Page 67 of Fighting for Tawny

The SWAT officer looked down at her bare feet. “I’d better carry you out of here, ma’am.”

“No problem.”

He swung her into his strong arms. “Don’t look,” he advised.

Yolanda shut her eyes. The moans of those still alive after the raid taunted her, and she covered her ears.

Her savior carried her to a fire rescue truck. He placed her on a gurney and started to walk away. As EMTs loaded her inside the truck, she called, “Wait! What’s your name?”

“Tristan. Officer Tristan Ferguson.” He flashed a megawatt smile and lifted his hand in farewell.

“Tristan Ferguson,” she muttered. “Now that’s a name I’m not likely to forget.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Finnigan kept vigil at Tawny’s bedside. She’d been airlifted within minutes to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. It had a Level One trauma unit well equipped to deal with an overdose of heroin, though he wished she could be closer to home.

He’d almost lost her.

No. He had lost her. More than once.

When he’d carried her out of that small room in the drug distribution center, she didn’t have a heartbeat or a pulse. The EMTs brought her back, only to lose her again during the flight to the hospital. In the ER, a special trauma team labored for over an hour to save her life. The last time she crashed, they almost gave up on her.

Now, three days later, she lay unconscious, hooked up to various machines that monitored her vitals and helped her breathe. Her low heart rate and pulse concerned the doctors in the ICU. They wouldn’t know the extent of internal damage the heroin had caused until Tawny regained consciousness.

Miguel touched his shoulder. “Finn, if you need a break, I can sit with Tawny.”

Though only family members were allowed in the ICU, Tawny’s parents had insisted that her closest friends and colleagues be allowed to visit her for short periods.

“Nah, man. I’m good. Will you stay for a while?”

“Absolutely.” Miguel sat in a chair on the other side of Tawny’s bed.

They listened to the sound of the ventilator and gazed at Tawny’s gaunt face as they held her cold hands.

“I lit a candle for her in the chapel and prayed to God to heal her,” Miguel said in a quiet voice.

Finnigan rubbed his cheek with his free hand. It itched. He had yet to shave off his thin beard. “Thanks, Miguel. I haven’t been able to pray.”

“God knows your heart.”

“We made an error, not arresting Whitcomb and Macintosh after we took Dee Rogers and Barbie Lewis into protective custody. What they forced them to do was enough probable cause. Now Whitcomb and Macintosh are dead, killed during the drug bust.” Finnigan gazed at Tawny, lying so still on the bed, her face pale and drawn from her recent ordeal. “She wanted so badly to have the satisfaction of seeing Whitcomb’s expression when he realized she was the one who brought him down. Macklin and I didn’t have a choice but to kill him as we took gunfire.”

“Don’t feel sorry for them. They got what they deserved. Besides, look at the outcome. We prevented millions of dollars’ worth of heroin from hitting the streets all over America. We brought down a crime network with tentacles that reached all the way up the ladder to Director Jerry Dickinson himself. He, Judge Cohen, Perry Jones, Warden Stoltz, and Wendy Corrigan have been arrested and arraigned. Cameron insisted that the DOJ assign a special prosecutor due to the corruption uncovered in the judicial system. And we wouldn’t have been able to do it without Tawny.”

“None of that will mean a damn thing if we lose her.”

“We won’t.” Miguel rose to his feet. “I’ll be back with the good coffee from that diner down the street.”

“Thanks, Miguel.”

Finnigan removed Tawny’s diamond engagement ring from the pocket of his jeans. He’d asked his future father-in-law to bring it to him. Before Tawny went undercover, Finnigan had secretly asked for Mr. Westfall’s permission to marry his daughter. He’d given his blessing and welcomed Finnigan to the family. The first thing he intended to do as soon as Tawny opened her gorgeous eyes was place this ring on her finger.

“Want to see your sparkly ring, Red? Please open your eyes. Please. I can’t do this life thing without you. I can’t.”

Only the machines answered him.

The next day Moira visited and brought Finnigan a gym bag with toiletries and clean clothes. The ICU nurses generously allowed him to sleep in Tawny’s room and use the bathroom shower. She set the gym bag on the sofa beneath the window and handed him a cup of coffee and a box of his favorite pastries.

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