“Oh, yeah. Ethan.”
His face came into view. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I told him.
His face told me he knew I was lying but he didn’t press for any more information. I rested back against the pillow and started to shake.
“Kay?” He leaned over me. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute.” I tried to will away the images that still clouded my vision.
Ethan pulled the blankets up closer to my chin. I felt him sit down on the side of the bed.
“Can I do anything?”
I shook my head. I reached out my hand to his. He took it gently and sat silently until I stopped shaking.
“You need the nurse or anything?
“No.”
“Okay.” He didn’t argue. He just sat holding my hand until I fell back to sleep.
When I woke he was gone. Logan sat in the chair next to the bed watching me. I wasn’t sure if I was comforted by his presence.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi, do you need anything?” Was his short reply.
“No. Where’s Ethan?”
“He had something he had to do.” He was a font of information.
“Why aren’t you with him?”
Logan frowned. “Because he told me to babysit you.” Great.
“And where do you think I am going to go?”
“Nowhere, but it isn’t about where you are going, it is about who might be coming.” And there it was. The elephant in the room.
“You still haven’t caught him yet?” I asked.
“It’s complicated,” he replied.
I could see I was going to get nowhere with Logan, so I nodded. “Still, you should be with him to have his back.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I knew where Logan’s loyalties were.
“Then go!” I commanded.
“I can’t because if I leave you and something happens to you, my life won’t be worth living.”
“I doubt that.” I rolled my eyes.
“Then you don’t understand or appreciate how Ethan feels about you.” He bit the words off. Clearly, he wasn’t happy to be here, and he wasn’t happy with me.
“I seriously, doubt that ever stopped you from doing something you thought was right.”
He stared at me as if considering my words. For a moment I thought he might get up and leave.
“Ethan and I have been friends a long time and if he has asked me to guard the one thing he holds most dear in this world, then that is what I am going to do,” He glared at me, “No matter how annoying she is.”
His words both shocked and stunned me. “What’s your deal anyway? Why do you dislike me so much without knowing me?”
“You’re right I don’t know you, but I know your type,” he generalized.
“My type?” I laughed. “And pray tell, what is my type?”
“I know you were a photojournalist and you were imbedded with a marine unit.” His eyes narrowed, “I don’t know how you pulled that off. But people like you get people like me get hurt.”
“Were you injured because of a photojournalist?” I asked using my most innocent voice.
“No.”
“Then your statement has no basis in fact, and you can guard me from outside the door.”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t believe my presence had gotten my marine corps team injured. The fact was, they had been injured and they were alive because I found a car and drove them all back to base. I was the reason they were alive. It didn’t feel like I had done anything brave or that I had been strong despite my own injuries. I did what needed to be done at the time to simply survive. While I don’t believe any of those marines blamed me, I still felt sick about what happened. Logan’s words made me question if we had been targeted because I was there or whether it was because I was female or a journalist. But I had no idea. I closed my eyes and the images returned. The blood, the screaming, the smoke and dust. It was nothing short of a miracle that we got out of there alive even if most of us weren’t in one piece. I tried to block it out, but with nothing to distract me here I couldn’t. I pressed the button for more morphine and hoped that in sleep I might find relief from the images.
I selfishly prayed that Ethan would be back when I woke up. Then I let the drugs carry me into the blackness.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ethan
It was hard for me to leave Kay in the hospital. I wanted to stay there and tell her how sorry I was. How I planned to spend the rest of my life making things right. And protecting her. Todd Bannister had turned this case into one with FBI jurisdiction written all over it. And I was hot on his trail. I was still working with the local police and letting them handle the local aspects of the investigation, interviews of witnesses, even talking to Kay about what she knew if anything. We still had Michael in protective custody, and I left Logan to guard Kay, not trusting anyone else. I knew he was not happy about missing out on the action, but he was the only person I trusted to keep Kay safe. I was filled with self-doubt, thinking maybe I should let Logan handle the investigation while I sat with Kay. Somehow, I felt like I had to do this in order to be worthy of her, again.
I went back to the office to check in with Stephanie and Jared.
“Where are we?” I announced myself.
“We are trying to track Bannister.” Stephanie said.
“He stopped using his credit card a couple of hours ago and his car just parked at the airport. I don’t know if he has bought an airline ticket or not.”
“We don’t have actual eyes on him?” I demanded.
“The agents that were following him lost him in traffic and are coming into the airport now.” Stephanie answered. “Luckily, I was able to pick him up on the traffic cameras.”
“We are assuming that he is headed out of the area and possibly out of the
