Homefront Defenders, page 12
Alana blew out a breath. Even though Agent Carlsen had told them POTUS was fine, it was still a relief to hear that steps had been taken.
“What about Ray?” Mikio still hadn’t answered Locke’s question.
“You let me worry about Ray and his orders.” Mikio apparently wasn’t too bothered about the rest of the police force. “You protect Kaylee. The cops won’t let me in there, especially not with the kind of firepower Kaylee needs to keep her safe.”
“From who?” Locke wanted an answer. “Is someone coming to hurt her?”
“To kill her.” Mikio tossed Locke the phone. “I have what I need. But if anything happens to Kaylee, that’s on you.”
“You’re going to threaten federal agents? We’re supposed to be protecting the president and you want us doing a favor for you?”
Mikio stepped back and then started to walk to his vehicle. “Like I said, I’ll take care of Ray. Don’t worry about the cops, but if something happens to her, that’s on you. And I don’t take my promises lightly.”
*
“I don’t like this at all.” But he didn’t stop; Locke just kept moving through the underground parking garage at the hospital.
“Do we have a choice?” Alana followed Locke, scanning the garage as they made their way to the door. Inside the stairwell they headed up two floors to the lobby. If Kaylee was truly in danger, what else could they do but protect her? They could contact the Secret Service from a hospital phone.
Locke went up three steps and pointed to the desk. “Over there.”
He strode up to the front desk and flashed his badge but didn’t give them his name. Hopefully the police didn’t have a BOLO out that had been disseminated to hospital staff with their pictures on it. That was the last thing they needed.
“I need to use your phone.” He had two cell phones on him, but theirs weren’t working and he wasn’t about to use Daniel Kaiko’s phone. Technically it was evidence in whatever case this was, though they had to figure out how to get it turned over to the police without getting arrested in the process.
She watched his fingers as he dialed. He was calling Director Matthews. They’d talked about it in the car, worked out their plan to get their team over to the hospital—at least whoever wasn’t actively protecting the president. POTUS came before their problems, every time. There was no other way it was going to go.
But would William listen, or would he dismiss Locke’s concern over his problem with Ray and the rest of law enforcement the way Locke had told her he’d done after Beatrice was killed?
“It’s Locke.” He paused. Alana stepped closer and Locke tilted the phone so she could hear, as well.
“…the situation. Where are you?”
“We’re at the hospital.”
“Once I have the president secure to my satisfaction I’ll be there. Do not go anywhere, and do not move from that position.”
“Copy that,” Locke said.
“What is wrong with your phones? Agent Carlsen said you were having trouble, and intel told him the GPS has been spotty all night, popping up all over the place. We’ve been trying to find both of you.”
“We think someone is messing with them,” Locke said. “We’ve been trying to call in from our phones. And we did call 9-1-1 from a pharmacy clerk’s cell phone, and called the police—specifically Sergeant Ray Preston—from Zane Franks’s house.”
William said, “We got the president secured, but the word from the police came in that you were the one threatening to bomb him tonight. No one believed it, but we have POTUS to cover.”
“Good. Thank you for believing me, and tell the team I said thanks, as well.” Locke blew out a breath.
Alana looked up, and they shared a relieved smile. There was no way the team could believe that suddenly Locke had turned against them, but it felt good to know for sure that they’d never doubted Locke was on their side.
Locke continued, “So we’ll hang here and wait for you. But we’re going upstairs to make sure Kaylee Preston is secure. If there’s an active threat, we have to be prepared to defend her. She may be the only one with answers as to what’s going on.”
“Copy that. See you soon.”
Locke hung up. The receptionist shot him a look and took the phone back. He led Alana back over to the stairwell. “Not the elevator?”
Locke shook his head. “The cops will be watching it. With the stairs we can keep an eye out and emerge when we want to. If more officers are headed here to arrest me I don’t want the cops who are supposed to be watching Kaylee to get distracted and lose focus because we’re here.”
“Okay. Isn’t William going to call the cops and tell them everything is fine?”
“Sure, but it’ll take time for that information to disseminate down the ranks.”
They went up to the eighth floor, and Locke peered through the slit window in the door. Alana hung back, waiting for him to give the go-ahead. Mikio’s words replayed in her head over and over. If he cared so much, why not face the police and protect Kaylee himself? She could understand him not wanting the hassle, but if he truly cared for Kaylee, he would find a way to help her. He would make it so the police had no reason to stop him, which probably meant going legit or leaving the yakuza altogether.
Mikio couldn’t have it both ways, and if her sister would actually talk to her, Alana wanted to know how Kaylee felt about that.
All she wanted was peace with her sister, not the strife that was between them right now. But Alana couldn’t even do that when her sister wouldn’t let her in. How could they protect Kaylee when she wouldn’t let them visit, even if they could get past the police officer stationed outside?
“Everything looks quiet.” Locke turned back. He frowned. “You okay?”
Alana sighed. “I’m just trying to figure out why Mikio told us to come here.” She paused. “He could have called Ray, told him to beef up Kaylee’s security. But he didn’t—he bargained with us.”
Locke’s face softened. “I know you’re worried about her, but there’s a cop outside her room and Daniel has his own guard. He isn’t going anywhere.”
Alana’s stomach churned. “Wells is a sniper. He could shoot Kaylee through the window.”
“So we search the surrounding rooftops, look for a sniper.”
“But he could shoot her in one second. We would be too late, and unable to stop him.”
“So we get her moved to another room.” She could see the ideas ticking behind his eyes. “The cops already think I’m trying to kill the president.” He lifted Daniel’s phone. “How about we make them think I’m trying to kill Kaylee, as well?”
He really wanted to do that? She didn’t detect a sardonic tone to his voice, but wasn’t sure if he was being facetious or not. “Daniel’s phone works?”
He nodded. “There’s a signal, so I can try.”
“That means the problem with our phones isn’t local to us. It’s coming from somewhere else, directed specifically at our phones.”
“So it’s a techie-type person, or someone who paid a hacker or an employee at our carrier company?” Locke didn’t look pleased. “Someone who knows how to get past the extra security measures the Secret Service puts in.”
She nodded. It might come back to bite them, but they needed results. Fast.
“Okay, I’ll call in the threat. We need Kaylee moved to another room.” Locke got into the phone. He spoke to someone, asking for the homicide department because he wanted to report a homicide that was about to happen. Alana would have rolled her eyes at his dour tone if this wasn’t a serious situation. At least he wasn’t tying up the line with a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
When he hung up, they waited. Alana paced the landing between the concrete stairs that led down to the floor below and up to the floor above. The air-conditioning chilled her so that goose bumps prickled her skin. Alana rubbed her arms, not really sure what they were waiting for. A rush of security personnel, or an announcement. Something like that.
Locke touched her elbow, and she stilled. He moved closer. “Everything’s going to be okay. All right?”
She nodded, but she didn’t believe it. Locke couldn’t control what was happening. If he could, Ray wouldn’t be out to arrest him.
Locke touched her cheek. His hand was warm, far warmer than she was. Alana moved closer, into his heat. He smiled down at her, and she tried to return it. Things weren’t okay—far from it, actually. Why wasn’t he freaking out? Locke touched her other cheek. “Alana.”
His face descended, and it dawned on her that he was going to kiss her.
“Code gray. Security to the tenth floor.” A crackly voice came over the loudspeaker in the ceiling. “This is a lockdown. Code gray. Please do not leave your rooms. We have an escaped prisoner loose in the hospital.”
FOURTEEN
Alana pulled away. An escaped prisoner? “Could it be Daniel?”
Locke looked disappointed, though probably not about Daniel Kaiko being loose in the hospital. Part of her was pleased, but there wasn’t enough time to dwell on what that kiss might have been like if it had actually happened.
She turned to the window and looked out into the hall. The police officer outside Kaylee’s room was on the phone, pacing and paying no attention to what was going on around him. Her sister was exposed! The officer was going to fail in his duties now, when it might matter most.
“We should go and find out what happened,” Locke said. “See if we can help. I’m sure they need as many people as possible to find whoever it is that has escaped.”
“This could all be an elaborate ruse. Mikio might have brought us here because his intention all along was for Daniel to break out. He’s probably going to blame it on us so it looks like we had something to do with it.”
“Why?” Locke shrugged. “That would leave Kaylee exposed.”
“And Daniel is out. Maybe Mikio is coming here to get her in the middle of the confusion.”
“You think he’s going to abduct her while everyone is searching for Daniel?”
Alana didn’t say anything. It was plain that Locke didn’t think Mikio would try to do that. But the yakuza boss was certainly cunning enough to create a scenario wherein he got exactly what he wanted. He’d been like that his whole life, and Alana had seen him do it before—though that time it had been about passing history and staying on the football team.
Locke sighed. “You go out there. Stay with Kaylee, maybe get her moved to a different room. But keep her safe. I’ll go help the cops and security search for Daniel. It isn’t like there’s much else we can do when the hospital is on lockdown.”
“Okay.” She didn’t like splitting up, but it would be for the best.
Locke pulled her to him, and they hugged.
“Thanks.”
Locke’s eyes widened for a second, then he smiled at her and said, “Be careful.” He went up the first step.
“You, too.” Alana pulled the door open and stepped into the busy hallway. Rooms were locked, the desk unmanned. The cop outside Kaylee’s door was one of only a couple of people still in the hall and not in a room.
“Hold up.” He lifted one hand, the other on his gun, which he unclipped.
Alana motioned to the badge on the chain around her neck. “Do I look like an escaped prisoner to you?” The more she acted the part of the confident Secret Service agent, the more it was believed. No one saw her as legit when she was unsure of herself or what she should be doing. “Kaylee Preston is my sister, and I’d like to personally make sure she is secured.”
“You’re Alana Preston.” The cop pressed his thin lips together. “The sergeant said you might come by.”
“Whatever Ray told you, those are your orders. But there’s an escaped prisoner loose in this hospital, and I’m going to make sure my sister is secure.”
“Fine.”
“I want her moved to another room.”
“Not fine.” The cop shook his head in a jerky motion. “Everyone stays in their rooms. It’s procedure, or did you not hear the announcement?”
“I’ll think on it.”
She would more than think about moving her sister. Alana moved to the door of Kaylee’s room. She was going to make a plan that got her sister to a different room, and she couldn’t do that without bringing her out into the hall. Alana didn’t bother knocking. When she let herself in, Kaylee was sitting up, the remote in her hand and her eyes on the TV, which was playing local news. Good, that meant Kaylee was awake enough they could move her without Alana having to find out how much her sister weighed.
Kaylee grimaced, not turning her attention from the TV. “Figures you’d sneak in eventually.”
“I’m not sneaking. If Daniel has escaped, I don’t want him coming anywhere near you.” Alana glanced at the window. The blinds were closed. Could Brian Wells have a heat scope to shoot through to the person on the bed? Could Alana risk her sister’s life in the process of finding out whether he was better than she’d anticipated?
Alana crossed and closed the heavy drapes as well, just in case it made a difference. She went back to the door and looked out into the hall. “Good. Let’s go.”
Kaylee lifted her hands. “Go where?” Her medical bracelet slid down her slender wrist. Why did she seem so fragile? She was a grown woman who had withstood so much of what Alana had, just at a younger age.
“A different room.” Alana strode to her sister. “There’s no wheelchair in here, so you’ll have to walk.”
Kaylee had one bandage taped to her left temple and another wrapped around her wrist. Alana tried not to look overlong at either while she pulled the blankets back. She reached for her sister’s feet.
“Hey.” Kaylee pulled her legs into her body. “I’m cold. Put the blanket back on.”
“Cold is better than dead. Let’s move.” Alana waved her sister off the bed. “We need to be elsewhere when Brian Wells opens fire on your room from a rooftop and sniper rounds start flying through that window.” She pointed at the drapes, her breath coming fast.
Kaylee frowned but thankfully swung her legs over the side of the bed. She looked at Alana like she’d grown two heads. “Help me out. I’m kinda shaky still.”
Alana pulled her sister’s arm across her shoulders and took the bulk of Kaylee’s weight. She walked her sister down to the next room, across the hall. She ignored the blustering cop. Protection details changed on a dime all the time. He needed to be more flexible.
She settled her on the bed, which had a fitted sheet and no blankets. Alana went back and got the pillow and covers, tucking them around her sister.
Kaylee leaned back against the pillow. “The TV had better work. That’s all I’m saying.”
“If it doesn’t, we’ll just have to talk instead.”
“About what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about those four names you gave me? Why your business card was at Brian Wells’s house. Why Daniel Kaiko was questioning you. Or maybe why he tried to kill me—which Locke thinks was because Daniel might’ve mistaken me for you.”
“Yes, Locke.” Kaylee fingered the remote but didn’t try to turn the TV on. “He’s cute. Are you seeing each other?”
“What? No.” Alana halted before she could step back. Kaylee would know what retreat meant.
Her sister laughed. “You like him. He likes you, too. Who wouldn’t?” There was an edge of bitterness in her voice.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Kaylee shrugged and looked away. “Don’t pretend you want to know what I think. Or that you care.”
“Of course I care. How can you say that?” The woman gave her whiplash. Last time her sister hadn’t even let her in the room, and now she’d done what Alana asked. For a minute Kaylee had talked to her like they were friends and not estranged, and now she’d flipped back to guarded. Alana couldn’t figure her out at all. “I don’t understand you. How could I when you screamed at me to get out of your life? Well, guess what, I did it. And now you’re acting like I’m the one who wronged you.”
The door opened. “Kaylee?” It was Ray.
“In here.” Kaylee didn’t waste time getting Ray in the room to act as a buffer.
Ray strode in, mouth open to say something when the window blew out. Glass sprayed across the room and tufts of curtain flew through the air.
Sniper.
How had he found them across the hall?
*
Locke scanned the room, then moved to the next door and opened it. A janitor’s closet. He depressed the button on the radio the security staff had given him and held it to his mouth. “Ninth floor west is clear.”
The next door was the stairwell. This entire floor was nothing but scared oncology patients who didn’t need this disruption to their already difficult lives. He’d prayed for each of them as he searched the floor, just as he prayed for Alana to be safe and for her sister to open up to her. As far as he could see, it would take God’s intervention to get the two stubborn women to find a place where they could actually dialogue. It seemed like all Alana’s family did was fall back into old hurts and get defensive. All three of them needed to forgive each other and move on or they’d never work it out.
The stairwell was clear. Locke went up to join the search on the tenth floor. He doubted Daniel would have gone up there—and it was Daniel who’d escaped, killing his police guards in the process. Locke figured the former SEAL would more likely head for the nearest exit, but this was what the head of security had told him to do. Locke had his part to play, and if everyone did their jobs, then every inch of this hospital would be searched and Daniel Kaiko would be found.
Locke put his back to the wall, then leaned forward and glanced through the window. Someone was coming. The door to the stairs opened, and a man in hospital scrubs stepped in. A surgical mask covered his mouth and nose, partly obscuring his features. But it was Daniel Kaiko.
Locke waited until he’d cleared the door. “Hands up.”
Daniel swung around, a scalpel in his hand.
Locke deflected the scalpel with a sideswipe to Daniel’s forearm. He whipped the gun back and slammed it into Daniel’s shoulder right where he’d shot the former SEAL. He wasn’t going to shoot the man now, not when it was gun versus knife. Locke had far more honor than that, and they’d never get any answers from the man if he was dead.
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