CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Maggie’s heart jumped to her throat. No. This couldn’t be happening. That shot couldn’t have hit Sheriff Marcus, not after he’d tried to so hard to help them.
She listened for any sound, anything to indicate if the sheriff was dead or alive, and Maggie tried to aim the gun Jake had given her.
No easy feat.
Her hands were wobbly. Her entire body was. Except for the part of her where the doctor had drawn the bone marrow. The numbness was wearing off fast, and the pain was starting to throb. Maggie tried to push the pain aside and concentrate on the sheriff, Jake and staying alive.
“They’re not in the building,” Marcus finally shouted. “Not yet anyway.”
The relief caused her breath to stall in her lungs. Marcus hadn’t been shot. He was alive and at least well enough to talk. She prayed he stayed that way.
“How many are out there?” Jake asked.
“Can’t tell. They fired the shot from an open window of the vehicle, and it came through the back door. I’m not sure what the bullet hit.”
The door was made of reinforced glass, the kind with metal webbing in the center. It wouldn’t stop a bullet or prevent a break-in, but it would hopefully slow the men down.
The phone in Maggie’s lap rang, and she quickly answered it so that the ringing sound wouldn’t help their attackers pinpoint their position.
“It’s me, Billy,” the man said, through rough gusts of breath. “They just got out of the van. Two of them. Dressed in camo, and they’re heavily armed.”
Oh, God. She relayed the news to Jake, but as soon as she finished, she heard Billy’s voice again.
“They’re coming straight for the front door.” His words came out so fast that they ran together. “It’s locked, but they could shoot their way in.”
And no doubt would.
“Get away from the door, Billy,” Maggie ordered. “Don’t try to fight these guys head-on, but if you get a chance, take them out.”
She glanced at Jake and saw the fear and concern in the glimpse that he gave her. It was a risk to have bullets flying with patients on the second floor. Maybe the ceilings were reinforced so a shot couldn’t get through. But there’d be an even greater risk to the patients, and them, if the gunmen took control of the place. They might have orders to eliminate all potential witnesses.
“Watch the elevators,” Maggie warned Billy. “They can’t get to the second floor.”
“I understand.”
And when Billy hung up, she turned off the phone’s ringer. If he called back, Maggie would still see the caller-ID screen light up, but she couldn’t risk the gunmen following the sound of a ring.
The front part of the building was too far away for Maggie to hear what was going on there, but maybe Billy would have a chance to keep them updated. She hoped that Billy would be able to defuse whatever was going on at the front of the building.
“The SUV door just opened,” Sheriff Marcus relayed to them. “Two men. Maybe more. I think there’s someone else in the backseat. But the two I see are wearing ski masks, and they’re armed to the hilt.”
That didn’t help steady her already raw nerves. With the two at the front of the building, they had at least four gunmen converging on the building. Yes, there were four of them with Billy and the sheriff, but Maggie figured she was nowhere up to holding off an attack.
Still, that wouldn’t stop her.
She could barely move her body, but she had a gun and she could shoot.
Maggie thought of Dr. Blake and Betsy and hoped they’d managed to find a place to hide. The best way to keep them and that marrow safe was to make sure the gunmen didn’t get deep into the building so they could attack anyone. That was no doubt exactly what Jake was thinking, too.
There was another shot, and she could tell from the sound of it that it had been fired closer to them than the first. The gunmen were definitely on the move.
The next shot proved that.
It slammed first through the window and then inside. Without the reinforced glass to hold them back, that’d make it much easier for the gunmen to get in the building.
“Get back!” Jake yelled to the sheriff.
But Jake didn’t take his own advice.
He leaned out into the hall and fired.
Maggie wanted to shout for Jake to at least take better cover behind the doorjamb, but he stayed put, with his gun ready and aimed.
More shots came from the back of the building, and in between those rounds, Maggie heard the sound of the door being bashed in.
Followed by footsteps.
Jake pivoted, leaning out so he could fire a shot. It blasted through the air. And it wasn’t the only blast. Two bullets came Jake’s way, blistering past him as he ducked back inside the room.
He cursed. “Sheriff Marcus is down,” he said.
And Jake leaned out from cover and started firing.
* * *
THE BULLETS CAME AT HIM, but Jake didn’t stop shooting. He couldn’t. He had to give Sheriff Marcus a fighting chance to stay alive.
Using the sides of the exterior building for cover, the two gunmen bashed their weapons against what was left of the door, and it didn’t take them long to finish the job. Jake could barely see them in the shadows, but they came through firing nonstop.
One of them, the guy on the right, focused on Jake, the other on Marcus, who had already been shot in the shoulder. Jake knew that because he’d seen the bullet slam into the man.
Marcus dove to the side, into the room at that end of the building, and Jake heard the sound of the door slamming. Hopefully, Marcus had a way to lock it so he could regroup. Maybe, just maybe, his injury wasn’t so bad that he wouldn’t bleed out before he could get medical attention.
God knew when that would be.
He doubted any of the medical staff could or would respond with all the bullets flying. Jake hoped that was true anyway. He didn’t need anyone else shot tonight.
One the men tried to open the door where Marcus had disappeared. The other made a beeline for Jake.
Jake fired at him, and the guy ducked behind a medical cart loaded with equipment. He shot at the other guy, too, and sent him scurrying to the recessed area to the left. Good. At least he had them pinned down. For the moment anyway.
The moment didn’t last long.
The man behind the cart took aim at Jake and fired. He had to jump back so he wouldn’t be shot, and the bullet tore away a chunk of the doorjamb where he’d just been standing.
Maggie cursed. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Stay back.”
Jake hated the fear in her voice. The worry. It was for him, but his worry was for her. If he didn’t end this now, Tanner’s men would somehow get to Maggie.
Another shot slammed into the jamb. Then another.
Jake had lost count of how many times the gunman had fired, but he figured he’d have to reload soon. Jake did something to help that along. He grabbed some of the hard plastic building blocks from one of the tables and he tossed them out into the hall.
The guy fired again.
And again.
Jake stuck out his hand and fired, too. That left him seven more shots, and he had two magazines of extra ammo in his pockets. Of course, he didn’t want to take the time to reload, either. Especially with two gunmen this close and more God knew where in the hospital. He wanted to do some damage control now.
He threw out another handful of blocks.
The shots came.
And Jake timed it so that at the first pause, he leaned out, took aim and fired. Since he couldn’t risk just wounding this assassin, he double tapped the trigger, and both shots went into the guy’s chest. He flew back, slamming into the wall and gasping.
Jake fired another shot. This time to the head, just in case the guy was wearing Kevlar.
One down.
Three to go.
And the most immediate threat was the guy in the recessed area. He started shooting, and the man had far better cover that his fallen comrade since he was concealed behind thick block wall. At least he couldn’t head upstairs and loop around behind them since there was no way out of there. Of course, maybe he didn’t want to escape. He was probably loaded down with extra ammo and could shoot up the entire place.
He was certainly doing a good job of tearing apart the doorjamb that Jake was using for cover.
Jake heard other shots, too. Not nearby. But from the other side of the building where Billy was. The two gunmen had no doubt gotten into the building, and Billy was alone without backup. Jake wished there was a way to get to him, to help, but he wouldn’t make it an inch in the hall without getting shot. Plus, he couldn’t leave Maggie alone for even a second.
The guy in the recessed area kept shooting, but the others stopped. Jake prayed that was a good sign, but he knew full well it could go the other way.
Behind him, Jake saw a flash of light, and when Maggie put the phone to her ear, he realized someone had called.
“Billy,” she relayed in a whisper.
Hell. He hoped his deputy was okay. Billy was a good lawman, but he was young and had never faced anything like this.
“He took out one of them,” Maggie said. “But the other got away. Billy thinks he’s on his way back here.”
Jake felt the punch of relief that his deputy was alive, but there wasn’t much relief in another killer headed their way.
“Tell Billy to protect the doctor, Betsy and the others,” Jake said.
Yeah, it was a risk. Jake might need the deputy to help with the gunman, but it could be an even bigger risk for Billy to try to get to the rear of the hospital where they were.
Maggie repeated to Billy what Jake had told her, and she paused. A moment later, she clicked the button to end the call.
“Billy said the gunman headed our way is using some kind of handheld device to pinpoint us,” she added in a whisper. “Maybe a thermal scan.”
Jake would have cursed if a hail of bullets hadn’t come right at them. More of the doorjamb went, and the bullets tore through a part of the wall.
Bullet by bullet, the gunman was taking away Jake’s cover, and if he managed to do that, Jake would have no choice but to move back where he wouldn’t be able to fire until the gunman was right on them. Jake glanced back at Maggie and the locked office door near her. “Try to open it,” he said. Because it might be the fastest way to shield her from the gunmen.
Jake heard the movement at the rear door. Heard the footsteps, too.
And he cursed.
It wasn’t Sheriff Marcus, that was for sure, because Jake hadn’t heard the man open the door where he’d taken shelter. Marcus had likely been right about someone else being in the backseat because this person was coming from the outside and into the building.
Another gunman, no doubt.
It made Jake wonder just how many assassins Tanner had sent after them. And how many more he’d continue to send. Yeah, if they got out of this alive, he’d have to move Maggie and the others far out of Tanner’s reach.
If that was possible.
“Don’t shoot,” the man said.
Jake froze because he recognized that voice.
“It’s David,” Maggie whispered, obviously recognizing the voice, too.
Well, now they knew the identity of Tanner’s latest accomplice. His own son.
Not a surprise.
But it did surprise Jake that David had asked him not to shoot. Jake had no plans to negotiate with David or any of Tanner’s goons.
“Don’t shoot,” David repeated. His voice was broken. A terrified tremble.
Jake figured that particular emotion could be faked, but it sure didn’t sound it.
“If you shoot me,” David said, “you’ll kill us all.”
Well, that got his attention and didn’t let go.
“It could be a trap,” Maggie reminded him.
Yeah. Jake was anticipating that. He didn’t trust David any more than he did Tanner. But what puzzled Jake was why the shots had stopped.
Jake scurried to the other side of the door so he could get a better look while still keeping a small amount of cover. He glanced out and nearly froze from the stunned surprise.
In that glimpse, he saw David, his hands lifted high into the air as if surrendering.
“Please don’t shoot,” David begged.
Jake risked another glance out into the hall.
Oh, hell.
Things had just gone from bad to worse.