Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) (13 page)

“
Put her down on the table, quickly!
”

Sarah was placed down on
something hard; her legs straightened and her head lolled to the side.  Dr
Bennett looked down at her and placed a hand on her cheek. 
“
You
’
re going to be just fine, Sarah.  You
’
re
back at MCU.  You
’
ve been shot, but I
’
m handling it.  Lie back and relax.
”

Sarah lay still.  There was a
subtle pinch at her wrist followed by a tugging sensation.

“
How long ago did this happen?
”
Bennett
asked someone else in the room.

Howard answered.
 “
About thirty minutes ago.  I kept pressure on the wound, but she
lost a lot of blood.
”

Bennett hissed. 
“
You should have called an ambulance.
”

“
We
’
re not supposed to advertise our existence, remember?
”

“
I don
’
t give a damn.  You risked her life, bringing her all the way back
here.
”

Sarah felt light-headed and
wanted to tell them to stop bickering, but no words would come.  Her eyelids
drooped and she couldn
’
t feel her face.  The pain of her scars was even gone.

“
Sarah, I
’
ve given you a painkiller,
”
said Bennett. 
“
You
’
re going to feel very sleepy.  Don
’
t
fight it.  You
’
re going to be fine.
”

Sarah closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was tucked beneath
several sheets.  She tried to sit up, but grunted from the pain and lay back
down.  Her shoulder ached and she could feel a thick bandage beneath her chin. 
She was in pain, but that was nothing new.  Not a minute passed
without her face throbbing and burning; the wound in her shoulder just added a
little variety.  Right now, her most pressing concern was that she was
stark-bollock-naked beneath the sheets. 

It was then that Sarah spotted
a little red button attached to a wire.  She thumbed it several times and hoped
an irritating alarm was sounding someplace.  Sure enough, Dr Bennett entered
the room a minute later.

“
Sarah,
”
she said,
“
you
’
re awake.  How are you feeling?  Any pain?
”

“
Not too much.  How long have I been out?
”

“
About eight hours.  You
’
re still under
sedation so you might feel a bit peculiar for a while.  The bullet lodged
beneath your collarbone.  You have a small fracture on your collarbone and some
tissue damage. You lost a couple pints of blood, too, but nothing you won
’
t get back.  You need to rest.
”

As the doctor spoke, Sarah
’
s vision tilted back and forth. 
“
I
feel a bit light-headed.  You sure it was only two pints?
”

Bennett smiled. 
“
A tad more.  You
’
re going to be okay.  Like I said, you just need some rest.
”

Sarah slid her legs over the
bed
’
s rail and her bare feet slapped the floor.  She stood in front of
Dr Bennett completely naked. 
“
No can do, Doc.  I
’
m not really the bed-rest type.  Where are my clothes?
”

The door at the back of the
room opened and Bradley entered.  He saw Sarah naked and skidded on his heels,
putting his hands over his face and turning around. 
“
Jesus,
Captain, I
’
m sorry.  I just came to get Dr Bennett.
”

Sarah remained standing.  She
wasn
’
t shy about her body.  With a face like hers, dignity pretty much
went out the window. 
“
Don
’
t worry about it,
”
she purred.  
“
I thought you were here for the magazine shoot.
”

Bradley couldn’t face her.  “You should put
some clothes on.”

“Nah, it’s a little hot in here.  I
’
m good.
”

Howard entered the room next. 
He saw Sarah standing naked and acted exactly as Bradley had.  Now he and
Bradley stood side-by-side with their backs to her, covering their eyes. 
“
Sarah, I
’
m sorry.  I came to check on you.
”

Dr Bennett rolled her eyes. 
“
Captain Stone, there are clothes for you in the wardrobe.  Perhaps
you should put them on, if you insist in staying out of bed.
”

Sarah headed for the wardrobe
and tried to hide the weakness in her legs.  It felt like she
’
d run a marathon, followed by a mountain hike, followed by a
pie-eating contest.  She struggled to breathe, but made it to the wardrobe and
found a neatly-pressed black suit inside.

“
It
’
s one of mine,
”
said Bennett,
“
but you
’
re welcome to have it.
”

Sarah pulled the clothes on
gingerly and buttoned up the shirt with clumsy hands.  When she bent to lace
her shoes, she went crashing to the floor.

Bradley and Howard rushed to
her aid.  Dr Bennett tapped her foot irritably. 
“
I
told you, you need rest.
”

Bradley helped Sarah tie her
shoelaces, while Howard propped her up and said,
“
You
okay, champ?
”

She frowned. 
“
Seriously?  You
’
re going to go with
‘
champ?
’”

Howard smirked. 
“
You able to get up, Grumpy Tits?  Is that better?
”

Sarah nodded.  She placed a hand
on Howard
’
s shoulder and he helped her to her feet.

“
What did you want me for?
”
Dr Bennett asked
Bradley.

“
Oh,
”
he said. 
“
Director Palu wants
all of us in the conference room.  We
’
ve found out who the
girl at the clinic was.  Palu wants to track her down ASAP.
”

“
Yeah, me too,
”
Sarah said,
“
so I can kick her
arse.
”

Howard patted her on the
back. 
“
You
’
ll get your chance, Champ.  I promise.
”

Sarah tried to ignore the fact
that the pat on her back almost floored her.

S
arah eased herself into a
chair at the conference table.  When Sarah checked her watch, it was 2:30 in
the morning.

Palu was weary and pale.
 “
Hello, Captain Stone,
”
he said, eyeing her
change of clothes.  He had also changed.  The yellow shirt had given way to a
sombre pink. 
“
I
’
m greatly relieved to know you
’
re
okay.  The last thing we need right now is the red tape that surrounds the
death of a team member.
”

“
I didn
’
t know you cared.
”

“
I have advised the patient to remain in bed,
”
Dr
Bennett said. 
“
Let it be noted that she refused.
”

“
Noted,
”
Palu said. 
“
Now, can we please
get to business?
”

“
What do we have?
”
Bradley asked.

Palu opened a laptop and began
clicking through files, while giving them preliminary intel. 
“
I had the Home Office run employment checks on the newsagent.  I was
surprised to find that the suspect who snatched Dr Cartwright was officially
employed there.  There
’
re National Insurance records and Income Tax reports; it
’
s almost like she didn
’
t care about being
found.
”

“
Or she never expected anyone to look for her,
”
Sarah said.

“
Her name is Ashley Foster,
”
Palu continued. 
“
We have her address, educational and employment background, medical
history, pretty much everything.  She seems like an ordinary teenage girl, on
the surface.
”

Sarah folded her arms and
winced at the pain in her shoulder. 
“
An ordinary teenage
girl doesn
’
t throw her life away, firing guns at
…
who
are we exactly?  I want to say Justice League
.
”

“
We are the Major Crimes Unit,
”
Palu
stated,
“
and we take our job very seriously.  If being shot hasn
’
t taught you what we
’
re up against, Captain, then I have no idea what will.
”

There was uncomfortable
silence for a moment as Palu brought some information up on the big screen, a
photograph of the girl who had shot Sarah. 
“
Ashley
Foster drifted between part-time jobs, until nine months ago, when she started working
at the newsagent opposite Cartwright
’
s office.  We don
’
t know who she
’
s been associating with or what her connection is to the doctor. 
The newsagent is registered to a Pakistani immigrant who
’
s currently out of the country.  His niece, Aziza Hamidi, is running
things in his absence, but the address we found for her is an old one.  Background
checks we ran on her all came up blank.
”

“
So we need to know how Ashley Foster knows Dr Cartwright,
”
Howard said. 
“
Was she in therapy?
”

“Not that I can tell,”
Palu answered.  “Her medical records
are pretty thin.  There
’
s
no reason to believe she is anything other than a healthy-minded teenager, if
not for today
’
s
events.”

“
One thing that psycho-diva is not,
”
snarled
Sarah,
“
is healthy minded.  She was running and gunning like a Spetnaz on
Smarties.  The only thing that makes a person behave that way is a death wish. 
Ashley Foster has some serious issues, I promise you.
”

“
Her actions certainly warrant extreme caution,
”
Bennett agreed, much to Sarah
’
s
surprise.

“
We need to find out what her motives are,
”
Palu said. 
“
We have the address of her parents.  We should go talk to them, see
if they know anything about their daughter
’
s
involvement in yesterday
’
s events.
”

Sarah went to get up from the
table.

Howard frowned at her. 
“
Where do you think you
’
re going?  I
’
ll handle this, you
’
re still healing.
”

Sarah ignored him and stood up
anyway. 
“
I
’
m fine.  And do you mean
‘
handle it
’
like you did at the clinic?  You became a hostage.
”

Howard glowered at her from
across the table. 
“
I admit that was a major screw up, but if we didn
’
t have to tend to an injured teammate, we could have pursued the
target.
”

“
That
’
s a little unfair,
”
said Bradley. 
“
Sarah
was unarmed, and Ashley Foster escaped before we even had chance to pursue.
”

“
You weren
’
t unarmed, though,
”
said Howard to Bradley. 
“
You
should
’
ve taken your shot earlier.
”

“
Enough,
”
said Palu. 
“
Dr Bennett, is
Captain Stone fit to resume active duty?
”

Bennett sniffed. 
“
Not even close.  She
’
s still partially sedated and her body needs to replace the blood it
lost.
”

“
Am I in any danger?
”
Sarah asked. 
“
Beyond passing out or
accidentally farting?
”

Dr Bennett folded her arms and
shrugged. 
“
Your stitches could open, and you might go into shock if you lose
more blood.  But, I suppose, if you take it easy, you may get away with just
feeling like you
’
re eighty years old.  Good enough reason for you to stay put, if you
ask me.
”

“
I
’
m going,
”
Sarah said. 
“
I
’
m the one Ashley Foster shot.  I want to know who the hell raised
her to be a cross between Norma Bates and Rambo.  This girl has training.  I
don
’
t think we should take her for granted.
”

“
This is not a mission of force,
”
Palu
said. 
“
We just need to speak with the family before we make any snap
decisions.  If you have a grudge, you should let Howard take this one alone. 
The family are going to feel threatened enough as it is, without having a mob
turning up on their doorstep in the early hours.
”

Sarah sighed. 
“
You
’
re right, it
’
s not the right call to go in heavy.  But sending me in with Howard
is the right call.  Not only am I a woman, which has its own benefits, but I
’
m also a trained interrogator.  In the Army I was a liaison for
local tribes and villagers.  I
’
m trained to get answers from people who don
’
t
want to give them.
”

“
Are you saying you tortured people?
”
asked
Bradley, his eyes widening.

Sarah shook her head. 
“
No torture, just a bit of savvy and knowing how to read people.  I
have a built-in bullshit detector.  If a person is hiding something, I can
tell.
”

Howard glanced at Palu and
shrugged. 
“
It
’
s true.  Part of the reason I brought her in was because of her
interrogation training.  None of us have that.
”

“
And her
‘
bullshit-detector
’
is exactly what she used earlier with the staged
videotape,
”
Bradley said. 
“
None
of us picked up any of those clues.
”

Sarah thought about how her
skills weren
’
t as great as her MOD file probably made out.  After all, it had
only taken a woman and some watermelons to fool her.
 
She decided to
compensate for her doubt with a joke. 
“
It
was those same skills that led me to figuring out that Howard is gay.  Not that
there
’
s anything wrong with that, of course.
”

Howard rolled his eyes and chuckled. 
He was starting to get her humour.

Palu waved a hand. 
“
Okay fine, go; but I want no violence.  The parents are innocent
civilians until we know differently.  It
’
s
their daughter we
’
re after in the middle of the night, so show a little diplomacy.
”

“
Hey, diplomatic is my middle name,
”
Sarah
said.

“
Follow me,
”
Howard told her. 
“
We
need to make a few stops before we set off.
”

Sarah frowned. 
“
We should make a move.
”

Howard nodded but kept
walking. 
“
If you want my advice, I think you should get back in bed, but if
you
’
re really determined to come with me, I would rather you have a
weapon this time. We might run into Ashley Foster again.  Sound good?
”

Sarah grinned from ear to ear.
  “
Show me the money.
”

And Howard did show her the
money.  The MCU
’
s armoury was a freakin
’
bank vault of
money.  It was nestled inside the Earthworm
’
s
head section, hidden within a mundane steel door that read: ARMOURY.

“
You have enough hardware here to kit out an entire army,
”
Sarah said, gawping at the numerous equipment benches.  The room
was a veritable museum of assault rifles, handguns, and tactical weapons. 
There were rows upon rows of Glock 9mms and Colt 45s, and an all manner of
other side-arms. What surprised her the most, though, was a nest of military
assault rifles against the far wall. 
“
Is that a FAMAS?
”
she asked, jaw agape.

“
Yes.
”

“
British forces don
’
t use French assault rifles.  How did you get it?
”

Howard tapped a finger against
his nose. 
“
Special consignment.  The MCU is allowed to use whatever hardware it
feels is right for the situation.  Originally, we were going to operate
internationally
—
a little like the CIA and MI6
—
but things never progressed that far.  We still have a mandate that allows us
to use heavy force if necessary.
”

Sarah took one last look at
the weaponry and let out a whistle.  She even managed to spot an F2000, which
looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

“
Small arms only, on this ride,
”
Howard
told her. 
“
Grab yourself something comfortable.
”

Sarah went to the handgun rack
and perused her choices.  She saw Brownings and American Smith and Wessons,
Walther PPKs, and various Glocks, as well as the ever popular Colt .45 and the
M1911 (the
‘
Yankee Fist
’
); but her eyes were eventually drawn to a SIG-Sauer P229.  It was
smaller and lighter than most of the other handguns.  It was also similar to
the side-arm she used on her tours of Afghanistan.  Seeing one now made her
skin prickle, and for a moment the heat of the Middle-Eastern sun was on the
back of her neck all over again.  The nostalgia went away as soon as she placed
her finger around the trigger.  She
’
d convinced herself
that the battle had been lost in Afghanistan, that the bad guys had beaten her;
but the last twenty-four hours had shown her that the war was still going on,
and that it was being fought at home as well as abroad.  She was still a
soldier, and she had a duty to do.