Page 51 of Canyon of Deceit

FIFTY

A paramedic inserted an IV into Therese’s battered but conscious body.

The ordeal in Dog Canyon and the injuries from the car flip compounded the bruising.

I held her hand firmly in the noisy ambulance ride to Pasadena.

The sound of sirens split the air coupled with the fainter beeps of equipment attached to her.

Whistling from the vehicle’s speed around the doors punched me hard, like a phantom trying to get inside and take her from me.

Not happening. I should call Sergio, and I would once Therese was stable.

The cut along Therese’s hairline had ceased bleeding, indicating no need for stitches. Relief swelled in me unless an ER doctor ran tests and discovered otherwise. She’d need tests to diagnose the extent of her concussion.

I’d prayed more in the last hour than my whole thirty-four years.

The two teens, Gabriel and Michael, drove away as soon as a police officer took their statements. I looked forward to telling Therese about our “angels.”

My head pounded, either from the accident or stress. How had the shooters been alerted to us? Before the pickup arrived on scene, Therese and I had discussed the possibility of a tracker.

“Sir,” I said to the paramedic. “Not sure if you heard me talking to the officers. We were targeted by two men.”

“Yes, you were lucky any way I look at it.”

“Yes,” Therese whispered. “Everywhere I go... someone wants me. Dead.”

“Or us,” I said.

—

At the hospital ER, while the doctor examined Therese, I phoned Sergio. My words sounded like a repeating chorus to a bad song.

“Oh, I heard the news and grabbed my blood pressure meds,” he said.

“Let me help you with this. You’re about to drag me over the coals and I deserve it. First, let me give you the details...”

Sergio listened without a single interruption until I finished. “A tracking device would explain how Falin is on to your every move. The question is, where and how?”

“I’ll talk to her when she’s coherent.”

“Have you learned anything from this?” he said.

“Never underestimate an enemy.”

He swore in Spanish. “How about staying put where it’s safe?”

I preferred silence as my response. Sergio and I had covered a lot of territory over the years—physical, mental, and spiritual.

We’d seen each other through complicated missions, and we’d do it again.

I stared at Therese’s backpack and suspicion anchored a hold.

“Sergio, can you hold on a minute? I want to check out Therese’s backpack. ”

“Are you thinking a transponder?”

“Yep.” I laid the phone on the chair beside me and searched the dirty and worn bag.

My fingers touched on a round object inside a zippered pocket.

The pocket was empty but inside the lining, the circular item stayed intact.

The lining opened with a gentle tug, and I pulled out a round tracker.

I snatched up the phone and told Sergio what I’d located.

“Hold on to it until I get there, and we figure out how to catch Falin at his own game.”

The doctor who’d been treating Therese stepped into the ER waiting room. I caught his attention and said my good-byes to Sergio.

“How is she?” I said.

“Mr. Gardner, Ms. Palmer has given me permission to give you details about her condition. She has a mild concussion and several bruises. I noted on her chart a recent injury to her kidney, and she told me the antibiotic she was prescribed—”

“What kind of kidney injury?”

“A nasty punch. I recommended a follow-up with a specialist.”

Falin or Chandler must have hit her. “Thanks. Is she up to visitors?”

“Give me about ten minutes to write up orders. I want to keep her a couple of hours, monitor her condition before I release her.”

I thanked him again and watched him disappear behind the ER doors.

Was Rurik aware of the tracking? No doubt he’d held back more info than Therese and I imagined. I wanted to send a fist into his face. Several of them.

—

I waited eleven minutes, smiled at the white-haired woman at the reception desk, and trekked back to where Therese lay in ER. She had her eyes glued to the curtain opening as though she anticipated seeing me. Right. I was a bit full of myself.

“Glad you’re here,” she said. “Did you escape unscathed?”

“Unscathed?” I raised my brows like a comic character. “I broke my arm on our last adventure. Survived on Vitamin I and a good woman. The question is, how are you, Miz Kidney Punch Who Forgot to Tell Me?”

Therese laughed. “We’ve lost it, totally. Probably left them in the rental, but I don’t remember what it looks like.” She slurred her words. “All this incredible, death-defying, kidnapping, murder, espionage, and Russian mob stuff has—”

“Therese, what pharmaceuticals are you on?”

She shrugged. “The doctor said it would relax me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I hadn’t had this much fun in days. “If that’s the case, would you marry me?”

Her blue-green eyes widened. “I’m loopy, not crazy. But maybe.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“If and when I’m ready, I’ll send you an invitation.”

“I like you better this way. Can the doctor prescribe your relaxing juice in a pill?”

“I don’t take meds unless it’s on a much-needed basis.” She lifted her chin, but her eyes slid to half-mast.

“I rest my case.” I dragged a chair closer to her bedside. “Nothing left to talk about but the jerks who tried to kill us.” I wanted to tell her about Gabriel and Michael, but I’d wait until she was coherent to share our teen heroes. Instead, I shared what I’d found in her backpack.

She bit her lower lip. “Where is it?”

I patted my jeans pocket. “Got it right here. Now Falin is tracking me, not you.”

“We’re always together.”

I smirked. “Not always.”

She fumed. “Why haven’t you destroyed it? Or are you giving me the pleasure?”

“Sergio needs to make the decision.”

Her eyes curtained shut. Chances are this conversation would never enter her head again, and I’d keep her drugged persona to myself for just the right occasion.

Within the hour, the ER curtain opened, and Sergio towered over me, all five-foot-ten-inches of him, broad shoulders, and meaty biceps.

I exhaled. “Hey.”

The lines across his forehead looked like railroad tracks. He asked how Therese was doing and held out his hand. “Transponder?”

“In my pocket.”

“How long have we been friends?”

“Long enough to determine who always wins, and it usually isn’t me.” I reached inside my pocket.

“From the looks of you, might not hurt to listen. I determined a few things on the way here,” Sergio said. “You won’t like it.”

“Not unless we’re calling the shots together. Literally.”

“The FBI needs intel on everything we’ve uncovered. No secrets,” he said. “Every problem has a solution, and it usually involves teamwork. This isn’t a game of cattle rustling from the old west chronicles. We’re looking at more deaths to follow if it’s not stopped.”

I eyed my old friend. “No argument with me. We’re in this together.

I do have a request, though. Let’s ensure the Texas Rangers get the credit for preventing a foreign assassination on US soil, solving murders, and rescuing a kidnapped child.

In the meantime, we use the tracker to sniff out the ROC. ”

“You’re the negotiator.”

“I have something to say,” Therese whispered. “I might be under the influence, but I’m all in. I’ve played the victim long enough.”