of them being able to trace the call.'
'And now they don't have to trace it if Megan goes running to Phillip's side.'
'We're not sure that the line's been tapped.' He made a motion as Harley started to speak. 'Okay, we can't take the chance. That's why we have to be sure to clear the way for her. Call that guard you set up to watch Phillip… what's his name?'
'Lee Jordan. A good man.'
'Put him on the alert. I'll go with her to Phillip's suite. You and Renata scout the parking lot and surrounding grounds for snipers.' He reached in his pocket and handed him a copy of the photo he'd given Megan and a driver's license photo of Darnell. 'Pictures of Molino, Sienna, and Darnell. Other than the three of them, you're on your own.'
'And Darnell has a Chevy pickup truck?'
'If he's still using it.'
'He sounds like a hot dog. Men who beat up women love people to think they're macho. He probably likes the tough image a truck gives him. If not this truck, I'd bet he has another one by this time.'
'No bet. Just don't let him slip away if you spot him.'
'You can't talk her out of this?'
'No.' Grady turned away. 'I didn't try. She's operating on a purely emotional level. I can't fight that side of her. Hell, I don't want to fight that side of her. It's pretty damn wonderful.'
'If it doesn't get her killed.'
'It won't. I won't let it.' He strode toward the front door. 'Just do your job.'
Bellehaven
THE PARKING LOT OF ANNEX 4 contained only a few cars that were parked fairly close to the small building.
'Evidently visiting hours are over,' Grady said as he got out of the car. 'Or maybe they don't get many visitors in the coma wards. I suppose it's easier to forget them as long as the families know the patients are well cared for.'
'And, remember, there are only six patients in this ward. Gardner believes in being able to concentrate fully on individual patients.' Megan moved toward the entrance. 'But I wouldn't forget.'
'I know you wouldn't.' He opened the glass entrance door for her. 'And that's why we're here.'
The corridor of the rectangular building was shadowy and dimly lit and there was only one nurse at the circular desk just inside the door. She looked up from her paperwork as Megan and Grady came toward her. She was plain, a little plump, somewhere in her thirties. Her RN badge identified her as Madge Holloway. She smiled regretfully. 'I'm sorry. No visitors are allowed in the wards after nine. I was about to lock up for the night. Would it help if I checked the latest report on your patient's condition for you?'
'We've had a report from Dr. Gardner,' Megan said. 'I'm supposed to meet him in Suite fourteen B.'
'Oh, yes.' Nurse Holloway's face suddenly lit with eagerness. 'The Phillip Blair case. I was hoping I'd be here when you came. We've been so excited at his progress. Dr. Gardner never gives up. You're so lucky to have him working on the case.'
'I realize that,' Megan said as she moved down the hall. 'The far end of the corridor?'
'That's right. Good luck.'
'Thank you.'
'Wait for me.' Grady took her arm. 'You're almost running.'
'I feel like running. I'm excited.' She glanced at him. 'And I know you want to tell me not to get my hopes up, but don't do it. I can't help it.'
'I wouldn't think of it.' His gaze was wandering from side to side as they passed the hospital rooms. 'It would be an exercise in futility. But I'm a realist. I'll reserve my excitement until I see Phillip coming a little closer to consciousness.'
He stopped a few yards from the door at the end of the corridor. 'Stay here. Let me go in first.'
She glanced back at the nurse at the reception desk and frowned. 'Everything seems okay here.'
'And hopefully Harley and Renata are having an equally good experience outside.' Grady moved toward the door. 'But let's not rely on what seems to be taking place. I've shaped reality too many times myself to have any faith in it.'
'Yes, but Molino is no Controller. And this is-what's wrong?' He was looking beyond her toward the front entrance. 'Why are-'
'Shit!' He opened Phillip's door and dove to one side and into the room. 'Get down!'
THE NURSE WAS MOVING AT A FAST WALK, almost at a run, as she came out of the annex building. Her stride was purposeful as she moved toward the SUV parked in front of the door.
Renata didn't like it. The nurse was moving too fast and Megan and Grady had just entered the building. Mark had always told Renata that any irregular behavior was a red flag in a surveillance situation. Of course, this was a nurse and there were always emergencies. She scanned the exterior of the car the nurse was now driving out of the parking lot.
No, dammit, it wasn't right.
Renata reached for her phone as she started her car and followed the nurse's SUV out of the lot.
Warn Megan. And hope Grady was observant enough to keep Megan alive.
GRADY DREW HIS GUN AND rolled over and under the hospital bed a few feet from the door.
No gunfire.
No curses or exclamations.
From where he was under the bed he could see no one in the room.
'Grady, dammit. What's happening?'
'Stay where you are, Megan. No problem that I can see.'
In the adjoining bathroom?
He started to slowly ease himself from beneath the bed.
Something warm splattered on his hand.
Blood.
He froze as he watched the blood that had dropped from the bed run off his hand onto the beige tiles.
Oh, God.
Don't look at the man on the bed. Not yet. Not until he was sure there was no one in that bathroom waiting to pounce.
HER PHONE WAS RINGING, Megan realized dimly. Ignore it. Every nerve of her body was tensed and focused on what was going on in Phillip's room.
It was only a few moments since Grady had last told her to stay the hall but it seemed a century.
'Grady.'
No answer.
'Unless you let me come in there I'm calling the police.'
'You don't want to come in here. I'll come out.'
Panic jolted through her. 'If there's not a problem, why don't you want me to-' She jumped to her feet and moved slowly, cautiously into Phillip's room.
Blood.
The sheet on the bed was soaked with blood from the throat and face of the man in the bed.
'Dear God.' She recoiled back against the wall. Her knees gave way and she slid to the floor. 'Phillip…'
'No.' Grady was kneeling beside her. 'That's what I thought too. But it's not Phillip. It's hard to tell from that carnage of a face but I think it's Gardner.'
'Gardner?' Her gaze flew to his face. 'Dead?'
He nodded. 'I'd judge it happened within the last few hours.' He paused. 'And there are two more bodies in
