Blood Vengeance

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

Kinimaka knew instantly that Hayden was dying, bleeding to death, and that he only had one chance to save her life. Everything came down to this. All his training, every scrap of his experience. Act fast. Push everything else aside and work like he’d never worked before.

He would still have to go through the motions, but following those procedures saved lives more often than not. The new gunshot wound underneath Hayden’s heart was a through and through; it appeared not to have rattled around inside her body since the entrance and exit wounds were in perfect alignment, but sometimes even that assumption had been proved to be a mistake. Kinimaka had known bullets chew people up inside, bouncing from bone to bone, and still line up when they came out.

Her airway was fine; she was breathing raggedly and even muttering. Her eyes were bright, so bright they made his heart lurch and his nerves rattle. Kinimaka felt such a rush of anxiety and love he began to doubt his ability and almost stopped what he was doing to call Smyth to take over. But no, this was Hayden. His boss and his friend for so long, now his lover.

But battlefield medicine was about as precise as the name suggested. He recognized she was strong enough to place her hands over the wound to control the bleeding, and laid her out in the back seat.

“Drive steady,” he told Smyth.

Then he turned back to Hayden. “Hold your hands tightly here. I know it hurts. Press, Hay, just press.”

As she groaned, Kinimaka looked around for something to make a seal. The first thing he saw in the rear footwell of their stolen car was a CVC plastic bag — not good enough, but inside it were several items. Quickly he tore open a package and grabbed the plastic, placing it over the wound. There was no tape around so Kinimaka forced Hayden to hold it in place. Using a plastic seal this way slowed the bleeding and helped prevent the development of a collapsed lung. It would ensure that, if she came out of this okay, she would have every chance to get better without some kind of disability. He wrapped her up warm, minimizing any exposure, and let her lie in the most comfortable position.

Karin stared over the back of her seat. “Don’t elevate her legs, Mano. She’ll bleed easier.”

Kinimaka bit his tongue. He knew that, but Karin was only trying to help. “Thanks.”

Smyth swerved around a slower car. “Sorry,” he said through gritted teeth. “How’s she doin’?”

“I can’t tell. We need to get her to that safe house.”

“Doin’ my best.”

With no pursuit and quiet roads the Suburban made good time. Once they entered the restricted area, using their SPEAR IDs, the roads truly opened up and Smyth soon powered down the street where their old safe house sat. Komodo called ahead, using an old CIA code that Kinimaka remembered, and forced a laugh.

“Looks like they sent everyone here. Place is gonna be crowded.”

“Never mind,” Kinimaka said. “So long as we can make her comfortable.”

Hayden’s eyes fluttered. Her breathing came in shallow gasps, but even that was better than it had been before. Kinimaka had done all he could for her, short of finding a surgeon and an ER. Contrary to popular TV, the bullet didn’t need to be removed straight away. To do that would only increase the blood flow.

What remained of their team climbed wearily out of the black Suburban, taking a second to bask in the rays of the rising sun, then positioned themselves to help extract Hayden from the car. It was a slow process and risky, but she couldn’t stay there. By the time they approached the door it was already open.

Lauren Fox greeted them, “Hey.”

Smyth made eyes at her. “Hey.”

“We cleared a room for her.”

Kinimaka moved slowly, taking every ounce of Hayden’s weight and trusting Komodo to protect the area around her wounds as best he could. They moved through a dimly lit room and paused.

“In here.” Kinimaka recognized the Russian thief, Yorgi, standing waving in a doorway. As he started to move again he saw Sarah Moxley sitting in a cloud of depression on one of the sofas.

“Sarah?”

The woman barely looked up, her thoughts still dwelling on the dreadful scene that had started this night off— the murder of Jonathan Gates.

Kinimaka moved on, addressing Lauren, “You three don’t seem like the likeliest of roommates.”

“I was staying here already.” She shrugged. “Bit of a long story, but let’s just say I ain’t exactly some five-star general’s flavor of the month. Jonathan was going to sort it all out.” She paused. “Shit.”

“What did you do?” Kinimaka squeezed his bulk through the bedroom doorway and carefully maneuvered Hayden between Komodo and himself.

“Not me, exactly. Nightshade. My alter ego. We needed information from General Stone but then Jonathan’s good conscience got in the way. By the time he pulled me out we think Stone had gotten wise.”

Smyth was following hot on her heels. “You’re a hooker aren’t you? We got a hooker on our team. That’s just fuckin awesome.” Then he sobered. “Poor Romero. He would have loved that.”

Lauren ignored him. “It’s an old story I guess now, involving General Stone. Not worth resurrecting again and again.”

Kinimaka placed Hayden on the bed and stared down at her with anguished eyes. He thought her breathing had grown even more ragged, but was that just his imagination? Komodo looked over the bed at Lauren.

“An old story, huh? You mean it’s last week’s news, don’t you? I’ve come to realize that’s how fast this team moves. But Lauren, a five-star general? That ain’t just gonna go away.”

“I know, man, I know. But I’ve been taking pretty good care of myself all these years. I can sure do it again.”

“You think just because you’re streetwise you can handle this man’s influence?”

Kinimaka tuned the conversation out, leaning over the bed, closer to Hayden. Damn, how they needed her expertise and leadership right now. The harsh breaths she took, lying down, told the story of how near death she was. His mind, usually so clear and concise, was in pieces right now. He knew he should be doing something, but couldn’t quite focus on it. Should Hayden’s welfare come first? The team’s? The civilians’? Or should they be trying to help Coburn? What would Kovalenko do next?

He sat on the bed, wincing as it creaked under his weight. Hayden’s eyes fluttered open.

“Mano?”

“I’m here. You’re safe. I’m going to use the tech in here to find a safe hospital and call an ambulance. They can’t follow us everywhere can they? How the hell do they keep on finding us?”

“The… the Grid,” Hayden whispered. “I figured… it has to be… it’s compromised—”

Her eyes closed again and she stopped talking. Kinimaka leaned in. “The what? The Grid?”

“It’s the only… way—”

Hayden’s words rattled like a last breath. Kinimaka pulled away, heart flipping, but saw her eyes wide open and staring. The life in them was vivid, the will to live dazzling. Quickly, he checked her dressings.

“You think the Grid’s compromised?”

Hayden gave a bare nod.

“But that means…”

Kinimaka stared around the bedroom and through the door at the other part of the safe house. All seemed well, but an icy sliver of dread slipped down his spine. In that single quiet moment he felt every hair on his body stand on end.

“Oh no.”

The safe house door exploded.