Montana Fire (33 page)

He cocked a brow. “Just
like
? I know my buddy must be crazy about you.”

That caught her interest. Or was he trying to distract her? “Why do you say that?
Did he tell you something?” A vein throbbed next to her eye. The stress was getting
to her.

“Didn’t have to. Every year, since the beginning of time, Max and I always go to the
Monster Truck Rally at the County Fairgrounds. This year, he asked you instead.”

Her heart raced. She had no idea that the event was so special to him. “You could
come with us.”

Trent laughed, then immediately sobered. He placed a hand over his lip. “Shouldn’t
do that.”

“Sorry.” Something Trent said rang a bell. “Is the rally always at the County Fairgrounds?”

“Yes.”

She’d never been. “Is it stadium seating there?” When she’d gone to one of the Monster
Truck events in California, it had been held at a large football stadium.

He twisted toward her. “Yes. What are you getting at?”

“CF could stand for County Fairgrounds.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. Max showed me the initials, but I thought it was a signature.
There was a date at the bottom of the paper. The rally is May 3
^rd
. That must be it.”

Excitement coursed through her. “We need to tell Forbes.”

He slightly shook his head. “Max never told me you had the ability to use mental telepathy.
After the stunt
they
pulled bugging my car, I’m not trusting my phone. They probably listened in when
Max told me he had the drive.”

“Right. I wasn’t thinking. So what happens now?” She’d left her burn phone in Hank’s
van. Damn.

“That’s up to Forbes.” Trent sat up, and looked toward the door then back again, acting
as if it wasn’t safe to be talking about this. “So tell me about yourself,” he said.

While they waited for Forbes, Jamie gave Trent a sanitized version of her life. Before
she finished, Forbes arrived. But he wasn’t alone. With him were three men dressed
in suits. She would have thought they’d have tried to blend in. Both she and Trent
jumped up.

Forbes approached. “How’s Max?” He sounded concerned.

“In surgery.”

The agent raised his brows. “Perhaps you both would like to get some fresh air.”

Trent nodded. Jamie pulled on her coat and followed the agent outside. She understood
it wouldn’t be wise to hand off the flash drive in plain sight.

Once they were away from the entrance, she handed him the information.

“Do you know what’s on it?” Agent Forbes asked. “Max didn’t say.”

Jamie detailed the list, the items, the seat numbers, and her guess what it all meant.

Forbes whistled. “This is huge. I’ll get on this right away. Knowing some of the identities
should make it easier to find them and take them down.”

Max would be so disappointed not to have a hand in the final showdown. “I’ll let Max
know.”

Forbes nodded. “I’m going to station one of my men outside his room.”

He didn’t have to tell her why. There were more terrorists than the two Max had stopped.
“Thank you. What about the man Max injured?” She assumed Trent had told him about
him.

“My men are checking on him now. Once he’s stable, we’ll be speaking with him.”

There wasn’t much else to say. “Thank you.”

Trent turned to her. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

She assumed that meant he would be leaving. “I’m good. The FBI has my back.”

“I know Max well. Whatever you do, don’t let him out of here until the doctor releases
him.”

She didn’t like how serious he’d become. “You think Max would try to leave?” As soon
as she said the words, she realized her mistake. “Never mind. He’s more stubborn than
you are.”

He chuckled. “Take good care of him. He needs you.” Trent hugged her goodbye. He turned
to Agent Forbes. “Can I trouble you for a ride back to Marie?”

“Sure. I’ll have one of my agents stay with Ms. Henderson.”

“I appreciate it.”

Jamie rushed back inside to warmth. The agent was standing close to the entrance,
his back against the wall.

Close to an hour later, a doctor came through the door. “Ms. Henderson?”

She jumped up. “Yes?”

His face remained inscrutable, but she didn’t expect anything different. “Your friend,
Max, is in recovery now. We had to repair an artery, but everything looks good. Nothing
vital was hit.”

“Thank God. When can I see him?”

“He’ll be moved to the surgical wing in about an hour. The nurse will let you know
when you can see him.”

Two hours later, Jamie was told she could visit Max. The agent with her nodded, but
he didn’t move. Apparently, he’d be keeping watch at this end. When she reached Max’s
room, another agent who’d come with Forbes was standing guard. He pushed open the
door and she entered.

Jamie pulled up a chair and picked up Max’s hand. It was cold.

He opened his eyes. “Hey.”

His face was pale, but otherwise, he looked good. Right now, she’d take anything other
than dead. “How are you feeling?”

“Groggy.” He glanced down at his wound. “Am I going to live?” He smiled.

“Yes, but you’ll have to rest for a couple of days.” She wanted to kiss every inch
of his body, but she didn’t want him to get excited and move about.

“Not going to happen. I need to speak with Forbes.”

The anesthesia must be messing with his head. “I already gave him the drive.”

“He showed up already?”

Jamie squeezed his hand. “You were in surgery for hours. Trent went back with Forbes.”
She still didn’t think Trent should be driving, though his eye looked less swollen
when he left.

“What did Forbes say? Did he know what CF meant?”

“We didn’t ask him. Trent and I think we figured it out. Mr. FBI Man was very impressed
with all that you’d done.”

“You figured it out?”

He didn’t seem to care about the accolade. She reminded him that the Monster Truck
Rally was being held at the Country Fairgrounds on May 3
^rd
. “CF could stand for County Fairgrounds. The date matches, too.”

“I’ll be damned. The stadium will be packed. If they’d succeeded, close to a thousand
people could have died.”

It would have been a huge tragedy. “Forbes said that with the list of names, he and
his men should be able to locate the terrorist cell quickly.”

“I need to go.” Max unhooked the IV from the port in his arm and sat up. He looked
around. “Where are my clothes?”

The man must be delusional. “You aren’t going anywhere, buster.”

“Yes, I am. Honey. Listen. I don’t care if the FBI said they were taking over my case.
It’s still my case. I want to see this through to the end.”

She could let him get out of bed and attempt to find his clothes that weren’t there,
but all the movement might reopen his wound. “Not only won’t I give you the keys to
the car, or drive you anywhere, there’s an FBI agent guarding the door that won’t
let you out of here. As much as I like it when you go all heroic on me, I need you
to get better.” Jamie hooked up the IV again.

“Well, damn.”

*     *     *

Max was about to climb the walls. Three days was too long to lie in a hospital bed.
As far as he was concerned, his injury looked pretty much healed. He might limp a
bit, but now he had matching wounds. Once from the bullet eleven years ago, now this
one on the other leg.

Stupid doctor acted like he needed Max able to run a marathon before signing the release
papers. If Max had been able to explain the real reason for wanting to get out of
there, he bet the doctor would have sent him on his way. Too bad Max couldn’t blurt
out that he had to help the FBI take down a bunch of terrorists.

It wasn’t all bad, though. He got be with Jamie. Wonderful Jaime. She’d been incredibly
patient and caring, if not rather stubborn. He’d been quite capable of getting out
of bed by himself to go to the bathroom, but she’d insisted on wrapping an arm around
his waist to make sure he didn’t fall.

As much as he liked having her around, he could see it was taking a toll on her, too.
Agent Forbes had requested a female agent from a local field office to stay with Jamie
at a nearby hotel each night. One afternoon, when Jamie was with him, the agent had
purchased clothes for her. Max liked how her eyes had lit up when she saw them.

After a bit of arguing, he convinced Jamie to ask to borrow the agent’s phone. It
would be secure. Max didn’t want to be kept in the dark any longer. Actually, he wanted
to know if when he got out, whether he could help with taking down the cell.

Max called Dan, but when he asked him about the progress, his former boss acted rather
strange. “I haven’t heard. You know the FBI. They keep a tight lid on things.”

“I thought Forbes was going to keep you in the loop. Let you help.”

“He did.”

Max knew Dan well. “What aren’t you telling me?” Max had enough of this shit. He was
ready to knock the agent outside over the head and leave.

“Forbes is on the other line. I gotta take this. Talk to you soon.” He then had the
balls to hang up.

Jamie looked at him with eagerness. “So? What did Dan say?”

Poor Jamie. All Max wanted to do was wash away her pain. She was forced into seclusion
until these men were brought to justice. “He didn’t know anything, but I don’t believe
him.”

She slumped back in her seat. A knock sounded on the door and they both turned. The
agent never knocked, nor did the nurses. Trent walked in, looking almost as good as
new. A nice change to the last time Max had seen his friend on the ground.

“What’s up, dude?” Trent said with a smile.

“Nice of you to stop by. You look like shit, by the way.” Max had to say something.

Trent’s smile didn’t diminish. He pulled up a second chair. “I have some good news.”

Max waited for him to spill it, but he kept looking between the two of them. “What
is it? Tell us.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“F
or starters, you both are being heralded as heroes.” Trent brushed his knuckles across
his chest. “I, also, was given kudos for my role in taking down the terrorist cell.”

Jamie sat there stunned for a minute. “Taking them down? They’ve been arrested?”

“They have. After an intricately planned operation, the FBI, in conjunction with the
fabulous RHPD, captured all those responsible for the attempt to bomb the Monster
Truck Rally.”

“Oh, thank God.” She sagged in relief. The rally was scheduled for this weekend, and
she feared the FBI wouldn’t be able to stop them in time.

Trent nodded. “It will continue as scheduled.”

Jamie glanced over at Max. She expected to see frustration written all over his face.
Instead, he was smiling. She didn’t get it. “I thought you’d be upset that you didn’t
get to charge in on your white stead and shoot everyone one of the bastards.”

He and Trent burst out laughing. “That would have been nice, but I’m good, knowing
you’ll be safe.”

“Safe. I’d forgotten what that word meant.”

“Max,” Trent said, “guess who the kingpin was.”

Max wasn’t always the most patient man when it came to guessing games. His furrowed
brows implied that now wasn’t the time either. “Who?”

“Ed Hanson.”

The name didn’t sound familiar. “Who’s that?” she asked.

Max answered. “The man who owned the burned warehouse. That’s quite interesting.”

Her wheels spun. “Do you think Vic suspected him and that was why he planted himself
in front of the abandoned building each day?”

“That makes sense,” Trent said.

The room door opened, and Max’s doctor strode in, clipboard in hand. Half a dozen
nurses had already been in to day to check on Max. The fact that several repeated
the same tests, Jamie suspected they just wanted to take another look at their hot
charge.

The doctor set down his clipboard, and checked Max’s wound. “Excellent. You’re healing
nicely. You ready to go home, Mr. Gruden?”

“Hell, ya.”