Whirling around, she skidded to a stop in front of Rick. "Where is he? How bad is it?"
"Calm down," Rick directed gently. "He's in surgery now."
Tears filled her eyes. "Is he going to be okay? Tell me the truth."
Rick pursed his lips in thought. He'd come on the scene right before the ambulance, and had ridden with them to the hospital, so he'd seen everything done, and was aware of Nate's true condition. "I think so. He was shot in the upper chest and shoulder area, but it missed his heart. There is going to be damage, but the person with him minimized loss of blood."
Laura ran a hand through her tousled hair, and sniffed as a tear ran down her cheek. "Who was with him?"
"Funny thing, that. Our prisoner. I haven't heard anything from Reese yet, but I assume there's a connection there. For all we know, the bullet wasn't even meant for Nate. But answers to that will come. For now, why don't you just sit in here and wait? I'll go find out how things are going."
It seemed like forever until Laura got the news from the doctor that Nate really was going to be okay. They wanted to keep him overnight, but if nothing happened in the next twenty-four hours, he could go home. More than relieved, Laura found his room and sat by his bed to wait for him to wake up. She worried about him now more than she used to, what with Brian and all. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost Nate, especially like this.
Leaning forward, she folded her arms on the edge of his bed and rested her head next to him.
"Uh-huh." Gunner's eyes continued to sweep the area. Normally they would have sent more than two agents but this situation called for instant action. Even now, the sniper could have gotten away already.
"Come on." Gunner motioned for Katie to follow as they made their way down the side of the building. All of a sudden, movement caught Gunner's eye. Someone was just running around the far corner. "Hey!" He yelled. "Freeze!" Breaking into a sprint, he held his gun low and ready. Cautiously rounding the corner, he was surprised to see their target had stopped, hands in the air. It was a woman, and it seemed she had just dropped her rifle. "Hold it right there," he ordered before he nodded to Katie. "Cuff her."
Keeping his gun on her, he went to pick up her rifle. Why had she stopped? Why had she dropped her gun so quickly? He automatically scanned the area again, afraid this had been some kind of trap. Yet they seemed to be the only ones here.
He looked back to Katie and nodded. "Let's take her in before anything else crazy can happen..."
It didn't take long to get the woman into the Elite building and straight to the interrogation room where they left the handcuffs on. And it was soon after that Wyatt was alone with her, seated at the table and trying to figure things out. She'd admitted she was with the Agency, but that was all they had.
"Okay...so you're Agency." Wyatt sighed. He never had much patience for this sort of thing, but everyone else was busy, and Carson wouldn't be free until later. "Once again...what is your name, and why did you shoot one of our agents? Cooperate, and we might be able to help you as far as the law is concerned."
“Get up.” Hal’s voice was stern as he gestured to Garret with his shotgun. “Reese wants to see you.”
Garret’s clothes were still bloody, and was back in cuffs once again, even while left in his cell. No one had told him how Nate was. No one had talked to him about what had happened. It felt like he’d been tossed into a dark corner with no access to reality and it was very quickly wearing on his nerves. The way Hal was treating him now signaled that they blamed Garret, or at least assumed the attack had something to do with him. Of which, they were probably right.
He slowly rose and resisted little as he was shoved towards the stairs. He didn’t like being treated like this, but until he found out what was going on, he’d hold in his retaliation. Once upstairs, he was surprised to be taken to Reese’s office. Sitting in the chair, he glanced at his surroundings, taking in how the office was arranged. It was more cluttered than he’d imagined, but then…this was a busy place. There was a lot of information tucked away in here.
Reese turned in his desk chair, his face showing total displeasure. “Want to tell me what happened out there today?”
Garret’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I don’t know.”
“Was the bullet meant for Nate, or were you the actual target?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would the Agency send someone to kill you?”
“I don’t know.”
Reese’s patience was growing extremely thin, and his voice rose. “I have an agent in the hospital because he was outside with you. Now you better start giving me some answers, or you’ll be locked up for so long you won’t remember what the sky looks like.”
The threat was one of the few that could make Garret’s insides lurch. “I don’t know what happened today or who the shooter was, and I don’t know who their target really was.”
Reese’s jaw tightened before he swiveled his laptop around to show the live feed from the interrogation room. “Know her?”
Garret’s face remained motionless, even though his heart had just started racing. They had Victoria? Here? Sine when? Was she the shooter? How had they caught her? Had she wanted it that way? Was she here to get him out like he’d hoped? He tried to keep his body still. “Is that the sniper?”
“Just answer the question.”
Garret cocked his head. “Looks sort of familiar. Agency…maybe? So is she the sniper?”
“It would seem that way. Gunner and Katie just brought her in. Caught her trying to flee that building you so conveniently pointed out.”
“So if you caught her, why are you asking me all the questions instead of her?”
“Call me paranoid, but for some teeny tiny reason, I have a feeling you know more than you’re letting on. And besides that, we do know she’s Agency but she’s not giving us anything else. So…you gonna live up to all your recent promises to help, or prove you really just have an ultimate plan here to ruin us?”
Garret gestured to the computer screen. “That’s the interrogation room, right?”
Reese quirked an eyebrow. “It is.”
Garret got to his feet. He wasn’t going to waste time playing this game. “Let me see her, and maybe then I can provide more intel.”
A bit surprised, Reese stood as well. “Not a chance. Tell me what you know. Is she in on some infiltration plan of yours?”
Garret’s pulse pounded in his head. He had to get to Victoria before something else bad happened. Who knew what she’d do to get him out of here? She’d already shot Nate. Who might she kill? He couldn’t let that happen. The Elite had to trust her as well as him if this all was going to work, but he had to convince her first that this was the best choice for them. She was flying blind and he couldn’t let anything else happen before the truth came out. “Just let me talk to her.”
“No.”
“I’m only asking to be polite.”
Reese’s chin rose. “Sit. Down.”
Garret gritted his teeth before he turned and aimed for the door, but he only made it two steps.
“Stop.” Reese had retrieved his handgun and now had it pointed at Garret as he closed the gap between them.
Garret glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. “I tried to do this the easy way,” he commented dryly. Almost too fast to even see, he spun around, disarmed Reese and sent his palm into Reese’s nose.
Reese fell backward to sprawl across his desk, papers flying everywhere.
Garret threw the gun in the corner before stalking out the door and heading across the main floor. He was halfway to the hall before Reese staggered to his door. “Stop him!” he yelled.
It was Gunner who was closest, having just dropped off some paperwork to Susanne. Though unsure what was going on, he automatically grabbed Garret’s arm. “Hold it right there.”
Garret yanked his arm away and scowled as the contact made his adrenaline kicked in. “Don’t touch me,” he warned.
“You don’t call the shots,” Gunner retorted and reached for him again. But Garret was in no mood. Blocking, then stepping in, his elbow connected with Gunner’s face before his foot caught an ankle, sending him to the floor. “Do you ever learn?” Before he could get much further, he had Jason and Pete coming at him. Ducking a swing from Jason, he spun out of the way and sent a boot right into the side of Pete’s head, taking him down.
Justin had arrived only moments before, backpack slung over one shoulder, but he stopped in his tracks as the fight broke out. His eyebrows rose and he stayed put, knowing better than to try intervening without an ounce of training.
Jason and Garret collided like two angry dogs. Despite being the smaller of the two, plus still being cuffed, Garret held the upper hand all too easily. It wasn’t until after he delivered several blows to Jason’s ribs and to his jaw that a strong kick was aimed at Jason’s bad knee, making him crumble to the floor. By now though, Gunner and Pete were back on their feet and ready to pounce. It took both of them just to pause Garret’s route, although even that was a task.
“Let me go!” Garret shouted, his eyes blazing. With Pete on one side and Gunner on the other, he hauled back using all his weight, and forced their heads to collide. Set free, he only got a few steps further in his quest before Hal showed up. “Don’t,” he warned, pointing a finger at Hal. “Step aside.”
Hal’s eyes flickered with irritation. “Not on your life. Stand down or be taken down.”
Garret pursed his lips. “You’ve been warned.”
Jason was still on the floor, leaving it three to one, yet Garret still managed to hold his own, making it way too simple as he proved his training. It didn’t matter that he was outnumbered – he wasn’t the one bruised and bleeding like the others were. Reese finally made it closer to the chaotic scene while holding his bleeding nose. “Take. Him. Down!” he barked angrily.
Jason drew his gun. That alone caused just a long enough pause in the fight for Gunner and Hal to each grab an arm at a safer angle this time and hold Garret in place, while Pete’s fist finally made contact with his mouth. “Let me go!” Garret fought against the three men, in spite of his now-bloody lip, but at this point, it did little good – he’d fallen for the threat of the gun and it had cost him the fight. He could still get out of this if he wanted, but he’d get himself hurt in the process, and his survival instincts warned him it wasn’t the wisest move. But it didn’t lessen his anger. “Let go of me!” he shouted again and tried to rip himself free, but a swift kick to the back of his legs brought him to his knees. Now it was more than adrenaline surging through his veins – it was emotions. Emotions brought on from the unpleasant memory of humiliation surrounding him being in this very same position a very long time ago – on his knees, forced into submission.
Breathing heavily, he glared up at the Elite agents. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” he hissed. “Either you let me see your new prisoner, or the blood is on your hands.”
Pete’s arm retracted to strike again, but it was stopped by a new, strong hand. He looked quickly to the side, surprised by Justin’s sudden appearance.
“Stop,” Justin warned calmly. “He’s had enough.”
Still trying to catch his breath, Garret looked up at Justin, his eyes pleading with him. “I need to see her,” he begged.
Hal and Gunner yanked him to his feet and both of them manhandled him towards the hallway – but their destination was back downstairs to the holding cell. Justin watched helplessly as they took him away, having no idea what had gone on today to cause any of this. But that look in Garret’s eyes…it wouldn’t leave him quickly.
Down the hallway, Garret had quit fighting, but as they passed the interrogation room, he tried to break free, but by now, Hal and Gunner were wiser and quicker to bring him under control. He got off one swift kick to the door in an attempt to break it open, but he wasn’t successful.
From the inside, Wyatt jumped at the bang to the door, but had no idea what was going on outside.
Once downstairs and shoved back into the holding cell, Garret whirled around, only to be met with the closing door. Pounding it with his fists, he shouted a few threats, but he knew the two men had walked away. Growling, he fought his handcuffs before pacing the cell liked a caged animal. This couldn’t be happening. He had to see Victoria. No matter what, he had to see her.
Back upstairs, Reese and the others had gone to the infirmary to have Misty fix up their minor wounds, although with all the commotion, Jason was still on the floor. His knee hurt…badly, and he didn’t want to try getting up yet. Rolling to sit up, he leaned back against the cubicle wall, not even realizing it was Katie’s. Gritting his teeth, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling, waiting for the pain to pass, but it wasn’t.
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