Hard Target: Elite Ops - Book One (25 page)

“Please, can I see my son now?” she asked.

“Of course,” Rivera said magnanimously. Nodding to the nurse who’d taken her blood pressure, he led her to the recessed door across from the nurse’s desk.

“I want to see him alone,” she said.

“Naturally, but only for a few moments. We have much to prepare for,” said Rivera, apparently forgetting he’d promised her
as much time as possible
with her son a few hours ago. She didn’t argue, recognizing it would do no good and only squander what time she did have.

She could tell Leland wanted to say something, but she gripped his hand and squeezed. He understood and remained silent. It was maddening, but she wouldn’t put it beyond Rivera to vindictively refuse to allow her a goodbye if she or Leland made him angry.

“Go on, Mrs. Mercado,” he instructed.

She only hesitated a moment before entering the high-tech hospital room that looked like a mini-hotel suite. Zach lay on the bed, just as she’d seen on the monitor earlier. His eyes were closed. His color was okay, not great. She stood in the doorway and watched him doze.

How many nights over the past year had she watched him sleeping, just to reassure herself he was alive and still with her?

She’d sat in the chair she’d rocked him in as an infant and watched him breathing—praying for an answer, for a donor. She’d never dreamed the answer would come in quite this way.

She took a deep breath. She was ready to do this, to give herself up for him. She wasn’t scared for herself but apprehensive for him. She didn’t want him to live with Max or with guilt. To grow up with his father would change Zach in ways that she didn’t like to think about.

This was the part she was most worried about.

Who would listen to him, guide him, truly love him? Max was out of the question. God, she didn’t have time to unravel her feelings about what her husband’s involvement in this scheme meant. Obviously, the man was too selfish, too angry, too morally bankrupt to raise their son.

And Anna’s family, well, Liz was the only real option. Zach’s aunt would gladly take care of him, and he could be happy with her. That was something she’d have to ask Rivera about, if she could write a letter to Liz beforehand. Surely, he’d let her.

She just . . . she didn’t want to leave Zach yet. She felt the tears on her face as she stood staring and quickly brushed them away.

She moved closer to the bed, intending to take his hand and wake him gently, but she bumped the tray table and jostled left over silverware. His eyes flew open.

“Mom.” His voice cracked as only a teenage boy’s could. “You’re here. Are you okay?”

She nodded and reached for his hand—took it, held on, and told the biggest lie she ever had. “Yes, darling, everything is alright. I’m fine. We’re both going to be okay.”

When he’d been diagnosed with his heart condition he’d made her swear she would always tell him the truth, no matter what. And she’d sworn to do that, even if it took her skin off.

Today she couldn’t bear to keep that promise. She couldn’t tell him everything that was about to happen, that he was going to be fine but she wasn’t going to be here with him. Afterward, he was going to hate that she hadn’t told him the truth, but she couldn’t see any upside. He’d freak out and insist she not do it. That would only upset him and possibly delay the surgery or make things more stressful.

And in the end, Rivera would get his way. Anna would be the donor for his wife and her son. So in her last moments with Zach, she was going to lie. She only hoped that later he could forgive her.

She smiled because this should be good news. “They’ve found a donor! You’re going to get a heart.”

Tears burned behind her eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. He’d know something was wrong and this was supposed to be what they’d been waiting over a year for.

Instead, he looked puzzled. “Here? Why here? Why did these people take me from Dallas?”

“It’s confusing I know. Your dad arranged it all. When he got arrested things got complicated and mis- um . . . miscommunicated,” she stammered.

“You never wanted me to have the surgery in Mexico,” he said.

She nodded and swallowed before answering. “I know, but finding a donor changed my mind.” She tried to smile again. This time it felt like she was grimacing.

Despite that, Zach seemed to accept her explanation. He was a little out of it, but that didn’t surprise her. His oxygen saturation levels were lower than normal, so his thinking wasn’t as clear.

She sat on the edge of his bed and reached for his hand. “You know how much I love you, right?”

Her beautiful boy grinned. “Yeah, Mom. I know. I love you, too. For everything you’ve done. I know it’s been really hard. Thank you. I can’t wait to make it up to you. To take care of you for a change.”

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears at bay. Oh God, how could she do this? He was going to be so angry when he was told what had happened.

She studied him, trying to imagine what he would look like a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now. As a grown man.

She took another deep breath. “I’ll look forward to that.”

She sniffed and several tears ran down her cheek. But it was okay to cry now. He’d just think she was being sentimental.

“They’re going to be in here soon to do all the preliminaries. I’d asked to see you alone first,” she said.

He nodded. “It doesn’t seem real. I’ve waited so long. Can you believe it?”

“No, I can’t.” She couldn’t say anything else and was almost relived when there was a knock at the door. Dr. Morales and Leland came in.

“Hey!” Zach lit up when he saw Leland.

“Hey yourself, guy.”

“Mom didn’t say you were here, too.” He looked at her with another puzzled expression.

“Yeah, I helped her get to Mexico,” Leland explained.

“Cool, thanks.” He squeezed Anna’s hand. “I’m so glad she’s here. This is amazing news about the donor. I wish Dad could be here, too, since he planned it all.”

Anna struggled not to visibly cringe beside him at the words. Leland clenched his jaw and put his hand on her elbow. She could feel the tension in his fingers.

Zach was blissfully unaware of his verbal gaffe. “I guess he’s still in Dallas. But I’ll see him soon, right?”

Leland looked to Anna for direction on answering the question and she nodded.

“That’s right,” Leland said.

She didn’t make any more eye contact with him. She couldn’t. She had to get out before she broke down completely.

“Darling, the doctor’s here to do that pre-op stuff. I’m going to have to leave.”

“You can’t stay?” Zach asked, a tiny bit of fear in his eyes.

Oh baby, I’m so sorry. Please don’t be scared. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.

She shook her head, no longer trusting herself to speak. Morales spoke up. “The regulations are a little different here than in US hospitals.”

Indeed.
Anna found a sick gallows humor in the doctor’s understatement. She was on a very thin edge and needed to get out of the room.

“But I’ll see you after?” said Zach.

The doctor didn’t answer and Anna nodded. “Of course.”

Still holding Zach’s hand, she leaned over the bed to kiss him. He surprised her and raised up to give her a tight hug.

“I love you, Mom. I’m glad this is almost over.”

She swallowed and wiped her eyes. “I love you, too, baby. I’m so proud of you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Remember that, okay?”

Forgive me for not telling you everything.

He squeezed her neck again, and she kissed him on the cheek before turning to leave. Grateful the door was only a few steps away, she was going to melt in a puddle when she got outside the room.

The doctor, finally seeming to clue in as to how difficult this was for her, moved to Zach’s bedside and checked the IV. Anna escaped with Leland behind her. Antonio was waiting to escort them. Rivera was nowhere to be seen.

Once the door to Zach’s room closed behind her, Anna’s whole body began to shake, but she kept following the guard. He led them down the hall toward the stairs to another hospital room just like Zach’s. She scarcely made it to the room’s recliner and would have crumbled to the floor if Leland hadn’t been there to catch her.

The door shut firmly behind them, but she didn’t cry. At last, she was beyond tears.

S
HE WAS COMPLETELY
wrecked. At a total loss for where to start and what to say, Leland sat in the chair and pulled Anna to his lap.

“I’m not sad for me,” she said. “I just can’t stand the thought of leaving him alone.”

She was shaking like she had palsy. Leland stared at the door while running his hand up and down her arm. At his touch, she burrowed into his chest.

The nurse who’d taken her vitals earlier knocked but didn’t wait before stepping in. Mechanically holding out her arm for the blood pressure cuff when asked, Anna didn’t raise her head or untangle herself from Leland.

“The doctor says we’ll be getting underway with the procedure in the next hour. You’ll need to change before we start.”

She pointed to a gown on the bed. “They’ll be here for you in about twenty-five minutes.”

The nurse was trying to be professional, but watching her deliver the news, Leland could tell the woman was struggling. Anna didn’t move her head from his chest. He wasn’t sure she was even hearing the instructions.

The nurse addressed him. “I can give her something for the anxiety if you think it would help. It might make this easier.”

At that Anna raised her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I . . . I need to write a letter,” she stammered. “Could I have some paper, please?”

“Certainly.” The nurse moved to the bedside table and pulled a tablet and pen from it. “Here you are. If you change your mind about the sedative, buzz for me.”

The nurse left and Anna rested her head back on his shoulder. “I’m not sure I can do this,” she said.

He started to speak, but she put a finger to his lips. “Don’t say I don’t have to. I do. There’s no other way.”

He swallowed his words and took a deep breath, wanting to give her some clue as to what he was planning before he took the decision completely out of her hands. “I won’t let this happen. I can’t let you give in.”

“Don’t you see? I’m not giving in. I’m giving my son a chance to start again.”

“No, I can’t accept that. I won’t. Don’t
you
see, Anna? He needs you, alive and in his life. He won’t understand or be grateful for this sacrifice. It’ll scar him for life. And who will raise him if you’re gone? Max? He’ll be in jail.”

She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears and her face fell. “Please. I can’t argue with you about this anymore. Not when there’s so little time left.”

He didn’t speak. Everything he’d been running from in his life and in his work was here: his blossoming addiction, his failures, knowing his own worth, protecting the people who mattered, being enough. Was he good enough to overcome his fears and his failures?

Right now he wasn’t sure, but Anna made him want to be. For the first time since he’d woken up after the Colton raid, he longed to be good enough and to know he made a difference.

Anna didn’t understand what she was worth to those around her or how important her presence was in her son’s life. With a shock, Leland realized they were dealing with some of the same insecurities but on completely different levels.

He hadn’t wanted to be needed by or responsible to anyone. But once he’d met her and Zach, he only wanted to protect them. Still, dammit, here he was—defeated, angry, and failing again.

Unaware of his struggle, she turned to him. “I know you’ve no reason to do this. But when it’s over, when you’re both home and safe, please look in on Zach.”

Leland didn’t want to go there, so he ignored the wave of despair that swept over him at her words. She wasn’t going to change her mind. He had no gun and no way of contacting Nick or Marissa to know if they were indeed close by, but he wasn’t giving up.

He wasn’t giving Anna up.

She gazed into his eyes, begging him to look out for her son when she was gone. He nodded and let her think he was agreeing to let her do this, to die for Zach. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t letting her sacrifice herself. He wasn’t losing her when he’d just found her.

Instead, he was getting her out of here. Zach, too. She might hate him later, but she wasn’t going to die here today.

Her whole body was shaking so he leaned into her, kissing her softly on the cheek, working his way down her neck then back to her lips as she melted further into his chest. He’d give her anything she needed in this moment, except what she wanted most.

He felt her anguish and her passion when she slid her hands around his shoulders. He took the kiss deeper. Still, he held her gently, moving his hands up her arms to her neck until his fingers were at the vagus nerve below her ear.

At first she didn’t realize what was happening. Reaching her hand up, she tried to pull his thumb away. “Leland, that kind of hurts—”

Then she was falling away, her eyes rolling back into her head, and she was out. For how long, he wasn’t sure.

When she came to, she’d feel like hell for about twenty minutes. But he couldn’t fight her while trying to get both her and Zach out of the compound. Besides, they were running out of time.

She’d be furious for what she’d see as his stealing this chance from Zach. But he wasn’t having either of them on his conscience. He already carried enough guilt from the failures of his past. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her on the covers.

Since the door to the hall was recessed in a small alcove, he could open it without anyone seeing him, unless they were walking directly in front of the room. He slid outside and took a quick peek down the hall.

The nurse’s desk was to the left and the staircase to the main house was on the right. Two women in scrubs stood at the nurse’s station. Glancing back again toward the stairs, Leland saw what he was looking for.

Chapter Twenty-Eight