Page 10 of Thin Ice

“I heard what your partner said, and I agree with her. If I’m spotted, it’s all over.”

“Thanks, Mr. President.”

“Please, for the foreseeable future, I’m not the president of anything. Call me Victor like your partner does.”

Brookes smiled. “All right, Victor, for now. Once we have you safe at the new compound and we can find a way to get the truth out to the public, Legion’s ploy will all be over. And you will be president again.”

“I sure hope you’re right because living under Legion’s tyranny is something I can’t even imagine.”

Brookes didn’t want to think about what would happen then.

Hannah came back with Abby who handed him a Nationals baseball cap. Brookes slipped it on.

He tried one more time to convince Hannah to come with them. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, sis.” He’d spent so many years serving his country while trying to discover what really happened to their father that he hadn’t been there for Hannah. Brookes had been consumed by finding out the truth to the point of joining the Navy SEALs to uncover answers. His time there had led him to James Cooper who was part of his father’s SEAL team that had been targeted. James was the one who told Brookes about Legion. At first, he thought it sounded too farfetched to be plausible, until Legion’s goons had come after him and almost took him out.

“Brother, I’ll be fine. These are my people. They won’t hurt me. You just make sure you stay alive.”

Her response wasn’t a surprise. Hannah was as tough as anyone he knew. She’d survived watching both of her parents being assassinated when they’d dared to stand up to the gangs coming into their neighborhood. At five, Hannah had come to live with Brookes’s family as a foster child. His parents later adopted her, but Hannah chose to keep her family name.

“Call me if you see anything out of the ordinary happening, or if you feel threatened in any way,” he stressed. “I mean it, Hannah. I’ll come get you. All you have to do is call.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I know, big brother. Take care of my patient,” she said to Abby and stepped back from the van.

“I will, I promise.” Abby climbed inside next to Kinsley and Victor.

Brookes closed both doors, waved a final time to Hannah, and climbed behind the wheel. As he drove from the dark alley, all he could think about was Hannah. She was stubborn beyond belief. If something happened to her because he hadn’t insisted she come with them, he’d wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

Chapter Three

“She’s not moving.” The panic in Victor’s eyes sent Abby into motion.

She moved to her unconscious patient’s side and listened for a pulse. Weak, but steady. Abby shook her gently and Kinsley opened her eyes. “You’re okay.” She did her best to hide her concerns from the agent. The blood bag was almost empty. Abby grabbed a second one from the cooler that held several additional ones and changed the bag. The blood on Kinsley’s shirt confirmed she was bleeding again. Blood had soaked through the bandage and part of her shirt.

Removing the bandage quickly, Abby examined the wound. “Some stitches have broken.” Abby grabbed the medical bag Hannah kept in the van and rummaged through it until she found extra bandages and gauze. She needed something to clean the wound.

“What can I do to help?” Victor volunteered and Abby took him up on his offer.

“Hold this.” She handed him the bandages and gauze. “I’m going to clean the wound, then pack it with gauze. I can’t do anything about the broken stitches now. Moving her probably broke them.” She cleansed the wound as gently as possible and then covered it with gauze before securing the bandage over it. “As long as you don’t develop an infection, you’ll be okay. Rest and prayers are the best possible medicine right now.” She squeezed Kinsley’s arm and moved to the front of the van. “Where are we?” she asked Brookes.

“Still a long way from the chopper.” He glanced back at her and managed a smile. “How’s the patient?”

“Holding her own.” But she was worried. Kinsley needed a stable environment for recovery. Abby didn’t see that in the future.

“How are you holding up?” He’d seen the concerns she couldn’t hide.

“Okay. . . Worried.” She met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I hate what happened to Nolan. He didn’t deserve to go out like that. Trying to help us. If we hadn’t put him in that position, he’d still be alive.” She blamed herself. Had she pushed Nolan too hard to get him to agree to work for them?

Brookes reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He knew the risks. Nolan wasn’t a choirboy, Abby. Sure, Collins had a gun to his head, but at some point in his time abroad, he had the chance to tell someone what was happening. He didn’t.”

While what he said was true, she couldn’t shake the scared look she’d seen on Nolan’s face as he boarded the plane. “Still, he didn’t deserve what Martin Collins did to him. To his family. I often wonder what his life would be like if he’d never been assigned to work with Collins.”

“Quite different, I’m sure.” Brookes focused in front of them. “Once this is over, let’s reach out to his former wife and daughter. They should know the truth.”

She nodded. It would have to do, yet if felt as if they’d let Nolan Emerson down.

In front of them, a new day lightened the sky. The streets were crowded with vehicles, and her nerves quickened. “Why are so many people on the road this early on a weekend?”

Brookes frowned as he surveyed the oncoming traffic. “I don’t know.” He turned on the radio. No doubt Hannah would have the station tuned into a Christian music station.

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