Chapter 35
ETHAN
It took ten frustrating minutes of verification with the Dunn security team before I was allowed access to the hospital waiting room. The formidable Gisela Osterh?gen, Jason and Shawn’s mother, sat beside Laurel, clasping her daughter-in-law’s hand.
With everything that had happened, I was probably the last person on Earth she wanted to see, and Laurel’s eyes reflected that for a shadow of a moment.
“How is he?” I asked.
“He is in surgery.” Gisela’s English was heavily accented.
Her face was unemotional, but her hand worried the necklace she wore, and it hinted at the frantic state vibrating below her surface. Her gaze darted to Laurel, who stared at the carpet, looking weary. “He might lose some mobility in the arm, but otherwise, they predict a good recovery.”
“Olivia? Shawn and Kara?”
“He went to give blood for Jason,” Gisela said.
Laurel lifted her focus to me, her blue eyes teeming with worry. “Why did they come after us?”
“I’m not sure.” I hated that I didn’t have an answer for her. “But this will all be over soon, I promise you. No more hiding, no more worrying about your lives being in danger.” After all that I had let Juric do to her . . . “I owe you at least that.”
She shivered, but it felt off. Like maybe she’d done it on purpose. Her attention shifted to her mother-in-law. “Gisela, would you mind seeing if the nurses have a blanket for me? I’d ask, but my German is terrible.”
Gisela rose from her seat and nodded quickly. She seemed almost pleased about the request, and I understood that. Her son was in surgery, and with nothing to do but wait, she felt powerless. So she was eager to be helpful.
She stepped out of the waiting area, and when the door shut behind her, I was alone with Laurel. Her vibrant blue eyes sharpened as she peered up at me, and my heart thumped painfully in my chest.
“Ethan,” her voice was soft, “I know you did everything you could for me.”
I let out a tight breath, unable to find words.
“I don’t remember all of it,” she continued. “Time bled together. Some of it felt like hours when it was probably minutes, and sometimes I’d blink and it’d suddenly be dark outside.”
“I’m sorry.” The words finally sprang from me. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“But I remember you staying close. You warned me about the doctor. You let me into his safe.” She reached out, grabbing my hand, gripping it tightly. “You helped me get off the drugs. Plavko saved my life.”
The revulsion at hearing my old cover’s name was like an electrical shock, and I jolted, but she wasn’t deterred.
“I would have died,” she said, “or Juric would have killed me, without you.”
The pain I’d carried in my chest for nearly two years eased a fraction of an inch, so every breath was no longer sharp and debilitating. Now it was merely a dull ache.
“You tried to warn us about the brewery bombing. You saved Kara. You helped Jason. Like I said, you’ve done everything you can.”
“The man responsible for all this—”
“You’ll get him. I know you will.” Her expression was fierce. “Get him for Jason.”
This was a command I’d follow with pleasure. “Yes, ma’am.”
Gisela returned, unfolded the white blanket she’d received, and draped it over Laurel’s shoulders at the same moment her oldest son and Kara appeared.
Shawn’s shirt sleeve was pushed up, a bandage over where he’d had blood drawn, and his hand clasped around his wife’s.
They strode toward us, two suits trailing behind them.
But not the woman I’d told to stay with them. “Where’s Olivia?”
“She went downstairs with one of my men to get some air,” Kara said, glancing around. “They’re not back yet?”
I still wasn’t used to the sudden onset of emotion Olivia could give me. “She did what?”
“It seemed like hospitals make her uncomfortable.”
Fuck. Of course they did. “How long have they been gone?”
Laurel hesitated, and trepidation swept across her face. “A while.”
I tried to keep my emotions from showing, but I must not have been successful because Kara straightened and her tone was reassuring. “I’m sure she’s fine. Markus is the best on my—”
I yanked out my phone and dialed. The line rang.
And rang.
And the tightness returned to my chest, crushing me until she finally answered. “Where are you?”
“I’m heading to Rome, Nathan.” Her voice echoed and sounded far away, as if she had me on speaker, and I could hear the rumble of an engine in the background. “The Abramos would like to see you.”
A half-second later, the line went dead.
No.
All the air was punched from my lungs and my body went numb. My heart thudded to a stop.
Was she trapped in a car with Carlo, or already on the plane? Even if they weren’t yet at the airport, I’d never make it in time to stop them.
My numbness blurred, replaced with rage. It balled my hand into a fist and drove it straight into the nearby wall, and I welcomed the burning agony across my knuckles as I dented the drywall. I was eager to feel the pain and release.
“What’s happened?” Shawn demanded.
I had to force my thoughts into focus. The scattered, fractured feeling . . . this panic was disorienting. I dialed, cursing when my handler didn’t immediately pick up.
I didn’t let Daniel say anything when the call connected, I just barked out my demand. “I have to get to Rome, now.”
“Wow, you’ve got some balls on you, Foster, after the shit you pulled. Forget it, you’re coming in—”
“No,” I snapped, trying to shake the pain through my fingers. “The Abramos have Olivia.”
Surprise splashed across Shawn’s face, but it only lasted a single heartbeat. Then he pulled up his phone, and after the press of a button, asked to speak to the captain.
“Do I need to remind you again?” Daniel said. “Your cover is blown. I can’t send you after her.”
“Then send someone else, but Jesus, do it now.” Dread started low in my center and rattled up my body. “I don’t know how long they’ll keep her alive.” Or what they’d do to her until then.
“I don’t have anybody.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not, and even if I did, how would I justify that?”
“She’s the one who IDed Castillo.”
There was no response from the other end of the line. This wasn’t enough. I needed something else, anything that would make the Agency take action and—
Oh.
A warning flashed through my mind that she wouldn’t like it, but I ignored it. “She’s Kathryn Pierce. Remember that name? She’s the Army private who survived a helicopter crash and fought off a Taliban attack. She’s the one the Pentagon splashed all over the media.”
“Son of a bitch.” His pause lasted much too long. “Shit. I might be able to pull Tragar to lead the strike team, but he’s three hours out, minimum.”
Three hours was a fucking lifetime, but I would need this as a contingency plan, in case things went farther south. “Do it.”
“Tragar’s team might be risking their life for someone who’s already dead. Consider that.”
“Say something like that again and I’m going to knock your teeth right out the back of your skull the next time I see you. Consider that, Daniel.”
The room was impossibly tense as I hung up and jammed my phone in my pocket. No one moved, no one blinked as they gaped at me.
Shawn snapped back to life before anyone else. “I just activated the secondary flight crew. They found another pilot.” He gazed at me with understanding. “They’ll be prepped and ready by the time you get to the airport.”
Without explanation, without me having to ask for it, he already knew that I planned to go after her. Probably because it was exactly what he’d do if he were in my position.
I’d never been more grateful in my entire life. “Thank you, Shawn.”
“Be careful.”
I didn’t say goodbye. I turned, stormed toward the door, and burst through it, then tore down the hall. I had to get her back.
We had all sorts of unfinished business to sort out.
I’d get her back, or, more likely, I’d die trying.