Spyder Web

37

Kilkenny awoke several hours after his arrival at University Hospital. The EMTs had given him a painkiller in the ambulance, and after that, everything seemed just a blur. Gradually, memories of the accident came back to him: the truck, the fire, and the man with the gun. And Kelsey.

He remembered Kelsey lying there beside him in the mangled car, covered in blood. He tried to sit up, but he was still sore and his eyes were swollen to narrow slits.

‘Easy, Nolan. Save your strength,’ his father said quietly to him. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder. ‘You’ve had a rough ride, but you’ll be fine.’

‘Dad, how’s Kelsey?’ Nolan asked with a raspy throat that felt parched.

‘She’s hurt pretty badly, but the doctors think she’ll pull through. They finished up with her about an hour ago.’ Sean Kilkenny couldn’t hide the concern he felt over the seriousness of Kelsey’s condition.

Nolan took several short sips from a glass of ice water; the first few seemed to evaporate halfway down his throat. ‘Can I see her?’

‘Tomorrow,’ his father advised, patting him on the leg for reassurance. ‘You both need your rest. Everything will be fine.’

Exhausted from the effort, Nolan closed his eyes as the painkillers took hold once more and he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

It was almost two in the morning when he awoke again. His face still throbbed from the bruises, but the swelling around his eyes seemed to have receded a little. Slowly, Nolan eased himself off the hospital bed, carefully testing his strength. He found a gym bag that his father had left for him and with only a few muffled groans managed to change into a pair of sweats. He remembered only a handful of missions where he’d felt this bad afterward, and those pains were the result of selfinflicted hangovers.

At this hour of the night, most patients were asleep and the medical staff was at a minimum.Kilkenny quietly made his way down the empty hallway. He could hear one of the nurses attending to a patient as he passed, but he didn’t know how many others would be on duty at this hour. Kilkenny quietly walked down the hallway, following the signs to the Intensive Care Unit.

Once inside the ICU, he found Kelsey’s name written in bold black letters on the bed-assignment chart. He slid the curtain open slowly and only wide enough to squeeze inside before closing it again. If she was asleep, he didn’t want the bright lights of the nurses’ station to wake her.

Kelsey lay in the hospital bed with her upper body slightly elevated. Several tubes flowed to and from her body and one of the machines beside her bed made an ungodly hissing sound. Under the faint glow of the room’s indirect lights, she looked so fragile.

Memories of his mother’s final days returned in a painful flood of emotion. No, he thought, pushing the memories of that loss back, this is different. Kelsey will survive.

He approached the bed slowly, moving as quietly as he could, hoping not to disturb her.At her side, he grasped her hand and felt the warmth of the life still within her. Kelsey’s face, now framed with sterile dressings instead of a flowing mane of blond hair, still radiated beauty and peace in her sleep. The guilt and responsibility Nolan felt over her injuries subsided as he memorized every detail of her exquisite face.

A sudden flash of light nearly blinded him, ending his quiet meditation. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a woman silhouetted in a fluorescent halo.

‘All right, Mr Kilkenny,’ a hushed but stern voice called out to him like an arresting officer, ‘it’s time for you to get back to bed.’

The nurse was right, of course, but that still wouldn’t have kept him from Kelsey’s side tonight.

‘You caught me, warden,’ Kilkenny said with his most charming smile. ‘I’ll go peacefully. How’s she doing?’

‘They ran some tests on her, but the results won’t be back until morning.’ The nurse closed the curtain around Kelsey’s bed and escorted Kilkenny back to his room. ‘Your parents warned us about you two. They said if either of you was missing, just go looking for the other.’

‘How’s she doing?’ Nolan asked more emphatically.

‘She’s in pretty rough shape,’ the nurse said gravely, ‘but I’ve seen cases much worse than hers make a full recovery. Only time will tell if there will be any lasting effect from her injuries. Now, if I catch you out of your room again tonight, I’m going to have to give you an icewater sponge bath.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll be good,’ Kilkenny replied in surrender. ‘I haven’t been treated like this since boot camp.’

The nurse saw Kilkenny to his door, where he bid her a good night and walked back to his bed. The room was dark, as he had left it, but something seemd out of place. Throughout his years of martial arts and military training, Kilkenny had learned to use all his senses to protect himself, and those instincts were warning him that something was amiss. He slowly panned the room to see if he could detect whatever was triggering his defenses.

‘I’m in the back corner,’ a familiar voice called out. It was Cal Mosley of the CIA. ‘Is the nurse back at her station?’

‘Yeah, she’s gone.’

‘Good, then turn on some lights in here so we can see each other. I gave up this skulking-around-in-thedark shit years ago. Sorry if I startled you, but it is after normal visiting hours. I got here as soon as I could. How are you feeling?’

Kilkenny eased himself into his hospital bed and flipped on the reading light. ‘I’ve been better.’

‘I don’t doubt that.’ Mosley looked Kilkenny square in the eyes. ‘I was quite relieved to hear that you and Ms Newton survived. This business of ours is getting ugly, which is why I’m here in the middle of the night arranging security for you and the professor. Your “accident” was anything but. You were set up. The state police ran the shooter’s fingerprints against the FBI database and they found a match. The guy you took out was a high-priced hit man, the kind crime bosses like to use when they want a neat job with no questions.’

‘Somebody paid to have Kelsey and me killed?’

‘Looks that way. The FBI is assisting the state police regarding your accident and we consider it officially part of our investigation. We’ve found the getaway van near the airport, completely burned out. Not much left of the two guys who were in it, either. The van was stolen, of course, but we’ve got a few other leads to follow up on. We’re getting warm, Nolan — I can feel it. I’m just sorry you and Kelsey had to prove our theories the hard way.’

Kilkenny took in everything Mosley was telling him. It bothered him to know that there were people willing to kill to prevent the loss of the Spyder. ‘Is your director’s meeting still on for Wednesday?’

‘If you’re up to it, but don’t push yourself.’ Mosley handed Nolan a business card. ‘Here’s my number while I’m in town. If you need anything, just call. Take it easy, Nolan. I’ll be in touch.’