Heroes In Uniform (66 page)

“Hit twice,” Wade panted as he settled his former teammate onto his back. He looked up at her. “See what you can do for him while I find us a way out of here.”

She nodded and turned her attention to the wounded man as Wade got up and disappeared around the back of the barn. Schafer’s face was pinched, his jaw locked tight against the pain. Erin bent over him and pulled his hands away from the wound in his side, slipping into medical mode.

“I’m a nurse,” she told him, ripping his shirt open. Something had penetrated his chest wall just beneath his left armpit. A bullet fragment or a shard of wood, most likely from the size of the entry wound. “Can you talk to me?” She couldn’t find an exit wound anywhere, but he did have another hole in his left calf. That was the least of her concern right now though.

“Hard to…breathe,” he panted, his breaths short and rapid. Frothy blood oozed out of the small wound. A sucking chest wound. Extremely serious and potentially lethal if he didn’t get proper treatment in time.

“I know, but try to stay calm. I’ll be here with you until help arrives. Just focus on staying calm, keep your breathing as slow and shallow as you can.” She had nothing to treat or dress the wound with and he would lose too much body heat if she stripped his shirt off in these temperatures. The last thing they could afford was him going into shock. Instead, she took off her jacket and peeled her own shirt off then put the jacket back on.

Balling up her shirt, she pressed it to the wound, ignoring his hissed breath, and pulled his arm down to lock the shirt in position. Just as she was applying pressure to his arm to help staunch the bleeding, an engine fired up nearby. Seconds later an old blue pickup barrelled around the corner and Wade emerged from the cab.

He took in Schafer with a single glance. “How bad is it?”

“He needs an ambulance or an E.R.,” she told him.

Wade’s mouth tightened at the announcement. “Can’t wait here.” He hurried forward and carefully lifted Schafer over his shoulder, sliding him into the rear bench seat of the cab. Erin climbed in next to him as Wade got behind the wheel, slammed the door and put the truck into gear. The vehicle skidded around in a slew of mud and gravel, then shot down the driveway toward the road.

Schafer was struggling to breathe, his face pale and sweaty. She had to stop the air from leaking into his chest cavity, or his lung could collapse and send him into cardiac arrest. Since he’d stayed behind her to protect her during the run to safety and she was pretty sure he wasn’t involved in any of this since he’d been the one who was shot, she didn’t want him to die.

She scrambled over the console and leaned in to wrench the glove box open. Rifling through it, she tossed aside a couple maps and a flashlight, then spied the insurance papers and a roll of duct tape.

Jackpot
.

She grabbed the tape and tore off a large piece of the thin plastic envelope holding the papers. Lifting Schafer’s arm, she pressed the plastic tight over the wound to seal it and prevent any air from entering, then used her teeth to rip three pieces of duct tape. After wiping the blood away, she taped the top and sides of the plastic tight to his skin, leaving the bottom open to allow for a one-way valve.

Once she was sure it was staying in place, she pressed his arm against it and turned him slightly onto his side to ensure optimal function in his undamaged lung. “Better now?” she asked him, using her thigh to anchor him in place. It was the best she could do under the circumstances, and she hoped it bought him enough time for them to reach a hospital.

“Little,” he managed.

She braced a hand on the roof to steady herself as the truck bounced and jostled its way down the gravel driveway.

“Here.” Wade reached back to offer her his jacket. She took it and covered Schafer, then put pressure on the wound in his calf and met Wade’s eyes in the rearview mirror. There was nothing more she could do for Schafer. He needed a chest tube and a trauma team, STAT, to protect his lung and get the bleeding under control.

Wade looked away, back to the road in front of them, expression grim. “Hold on tight,” he warned.

Erin braced herself and Schafer as Wade slowed the truck at the end of the driveway then made a sharp, quick left and gunned it.

Danger Close: Chapter Seventeen

Wade pinned the accelerator to the floorboard. The ancient truck—beast had to be damn near forty years old—grudgingly responded, slowly gaining speed but not as quickly as he’d like. Adrenaline surged through him, the urge to escape intensified because of Erin. She was innocent in all of this and those fuckers had tried to take her out anyway. Raw fury burned through his veins.

He sped down the country road in the opposite direction of the safe house. In the rearview he could see the bright orange flames licking up the siding and onto the roof, but luckily, so far no one seemed to be following them. His mind raced as fast as the struggling engine as he sped down the road, wipers swishing fast to clear the torrential rain. A sniper and an RPG?

A stop sign appeared through the gloom up ahead. He glanced in the rearview at Erin. “How’s he doing?”

“Hanging in there. How long to the nearest hospital?”

Too fucking far. “Not long,” he lied for Schafer’s benefit, though even through his shock he had to realize it.

“My wife,” Schafer wheezed. “Daughter.”

“Shh,” Erin said. “Don’t talk now, just concentrate on taking those small, shallow breaths like you were doing. As soon as we can get you to an emergency room we’ll get you a decompression and you’ll be able to breathe easy again.”

Wade’s jaw tightened as he slowed to make the right turn that would take them toward the highway. Whatever Erin had jury-rigged seemed to have worked for now, but it might not be enough. He was convinced Schafer was truly innocent now, but it still didn’t make any fucking sense. No way could anyone have found their location without either being dirty, or getting help from someone on the inside. Robert had sounded tense and grim when Wade had talked to him on the phone earlier and promised to assist them in any way he could. By now he’d already be at headquarters. Local cops would be on their way out, Robert would be assembling a response team and digging into what the hell was happening.

Wade hit the brake to slow for the turn. “Hang on.” The bald tires squealed and slipped on the wet pavement as he cranked the wheel. The back end of the truck swung out in an arc as he took the corner hard and straightened it out. Thick stands of trees and field flashed by. An amber light flashed up ahead at the next intersection where a gas station and convenience store stood on one corner. Beyond that it was a straight one mile shot to the highway.

The old engine revved with a high-pitched whine as the vehicle picked up speed once more. He didn’t let up on the gas when he neared the intersection, barely saw the dark SUV hurtling toward them at a ninety-degree angle before it shot through the light and wrenched into a hard right turn.

Wade swore and veered to the side just in time to avoid impact. Erin gasped and slammed back into the window. A second SUV screeched around the corner and gave chase behind the first one. Was this the backup he’d been counting on? Sweat bloomed on Wade’s face and chest when the second vehicle remained behind the first. More bad guys. Must have been watching during the sniper episode and followed when they’d run. There was nowhere to go but forward and the old truck was too slow to evade the SUVs, which were already gaining on them.

“You okay?” he asked tightly.

“Yeah,” she muttered, rubbing the back of her head as she repositioned herself over Schafer to brace him and looked out the rear window. “What are we going to do?”

He hated the thread of fear in her voice because he couldn’t do anything to stop it. “Buckle up tight. This is gonna be close.”

She didn’t say anything, just scrambled to buckle Schafer in before doing up her own seatbelt and leaning low over him.

Wade scanned the terrain around him, willing the truck to go faster. Ditches ran on either side of the two-lane road. There were no more places to turn until they hit the on-ramp. If he tried a one-eighty now he’d likely roll the truck and kill them all. The shrill pitch of the engine grated on his tautly stretched nerves—

The rear window exploded in a shower of glass, the bullet tearing through the windshield mere inches to the right of Wade’s head. Erin cried out. He ducked and swerved, the back of the truck fishtailing before he regained control. Wind and rain blasted through the fist-sized hole left in the windshield, the safety glass already fracturing outward from it in a huge spider web.
Fucking hell.

“Stay down,” he snapped at Erin, just as another round impacted back in the bed somewhere. He stuck his head out the driver window so he could see. The sign for the highway appeared on the shoulder. A quarter mile.

Keeping his foot pinned to the floor, he steered the truck back and forth to try and avoid any more shots. When the on-ramp finally appeared up ahead, the SUVs were less than fifty yards behind them. Wade took the ramp at full speed and cut in front of a semi, barely avoiding its front end. The rig let out a blast from its horn but Wade ignored it, desperately trying to weave his way through the light traffic and buy them some distance and time.

In the rearview the two SUVs were forced to slam on the brakes to avoid colliding with the semi. Wade seized the opportunity and cut into the far left lane, zipping in and out of slower traffic amidst the angry blare of horns.

The SUVs were still back there, but having trouble following now. Wade got into the center lane, waiting until he had enough distance to give them a shot at losing the SUVs to veer across two lanes of traffic and take an exit late—cutting off yet another car. The driver hit the brakes and fishtailed on the wet pavement, swinging it around in a wide arc. The car behind it did the same, causing the semi to jack-knife and block the exit ramp behind them, providing a temporary traffic snarl.

Thank you
.

Pulling his gaze away from the rearview as the two SUVs skidded to a halt back at the exit, Wade blew the red light at the bottom of the ramp and turned right. He sped through the residential neighborhood, zigzagging his way through the streets toward another on-ramp. As he merged onto the highway once more, he didn’t see any sign of the two SUVs behind them and pulled in the first deep breath he’d taken since that sniper had opened fire.

There were two routes to the highway from the safe house. Too much coincidence that the two crews of gunmen had both guessed right. So how the fuck had they followed them? Were they tracking them somehow? If so, this reprieve was temporary. His and Erin’s phone were clean, he’d checked them himself.

His gaze cut to Erin, still leaning over Schafer in the backseat, her eyes wide as she stared back at Wade. “See if he’s got a phone on him,” he told her. He wasn’t worried about a wire, since Erin would have noticed it when she examined and treated Schafer’s wounds. Without a word she sat up and checked Schafer’s hoodie and jeans, and pulled out a cell phone.

“Here.”

Wade grunted. “Open it up and check for anything weird with the SIM card and battery.”

“Hold on a sec.” She fiddled with it for a few seconds before popping open the back compartment. He caught her frown. “There’s something on the card.” She glanced up at him, worry lacing those big green eyes. “About the size of a grain of rice, either metal or plastic.” She pried it off and held it up between her thumb and forefinger for him to see.

Fuck.
“Open the window and chuck the phone as far as you can.”

Schafer made a sound of protest but she ignored it as she straightened and cranked the window down. The whistle of the wind increased and once it was open fully, she cocked back her arm and hurled the phone through it. Wade watched in satisfaction as it hit the shoulder and bounced off into the long grass.

So long, assholes
.

“Didn’t…know,” Schafer gasped, and Wade believed him.

“Save your air, man,” he told him, allowing himself to relax slightly even as a new knot formed in his gut. “Gonna get you help real soon.” Someone at headquarters must have bugged the phone. Someone connected to the hit squad. And he had a sickening suspicion who it was. “Just another fifteen minutes or so.”

While Schafer was getting treatment, Wade was getting some fucking answers.

* * *

Erin walked out into the waiting area to find Wade talking on his cell phone, likely to someone at the CIA. Soon after they’d arrived, the hospital had been flooded with federal agents and local police to secure the area and take their statements. Wade spotted her the moment she entered and gave a nod, but kept talking and didn’t approach.

Not wanting to intrude, she stayed where she was. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she leaned against the wall, feeling uncertain. She didn’t know who Wade was talking to though she knew it had to do with everything that had happened this morning. God, it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet and it felt like she’d been up for twenty-four hours straight. Rubbing at her tired eyes, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. So many things had gone down she didn’t even know what to feel anymore.

“Hey.”

She looked up as Wade stopped in front of her. “Hi.” She tried a smile but it must have fallen short of its mark because he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. Shuddering, she returned the embrace and buried her face in his neck, savoring his scent and the rasp of his whiskers against her skin. Up ‘til now she’d held it together fine but it was like everything had hit her all at once and she couldn’t find her footing.

“It’s okay,” he whispered into her hair.

She didn’t know if he meant it was okay to cling, or if he was giving her permission to lose it here in the middle of the waiting room, but she knew he didn’t mean everything was going to be okay. Thankfully he just held her while she pulled herself together and she relished every second of him holding her. When she felt steady again she raised her head and he relaxed his hold enough to shift her until she rested her cheek against his chest.