Page 15 of Deadly Holiday
Cooper met Mitch’s hard stare. This was the part of the plan where things could take a detour. If Dr. Kyan denied having called the lab they were screwed, plain and simple.
Celina put her arms out at her sides while a guard patted her down, jaw tightening when he hovered a bit too long over her ample breasts. White hot rage beat at him, and Cooper swallowed, forcing himself to look away before he did something stupid.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Celina spoke with a deadly calm that could only mean one thing, and Cooper groaned.
She was beyond pissed.
The guard squeezed her breast again, and rage clouded Celina’s vision.
“Or are you still searching?” she added when he didn’t respond to her question.Deep breaths, deep breaths. They can’t afford to slip up now, but if the bastard copped a feel one more time…
“Did you want me to search more, baby?” he asked, and this time both hands moved to cup her breasts. “You look like you’re up for some fun tonight.”
That did it. Celina grabbed his wrists and inverted them, applying enough pressure to force his hand open, the MK4 falling to the floor right before he followed. Her knee came in contact with his face, which made a satisfying crunch, before he dropped like a sack of rocks.
“Get down!”
Celina hit the ground as the suppressor on Cooper’s gun went off, dropping two more while Olivia wrestled the fourth guard to the floor, subduing him with Mitch’s assistance. Cooper reached Celina’s side, his face thunderous. She wasn’t sure if it was because she had deviated from the plan or got to knock the handsy guard out first, but she was happy he was there all the same.
“I thought you were going to play nice and get into the room without any trouble?” He held out a hand, helping her to her feet.
Celina brushed a hand down her scrubs. “I didn’t like the way I was being handled. Besides,” she stood on tiptoe, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “now you have less work to do.”
With a sigh, Cooper scrubbed a hand over his face. “Woman, you drive me insane.”
“And you love every minute of it.” Celina laughed huskily.
“You all right?” Olivia asked, giving her a quick once over.
Celina nodded. “Yeah, but we need to hurry before Ortega suspects something’s gone wrong. Ready for part two?”
“There was only supposed to be a part one,” Mitch reminded her, which only made Celina grin.
“That’s what I like about you, Holden. You’re easy to surprise.” Celina grabbed the cart, pushing it towards the door. “Let’s go.”
Jana was lying in the hospital bed, her pale face the only color against the stark white of the room. Beside her sat Ortega. Had Celina not known what a sadistic psychopath he was, he would almost appear the doting father holding Jana’s hand, running a gentle hand over her hair. Celina forced herself to look away.
“Who are you?” Ortega demanded, rising from his seat and pulling his gun. Celina and Olivia cowered together, more to hide their faces than anything else. They didn’t want to risk Ortega recognizing them from downstairs before they had the chance to get close enough.
“They’re…from the lab, Mr. Ortega.” Having seen the lab cart, Dr. Kyan fumbled for the right words, confusion knitting her brow. Celina tapped a long finger against an instruction sticker on the side of the cart where the word ‘Help’ was printed in big bold letters. Understanding dawned, and Dr. Kyan quickly righted herself. “They’ll need to draw blood to make sure Jana’s body is prepared to receive the transplant.”
Ortega’s hand wavered, than he slowly lowered the gun.
“Fine,” he said briskly, already turning back to Jana. “Make it quick.”
With Dr. Kyan on their side, Celina pushed the cart towards the bed, keeping her eyes down.
“How much blood will you need to take?” Ortega wanted to know, and Celina gripped the cart tighter, careful to keep her head lowered. They only had one chance to get this right.
“Not much, sir.” Olivia assured him, her hand slipping into her pocket. “Just a few vials. Sarah, can you get her prepped?”
Celina nodded and pushed the cart in front of Ortega, forcing him to step out of the way. It was a tight space, and Celina was unable to avoid making eye contact with him over the top of the cart. He stared at her for a heartbeat, his eyes widening.
“You! I know you!”
Olivia blindsided him from the right, ramming a needle into the side of his neck and injecting the sedative.
“What the fuck?” Ortega swung his fist, clipping Olivia on the side of her head and knocking her off her feet. She pitched to the floor.
