Page 94 of Close Pursuit

What was the harm in someone knowing she’d gone to a hospital to visit a patient? Heck, it probably wouldn’t matter if the person behind her figured out she was visiting her brother.

Goodness knew, Ian could take care of himself if anyone tried to mess with him. In his military career, he’d worked for some super-classified special ops group that operated way, way off the books. He was not a guy anyone should mess with in a dark alley.

Vividly aware of the tail behind her, Katie pulled into the hospital’s parking garage. The place was crammed, and she was forced to wind deeper and deeper into the underground structure in search of a parking spot. Finally, she found one at the very lowest level of the garage. She wedged into the space and got out, heading for the elevator in the claustrophobic gloom.

The man came out of nowhere. He wore a ski mask and made no secret of his intent to mug her. She held out her purse and started yelling for help.

But the guy batted her bag away and charged her.

Crap.

His shoulder barreled into her, spinning her around. She slammed into a car and its alarm went off, blaring deafeningly. Not that anyone would come check it out way down here.

A fist connected hard with her jaw, snapping her head back and making her see stars. But she hadn’t had five brothers for nothing. She lashed out with her foot and kicked the attacker’s shin so hard her toes shouted in pain.

She shouted, “Fire!” at the top of her lungs and prayed someone was within earshot and would come investigate.

Her attacker snarled wordlessly and slugged her in the stomach so hard it felt like something exploded inside her. She doubled over with awhoofof pain, right into the uppercut to the same spot on her jaw as before. Her head snapped to the side.

The concrete floor came up at her fast, and that was the last thing she remembered.

18

Alex blinked awake as his cell phone rang somewhere close by. His head was splitting in two. He pulled a pillow over his head to muffle the damned phone until it stopped ringing. Except even after the caller gave up, the ringing continued in his ears.

He rolled over to pass out again until his hangover abated.

The phone rang again.

Fuck!Go away, whoever you are. As if he had to guess who it was. Katie.

The phone rang a third time.

Irritated all to hell, he rolled over on his back and slapped the nightstand with his outstretched hand. Groped around. Found the flat shape of his phone.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” he snarled. “I told you, this is how I roll.”

“I believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else, Mr. Peters.”

Male voice. Formal. Unfamiliar.

“Who is this?” he demanded.

“Charles McCloud.”

Katie’s uncle. Gonna try to recruit him directly, was he?

McCloud said, “I thought you might want to know Katie has been admitted to a hospital. She was attacked a little while ago.”

Alex sat bolt upright and cursed as his head exploded in agony and his gut revolted.

Holy shit. Katie. Heading fast for the toilet he bit out, “What hospital?”

“Walter Reed Bethesda.”

“Thanks.” He disconnected the call fast so Katie’s uncle wouldn’t hear him puking up last night’s whiskey. He ran cold water in the sink and stuck his head under it to drive the spikes out of his eyeballs. He toweled his hair and he raced around the room picking up and pulling on discarded clothes.

Keys. Where were his keys, dammit?

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