Page 80 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

"Sure thing, Boss. Keep me posted on how she's doing."

I carefully get to my feet, straightening as Pierce reappears from the building.

"We're collecting all the computers from inside now. I'm sure Heidi’s going to want to comb through them. Try to figure out if there's anything else we need to be concerned about."

Once again, I’m filled with appreciation. "Thank you."

Pierce slaps me on the shoulder. "I'm not just doing it for you. This is in my best interest too. We need to know where this program came from and who’s in possession of it."

I start to walk away, but then reconsider. I turn to him. "Have your team look into Elias first. If he comes back clear, he can help them go through everyone else." I'm surehe won't mind the effort when I let him know he's been promoted.

Pierce nods before jerking his chin toward the black Jeep as it pulls up. "Let me know what Eli says once he checks her out."

My throat tightens. “I will.”

I don't miss everyone's concern for Julieanne. I'm sure Heidi has been singing her praises, but other than that, they don't really know her. Which means their concern for her is tied to me.

I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, but I think I might fucking like it. And I’m not sure how I feel about that either.

The driver gets us to Alaskan Security in record time, and in under ten minutes, he’s opening the door and helping me out. I haven’t set Julieanne down since I picked her up from that filthy floor, and my eyes lock on the gurney waiting at the back of the building. It takes everything I have to set her down, but I know I can’t fix her. I need their help. And to get it, I have to let them near her.

Eli, Alaskan Security's staff physician, listens as I explain what I know, looking Julieanne over as I carefully lay her across the waiting stretcher, keeping her hand in mine as they roll her into the building.

We go straight into a room that’s probably better stocked than most hospitals, and I breathe a little easier over my decision to come here instead of calling an ambulance. It's been barely twenty minutes since I kicked in that door to find Julieanne bleeding on the floor, and I don’t think taking her to a hospital would've been any faster. I know it wouldn't have been any safer.

I stay close, refusing to step away from her side as the team around me starts an IV and evaluates her condition. I don’t know what all Julieanne went through in the hours it took me to find her, but it’s clear she didn’t back down no matter what they did to her.

It pisses me off as much as it makes me proud.

30

SOMETIMES SHITTING YOUR PANTS IS DESERVED

JULIEANNE

THE ONLY REASON I know I'm not dead is because every inch of me hurts. I wince as I shift around, peeling my eyes open while attempting to work my way upright.

"Uh-oh." A familiar voice snorts beside me. "Vincent is going to be so mad he wasn't here when you woke up." Gentle hands grip my shoulders, easing me back against the pillowy softness under me. "And he'll be extra mad if he gets here and finds out I let you sit up right away."

I blink a few times, trying to orient myself and clear the last of the fog from my vision before tilting my head to peek at Heidi. "Where am I?" My throat hurts just as much as the rest of me does and my voice is raspy and rough.

Heidi lowers back into the chair pulled to the edge of the hospital style bed I’m lying in. "You're in the med unit at Alaskan Security's headquarters." She widens her eyes, leaning a little closer. "I know, shocker, right?" Turning to the rolling table on her left, she grabs a giant cup that’s strikingly similar to the one she had with her at GHOSTheadquarters what feels like forever ago. She holds it up. “Thirsty? Eli said it was okay if you had some water when you woke up."

I open my mouth to ask who in the hell Eli is, but she crams the flexible straw between my lips. I hiss in pain as I attempt to purse them around the rubbery tube. My whole mouth feels split open and raw, and the movement only makes it worse.

Heidi's expression turns sympathetic. "I know. They really did a number on you, didn’t they?"

“Amos has a mean swing.” I pause before correcting. “Had a mean swing.”

I’d been so out of it I was sure dead Amos was a figment of my imagination, but I’m guessing he was very real. Makes me extra glad I rolled away before any of his blood could get on me.

Moving a little slower, I finally manage to seal my mouth around the straw and take a couple deep swallows of the cool water inside. It feels so good going down my scratchy throat that I let out a little moan of relief as my head drops back to the pillows. "Thank you."

Heidi slides the cup back onto the tray, her features pulling tight. "Don't thank me. I should have been able to find you faster. Then you wouldn’t be fucked up and Vincent wouldn’t be threatening to burn half the city to the ground just in case he missed one of the assholes who took you."

I want to laugh, but it'll hurt like hell, so I roll my eyes instead. "We spent days trying to figure out what was going on. Don't act like you should've suddenly made a miraculous discovery that explained who was behind it."

Heidi's lips press into a scowl thatis so like Vincent’s own expression I accidentally grin, causing another groan—this one from pain.

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