Jae's Assignment (4 page)

Trevor didn’t waste any more time. He tossed the rest of the opened pack of dinner napkins onto the floor, then shoved carts stacked with dishes and coffee cups across the floor and up against the door. It would slow down anyone trying to come in. Hurrying over to where she stood looking out the door, he already knew she was in no shape to drive. He removed her hand from the makeshift bandage, took once glance, and knew she needed immediate medical attention.

“Give me your keys.” It wasn’t a request and she must have sensed that when after a span of five seconds, she reluctantly fished the keys out of her small black purse and handed them to him. “Which is your car?” She pointed to a red Mustang.

Shrugging off his jacket and draping it over her shoulders, Trevor wanted to laugh. The jacket fell just below her knees but it was long enough to effectively cover the blood-soaked bandage. Supporting her arm to keep her from falling, he guided her steadily down the platform to the sidewalk. The Mustang was fifty feet away but she managed to keep up with his long strides. He helped her into the passenger seat, where she moaned painfully and slumped over. Hurrying around to the driver’s side, Trevor got in, started the car, and eased it into the merging and chaotic traffic, moving away from the hotel. He averted his gaze when the second wave of police vehicles careened into the hotel’s back parking lot where she’d parked her car.

Chapter Three

Jae slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the passenger seat of her Mustang. The car was idling in park and for a second she didn’t know where she was.

As she struggled to sit up, an excruciating pain shot through her side, instantly bringing everything back: the Clarkston Hotel, the lounge, the shooting.
Grant!
Where was he? Did he escape while she was passed out?

Gritting her teeth against the throbbing pain, she looked out the window and saw that the car was parked near the front entrance of a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.

Through the glass doors, she spotted him walking down an aisle with a red plastic basket hung over his arm. He’d stopped and tossed several items into the basket. Sighing in relief, she was thankful he hadn’t run off and left her sitting in a running car passed out and bleeding. But she did recall telling him that he could not take her to the hospital or call the local cops.

Everything had gone wrong with this operation and she knew she was going to catch hell for it and deservedly so. She would get no sympathy for getting herself shot. Grainger would demand answers and her teammates would never let her live down that she’d been rescued by her assignment.

How the hell would she explain that she let precious time slip by because she’d been daydreaming about the doctor’s blue eyes and sexy body? Her delay in reacting to the immediate threat had almost got him killed, not to mention she’d put innocent civilians in danger.
Damn
. She was in so much trouble. Groaning and closing her eyes, she rolled her head to the cool glass of the window. She must have passed out again because the next thing she knew, Grant was getting into the car and tossing several bags onto the backseat. He must have known she’d come to because he asked how she was feeling. His deep voice resonated within the small space of her Mustang, forcing Jae to roll her head toward him. “I’m great, and you?”

Only after snapping the seatbelt in place and putting the car in gear did Trevor respond. “I’ll bet you thought I was going to run out on you, didn’t you?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “I wouldn’t do that. At least not until I get some answers first. I will reiterate that you need to go to the hospital; however, I know that wouldn’t be a good idea for either of us since doctors are required to report all gunshot wounds.” When he mentioned he’d picked up some pharmaceuticals so that he could patch her up, Jae could barely open her mouth to speak, but she did hear him when he’d told her not to worry because he knew what to do.

Jae was so lethargic she could barely register what he was saying much less respond to it. It took every ounce of effort she had to keep her eyes open. But eventually, his voice faded away and her last thought before darkness closed in around her was getting the message to Grainger that she was down.

* * * * *

“What the hell?” Trevor murmured quietly as he propped himself up against the wall of the motel room. Although exhausted, he hesitated dropping his weary body in the chair, which could fold out to a single bed.

As a licensed physician, he couldn’t and wouldn’t just leave her. He hadn’t operated on anybody in a long time, not since the end of his residency, just before he’d advanced his medical degree and studied psychiatry. Yet now this woman was his patient and he had to care for her medically.

He also had questions for her when she came to—a lot of questions.

He’d given her a mild sedative to lessen her pain and discomfort so that he could clean, suture, and bandage her wound. Regrettably, that task proved to be more complicated for him when he’d removed her blood-soaked top and wrapped a towel around her torso. He’d been careful of the black bra she was wearing but he had to fold the towel under the band of her bra and that’s when she started coming to, ready to fight. Her right hand shot up and she started choking him, while her left hand fumbled with the pillow. Her frantic movements dislodged the makeshift bandage, causing the wound to bleed again, all the while he’d been struggling to keep her flat on the bed. But her pleas for him to stop were hard for him to take.

He had no other choice but to increase the sedative. To do that, he had to keep her lying flat on the bed while dodging her punches to his chin and grasping the syringe lying on a towel on the nightstand. One quick jab into her backside and she immediately was out.

Rubbing at the still sore spot on his chin, Trevor lifted himself off the wall and walked across the room, dropping himself down into the chair beside the bed. He thought of the times he’d done that at a patient’s bedside, only to doze off.

The motel room he’d rented a couple of days ago wasn’t the best place to perform the type of surgery the woman needed but under the circumstances he didn’t have a choice after she had passed out in the car. Since going to a hospital was out of the question, he’d found a motel on the outskirts of Richmond, and by the time he’d carried her up to the second landing and inside the room, she was bleeding heavily. He’d been forced to close up the wound in order to save her life. He recalled that she’d saved his as well by blocking him from the shooter.

Glancing at his watch, he estimated she would remain under sedation for a few more hours. It was just enough time for him to grab a couple hours of sleep.

Trevor’s eyes were already closed and his body slumped in the chair when that thought entered his mind.

* * * * *

Jae struggled to open her eyes. They felt heavy and gritty. Failing that, she tried to swallow but her mouth felt as dry as a desert. Behind her closed eyes, she could see the desert’s heat waves in the distance and wondered if she and her teammates were on another training out in the Arizona desert.

Her mind, clouded by pain and shock, drifted back to the weekend following that training, which also happened to be Mike’s birthday. To celebrate both, the team decided to unwind at a local amusement park.

It was all fun and games until she and Mike got on a Vortex ride together and Mike had managed to squeeze in with her at the last minute. In the stand up ride, his body was pressed against hers and he kissed her deeply, passionately. She’d been shocked, breathless, and mad as hell. He had positioned his body to prevent others from seeing them but it didn’t prevent her from feeling his hardness flush against her stomach. When he pulled back, his eyes communicated his feelings. Jae let her eyes communicate her feelings too—outrage and anger to the hilt. He had broken one of the cardinal rules and he was going to have to pay. Punishment would be severe and painful.

Planting a fake smile on her face for the benefit of their teammates watching and waiting, Jae delivered a blow to Mike’s solar plexus that left him gagging and doubled over in pain, just as the attendant released the safety bar. Mike bent over and everything he’d eaten spewed from him like lava from a volcano much to the hilarity and clapping of the guys who mistakenly thought it was from the fast-paced ride. Still smiling, Jae stepped daintily around the mess and said over her shoulder, “Guess that ride was more than he could handle.”

But Jae wasn’t finished with Mike by a long shot. When they’d returned to work two days later, she pulled Mike up in the garage and gave him a piece of her mind. She’d told him that if he ever did that again she would beat him to a pulp. His kiss told her that he harbored some serious feelings for her. She cared for him like a brother, her comrade and friend, nothing more.

Still, every so often, she would find Mike looking at her. She just hoped that none of the other guys caught on to his feelings. It was another reason why she was ready to move up within the Bureau.

She also needed stability, a job for which she didn’t have to keep a bag packed and ready with extra clothing and toiletries. She didn’t want to travel so much. She also wanted a position that she could be honest and tell her family about. She hated lying to them in the first place.

Gradually the murky feelings of disorientation and confusion appeared to lift and her first thought was that she’d overslept and was going to be late for Ronnie’s bridal shower. Then it all came rushing back to her: the man with the dark hair, stunning blue eyes, and nice teeth, her getting shot.

Then a slew of questions bounced around inside her head. How long had she been asleep? What time was it? Where was she and where in the hell were her clothes?

On the verge of panic, Jae bolted upright and tried to reach around to the small of her back for her weapon. It wasn’t there but that’s when she felt a sharp jab of red-hot pain in her side. It forced her to cry out and fall back onto the bed, gasping and choking.

And then he was there, looming over her like some towering giant with serious blue eyes.

“You’re okay. You’re probably feeling a little woozy and maybe nauseous,” Trevor said, trying to calm her down.

Jae glanced down at the sheet pulled up to her chest and had a vague memory of him lifting her top off and pressing her down on the bed. “Wh-what d-did you do to-to me?” she croaked through trembling lips. And yes, she was woozy and nauseous as if she’d consumed a bottle of wine. When his hand reached out and pressed against her shoulder, Jae looked around wildly. Spotting a syringe and vial of a drug lying on a towel on the nightstand, she pulled at his arm. “Y-you son of a bi-bitch! Wh-what did you give me?”

“Relax, JR, and listen up.” Trevor spoke slowly, but firmly. “I couldn’t take you to the ER, but I needed to remove that bullet in your side. I had to sedate you to do that. The bleeding has stopped and you’re going to be fine in a few days. Now, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst, use your fingers to show me your pain level.”

She held up the middle finger of both hands.

“Okay, so I take it that your pain level is a two. I’m guessing it’s about an eight, and for the record, I don’t see the AMA putting that particular graphic on the patient pain chart,” he said, then smiled when she scowled up at him.

“Y-you said it w-wasn’t bad.” Jae swallowed against the nausea.

“I didn’t actually say that. I told a tiny lie.” Trevor held up his thumb and forefinger to indicate that.

“You li-lied.”

“Only because I had to.” He lifted serious eyes to hers. “I need to assess you, so please don’t attack me again.” Trevor first felt her forehead for temperature then taking her pulse. Next, he lifted a stethoscope from the nightstand and listened to her heart, followed by attaching a blood pressure cuff to her upper arm. Her blood pressure was elevated and he told her it was most likely due to the sedative. “I need to check the bandage and possibly change it.” Lowering the sheet, he carefully peeled back the tape and bandage.

Jae didn’t move during his examination, but her eyes followed his hands. She saw that her right side was red and purple and swollen. She could also see several black sutures but her jaw dropped when he peeled back the thick bandage. “That’s so gr-gross.” She groaned at the swollen and discolored skin. Controlling her features to a calm resolve, Jae met his curious gaze. “You always c-carry su-surgical equipment, Dr. Grant?” She kept quiet to his “uh-huh” answers and was catapulted several weeks back to his office when that had been his usual response to her questions.

Trevor expertly cleaned her wound and replaced the bandaging. “I need you to sit up and try to cough to clear your airway. It’s probably going to hurt.” After helping her to a seated position, Trevor lifted the stethoscope to show her that he was again going to place it on her chest.

Jae did as she was instructed and it brought water to her eyes. “You didn’t lie. It-it hurts,” she said, gasping between clenched teeth. “Are you a medical doctor?”

“Yes, I am and everything sounds clear, which is good. I want to give you some medication to minimize the pain. It won’t sedate you too much, okay?” When she nodded, Trevor pulled a small bottle of painkillers from his backpack and dropped it into her outstretched hand.

She downed two of the pills with the bottle of water he passed her. When he asked if she knew the man who’d shot her, Jae shook her head no. She guessed the medical assessment was over. “No, I don’t but he was aiming at you. Do you know him?”

“No, but he could be associated with the men who came to my office before. They claimed to be special agents also. They’d left then returned locked and loaded, and before leaving, they blew my office and lab to smithereens. The next thing I know you show up claiming to be my contact from the FBI, and then minutes later I’m being shot at. So, I don’t know who to trust and what to believe. I need you to tell me right now, what’s your assignment?” Trevor accepted the bottle of pills and glass she passed to him.

Jae reasoned he had every right to be wary of her. But she was struggling to piece together her conversation with Grainger when he’d first called her because her sixth sense was telling her something wasn’t right. “I-I need to make a call before I can discuss anything with you. Where’s my cell phone?” When he turned and walked over to the dresser, Jae was surprised to see him return with both of her smart phones, her prepaid phone and her agency phone. Sitting up further on the bed, Jae checked both cell phones.

To her astonishment there were no messages from anybody at the Bureau. On the prepaid phone she had several calls from her sister Ronnie and her mother. She glanced at the time on the screen and closed her eyes. It was eight fifteen in the morning and Grant was supposed to have been delivered to the safe house by 10:30 last night.

She started scrolling through her agency cell phone again. No messages. None.

Why hadn’t anyone called, especially Grainger? He’d given her explicit instructions that said he would call her at 23:30 hours. That would have been one hour after dropping Grant off at the safe house.

Another thing that swirled around Jae’s mind was that Grainger had never failed to call an agent to get a briefing following an assignment. “Wait a minute,” she said, speaking to herself as she tried to sort things out. She suddenly remembered she’d left him a coded message indicating she needed help. That wasn’t a message any agent took lightly. Where were her backups? She scrolled through her call log again.