Page 9 of Guarding Grace
Lucas pulled me over to join the Hawk group while Serena stayed with Grace. “What’s going on?”
I filled them in about the calls from Grace’s cousin, the call Grace had gotten from some unknown party claiming to have Elliot, and that the guys on the street had demanded to know where her useless cousin was.
Duke shook his head. “ATM card? What a joke. Nobody demands a ransom small enough that you can get it out of an ATM.”
“Her cousin has to be who they’re after, and they only wanted her to get leverage over him,” Jordy guessed.
I nodded. It made sense.
“If that’s the case, she’s in danger until we figure out who’s after this Elliot character and get them to understand that Grace is under Hawk protection and is not to be threatened.” Lucas patted me on the shoulder. “We’ve got your back on this. What’s his last name?”
“Boyle. Elliot Boyle.”
Lucas turned to his brother. “Jordy?—”
“A full workup pronto, I know,” replied our resident hacker—make that tech specialist. He was also a damned excellent investigator, following faint trails through the digital landscape. “Who’s got her phone? I’ll copy it and try to trace that call.”
I nodded and pulled her cell from my pocket. “Get it back to me at the hospital.”
I would do everything I could to help Grace, but having the Hawk Security team in on it was a huge boost. Our firm had a serious reputation, and even vicious bad guys like the Russian mafia knew not to mess with us. Men who underestimated Lucas Hawk and this outfit quickly regretted it.
The paramedics got a complaining Grace strapped on the gurney and rolled her out.
I followed. “Which hospital are we going to?”
“UCLA,” one of them answered.
I hurried to the passenger side of the ambulance and climbed into the front seat. Better to assume I could ride along than ask permission.
After the back door slammed shut, the paramedic I’d spoken to sat in the driver’s seat. “Are you family?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then out.” He pointed at the door.
“I’m her bodyguard. You take her, you take me.”
“I don’t know?—”
“LAPD orders. Take it up with Lieutenant Wellbourne if you want.”
Marcus Wellbourne was our ace in the hole with the LAPD. Lucas had rescued his wife from a kidnapper and dispatched the asshole in the process.
“Let’s just go,” came from the paramedic in back.
The driver shrugged and started the engine.
CHAPTER 3
Grace
Hospitals were the worst.I cranked up the back of the bed while I waited for the ER doctor to return with my CAT scan results. They would be negative. I knew because I’d been through this before, and I felt fine. Okay, notfine,but relatively good, considering I’d been attacked on the street and beaten up.
“You’ve done your duty,” I told Terry over the incessant beeping of the heart monitor attached to my chest.
The tyrant stood at the foot of my bed in the little curtained-off section of the emergency room, looking all broody.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “You can leave now.”
