Page 74 of Dark Succession
“Callista Sheridan?”
She tensed. Of course they knew her name. Thatwasn’t as surprising as the fact that they were yelling at her instead of shooting first. But then, they’d want their entertainment, wouldn’t they? Couldn’t have that if she was dead.
“Ms. Sheridan, my name is John Finch. I’m with the FBI. You placed a call to my office earlier today.”
She blinked. There was no way the Hallorans could know that… but was it a risk she was willing to take? They could be lying, waiting for her to run out into the open and then gunning her down. She looked at Teague. It was hard to tell in the shadows, but he looked scarily pale. He needed a doctor, and quickly.
So she took a leap of faith. “I have an injured man here. He’s been shot.”
“We’re coming to you.” He hesitated. “Please try to resist shooting any of my men.”
She highly resented the amusement in his voice. There was nothing amusing about this situation. Nothing at all. “Get in here.”
The bushes parted and two men rushed to her. She tensed, waiting for the bullets to tear through her flesh, but they just shouldered her aside and knelt next to Teague. “Bullet wound to the upper chest. He’ll need surgery and an immediate transfusion.”
The other turned to her. “We have an ambulance en route.”
This turn of events was nearly impossible to wrap her head around. She’d hoped her contingency plan would work—God, of course she’d hoped—but it was still too good to be true. A third man appeared and offered her a hand. “If you’ll come with me, please?” He sighed when her gaze tracked back to Teague. “Mr.O’Malley will get the best medical care the government has to offer.”
That didn’t mean a damn thing if he died before they could get him to the hospital.
The man sighed again. “I can see there’ll be no talking to you until he’s off.” He turned around and disappeared through the bushes, leaving her to sit just out of reach while the other two men went to work on stabilizing Teague.
Sirens cut through the night. Thesilentnight. She turned to look back at the Hallorans’ property. Where were the gunshots that had been peppering around them since Teague showed up? She frowned. “It’s not safe here.”
“It’s as safe as anywhere.” The paramedic spoke without looking at her. Or at least she hoped he was a paramedic. “We’ve secured the situation.”
They’d secured the situation.
She didn’t get a chance to ask more questions, because the sirens’ volume increased before abruptly shutting off. Red and white lights played along the fence line. The ambulance was here.
It happened so fast. Too fast. One second she was struggling to her feet, and the next they were shutting the doors between her and Teague and tearing off down the street. Callie stood on the sidewalk, staring after the ambulance. She was supposed to be there, with him.
“Now, we really do need to talk, Ms. Sheridan.”
Talk. This man wanted to talk when the life of the man she loved—herhusband—hung in the balance. She realized she was still holding a gun and turned it on him. “I don’t think so.”
Finch’s eyebrows rose. “Do you really think it’s wise to add to your body count tonight?”
No, but there was no room for wisdom when Teague needed her. She didn’t lower the gun. “Please take me to the hospital.”
“Ms. Sheridan—”
“You misunderstand me. That wasn’t a request.” There were other men around them, men who didn’t look too happy with her pointing a gun at what she suspected was the man in charge. She didn’t care. They hadn’t saved her just to gun her down in the street. “Where is your car?”
He pointed to a black sedan behind him. Typical. She motioned that she’d follow him. A few seconds later, they were in the car and he turned on the engine. “Now, we’ll talk.”
“Drive.” She didn’t want to talk to this man. She didn’t want to talk toanyone. But she had the feeling Finch would get his way, one way or another. “Why are you so eager to have a conversation?”
“You’re a very interesting woman. I’m kicking myself for overlooking you previously.”
She didn’t like the sound of that—at all. But she lowered the gun and leaned back against the car door. She could still shoot him, but that had never been the goal. All she wanted was to get to the hospital. “Why did you conveniently show up in time to save the day, but not earlier when you knew I’d been taken?”
“The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, my dear.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Your new husband is very important to me and my friends. I hope you understand and respect that.”
Shock and exhaustion and just plain old trauma madeher slow, because it took her several long minutes to realize what he meant.Oh, Teague, why didn’t you tell me?She wasn’t surprised, though. She hadn’t exactly been honest with him. It was only expected that he’d kept some things back as well.
But working with the FBI?
