Page 64 of Baby Take Me Home

“You,” I said to Magellan, “press that tee shirt over her wound and keep pressure on it while I carry her.” I lifted her into my arms and stood, along with Magellan. “Introduce yourself,” I told Li as I brushed past her. “The civilians look terrified.”

Of course. They’d just been accosted by two gunmen who probably would have killed them, and now they were being guarded by a long, lean figure dressed head to toe in black and sporting a sniper rifle. They’d get over it. It might take some months of therapy, but they would recover. The only person I was concerned with right now was Ashlee.

“She saved us,” Magellan said as he kept pace with me up the stairs. “She knocked them both out. One with the fire extinguisher, and the other with an award statue. Can you believe that?” He laughed maniacally.

Shit. He was going into shock. We got to the roof and I laid Ashlee down and took over holding pressure on her wound.

“Samantha.”

“Ten seconds out,” she answered.

“Good. Penn, send up someone up with a reflective blanket for Magellan, then start cleaning up this mess.”

“Yes sir.”

Samantha stepped onto the roof and knelt beside me, checking Ashlee’s vitals and her wound while the chopper appeared on the horizon.

“One minute out,” Jensen announced.

“Good.” Samantha nodded to me over the body of my unconscious lover. “It’s a through-and-through, but we’ll need to get in there to see what it hit.” She took over the pressure on Ashlee’s wound.

I sat down hard on the roof, more exhausted than I’d ever been, and took one of Ashlee’s still hands between both of my blood-soaked ones.

“It’s all right,” I whispered to her. Christ, I hoped I wasn’t lying to her. I couldn’t think about that now. I had to focus on keeping her calm, giving her hope. Making sure she came back to me. “You’re safe now, Ash. I promise. You have to trust me.”

PART6

THE HEA JOB

CHAPTER 28

Ashlee

I came backto consciousness slowly. I was warm and comfortable, except for a bright light and a beeping noise. Under me was something firm but soft, with give. Not TJ’s strong arms and chest. I struggled to open my eyes and stared up at a ceiling that wasn’t that of the newsroom.

TJ’s face came into view. His frown dissipated into a smile. “Hi, Ace. Thanks for joining us.”

My brain fog started burning away, leaving my mind racing. “The article. Calder. Jayne.” I tried to sit up but my body was heavy and unresponsive.

“Everyone on your team and mine is fine. At least, they are now.” He kissed my forehead. “The article went out in time to hit the evening news on the networks and the cable channels.” TJ squeezed my hand. “And I have some great footage to show you when you’re up to it of the FBI showing up at a press conference Calder was holding and leading him away in handcuffs.”

I smiled at the image of that. “And—”

“No more questions until I’ve assessed you.” Samantha leaned into my view. She wore a white lab coat and held a medical chart.

I glanced past her and around the room. “Hospital? Why?”

She glanced at TJ. “Finally, she gets to that question. What do you remember?”

“I took a hard hit, or maybe a kick,” I said. There might be something more. I couldn’t piece it together. “My side hurt so much. And it was sticky like something had spilled on me. Maybe ink?”

Samantha flashed a penlight in my eyes, checked the readouts on the computer beside the bed, and scribbled into the chart. “Not ink. Blood. Your own.” She looked at me. “You were shot. A through-and-through, no permanent damage. But we stitched up a lot of muscle and it’s going to take a while to heal.”

I furrowed my brow and tried to sit up again.

She pressed my shoulder. “We’ll elevate the bed a bit, but you need to lie still. Do you understand what I just told you?”

“Yes.” I was annoyed. Did she think I was an idiot? And did she say... “Did you say I was shot?” I glanced at TJ.