Retribution (SSU Trilogy Book 3) (The Surgical Strike Unit) (39 page)

Telling himself to stop being a coward, Rafe dropped to his knees beside Gabby and pulled the sheet back from her face. Even beneath the blood and bruises she was the most beautiful, most precious sight in the world.

He reached out and smoothed her hair back from her face. “Thank you,
querida
,” he whispered. “You saved me. I only wish…” His throat closed up and he fought to get the next words out. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you.”

“For God’s sake, let me give her the injection,” Kai shouted at Owens. “What harm can it do? You think she’s already dead!”

“And you’re crazy if you think you can bring her back to life, man,” Owens scoffed.

Rafe’s head whipped around. “What?” Hope burst inside him and Rafe surged to his feet.

Kai moved around Owens to stand directly in front of Rafe. “I’ve been trying to tell Owens that I think Gabby cut her hand on a broken vial of Agent Medusa. It’s a powerful nerve agent that in small doses can put the body into a sort of hibernation that resembles death.” Kai turned back to Owens.

“You’ve covered the knife wound and drained the chest cavity of blood?”

Owens nodded.

“Put the drainage tube back in and let me give her the antidote. If her heart starts, you keep the fluid away.”

“Please,” Rafe heard himself beg. He tugged Kai toward Gabby. “Do it.”

“Rafe, man, it’s been too long,” Owens protested. “Even if she comes back there’s a good chance she won’t be the same.”

Rafe knew he meant brain damage. But he didn’t care.

“She’ll be fine,” Kai snapped as he knelt beside Gabby. “Agent Medusa prolongs the time the brain and other organs can survive on minimal oxygen without permanent damage.” He filled a syringe from the vial he’d taken out of the debris in the lab, then injected it right over her heart. He stared at his watch for two minutes, then nodded to Owens.

Owens placed his stethoscope over Gabby’s chest. “Christ,” he breathed. “We have a heartbeat. Bouchet, get over here. We’ve got our miracle, man.”

Rafe found himself sandwiched between Niko and Kai. Both men were laughing and slapping Rafe on the back. But Rafe shoved them out of the way. A great big bubble of joy tried to push its way through his system, but he refused to set it free. Not until he was certain this was real.

He sat by Gabby’s head, stroking her hair as the medics worked.

All the while his lips formed a silent prayer.
Please, let Gabby live. Please, let Gabby live.

Chapter 34

Three Days Later

SSU Medical Facility

Oregon

T
he jagged pain of the knife wound had given way to peace and an enveloping veil of warming light. Gabby floated blissfully in the light, then something plunged her back into darkness. Pain returned, along with awareness. She caught snippets of conversation, enough to know that she’d been declared dead and that no one knew if she’d survive emergency surgery.

Gabby wanted to return to the light, but every time she managed to reach that peaceful place, something kept pulling her back.

No. Some
one
kept pulling her back.

Rafe.

His voice was an almost constant companion. Words of love, of grief, of apology. Pleading for her to return to him. And as she regained more of her senses, she felt his touch. Smoothing back her hair. Stroking her cheek. Squeezing her hand.

Anchoring her to the world until finally she let go of her search for the light and opened her eyes.

Rafe slept in a chair pulled up close to the side of her hospital bed. His arms were stretched out to keep hold of her right hand, while his head rested against the high back of the chair. The position looked uncomfortable, yet Rafe’s mouth was open slightly as he slept deeply.

Gabby kept very still, not wanting to wake him. He looked exhausted. Dark circles shadowed his eyes and his cheeks were sunken underneath several days’ growth of beard. From the bloodstained, dirty appearance of his clothes, he hadn’t changed or showered recently.

And still, he took her breath away.

She drank in his appearance with all the gusto of a desert flower sucking in the first rain after a long drought. His hair had grown long enough that a stray curl tickled his forehead, making her fingers itch to brush it away. Yet even as she thought it and raised her hand, her strength waned and she fell back into darkness.

T
he next time Gabby opened her eyes, she found Rafe’s dark chocolate gaze upon her.

His face lit up with joy, bringing him from the grim man sleeping by her bedside closer to the laughing man he’d once been.

He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Welcome back,
querida
,” he whispered. “You scared me near to death.” Then Rafe buried his face against the bed and cried.

With great effort, Gabby lifted her right hand and placed it on his head, loving his warmth under her palm. “It’s okay, Rafe. I’m here. I’m alive. You brought me back.”

He raised his head. “No, Kai brought you back.” He squeezed her hand almost painfully. “Owens, the team medic, gave you up for dead, but Kai said you’d been exposed to some special chemical and you weren’t really dead. He gave you some injection and your heart started. So you owe Kai your life. Well, you flatlined a couple of times in surgery, but you never would have made it to the hospital if not for Kai.”

“And I wouldn’t have made it back from where I went when I flatlined if not for you, Rafe.” She wanted to kiss him, but didn’t have the strength. The best she could manage was a weary smile. “I love you, Rafe.”

“Ah,
querida
, I love you so damn much. Don’t you ever leave me again.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

One Month Later

SSU Offices

Washington, D.C.

R
afe helped Gabby into a chair at the end of the conference room table. Jenna, Niko, Susana and Kai were already seated. Ryker stood at the far end of the table, watching the group with a small, proud smile. Yet something seemed off. There was tension in Ryker’s body that set Rafe’s instincts on edge.

Reaching out to close the door, Rafe was shocked when Mark Tonelli walked through, his arm around a woman with wild, curly blonde hair.

For a second, Rafe could only glare at Tonelli. “I still haven’t forgiven you for Cozumel,” he snarled.

Tonelli tipped his head in acknowledgment.

“But thank you for helping us stop Kerberos.” Rafe stepped aside and let the man into the room. He still didn’t fully trust the guy, but from the sappy way the woman by his side looked up at Tonelli, there must be a few redeeming qualities to the man.

“Faith Andrews, meet Rafe Andros,” Tonelli said. “Faith’s brother Toby is one of Dr. Montague’s patients. He was the man who tried to stop Kaufmann’s other men from attacking Dr. Montague on Salaqut.”

“I’m sorry for what your brother is going through,” Rafe said. “But if anyone can help him, Gabby can.”

“I know. She’s been wonderful.” Faith gave Rafe a sweet smile and he wondered how the hell she’d ended up with a bastard like Tonelli.

“Thank you all for coming here today,” Ryker began after the newcomers and Rafe had taken their seats. “The current President has asked me to personally extend his heartfelt appreciation for your help in stopping the anniversary demonstration and for bringing down Kerberos.”

“Hear, hear,” Susana called out. She started clapping and was quickly joined by Jenna.

Rafe grinned. He liked Susana and the way she lightened Kai’s often too serious life. And because she was Dr. Nevsky’s daughter, and had received some injections from her father before she’d even been born, Rafe felt an odd kinship with her. Best of all, he got to tease Kai for the rest of their lives about marrying a former supermodel.

“My heroes,” Jenna crowed.

Niko rolled his eyes and planted a fast kiss on his wife’s mouth.

“As some of you may have heard,” Ryker continued, “former president Byrne MacAdam’s attorney was pushing for him to be declared insane, but MacAdam took offense and fired him. He continued to insist it was his right as Commander In Chief to attack the terrorists who’d killed his son in the manner he saw fit.”

Rafe saw the shadow of some dark emotion pass over Ryker’s face. Gabby must have seen it too, because she glanced over at Rafe in question. Not knowing what had the Director on edge, Rafe shook his head and gave her hand a squeeze. He still found it hard to care about much of anything besides Gabby’s health, but it was unusual for Ryker to show any wayward emotion. That worried Rafe.

“What you don’t know is that all the key players in the anniversary demonstration plot, including MacAdam, Jamieson, and Kaufmann have died during the last forty-eight hours.”

Rafe sucked in a breath. Yeah, that would explain Ryker’s dark mood.

Gabby’s fingers tightened on Rafe’s as she stared at Ryker in shock. Niko cursed, while Kai crossed his arms over his chest and regarded Ryker with narrowed eyes.

“House cleaning,” Tonelli muttered in disgust.

Rafe had to agree, but the thought didn’t make him happy.

“Other victims include the man in the DOD that Jamieson fingered as the one who hired him to stage the accident that killed Dr. Montague’s parents, and Dr. Winthrop from the VA, who gave Kaufmann the location of our Georgia facility along with our security details, allowing Kaufmann’s men to stage a successful kidnapping.”

Rafe felt Gabby tense beside him. He knew she’d been told that her parents had indeed been murdered to stop her father’s investigation into Agent Styx, but she wouldn’t have wanted the man responsible to die without facing trial.

“This information is not yet for public distribution, so I have to ask you to promise to remain silent.” Ryker looked pointedly at Tonelli’s companion, so Rafe figured she must have some ties to the media. “The reason I’m telling you this is to warn you to watch your backs. The SSU currently knows more than any other group about the scope of Nevsky and Kaufmann’s programs. We possess the only samples of the drugs and have the only copies of the research notes. The data provided by Tonelli linked key officials within the DOD to Jamieson and Kerberos, but I’m not certain that we have caught everyone involved.”

“You’re expecting an attack?” Rafe asked. If so, he was getting Gabby the hell out of here.

“I don’t know. With both Gonzales and Winthrop dead, I believe the SSU is now free of traitors. However, I no longer trust our former government allies. So while I have no data that suggests an attack has been planned, I’m not ruling it out. All facilities will be on high alert until further notice.”

Rafe glanced over at Tonelli, wondering why he was being allowed to hear this. Ryker caught the direction of his gaze. “Tonelli will be serving as a part-time liaison between the SSU and the CIA while we finish dismantling Jamieson’s network. And Faith will be providing Dr. Montague with any personal details about her brother that might help move him toward full recovery.”

Ryker looked around the room. “Any questions? No? Right, then. Let’s talk assignments…”

A
n hour later, Ryker’s hand crushed the velvet drape as he held it away from his office window. He was high enough up that he could see the Mall and the Lincoln Memorial. If he squinted hard enough he could make out the Capitol’s dome at the other end, and with some careful orienteering he could locate the roof of the White House.

He used to enjoy this view. It used to give him peace to look at the enduring symbols of honor and truth. But now everything he looked upon seemed tainted by corruption, greed and arrogance. Nothing new to the political heart of the country, but before recent events he’d always trusted that there were enough honorable men to counteract the vices.

That belief had been shattered by the encrypted e-mail he’d received informing him of the deaths of MacAdam, Jamieson, Kaufmann and several other men involved in the anniversary demonstration. The e-mail had gone into details, each line making Ryker more and more ill. Which was why he hadn’t shared that information with his team

Ryker stared bleakly toward the Lincoln Memorial. He’d been assured that all men would stand trial, even the President. Ryker would never have believed the men would be assassinated.

Ryker didn’t kill because of expediency or to avoid a messy situation. He’d thought his friends from Vietnam had been like-minded. But the details of these deaths made him realize that getting to all the victims would have been impossible without collaboration across several different agencies.

Implicating his friends. Putting Ryker forever on the outside. Because no matter what their crimes, Jamieson and the others had deserved better than to be killed without having a chance to atone for their actions.

Ryker stared through the rain blurred glass at the sea of umbrellas on the sidewalk below. The people down there trusted their government to protect them, and to uphold the laws that made the United States unique.

Not to kill simply because it was easier than dealing with the potential fallout.

Ryker briefly closed his eyes. He’d just drawn his personal line in the sand. His friends, whether directly involved or merely complicit, had taken one too many steps toward becoming the type of men he’d always fought against. Ryker could not follow them and still retain what was left of his soul.

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling unutterably weary. Old and jaded. Abandoned. Uncertain if he had the strength to keep fighting alone. Wondering if this was a fight he could ever win.

But…he couldn’t just walk away. Not yet. He had to make certain the SSU continued fighting as an honorable organization. He had to ensure that his successor was well-trained to handle the moral complexities of this job. To handle disillusionment.

To be prepared to find himself nearing retirement and realize he had nothing to show for years of sacrifice except the somewhat bitter knowledge that the world would have been in even worse shape if not for him.

Shaking his head at his melancholy, Ryker let the drape fall back into place and returned to his desk. Until he found his new successor, he had work to do.