Scott's Summit, page 7
Sam still hesitated, then he nodded. “Here’s my card. But I mean it, you let me know the minute there’s a change.”
“Will do. Let’s hope that he’ll be just fine and will wake up pissing mad that he’s even in here.”
“That’s exactly how he would be too,” the MI6 agent noted, with a smile. And, with that, he was gone.
Now with two people to keep an eye on, Scott walked back and forth between the two floors on a regular basis, checking in on both of them. When the agent was sent in for surgery, he quickly sent a message off to Sam, letting him know that Stoop was heading into surgery. He got a thumbs-up in reply but nothing else. But, hey, Scott was doing what he could. It just sucked that even what he was doing wasn’t very much.
When he wandered back upstairs to her floor, he saw a man loitering at the end of the hallway. Then the nurse raced toward the guy, laughing and smiling. He put his arms around her, gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and then the two of them disappeared down the stairs. Scott was suspicious of everything. His instinctive thought had been that maybe the guy was back for a second attempt at killing Naira. It just made no sense to even bother trying at a hospital.
He sent Terk a question, asking about Nurse Nancy, who had been taking care of Scott.
Terk sent a text back, letting him know that she was fine and had left town.
Scott figured that was probably better than to have her still here and a target too, what with everything else going on. Because nothing here looked like it was good news at all. With that, he headed toward Naira’s room. Her door was partially open, and Naira lay unconscious, collapsed on the floor.
Chapter 7
Naira woke to the sound of somebody crying. She struggled to the surface and realized the crying was coming from her own throat. She surfaced, with a gasp, finding she was in Scott’s arms, held close, somebody else right beside him. “What happened?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“I left you alone,” he said, his tone grim.
She tried to comprehend what he was saying, but it just didn’t make any sense. She closed her eyes, as somebody added the contents of a syringe into her IV line. She heard voices around, but Scott was whispering to her.
“Just go to sleep,” he said.
Gratefully she went under.
When she surfaced again, she noted her head was swaddled, and needles were in her arm. She groaned and fell asleep. Once again she tried to surface, and immediately there was Scott. She looked at him. “Did I get hurt again?” she asked. “Or did I have some sort of a reaction?”
“You were hurt again,” he replied, his tone still grim. “I was downstairs at the emergency room, came up here again, and was distracted by somebody in the hallway. When I came into your room, you had either fallen or had been attacked.”
“Which was it?” she demanded. “And don’t lie to me.”
He gave her a half smile. “I had no intention of lying,” he said, “but the jury is out as to what happened, until they checked your blood and found you had been injected with something,” he murmured.
“What kind of something?”
“They’ve sent it for a tox screen, and we don’t yet know, but they did a full flush of your system, as they tried to get you back again,” he replied.
She stared up at him, as hot tears of despair ran down her cheeks. “What did I ever do to them?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Scott admitted. “I’m trying to get to the bottom of why they are still after you.”
She nodded slowly. “Unless I saw something, or they think I saw something,” she murmured, as she lay against his chest.
“Did you?” he asked her suddenly.
“Did I what?” she murmured, closing her eyes.
“Did you see something?”
Her eyes opened slowly. “How would I know?” she asked, shuddering, as she twisted to look up at him. “How am I supposed to know if I saw something important or not?”
“Maybe you should take me back through what you did see,” he suggested.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” she murmured. “I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and Terk picked me up from there.”
“And when you saw Terk, was anybody around him, anybody nearby?”
She frowned and muttered. “It looked like he was alone,” she replied, “but how am I supposed to know that?”
“Did you see any unusual activity or see anyone in particular?”
She tried to shake her head and then winced. “No, I don’t think so, nothing unusual anyway.” She waited a moment. “I was pretty distracted and had come all this way because you were hurt,” she murmured. “I was pretty shook up over the whole thing.”
“I can understand that,” he agreed. “And I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she murmured.
“It is now that you’re here, injured.”
“Well, maybe,” she agreed, “if that makes you feel better. Honestly I just want to feel better myself.”
He shifted so she was back down on her hospital bed.
She yawned. “Did the attacker give me something to knock me out?”
“They hit you over the head and stabbed you with a needle, so I’m not too sure what their plan was.”
“Well, it’s not as if they’ll take me away from here,” she noted. “You don’t just carry somebody out of a hospital, and they would seem to have no purpose for keeping me alive.”
“I don’t know what’s going on here,” Scott murmured, “but I won’t leave you alone again.”
She nodded. “I don’t even remember what happened last time. I remember the nurse came in. She was young, smiling, happy,” Naira shared. “I felt kind of blue and down, but she was definitely perky.”
“Was it the same nurse you’d seen before?”
“No,” Naira replied, “it wasn’t. I didn’t recognize her at all.”
“Hmm.” Scott frowned.
“What? Do you think she did something? I don’t remember when she left though,” Naira added, frowning as more memories filtered through. “She was giving me a shot.”
Scott looked at her in surprise. “Did she say what it was?”
At that, Naira shook her head. “No, I don’t know that she said anything at all.”
“Interesting,” Scott replied. “Maybe I’ll talk to the doctor and see what was scheduled.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Do you think it was her?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, “but somebody was in here, and, when I came up the stairs, I was distracted by a young couple at the end of the hallway. A guy was waiting, and she raced toward him, gave him a big kiss, and then they left.”
“Interesting,” she murmured. “Do you think that was a cover?”
“At this point in time,” he muttered, “it is quite possible. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t,” she replied, “but we also can’t assume anything at this point.”
“No, I get that,” he murmured. “I just don’t want you hurt again.”
She certainly agreed with that. But his ability to keep her safe appeared to be severely compromised. If these other guys were serious, they would find her. “I don’t even know what the reason could be for attacking me,” she murmured. “It’s not as if I know anything.”
“And you don’t think that you’ve seen anything that would be suspicious?”
“No,” she replied.
He nodded thoughtfully.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, looking at him.
“I’m just wondering if they think that you’re involved in some way,” he murmured.
“Nothing is making sense,” she murmured, as she stretched out on the bed. “But now I have a terrible headache, and I really don’t like the idea of staying here in the hospital anymore.”
“No, that’s no longer an option,” he agreed.
She rolled her head over, so she could look at him more closely. “What will we do about it then?” she asked.
“It’s already in process,” he replied. “I’m just waiting for clearance.”
She frowned, but then his phone buzzed. As she listened, it sounded like whatever arrangements were being made had been successfully completed. Scott stood, walked to the closet, and pulled out her clothes. She stared at his movements. “Now that’s one fine bloody mess of clothes.”
“It is,” Scott agreed, “and, for that, I’m sorry. We’ll get you new clothes when we get out of here.”
She slowly pulled back the covers and sat up, but her head really boomed. “And now, for the first time, as much as I wanted to leave the hospital, it won’t be an easy transition.”
“No, it won’t,” Scott stated, “and, if I thought staying here would be safer, I’d wait.”
“But you think they’ll come back?”
“Yes,” he stated, “I do.”
Using the bed rail for support, she slowly stood, and the room swayed around her. “Dear God,” she whispered. “This isn’t quite how I expected to be leaving.”
“And it’s not how you should be leaving,” he murmured, “but we don’t really have any good options right now.”
“I can’t imagine the hospital is very happy either.”
“No, they aren’t. You were attacked under their roof, so they’re not very happy at all.”
She nodded at that. Then, with Scott’s help, she made her way to the bathroom, where he left her alone to slowly get changed into her bloody clothes.
As she stepped out, he looked at her critically. “You’re on your feet, and you’re moving, so I’ll take that as a good sign.”
She wasn’t sure she would, but, if he was happy, well, okay. Still, she had hoped to leave and to go to a hotel for a couple days to recuperate and to be a hell of a lot better off. Now it was as if she’d taken a firm step backward. She made several steps toward the door, when he grabbed her gently and said, “Nope.”
She frowned at him and asked, “No what?”
He pointed to the wheelchair, and she looked at it in disgust. He shook his head. “This is not the time for ego, okay?”
She countered, “If that was you, no way in hell you’d be going out in a wheelchair.”
“It’s a long walk,” he added. “No way you’ll make that trip on your own.”
She wouldn’t even argue further and just slumped into the chair, collapsing back. “You’re right,” she murmured, “and I feel just crappy enough that I really don’t care anymore.”
He nodded, placed her purse in her lap, and replied, “That’s the spirit. Let’s just get you out safe.”
She snorted. “And I thought being here was safe.”
“We did too, but we weren’t expecting anybody to come back after you, and that means a whole different story.”
She nodded. “I get it. So when do I get to meet all the rest of this team?”
“I don’t know,” Scott admitted. “Maybe now.”
She looked at him, as he wheeled her out the door and into a really big elevator. “Are we in the service elevator?” she asked in confusion.
“We are and for a good reason.”
“Says you,” she muttered. But quickly she was whisked into an SUV at the car park level, with Scott and her sharing the back seat. Suddenly they were out onto the street and free. She took several deep breaths. “Now I’m not sure whether this is freedom or not,” she noted, half joking. “I didn’t expect it to come with a headache.”
“Lately it always comes with a headache,” replied Terk, who had waited in the driver’s seat for them.
“I get that,” she murmured. “I really do. I just thought that maybe all of that stage would be over.”
“We all did.” Terk studied her for a moment. “How are you feeling?”
“Like somebody hit me over the head,” she muttered.
He nodded. “We’ll have answers about that pretty soon.”
“Says you,” she murmured. “If you had answers, you’d have given them to me already.”
He chuckled. “You sound an awful lot like Scott.”
“Like hell,” she muttered. “He is stubbornly irritating.”
At that, Terk could barely stifle his own laughter.
She glared at him. “I hope you don’t think this is funny.”
“Nope, not at all,” he confirmed. “Attacks on anybody around us are never funny. But the idea that you’re not as stubborn and not as irritating as Scott, well, you know what? I’m not really one to insult a lady,” he stated. “However, the two of you look like you were made for each other.”
She settled back, then looked over at Scott to see him staring out the window, ignoring her. “You may be right,” she admitted, “at least on the stubborn part.” She tried to follow their route but very quickly lost her way in the ups and downs and ins and outs, as they traveled quickly and then changed direction. “Are you really expecting us to be followed?” she asked Terk in astonishment.
“Let’s just say, we aren’t taking any chances.”
She agreed with that careful philosophy, but, at the same time, it did make her feel a little odd, as they went through back alleys. Suddenly Terk pulled into what looked like a huge complex of warehouses. “What is this?” she asked, for the first time feeling a hint of unease.
“It’s our new compound, at least for now,” Terk replied.
Scott looked around. “It’s the first I’ve been here too.”
She nodded. “And we’re safe here?”
“Safer here than anywhere,” Terk stated, “and we have lots of people to help defend us here.”
“Well, that’s good,” she muttered. “Because, so far, I don’t feel that I’m doing very well in that department.”
She missed the look on Scott’s face, but when Terk quietly said, “It wasn’t his fault,” Naira turned to Scott, realizing what she’d implied. “Scott, I didn’t mean that how it sounded,” she explained. “I didn’t mean that you’re responsible for this.”
“But I am though,” he replied, “so let’s just not get into that discussion.”
“Fine,” she muttered, wondering how long it would be before they could tolerate even being in the same room together. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but, at the same time, she was out of patience and was too damn exhausted to give a crap. Scott helped her out of the SUV and led the way, pausing behind Terk as they moved toward the inner part of the compound.
She looked around and asked, “People live here? It’s like an industrial complex of warehouses.”
“It is,” Terk confirmed, “and that, in a sense, is a good thing.”
She didn’t even know what to say. They entered this warehouse—a huge open space, completely empty. They continued to walk through to another area, finding a relaxed living area and a huge kitchen. When they stepped inside, what had been a buzz of noise immediately stopped, and then a woman cried out, raced over, and threw her arms around Scott. What was even more upsetting to Naira was that Scott’s arms immediately closed around the woman just as quickly.
The others gathered around, patting Scott on the back, murmuring greetings.
Naira watched carefully as Scott held the woman in his arms and whispered, “It’s good to see you, Tasha.”
She leaned back and looked up at him, beaming. “Gosh, I was so afraid we’d lost you.”
Scott grinned. “I’m a little harder to kill than that,” he protested.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Seems like things have been pretty tough around here lately.”
“I’m sorry,” he replied. “You’ve been through a lot. I have too, in a way, but I wasn’t even conscious for a lot of it.”
She nodded. “If I thought keeping you all unconscious would have kept you healthy, I’d have been all for it.”
He rolled his eyes at that. “Yeah, we’ve just got to get to the bottom of all this.” Scott sighed. “Seems like I’m late to the party, but yet I have weird recollections of memories that are post-coma. Regardless I’m here now, and I’ll be fine.” With an arm swung toward Naira, he introduced her to everyone.
At that, Tasha turned and looked at the newcomer, then walked over, opened her arms, and gave Naira a gentle hug. “You, my dear, have really been through the wringer.” She smiled at her gently.
“Well, I’m really hoping that I’m out drying in the sun now,” she murmured.
It took Tasha a few moments to understand the joke, and then she chuckled. “Ha. Oh, I like you already. Come on. Let’s get you settled in a room.” With that, she led her down the hall to a series of closed doors, with Scott following behind. “We’ll put you in here.”
Naira stepped in, noting a bathroom was attached to this bedroom. “This is nice.” It was sparsely furnished with a chair and a bed, and that’s all she really cared about right now. She immediately walked toward the bed and asked, “Would it be rude if I just collapsed for a while?”
“Rude?” Tasha repeated. “No, not at all. You have more people to protect you here, a lot of people and a lot of things going on. If you need to collapse, you collapse. I have a change of clothes waiting for you in the bathroom. I can help you change, if you like?” With a nod from Naira, both women stepped into the bathroom, reappearing shortly thereafter. Tasha helped Naira to the bed. “And I’ll tell the others that you’ll be out when you’re feeling better.”
Naira smiled, then lay down on the bed. She felt a chill coming on, but immediately Tasha walked over, picked up an extra blanket that had been on the back of the chair, and spread it over Naira. “Here you go. Having just been injured, you’ll be colder than you expect, so make sure you look after yourself. I’ll send Scott back in a little bit.” And, without giving either of them a chance to argue, Tasha left, taking Scott with her.
Naira closed her eyes and fell asleep.
*
Standing at the open doorway, Scott watched as Naira collapsed. He closed the door gently behind Tasha. “Thanks for that,” he said softly.
She smiled at him. “No problem,” she murmured. “You’ll find a lot of things have changed too.”
