Page 11 of Deadly Holiday
“Please, Mr. Ortega,” Dr. Kyan said. “This is Jana’s best chance. It may be heronlychance.”
He reluctantly stowed the gun in his waistband. “Fine, but no tricks. This hospital is under my command. There is no way in or out without me knowing it.”
Worry for Cooper and Ronni rose up sharp, but Celina couldn’t think about that right now. She had to have faith they would figure out a way around Ortega’s men to get help.
Two nurses rose to their feet and slowly approached.
“Dr. Kyan, Megan and I will assist you with the surgery,” one of them spoke, motioning between herself and the other nurse.
Dr. Kyan smiled, somewhat relieved. “Thank you, Zoe, I appreciate that. Why don’t we take Jana to the surgical ward and get her prepped.” She glanced at Basilio. “That is, if it’s alright with Mr. Ortega.”
“Yes, do it. Ramone,” he snapped his fingers, and a large man jumped to alert. He wore the same camo pants and black shirt as the rest of the group, but there was a smug confidence about him that said he was used to being left in charge. “You know what to do.”
The nurses wheeled Jana from the room, followed by Ortega, two other guards, and Dr. Kyan. Celina watched them go, frustrated that she was helpless to do anything to stop them. She was a seasoned agent capable of taking a man down with her bare hands, but at the moment, they were tied. She wouldn’t risk Novia’s life, nor the lives of the others. There were too many armed guards. If they were going to take control of the situation, then they would need to do it in one solid strike.
Thomas seemed to have the same idea because he nudged her side. He continued to face forward, but from the corner of her eye Celina caught a hand movement she was quite familiar with. Of course. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Everyone on the taskforce was trained for situations when they weren’t able to verbally interact and had developed their own line of communication by using a series of covert hand gestures and eye signals. Dupé caught on to Thomas’s idea, and soon, Celina, as well as the other taskforce members, knew what to do: distract the guards. Hopefully, Cooper and Ronni would bring the cavalry soon.
Now for the hard part—putting the plan into motion.
Celina drew in a deep breath, heart hammering in her chest. She knew better than to wake a sleeping baby, especially one with a formidable temper like Novia’s, but if they were going to do this, than they would need the little Princess’s help. Praying this would work, Celina gently jostled the baby awake. Novia blinked her eyes open, staring up at Celina for a moment before her little mouth puckered and opened on a wail.
“Shut that fucking kid up.” Ramone snapped, eyes narrowed. As if on cue, Jett joined in, and soon the rest of the children were whimpering. So far, so good.
Ramone jammed a hand through his hair, now thoroughly irritated by all the noise. “Jesus fucking Christ, do something to shut them up already!”
The guards shifted uneasily, unsure how to handle a roomful of crying children. Perfect. That’s what they were counting on. Celina lifted Via in her arms, bouncing on the balls of her feet to calm her daughter down.
“They’re kids, and they’re scared.” She swallowed the lump of fear in her own throat when Ramone swung his gun in her direction. “Maybe the crafting table will keep them occupied for a while. If we add another table, everyone can fit, and the kids will have something to do.”
“Fine,” Ramone waved dismissively, pinching the bridge of his nose, “anything if it gets them to shut the hell up.”
Nelson and Thomas pushed tables together, Sophie spread materials out across the surface, and Olivia quickly ushered everyone over. The children looked wary, but appeared happy to be doing something active and their parents also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Novia and Jett were calmed and carefully placed into the playpen, which Celina and Emma pushed behind the tables to keep them out of harm’s way.
Seven of us. Eight armed guards. Not ideal, but not terrible odds either. Celina had been in far worse situations, only not with so many innocent people around. More signals from Victor and the taskforce members fanned out, strategically placing themselves near each armed guard under the guise of helping out at the crafting tables. One guard eyed Mitch suspiciously as he inched closer and Celina knew the ruse wouldn’t last much longer.
“Dios mio!” As if on cue, Sophie collapsed to the floor, and Nelson fell to his knees next to her. “Someone help her!” he urged the guards nearest him, who stepped closer to see what was going on.
It was all the distraction they needed. Everyone acted at once.
Mitch swung a heavy fist into the jaw of the guard eyeing him, toppling him backwards into Santa’s sleigh and sending presents scattering everywhere. Thomas bashed two guards’ heads in with a heavy silver tray—bam, bam—cookies flying everywhere. Nelson and Sophie took out the guards coming to her rescue, and Victor sent another flying over Santa’s throne. Almost home free…
“Enough!” Ramone fired shots into the air and everyone froze. Seven of the guards were down and out for the count, but they hadn’t been able to reach Ramone in time.
Shit. They were sitting ducks.
A shadow rose up behind Ramone and before Celina could blink, the large man was picked up and thrown WWE style across the room, whacking his head on the edge of the sleigh and landing in an unnatural heap on the floor.
Standing there in what had once been a white tank top, red velvet pants with suspenders, and a pair of black boots that had lost their shine, Cooper’s grimy face was pinched in a mixture of worry and pissed off-edness.
To Celina, he’d never looked so good.
Celina hurdled herself into Cooper’s arms, burying her face in his neck. “Thank God you’re all right.”
“Where’s Ortega?”
“His original intention was to kidnap the surgeon assigned to Jana’s case and take her to Mexico to perform the bone marrow transplant. Dr. Kyan convinced him to let her do it here. They went to the surgical wing, I think. Ortega took two guards with him. Amber can probably tell us more about what Dr. Kyan is doing.”
The taskforce members were quickly securing all the guards’ weapons and incapacitating their hands, lining the men up against the far wall. Only a few were still conscious.
