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I nodded, and she drew her sniper weapon in front of her and entered first through the fire door. With my pistol drawn, I followed right behind her. Halfway down the hallway in front of us, one of the hostiles was on his back, dead to the world, whether literally or figuratively was unknown. The second had just turned away from his unconscious friend and back toward Ashlee’s office with a gun in his hand. Li aimed, but before she could squeeze the trigger, he stumbled backward and tripped over his friend, landing on the floor beside him.
Li pumped a tranq dart into each of them while I rushed ahead to the office. Ashlee’s editor and two of the writers were crouched behind the desk. Ashlee and the writer who was her nemesis, Magellan, were along the wall beside the door. He was crouched beside her, and his hands were covered in blood.
“Ash!” I pushed the desk out of the way and knelt beside her. I moved Magellan’s hand and saw the small, precise wound leaking blood. “Ashlee’s been shot!” I shouted into the comms. “Penn, get the hostiles contained so Bond can get in here.” I pulled off my T-shirt and balled it up. “Meet me on the roof. Jensen—”
“Medivac chopper already en route,” Jensen said.
I pressed my T-shirt over her wound. Her eyes fluttered, and she smiled up at me.
“We did it. We sent the article. I’m safe now.”
“That’s right, baby, you’re safe,” I said as calmly as I could. “I’ve got you now.”
She closed her eyes and went limp in my arms.
“You,” I said to Magellan, “press that T-shirt over her wound and keep pressure on it while I carry her.” I lifted her into my arms and stood, along with Magellan. “Introduce yourself,” I said as we brushed past Li. “The civilians look terrified.”
Of course, they were. They’d just been accosted by two gunmen who probably would have killed them, and now they were being guarded by a long, lean figure dressed head to toe in black and sporting a sniper rifle. They’d get over it. It might take some months of therapy, but they would recover. The only person I was concerned with right now was Ashlee.
“She saved us,” Magellan said as he kept pace with me up the stairs. “She knocked them both out. One with the fire extinguisher, the other with an award statue. Can you believe that?” He laughed maniacally.
Shit. He was going into shock. We got to the roof, and I laid Ashlee down and took over holding pressure on her wound.
“Bond.”
“Ten seconds out,” she answered.
“Good. Penn, send someone up with a reflective blanket for Magellan, then start cleaning up this mess.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bond stepped onto the roof and knelt beside me, checking Ashlee’s vitals and her wound while the chopper appeared on the horizon.
“One minute out,” Jensen announced.
“Good,” Bond said. She nodded to me over the body of my unconscious lover. “She’s going to be all right. It’s a through-and-through, not near any vital organs.” She took over keeping the pressure on Ashlee’s wound.
I sat down hard on the roof, more exhausted than I’d ever been, and took one of Ashlee’s still hands between both of my blood-soaked ones.
“It’s all right,” I whispered to her, sure she could hear me, and my words would give her strength. “You’re safe now, Ash. I promise. I’ve got you.”
20
Ashlee
I came back to consciousness slowly. I was warm and comfortable, except for the bright light and beeping sound. Under me was something firm but soft, with some give. Not TJ’s strong arms and chest. I struggled to open my eyes and stared up at a ceiling that wasn’t that of the newsroom.
TJ’s face came into view. His frown dissipated into a smile. “Hi, Ash. Thanks for joining us.”
My brain fog started burning away, leaving my mind racing. “The article. Calder’s news conference. Jayna.” I tried to sit up, but my body was heavy and unresponsive.
“Everyone is fine, and the article went out in time to hit the evening news on the networks and the cable channels.” TJ squeezed my hand. “And I have some great footage to show you when you’re up to it of the FBI showing up at Calder’s news conference and leading him away in handcuffs.”
I smiled at the image of that. “And—”
“No more questions until I’ve assessed you,” Dr. Bond said as she leaned into my view. She wore a white lab coat and held a medical chart.
I glanced past her and around the room. “Hospital? Why?”
