Page 6 of Thin Ice

Abby met his gaze and shook her head.

Brookes spotted a black and white parked on the edge of the road and turned before his planned exit. Once he cleared the intersection, he picked up speed and glanced in the side mirror. The black and white followed. “We have company.” He alerted Abby to the cop car behind them.

“How did they find us so quickly?”

Good question. “I have no idea. But we have to lose them before we lead them to Hannah’s place.” He took the first right possible when they reached the business district and floored the gas pedal, then jerked the SUV onto the next available exit.

A street spread out in front lined with several businesses. Brookes looked behind them. So far, the black and white hadn’t followed, but he had no doubt the officers would radio the SUV’s description to others. All the cops in D.C. would be looking for it. They were burned.

He spotted his sister’s small neighborhood clinic, staffed only by Hannah and a nurse, up ahead of them. She’d turned the storage area above the clinic into an apartment after opening the clinic. People around the community brought their sick and injured loved ones to her for help. For Hannah, it didn’t make sense to live anywhere else.

Brookes whipped the SUV around behind the building and screeched to a stop at the back entrance. Hannah had been watching for them. She ran out before he stopped.

“What is going on—” She stopped when she spotted the president. “You’re…supposed to be dead.”

“Hannah, we have a patient who’s been shot in the stomach. She’s lost a lot of blood.” Brookes hopped out and lifted the critically ill agent from the back.

His sister appeared to be in shock and frozen in place.

“Hey, I need you. She’s in trouble.”

Hannah snapped out of it and grabbed the door for him. “This way.” She led them to an exam table. “Why are you limping?” she asked Brookes when she caught him favoring his injured leg.

“I got shot.” Her brows shot up and he quickly dismissed her concerns. “It’s not serious. Abby’s a nurse and she took care of me. She comes first.” He indicated the wounded agent.

“All right, but as soon as I’ve treated her, I want to have a look at that leg.”

Brookes grinned at his sister. It would be pointless to argue. Hannah had a way of bending his will to hers and had since she was a little girl. In truth, the injury could use her nurturing care.

Brookes moved to the door and watched as his sister and Abby went to work on Agent Allison.

Hannah rolled the portable X-ray machine over and took several images. His sister was in the zone. Emergency medicine was what she did best. “There doesn’t appear to be any internal damage. She’s very lucky. But we need to get the bleeding stopped.”

Hannah, of all people, was familiar with the ravages of violence. She’d lost both her parents to a gang war that almost claimed Hannah’s life as well.

Chapter Two

“Ihave the bullet.” The woman Abby only knew as Hannah extracted what appeared to be a .45 slug from Agent Kinsley Allison’s abdomen and tossed it into the trash. “Suction the wound so I can stitch it closed.”

Abby suctioned the blood pooling from the bullet’s damage.

“Do we have any idea what her blood type is? She’s lost a lot and needs a transfusion.”

“I don’t.” Abby turned to the president. “Does she have any ID on her?”

President Douglas’s eyes widened. “I…I don’t know. She doesn’t usually carry a bag and I’ve never thought about it. Sorry, I’m not much help.”

Chances were Agent Allison would keep her driver’s license in her pocket. “I’ll check her clothing.” She searched Allison’s pockets and came up empty.

“What about her shoes?” Hannah asked and Abby’s brows rose. Not too many people would think of hiding their ID in a shoe.

“That’s a good idea.” Abby slipped off both shoes. Nothing. She turned to the president. “Where did she hide her cell phone?”

He seemed thrown by the question. “Wait, I remember seeing her take it out of her sock. I recalled thinking it odd, but Kinsley always wears thick socks. I guess I know the reason why now.”

Abby felt around the bottom of the agent’s sock and found her driver’s license. She removed it and held it up. “She’s A-positive.”

“I keep most types of blood here at the clinic. That one’s fairly common. We see a lot of gunshot wounds here,” Hannah said in answer to Abby’s obvious surprise. She left the room and came back carrying a blood bag. Hannah immediately started the transfusion.

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