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Swallowing his pride, Tanner graciously accepted her help and found himself unconsciously leaning heavier against her than Douglas. His strength was rapidly waning.
“I hope that helo is close,” he mumbled as the world began to tilt around him. “I can’t go much further.”
“Just hold on, Senator. We’re almost there.”
Tanner didn’t know if it was more than just his imagination, but her words sounded melodious as she cooed it into his ear.
“Tanner. My name is Tanner.”
“So, it is.” She grunted and tightened her hold around his waist as he stumbled.
“And yours? You look familiar. What’s your name?”
“Save the chit-chat, Senator Wilde. You need to preserve your breath. Two more minutes. C’mon. Breathe in and keep pushing.”
The gentle coaxing, accompanied by her fingers stroking his arm, kept the encroaching darkness that threatened to overwhelm him at bay.
“Agent Long. Get over here and help us get him inside the chopper. Move it!”
Tanner’s upper body had barely settled back on the floor of the helicopter before he succumbed to the inviting obliviousness of unconsciousness.
“Good Lord! I don’t know how he’s still alive. I’ve never seen anything as bad as this. His entire upper body is one massive bruise.”
Agent John Douglas’ voice sounded far off, with her attention rooted on the injured man at her feet he was attending to.
“Is he going to make it?”
“His struggling to breathe is due to cracked or perhaps even a broken rib, although I don’t see any signs that his lungs have been punctured. With how badly he has been beaten up, I’m relatively sure he has internal injuries. What I don’t know is how serious they are. So, the honest answer, Agent Brookes, is that I don’t know, but he’s a very strong man. As long as we can get him to a hospital asap, he should survive.”
DEA Recovery Agent Sera Brookes took her job seriously. Heading up the team to track and recover, U.S. Senator Tanner Wilde had been right up her alley. It came at a time she desperately needed to get out of the city.
Except watching the difficulty he had breathing and looking at the purple bruises that stood as a visual graphic of the torture he had to endure brought back memories she had thought long buried. Her fingers curled into fists as the scene flashed through her mind in a monochrome movie reel.
“Now see what you made me do, you despicable little brat!”
Sera shrunk back against the fury in her stepfather’s eyes as he turned away from the prone figure lying on the bedroom floor. Her trembling hands crawled over her chest to cover her mouth as she stared at her mother. Her chest heaved in irregular movements as she struggled to breathe, and with every breath, it seemed as though the small red carnation on her chest bloomed bigger and bigger.
“What’s wrong with my mom?”
“Your mommy got what she deserved and now that she’s paid her dues… it’s your turn.”
“R-Run, Sera. Run!” The desperate cry came in a near whisper from the bloodied lips of the woman attempting to lift her head from the floor to look at her young daughter.
The raw cry caused Sera to hesitate as her eyes flickered back to her. The pleading look in her gaze haunted the young ten-year-old girl so much she couldn’t move.
“No! I need to help you, Mommy.”
“No, baby. You n-need to run. P-Please, my brave girl. D-Do it for m-mommy.” A gurgling breath escaped her lips. “G-Go to Uncle S-Steve. Tell him… tell him, it’s t-time. Go. Go now!”
“ETA, forty minutes,” the pilot’s voice penetrated the haze of memories and yanked Sera back to the present.
“Too long. You’ve gotta push it, otherwise he’s not gonna make it,” said Agent Douglas in a voice that suddenly sounded too urgent and serious for Sera’s liking.
“Has his condition worsened?” she queried as she leaned forward to place a cool hand against Tanner’s brow. A hiss escaped her lips at the heat emanating from his skin. “He’s burning up.”
“At a guess, my worst fear has been realized, Agent Brookes. I think he’s bleeding internally. If we don’t get him into an operating room fast, he’s a goner.”
Prior to joining the DEA, Sera had an impressive background as a former CIA Case Officer. A career choice profoundly influenced by the tumultuous upbringing in a violent environment. The scars of her past were a constant reminder, and she was determined never to let anyone inflict the same fate her stepfather had unleashed upon her mother.
