a real person or someone he thought was real. None of his motivations made sense.”
Jane struggled to understand what he said when Gina explained.
“Yeah. It makes no sense that he doesn’t blame August Kaminski for organizing the Harvester ring that killed his parents, or the crash caused by his drunk-ass son.
But no, Phillip goes after a bunch of medical people that August has grudges against. Supposedly.
The only one we can really confirm was Mike Stevens. ”
“What about Rob Williams?” Jane asked.
Rapp chuckled and eased into a seat next to her bed. “You did a number on him. Nice work, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“He’s doped up on pain meds, but I overheard that your boss managed a confession from him.
He’s definitely the mole, and he started years ago.
He ditched the evidence on Kaminski in Las Vegas.
And he’s been throwing off your squad in the Seattle office since he arrived on site.
With him gone, you guys should be back on track. ”
She blinked to keep her eyes open. “Only one?”
“One what?” Diego asked and handed the pen to Gina. She studied it then wrote on Jane’s cast. Diego said, “Ah. Got it. Only one mole, yes. That’s the theory everyone’s sticking with. But you know everything in that HQ is going to be under close scrutiny. I’m glad I’m heading out soon.”
Jane blinked. “You’re leaving?”
“You’ll miss me, won’t you?” Diego gave her a smug smile. “Chicks dig brains. I know you and Gina are gonna want my number, so I sent them to your phones.”
“Gee, thanks.” Gina rolled her eyes and handed Rapp the marker. “Come on, Diego. You’re not gone yet. We have a bunch of after-action reports to get to.”
He groaned. “Nooo. I’m out of energy drinks.”
Gina shared an amused smile with Rapp and said, “We’ll get you some. My treat.”
That perked him up, and he left with Gina.
Rapp stood slowly, cradling his side.
“Broken or bruised?” Jane asked and felt sad all of a sudden. “You’re leaving?”
“Soon but not yet. And I’m only bruised.” He grabbed a tissue. But instead of letting her wipe her stupid face full of stupid tears, he did it for her. So gently.
He confused her.
“I’m sorry for body slamming you when that bomb went off.
Or I should say, bombs. Phillip made some fun incendiaries.
He toasted the lobby, but the closet was reinforced enough to protect us.
In other odd news, we’re still sifting through the rubble for his body.
” His voice came to her from a distance.
“He got away?” Her eyes refused to stay open.
She felt pressure on her cast. Then a whisper and a brush of something on her cheek.
Closing her eyes, she dropped into sleep.