Chapter 4
Four
The halls of the federal courthouse were all wood wainscoting and gray tile floors.
Luca’s shoes clipped as he made his way to Judge Mullinax’s chambers.
He carried a hot cup of coffee and had his backpack over the shoulder of his suit jacket.
He still didn’t know what this meeting was about, but he figured he would look the part no matter what.
After transitioning out of the military and coming back from the dead all at the same time, he had been approached by a couple of international private security firms. But Luca had found himself turning down offers.
Choosing to operate more on a local level—which had turned out to be a good thing when Hammer’s family was in danger.
Working by himself as a private investigator wasn’t as satisfying as being part of a team, but he still got to coordinate with local cops like Detective Martinelli and his friends.
He wondered if he was early when he knocked on the chamber door, but it opened quickly, and a young woman with long blonde hair, wearing a skirt suit, waved him in. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Saxon. Everyone else is here.”
Luca frowned. “I’m not late, am I?”
“Depends on your definition.” She closed the door behind him. “The judge always says to be early is to be on time. But he’s also older than my father.”
He stuck his hand out. “Luca Saxon.”
She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Claire Carnforth.” She led him to an inner door, past her desk. “I’m the judge’s assistant.” She knocked gently on the door, then opened it. “Mr. Saxon is here.”
Luca gave her a small smile and stepped into the judge’s chambers. More wood wainscoting, a couple of floor lamps, and more bookshelves than he’d ever seen in his life. All of it filled with leather-bound volumes that were probably older than the judge—and Claire’s father.
A woman with dark hair sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, and a tall guy in a suit was to the right, leaning against a sideboard. The guy had a silver star badge on his belt, his cowboy hat on the surface beside his hand, where he gripped the edge of the piece of furniture.
Judge Mullinax sat behind the desk, looking like a guy he’d seen in an old Western, but Luca couldn’t remember which one.
He had dark hair threaded with the same gray that wove through the mustache and full beard on his chin.
His big form filled the chair in a way that told Luca this guy had some heft behind him, like a man who’d spent years building muscle and made sure he didn’t lose it, even into his sixties.
“Glad you could join us.” The judge lifted his chin and indicated the man. “This is Deputy Marshal Ethan Butler. He’ll be coordinating things. And Dr. Kira Yassan from Renegade Mercy General Hospital.”
She turned and stood, facing him.
Kira.
To her credit, she managed to cover the flinch. Yeah. She hadn’t been expecting him. Turns out I’m not dead.
He had no idea what she thought.
“Do the two of you know each other?” Deputy Marshal Butler asked. “Because that would explain a lot about the fact you have exactly the same security clearance. It’s why you’re both here. The two of you are the only people in town with the skills to do what I need and the necessary background.”
Luca looked at Butler. “Dr. Yassan and I have met once, very briefly.” He looked at her, determined to keep all his feelings to himself.
He could’ve held out his hand and shaken hers, but touching her was a slippery slope to betraying a little of what was going on in his head. “Good to see you.” He managed to nod.
“You as well.” She nodded back to him, her expression flat. Utilizing all the skills she’d amassed doing…whatever it was she’d been doing years ago in that refugee camp.
Was she even a real doctor?
She could have been faking it and using the situation for some kind of covert operation. Now she was here? Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious at all.
“You can have a seat.” Deputy Marshal Butler motioned to the other chair, and Luca and Kira both sat. He wandered around to the other side of the desk, standing beside the judge.
The older man with his silver-streaked hair leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers over his shirt buttons. He looked over at the marshal.
Ethan cleared his throat. “As I said before, the two of you are the only people qualified to assist me in a sensitive operation. All you need to know is that a patient will be arriving at the hospital two days from now to receive treatment for his specific type of blood disorder. The treatment will be administered by a specialist. Dr. Yassan will be on hand to assist the specialist in whatever way they need and ensure the patient comes through the procedure to the best of her ability. Luca, you’ll be in charge of security. ”
A patient.
One under the protection of the US Marshals, authorized by a federal judge.
Luca would guess that the patient was in witness protection. Or some kind of high-value target. A criminal testifying against others in exchange for a deal—like cutting-edge treatment for a rare disorder.
Either way, this could be a potentially risky situation.
Ethan looked at Luca. “We would like you to do a full assessment of hospital security prior to the patient’s arrival in order to identify any potential points of threat.
During the patient’s stay, we would like you to oversee security and protection along with a rotating team of those you authorize to work with you or off-duty marshals who volunteer their time. ”
“You don’t have the personnel for full detail?” That explained why they were outsourcing the job.
The judge said, “The agreement with the patient isn’t yet signed. I can’t authorize the personnel without the deal, and he won’t sign the paperwork until he receives the treatment.”
Ethan shook his head and sighed. “A couple of our agents are either ill or on vacation. We’re also one marshal short and looking for someone to transfer in, but that won’t happen soon enough to have this covered.”
This whole thing actually sounded like a pretty good use of Luca’s skills. “As long as the hospital understands what I’m there to do, I can give you a quote for the job.”
Ethan’s lips twitched. “Your envelope is on the desk. All the details are inside.”
He figured that meant there was a flat payment for the job and the terms weren’t negotiable.
Beside him, Kira shifted in her seat. Not nervous, but he got the sense she was intrigued by the idea of this opportunity. “Am I going to receive the patient’s medical history, even with the name being redacted?”
Luca wondered if she would recognize the person as soon as she saw them. Did she keep up with the Most Wanted lists?
He didn’t want this woman beside him to be intriguing, but the fact was, he had thought about her off and on since they met.
Mostly in order to try and figure out who she worked for or why she’d taken his flash drive, even if it was only for a few minutes.
But he’d never discovered any answers. On the surface, this woman had been, by all accounts, a legitimate doctor.
Except he knew different.
Ethan said, “We have a secure drive, on which is everything you’ll need to know about the patient and the treatment he will be receiving. If any of this information is leaked, all culpability will fall on your shoulders.”
Luca figured that was a reasonable warning, given what he knew about Kira. Even if it wasn’t much.
She lifted her chin. “I assure you I can keep my mouth shut.”
“If you couldn’t,” the Judge said, “you wouldn’t be here.”
So they had done a thorough check on her and found out who she really was. Luca wondered if it was worth asking Ethan for a copy of that report. They evidently had access to things restricted from Luca. Because he wouldn’t have said he trusted her.
Not until she’d stood up in front of those two insurgents and risked her life to give his team enough time to get away.
But Luca hadn’t been doing that.
Something had held him fast behind the curtain, watching to see what would happen to her. Observing her in action as she talked the men down and tried to get them to leave, waylaying them in order that men she didn’t even know could survive the encounter and complete their mission.
And then one of the insurgents hammered the butt of his rifle into her face.
Seeing her crumple to the ground was one of the most harrowing things he’d ever experienced.
Though by far not the worst. Still, it was bad enough he’d nearly launched himself through the curtain and out into the main hospital room.
Hammer and Kane had acted quickly, neutralizing the threat. Enabling him to go to her.
The guy had practically caved in her skull.
And again, when he’d tried to find out where she was and what happened to her—if she’d even survived—there had been nothing to discover. No records. No files.
She’d completely disappeared.
Kira turned to him now, and he saw the line of the scar over her left eye, where that guy had hit her. She turned away from him, retrieved her envelope from the desk, and stood. “Thank you for the offer, gentlemen. I’m happy to assist.”
Deputy Marshal Butler nodded.
Kira headed for the door.
Luca grabbed his envelope. “Me too.” He nodded. “Marshal. Judge.” As quickly as he could, he gathered his things and made his way through the receptionist’s area to the hall outside.
Just in time to see Kira turn the corner and disappear out of sight.
Too late.
Luca caught up to her by the rear exit door, where he watched her hammer the button for the door with her index finger. “Dr. Yassan?”
She glanced over at him but said nothing.
“What are you doing here?”
The door swung open, and she frowned at him. “I’ve lived here for a few years. What are you doing here?”
As if she knew he had only moved here recently. “I have a lot of questions. Maybe we could go out for coffee and talk about—”