J Saint - Collateral Damage

"Will do." Roger disconnected then looked up to see Dr. Stewart exit Mari's room and it startled him. He must have been so absorbed in the conversation that he'd missed the doc going in. It could very well have been Dugar.

Kicking his own ass, Roger greeted the woman then asked about Mari. "So what's the prognosis?"

"Good. The cramping is gone. Her blood levels are okay. The baby is fine as far as any tests can determine this early in her pregnancy. She can go home, but I am going to preface that by saying she absolutely must get into a prenatal care program and she must start eating properly. She's going to need some help functioning with both her hands bandaged and the cuts on her knees are going to make walking painful, but she needs to get up and walk about the house every few hours until she is ready to venture out."

"I'll see that she does all of the above, Doc."

"Good. Here's my card. She needs to set up an appointment in about a week for her stitches to come out. The nurse will give both of you Mari's home care instructions before you go." The doctor glanced at Mari's closed door and lowered her voice. "Two other things, she refuses to take anything for pain, afraid that it will harm the baby. I'm sending a prescription home with her, but if she won't take that perhaps she'll take Tylenol. Also, I think it would be good for her to see a counselor, one who deals with victims of violent crime. Mari may not have been seriously hurt in the attack, but emotionally she is very traumatized."

"I'd already thought of getting her into counseling. She's been through-a lot." Roger then clamped his mouth shut. Mari had been through a lot and he was the man responsible for it. Thanking the doctor again, Roger stepped into the room and braced himself for the impact Mari had on everything about him. Emotionally and physically the sight of her delivered a one-two punch that had him reeling in his boots.

It didn't make a damn bit of sense and had to be a mixture of his guilt and his long-starved libido. There wasn't a thing about her that didn't prey on his mind. He hadn't seen her gloriously long hair since the grocery mart's bathroom yesterday, but he could remember every nuance of the blue-black curtain. Her golden eyes were rich and perfectly framed by thick lashes. She'd been given a traditional Muslim headscarf and gown this morning and she hadn't wasted a second before putting them on. The hospital employees had asked around after her admission last night, and had located the clothes for her to wear. He supposed he should have done that for her, but then, burying her beauty under a mound of clothing hadn't been uppermost in his mind. Keeping her safe from being buried six feet under had.

An hour later Mari was discharged from the hospital and he'd driven his car to the front pick-up area for her. The nurse brought her out in a wheelchair. There were other patients loading to go home and he winced as he saw the numerous bouquets of flowers accompanying them. Something else he'd neglected to do. Exiting the SUV, he left it running and moved around the car to help Mari.

"It's a beautiful day." She gave him a tight smile. One that didn't hide her painful grimace as she moved her legs to stand and used her elbows to try and push herself upright. He gritted his teeth for half a second and then couldn't take it anymore.

"Too pretty a day to hurt. Let me help and we can work on the moving around bit a little later." He scooped her quickly off her feet and into his arms. The nurse moved to open his car door and all hell broke out. The wheelchair Mari had been in seconds ago flipped over backwards as a high caliber bullet plowed through its vinyl back and shattered the plate glass window fronting the hospital behind them.

"Get down!" Roger yelled, crouching low, using his SUV for cover as he scanned the direction he thought the shooter might be. A nearby security guard drew his weapon and started shouting and pushing people down for cover. One lady ran screaming by him and Roger knocked her down to the ground behind a cement pillar. She lay there crying, but at least she was alive.

Another bullet ricocheted off the cement sidewalk less than a foot from where he held Mari. Roger had no choice but to get the hell out of there. Everyone else would be safer too. He had no doubt that Dugar, the crazy SOB after Mari, was on the other end of that rifle. The adrenaline, rage and fear pumping though him was unlike anything he'd ever known. He felt as if he would explode from the nuclear mix. Especially when he saw Mari's pale face. She looked as if death had already claimed her and she was prepared to leave this world behind.

Over his dead body and damned soul! Neither of which were going to happen, so that meant nothing was getting to her EVER.

Lunging forward, he placed her on the floorboard then dove over the top of her for the driver's seat. The car's engine was already running, so all he had to do was shove the car into drive and steer. He did that and managed to stomp on the gas pedal. Within seconds, he sailed down the pick-up lane. The driver's side back window exploded before he could turn the corner and Mari cried out as she huddled on the floor. He'd expected her to cry out for help, but she wasn't. She kept asking for forgiveness.

He filed the fact and drove like a bat out of hell.

Fair Play, South Carolina

1200 hours

Jack crossed the state line from Georgia into South Carolina before he realized it. He'd been deliberating how to best approach Conrad Gardner and had decided that a public restaurant would be their best option. He pulled into the parking lot of Pig Out's BBQ. According to his GPS they were less than five miles from Gardner's house.

Lauren had called her kids and Angie a few minutes ago to check with them and was still on the phone. He could hear the boys' exuberance now that he'd killed the engine even without the speaker phone on. With Rico on lookout for Angie and the kids, Jack could relax a notch. Unless one of them made the mistake of communicating their location to someone else and the people after them overheard it-something he was positive the bastards were capable of-no one would be able to reach Lauren's children. It was her he had to worry about.

"Yeah, Matt. I give you my solid oak. We'll go to Disney World soon. I love you. Now let me talk to Aunt Angie."

"Sorry about that," Angie said. "I didn't think letting them watch the travel channel would lead to any trouble. You're likely to be out a couple of grand now."

"That's why I stick to Thomas the Tank Engine." Lauren laughed.

Jack's insides reacted to the sound. It made him tense, made him yearn. Not in a sexual way, but in an excited about life way, reminding him of the times when Livy was six and she threw herself into his arms when he walked in the door. He would swing her around until they were both dizzy and laughing. Back then it didn't matter if he'd been gone for a month or just the day, she was always happy to see him. He missed it more than he'd realized.

"We did that first, but James and Henry had a spat in the episode. And, well, Matt thought James was in the right and Mitch thought Henry could do no wrong and World War Three ensued."

Jack laughed at that and shook his head. Lauren just rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever you do, don't resort to anything remotely to do with martial arts. The room won't survive it. There's always the classical music channel."

"Will do. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will. Jack wants to talk to Rico again." Lauren handed over the phone.

At the beginning of the call Jack had let Rico know about the two murders and that they were on their way to see another of Bill's friends. Rico spoke first. "Be pissed later, but I called Beck to come help. He didn't answer so I left him a message. I don't know what's going on with that boy but we need to find out. Until you know what this is all about, I would feel better having a back up in this situation."