Her mind a.n.a.lyzed the sound instantly.
Gunshot.
High-powered rifle.
A second shot.
Lucas stumbled forward, a startled expression on his face. His cane clattered to the wooden floorboards. Just as Blue reached to grab him and pull him into the house, he crumpled in her arms.
Chapter Ten.
"Shut the door!" Blue shouted to Lowell.
"What"s happening?" he cried, hysteria rising in his voice as he cowered on the far side of the hall, cradling his arm.
Ignoring the question, she eased Lucas down onto the floor and kicked the door shut herself.
Two wounds.
Left shoulder. Left thigh.
Thank G.o.d it wasn"t the right one. He"d suffered enough loss there. But the left was his good leg and it was bleeding heavily.
She swore softly. "Call..." Dammit, they were on an island. Who did one call on a frigging island?
"Ramon..." Lucas stirred enough to lift his head to look toward the door. "He was in the car." Lucas groaned and dropped his head back to the floor. "Are you hit?" he asked Blue. He sounded breathless now, panting to keep the pain at bay.
She shook her head in answer to his question. "I"ll check on Ramon, but first we"ve got to get you some help."
Lucas dismissed her concerns with a wave of one hand. "Check on Ramon now. I"ll live but-"
"Lowell, call Mr. Venable," Drake said as he knelt next to Lucas, cutting him off mid-protest. "Tell him we need a ride to the mainland right away. Call Emery and Chester as well. Emery isn"t much of a doctor but he"ll do. And alert the authorities in Savannah, they"ll need to have an ambulance waiting. If they can get a medflight over here, that"s even better. But we don"t want to wait if there isn"t one available."
While Drake gave the necessary orders to Lowell, Blue rushed to the kitchen for a couple of clean hand towels and the first-aid kit-for all the good it would do. She thrust the items at Drake and said, "Try and stop the bleeding. I"m going out there to check on Ramon."
He snagged her arm and shook his head. "Don"t go out there. Chester will be here soon."
The worry in his dark eyes touched her but she didn"t have time for that. "I have to do this. You just take care of my boss."
Drake delayed her a moment longer, but finally nodded and released her from his powerful grip.
"Be careful, Callahan," Lucas called weakly, then swore as Drake started inspecting his wounds.
Blue saw that Lowell, careful of his injured arm, was making the first of the calls as she hurried through the kitchen and to the back door. She couldn"t open the front door and let in the light with Drake in the entry hall.
Setting her Glock on ready, she eased out the back door. She was fairly certain that neither of Lucas"s wounds was immediately life-threatening, but still she had to neutralize the threat so that he could be moved to a hospital as quickly as possible.
At the corner of the house she listened for several seconds.
Nothing.
Quickly but cautiously she moved around to the front of the house. Moving stealthily from one position of cover to the next, she made her way to the car. The driver"s side-door was open. No Ramon.
The sound of gunfire echoed from deep within the woods. Her gaze whipped in that direction.
Ramon had given chase. She ran hard and fast, not bothering with stealth now. Dodging trees and thick clumps of undergrowth she was halfway to the old chapel when the scene unfolding up ahead brought her up short.
Ramon was flat on his back on the ground. The other man stood over him, a high-powered rifle in his hand pointing directly at the center of Ramon"s chest.
Blue aimed her weapon. If she called out to the man he might fire anyway, killing Ramon. If she took the shot...
Decision made, she fired.
The man dropped like a fallen tree and Ramon scrambled from beneath him.
Blue rushed to his position. "You okay?"
Dusting himself off, Ramon got to his feet. He was a thin man, forty maybe and with a distinct Latin heritage. He was hilarious under normal circ.u.mstances. All the Specialists loved him. He was part of Mission Recovery"s Housekeeping Team.
"I am now," Ramon said tartly. He checked the dead guy and retrieved the rifle. "What took you so long? I thought that backwoods bubba was going to kill me for sure."
Blue winked at him. "I can"t believe you let a guy like that get the upper hand on you." She glanced at the guy on the ground and shook her head. Jaymo. One of the guys from the other night.
"He wouldn"t have if he hadn"t sneaked up on me while I was taking care of his buddy." He gestured toward a crumpled form a few feet away.
She checked the second downed man. Sykes. "Been there, done that," she admitted. "I knew these two were hiding something. They"ve tried to take me down twice already."
Ramon"s expression turned somber. "Is Lucas...?"
"He"s okay. But he needs a hospital." She glanced back at the two men they"d left on the ground. "Good thing those guys are such bad shots."
Ramon"s gaze locked with hers. "Or maybe it"s just supposed to look like they are. These guys are either professionals or were instructed on exactly how far to go by someone who knew precisely what he wanted to accomplish."
She frowned. "You"re sure about that?" She"d gotten the exact opposite impression.
He nodded. "Positive. They try to come off as yahoos, but the hit was too well organized. I think it was planned down to the letter. They weren"t trying to kill Lucas."
As they sprinted back to the house, Blue considered Ramon"s conclusion. But if Drake was the ultimate target, none of this made any sense at all. And why would Lucas be the target? What was the motivation? If he was, why wasn"t he dead?
The notes were addressed to Drake. The gla.s.s slivers in the soap left no question as to the ident.i.ty of the target. Things just didn"t add up. Unless the target on that occasion had been her. That was just too off the wall. Then again, maybe she wasn"t thinking clearly. In her defense, she was running on empty as far as sleep was concerned and she felt a little groggy still from the inhalant that had been used to put her under.
Maybe Ramon was right.
Within minutes, she and Ramon had Lucas loaded into the back seat of the sedan. Lowell climbed into the front pa.s.senger side. His arm needed serious medical attention and he was behaving d.a.m.ned strangely. Giving him grace, he was injured and had just been in the middle of a shoot-out. But this level of hysteria just wasn"t in keeping with his usual demeanor. He"d said that Emery and Chester were nowhere to be found, but Mr. Venable had agreed to be ready at the dock to take them to the mainland. Lowell had also called the sheriff and told them about the two men in the woods. The same ones they"d released less than twenty-four hours prior, he"d added.
After locking up, Blue stood in the entry hall and tried to ignore the exhaustion clawing at her. She had to report Lucas"s injury. Casey would need to know ASAP. She needed subst.i.tute backup. She scrubbed at her forehead with the heel of her hand. And she could sure use some sleep, if only five minutes worth.
Noah saw the weariness creeping up on Blue. Without some rest she"d likely collapse soon. Though he was certain she"d fight it every step of the way.
"I"ll take the first watch," he offered. "You catch some shut-eye. I"ll wake you in a couple of hours or as soon as I hear from Lowell on Lucas"s condition."
"I"m okay," she insisted. "I have a couple of calls to make."
He stayed her when she would have moved past him. "We both need sleep. Taking turns is the only reasonable solution. Don"t argue with me on this one."
Her gaze met his and he saw the uncertainty there. "There is one thing we need to get straight. I went to your room this morning to talk to you."
Noah wasn"t sure he wanted to hear what she had to say. He was suddenly certain it was about his foolish proposal. That had been a mistake. He knew it now. This latest turn of events had proved clarifying.
"What do we have to talk about other than who"ll take the first watch?"
She closed her eyes and sighed. The defeated sound tugged at him. "Don"t make this harder than it already is. This is who I am. It"s what I do."
She said the words firmly, but there was a plea in her eyes when she opened them once more.
He nodded in surrender. "All right. What is it you need to say?"
"Declining your offer wasn"t about you. It was about me and who I am...who I need to be." She shrugged those slender shoulders. "For me, right now, my career comes first. A relationship with you would go against everything I hold as a standard for myself." She touched his face. He tensed, but only for a fraction of a second. "Trust me, Drake, if we"d met under other circ.u.mstances, I wouldn"t hesitate. This just isn"t the right time."
The feel of her skin against his made him tremble inside. "It was a mistake. A temporary lapse in judgment. It won"t happen again," he said curtly. He couldn"t allow himself to make the same mistake twice.
"Mistake or no," she said, drawing her hand away, "we have business to finish when this is over. I"ll make my calls then take the couch. I don"t want to be far away. You wake me at the first sign of trouble. If anyone approaches the house or calls...anything." She sighed wearily. "I need to know that Lucas is all right."
"You have my word."
When she"d settled on the couch, Noah made a few calls of his own from the kitchen out of her hearing range. The first was to Edgar Rothman. He wanted Blue out of here immediately. Whatever had to be done to make that happen, he wanted it accomplished. Her safety was too important to him.
"Things are only getting more dangerous for you," Edgar argued vehemently on the other end of the line.
"I can take care of myself." Noah"s voice was coldly insistent. Somehow Edgar just didn"t get it. "I want you to cut them loose now...today."
Edgar"s sigh was audible. "And if Bonner shows up and kills you, how am I supposed to live with that?"
Rothman blamed himself for Noah"s dilemma. No matter how much Noah argued with him on that point. "This is my decision, Edgar, just as the one I made five years ago was mine alone. It isn"t your fault."
Silence vibrated across the line for one awkward moment. "I wish you would consider the treatment, Noah. I really believe it will work, otherwise I wouldn"t be so adamant about it. You could have your life back."
Noah"s chest constricted at the thought. He wanted his life back. He wanted Blue Callahan. But, if he took that risk, he might lose everything. At least he had his work. That and his ocean kept him sane. He wouldn"t want to live if his condition worsened.
"The answer"s still no," he stated firmly.
Tension filled the next stretch of silence. "All right. I"ll tell Casey that I want him to abort the a.s.signment, but not for forty-eight more hours."
"Edgar-"
"No buts, Noah. I"ll be there day after tomorrow. We"ll talk face-to-face then."
He hung up before Noah could argue.
Edgar coming here in person wasn"t going to change anything. But at least he was going to call off Casey. Lucas Camp had already been injured. Noah didn"t want anything happening to Blue. All he had to do was keep her out of the line of fire for forty-eight more hours.
He checked to make sure that she was sleeping, then he ensured that all the doors and windows were locked. After that he climbed the stairs. Something had been nagging at him from the moment he found Lowell on the floor. Something that didn"t quite fit.
Noah was naturally suspicious...it was the nature of the beast in the business he"d once been in. Few things ever slipped under his radar. That someone this close to him could have fooled him didn"t seem plausible. Still, he was no fool. There had been far too many coincidences lately. Ignoring the possibility was out of the question.
BLUE JERKED AWAKE. She glanced at the wall clock and realized she"d slept just over an hour. She stretched as she got up, thankful for the reprieve, but ready to jump back into the fire. A frown worked its way into her expression when she considered that Lucas should be at the hospital by now. Why hadn"t Lowell or Ramon called to give her an update?
Maybe one of them had, and Drake had opted not to wake her. In which case, she"d have no choice but to kick his rear. She almost smiled. No, that wouldn"t work. Touching him in any way would only give her too much carnal pleasure. She thought about the way his beard-stubbled jaw had felt beneath her fingers and she shivered. Nope, a good tongue-lashing would have to do, and even that conjured ideas that were off limits.
At the top of the stairs she surveyed the second-story hallway and moved quickly toward Lowell"s room. She could no longer ignore her mounting suspicions about the man. Something wasn"t as it should be. The comment he"d made-calling her a real fighter, saying Drake had said it-and then hearing that same remark from the guy who"d taken her down in the woods. Lowell"s odd reaction to hearing that Lucas had been at the house. His even more peculiar behavior after Lucas had been shot. Behaving uncharacteristically hysterical. Obnoxiously so. And then suddenly, the moment it was time to get in the car to take Lucas to meet Mr. Venable. Lowell was calm as could be. Of course, he had been injured and frightened. She supposed...
No, that wasn"t right either. In her gut, she knew that Lowell was hiding something. No one else had access to the house. Too many unexplainable events had occurred. Chester had sworn that he hadn"t taken his eyes off the supplies before delivering them to the house. Whoever had attacked her only hours ago had gained entry into the house without force. It just didn"t add up. She and Lowell were the only ones with keys.
Either someone was using Lowell, somehow coercing him into going along with their plans, or he was one of the bad guys.
Blue froze in her tracks when she thought about Jaymo and his pal Sykes in the woods. Lowell had called the sheriff. Lowell had said that according to the sheriff the two were nothing but local yahoos who"d done this sort of thing before.
No one else had spoken with the sheriff"s deputy.
No one else had even seen him.
Who was to say that the deputy had ever even been called or that the two men had ever been in custody and interrogated.
Only Lowell. She hurried now, rushing toward Lowell"s room.
All she needed was one sc.r.a.p of evidence- She slammed into a hard male body in the open doorway. She jerked back, reaching for her Glock...
It was Drake.
She exhaled the breath that had stalled in her lungs. "Sorry." She released the nine-millimeter"s grip and displayed her palms stop-sign fashion. "I"m a little edgy."
He smiled, just a ghost of a gesture. "Understandable." Then he frowned. "You should still be resting."
Focusing on his words rather than the movement of those incredible lips proved a real challenge. "I couldn"t sleep any longer...there"s something I need to check out. No word from Lucas or Lowell yet?"
He shook his head. It dawned on her then that Drake was standing in Lowell"s doorway and that wasn"t normal.
"Something"s been nagging at me as well," he said, then stepped back for her to enter the room. "I think you should see this."
The ominous note in his tone sent goose b.u.mps pebbling over Blue"s skin. She followed him into the room.
"Look closely at the photographs on the walls."