Beverly Barton - Grace Under Fire

Before he could say anything, one of the men who'd rushed from Rudy's to the accident site, called out, "Hey, there's a guy over here who's having some kind of convulsions. We need a doctor or somebody with medical training."

The crowd buzzed with concern and curiosity. Jed knew what he had to do, but that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach cautioned him not to leave Grace. He grasped her arm and said, "I've had medic training. I should-"

"Go…go," she told him.

Most of the people in line at Rudy's went inside for lunch, but a few decided watching an accident scene was preferable to eating. Grace instructed Elsa and Hudson to go on into the restaurant, then she turned to Kate and Dom.

"Mr. Shea, why don't you go with Jed and see if you can help out. Kate and I will go in and order, then y'all can join us later."

Jed looked squarely at Kate. "Take care of her."

"You know I will," Kate replied.

Reluctantly Jed headed toward the car crash at the intersection, Dom at his side, as Grace and Kate followed Elsa and Hudson into the restaurant. Just go do what has to be done to help out, Jed told himself. Kate will look after Grace. After all, what could happen to her in Rudy's?

Jed and Dom parted the crowd hovering around the two wrecked vehicles-a shiny red Toyota convertible and a black Ford Windstar minivan. It appeared the man driving the convertible had run the red light and smashed into the side of the minivan-probably at no more than twenty miles an hour. The woman driving the Windstar had two toddlers in regulation child safety seats in the back. She was crying, but she seemed to be physically all right, as were her two squalling babies. The young man behind the wheel of the sports car was in the throes of a convulsion and since Jed couldn't see how he could have been badly injured in what appeared to be just a major fender bender, he figured the guy had some sort of medical condition.

"You look after the lady and her kids," Jed said. "I'll see what I can do for this guy."

By the time Jed checked the guy over and decided he hadn't received any injuries and that he possibly suffered from epilepsy and had gone into a seizure which had no doubt caused the accident, the police showed up and an ambulance siren could be heard several blocks up the street. Jed discovered a medical emergency bracelet on the man's wrist which verified Jed's suspicions that he had epilepsy. Since Jed and Dom were firsthand witnesses to the collision and the lady was too hysterical to give the officers a competent report on how the accident had occurred and the other driver would soon be on his way to the hospital, Officer LeBeck asked the Dundee agents to fill him in on what had happened.

All the while they were being held up doing their duty as responsible citizens, Jed kept getting that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He leaned over and said quietly to Dom, "I can finish things up here. I want you to check around the block. Just look for anything suspicious. I'm getting some odd vibes."

"Danger signals?" Dom asked.

"Call me crazy, but I can't shake the notion that something is fixing to happen."

"You think Fortier is going to strike out at Grace today? Is that it?"

"Maybe. I don't know. All I know is that my gut instincts are telling me something's wrong. Bad wrong."

"I'll check the block, then keep watch outside. I can grab a late lunch later." Dom shot across the street and disappeared around the corner beside Rudy's. Jed completed his report to Officer LeBeck, then went straight to Grace's Rolls. He pecked on the window to gain Nolan's attention. The old man opened the door and started to get out, but Jed motioned for him to stay put.

"Have you stayed with the car every minute since leaving Belle Foret earlier today?" Jed asked.

Nolan gave Jed a puzzled look. "Yes, sir. Miss Grace told me to wait and not return home since she had made plans for lunch in town." He pointed to the CD and tape player. "I listen to books on tape while I wait."

"So there's no way anyone could have tampered with the Rolls today?"

"No, sir, not unless he was invisible."

Jed released a relieved sigh. He could rule out a car bomb. But his relief was short-lived. He just couldn't shake this nagging sense of unease.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" Nolan asked.

"No. You go back to your book on tape," Jed told him. "I'm just being cautious."

Nolan closed the car door. Jed turned around just as Dom came around the building.

"Anything?" Jed asked.

"Nothing obvious," Dom said.

"Damn!"

"Go on in and have lunch with Ms. Beaumont and the others," Dom suggested. "I'll keep watch out here."

Before Jed could reply, the front doors to Rudy's swung open and Grace came rushing outside, Kate at her side. Holy hell. His mind screamed, "Go back inside!"

"She wouldn't stay put," Kate said. "She was concerned because y'all were taking so long."

"Jed, is everything all right?" Grace asked.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere a shot rang out. Kate knocked Grace to the sidewalk, covered Grace with her body and pulled her 9 mm, all in record time. Simultaneously Dom pulled his weapon and took cover, while Jed rushed toward Grace. Another shot rang out.

"Second story window across the street," Dom hollered. "Man with a rifle."

"Go after him," Jed ordered as he went down on his knees beside Grace and Kate. He lifted Kate up and when he did, he saw that both she and Grace were covered in blood. Bright red, fresh blood. Grace lay flat on her back on the sidewalk, her face chalk-white, her beige blouse and brown silk jacket soaked in blood.

"Grace? God damn it, Blondie, why didn't you stay inside and wait for me?"

The waiting room of St. Camille Hospital 's surgery unit held an assortment of concerned men and women. Dom Shea paced the floor in a circle, then went into the hall and tromped restlessly up and down the long corridor. J.J. Blair stood gazing out the row of windows overlooking the rear parking lot. Hudson Prentice sat alone in the corner, practically comatose, not saying a word nor responding to anything said to him. Elsa Leone perched precariously on the edge of the vinyl sofa right beside Grace, while Jed kept guard on the other side. When Jed had first realized that it was Kate who'd been hit and not Grace, he'd been thankful, relieved that Grace wasn't hurt, then felt guilty because of Kate. She'd taken a bullet in the shoulder, which had gone clean through and cut out a chunk of flesh as it exited. All the blood on Kate and Grace had belonged to Kate, who'd risked her life to save the client, as she'd been trained to do. Dom blamed himself. Jed blamed himself. Hell, even Grace said it was all her fault. In a case like this, there was always enough blame to go around.

Even now, four hours after arriving at the hospital, Grace's face was still pale and her hands, which she held tightly in her lap, still trembled. And despite Elsa's best efforts to wash off the blood from Grace's clothes when she'd taken her employer into the ladies' room shortly after they'd arrived, her jacket, skirt and blouse still held the copper-red stains, slightly faded and smudged, but plainly evident. Kate's blood had splattered Grace's face and hair, which Elsa had managed to clean quite well.

"What time is it?" Grace asked.

"Six-twenty-five," Elsa replied, her gaze focused on the electric wall clock above the door.

"Kate's been in surgery over four hours," Grace said. "Why is it taking so long? Why hasn't someone come out and told us how she's doing?" Although Grace's eyes remained dry, her voice quivered with emotion.

Jed put his arm around Grace's shoulders and pulled her to him, then he reached down and covered her tightly clasped, shaky hands with one of his hands, then squeezed. "Let me take you home. You're exhausted and filthy and-"