The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 23

Nick sat in a chair outside Stephanie's cubicle in ICU. Hood had sent over two men from Langley. One now stood guard outside the unit. The other was assigned to Lucas.

Nick could see Stephanie through a large glass window, hooked up to monitors with moving digital readouts. An IV dripped clear fluid into one of her arms. Her face was marked with bandages and orange antiseptic. They'd shaved part of her hair away from her forehead.

Each time he looked at her fed his anger. Someone was going to pay for this.

A nurse came up to him, pretty. She was small like Harker, with curly blonde hair. A name badge identified her as Lois.

"Mister Monroe is out of recovery and awake if you'd like to speak with him. They've moved him to room 332."

Lois looked through the window at Stephanie.

"She's not going to be conscious for quite a while. You should get some rest after you see your friend."

"Thank you."

Nick stood and felt fatigue embrace him, like an insidious lover.

"332 you said?"

"That's right. Take a left when you go out the doors. The elevator is on the right about halfway down the corridor. When you get to the third floor go past the nurse's station and 332 is on the right."

"Thank you," Nick said again.

The elevator was stainless steel and big enough to hold a gurney with a body on it. It rose with silent efficiency. On the third floor Nick turned left past the nurse's station. There was no one there. A man sat down the hall, watching him approach. He stood as Nick came closer. Nick flashed his ID at Langley's man and went in.

Lucas was propped up in bed, his right arm immobilized. Both his eyes were blackened from the airbag. Like Stephanie, an IV fed something into his veins. Unlike Stephanie, he was awake and angry.

"Nick." Lucas cleared his throat. His voice was weak.

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better. What do you know about Steph?"

"She's stable. They've got her sedated in ICU. She's going to be okay. What did they tell you?"

"About the same, along with details about the surgery. She lost the baby."

"I'm sorry, Lucas."

"Damn it, Nick, what the hell happened? Did you get the bastards?"

"They're all dead, Lucas. One of them had ID on him. Harker is following that up. We'll find out who sent them and when we do, we're going to drop the hammer on them."

"They might've been targeting me," Lucas said.

"I don't think so. It doesn't feel right. Why wait until you were over at our compound to go after you, if you were the target? There are easier ways to get at you. I think they wanted to send a message to us. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hood isn't going to be happy to have his new DCO out of commission," Lucas said.

"I'm counting on it," Nick said. "We're going to need Langley's resources on this one. Besides, you're not out of commission. You won't be writing any reports for a while. That's what you've got secretaries for. A few days, you'll be back in the office."

"It depends on how Steph is doing."

"Sure. Hood is a decent guy. He's not going to give you a hard time about it. Right now it looks like she's going to be fine."

"They won't let me go see her."

"Lucas, somebody just tried to kill you and did a pretty good job on your shoulder. It's too soon for you to be running around. She's in good hands. When they move her out of ICU, they'll bring her in here. She'll be fine, believe me."

"Yeah. But the bastards who put her in here won't be, once I find out who they are."

You can take that to the bank, Nick thought.