Delores Fossen - Roughshod Justice

Chapter Four

Kelly’s breath froze. From the moment she’d been carried into the hospital, she’d had a bad feeling about this place. It just wasn’t safe. And the gunman that the security guard had spotted proved it.

The gunman was after her.

She didn’t need her memories to know that, but it certainly would have helped if she remembered why someone wanted her dead. Because if she knew the why, then maybe she could figure out who was behind this. And perhaps put an end to it. Of course, at the moment she wasn’t in shape to stop much of anything. But she did need to get the heck out of there.

Kelly stood to do just that, but Jameson immediately made sure that didn’t happen. “You’re not going anywhere,” he warned her. However, he did draw his gun from his holster and stepped in front of her.

Protecting her.

She figured that wasn’t something he especially wanted to do, but he was a lawman, and he probably considered this to be part of his job.

“Get me some backup now and patch me through to the security guard,” Jameson told Cameron. He now had the phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear. It only took a few seconds for that to happen.

Seconds that the man in the parking lot could be using to make his way to the hospital. Kelly looked around for something, anything, she could use as a weapon, but other than some medical equipment, there wasn’t much. Plus, she definitely wouldn’t win a hand-to-hand fight with this guy. Not with the way her head was still spinning. She could barely stand up.

“Hank, do you still have eyes on the guy with the gun?” Jameson asked the security guard.

Jameson didn’t put the call on speaker, but since Kelly was right behind him, she heard the guard answer. “Yeah, but he’s on the move. He’s darting from one car to another, using them for cover, but he’s definitely heading this way.”

Jameson growled out some profanity under his breath. “Some deputies are on the way, but if you have to, shoot this idiot. Don’t go for a kill shot, though, because I’d like to take him alive.” He paused. “Did another man just leave the building? Bulky build and bald?”

“No. Haven’t seen anybody like that. Why? Is he dangerous, too?”

“Maybe,” Jameson answered. “Just watch your back around him if he shows up. And lock down the hospital. There could be other gunmen at the front or sides of the building.”

She hadn’t needed anything else to rev up her heartbeat, but that did it. There could be any number of hired guns, and Kelly doubted that just locking up would keep them all out.

Jameson ended the call, putting the phone back in his pocket, and he looked at her. “I need to go to the guard to make sure this gunman doesn’t get out of the parking lot. I know the guard—Hank Winston—but I have no idea if he’s a good enough shot to stop this person.”

And even if he was a good shot, it was too big of a risk to take. The gunman could shoot an innocent bystander. Heck, if he got inside, he could shoot Hank as well before coming after her.

“I want to go, too,” Kelly insisted. “Just give me a gun.”

Jameson gave her a flat look. “No gun. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you here alone since we don’t know where Boyer is. That means I want you to come with me, but I don’t want you to do anything stupid.”

She nearly asked Jameson what he would consider stupid, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He got them moving out the door of the examining room. Fast. Too fast for Kelly to keep up with her wobbly legs, and Jameson cursed again when he glanced back at her. He looped his arm around her waist and started walking, slower this time.

“Once I take care of this,” Jameson said, “you can finish up with the doctor and then I can get you to the sheriff’s office. If you need protective custody, we can work it out there.”

Kelly didn’t miss the “if.” He still didn’t trust her—which was reasonable—since she couldn’t remember what she’d done or why she was carrying that note ordering her to kill him.

“We need to find my sister, too,” she reminded him, though Kelly was certain he remembered.

“Gabriel’s looking,” he assured her.

Yes, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t look, as well. And she would. But first she had to take care of a possible killer and then find a way to escape. Or at least find a way to get Jameson to believe her so he would help her.

No easy feat.

Apparently, they’d been lovers, but judging from the way Jameson glared at her nearly every time their eyes met, he didn’t feel even a trace of affection for her. However, the attraction was still there, and perhaps that was one of the reasons he was glaring. He didn’t need this heat between them any more than Kelly did.

They made their way down a wide corridor with shiny gray tile floors, and Jameson slowed when they neared the back exit. The guard was there, his gun drawn and pointed at the glass door.

“He’s still out there,” Hank said, sparing Jameson and her a glance. “What should I do?”

“Come over here and wait with her.” Jameson tipped his head to the hall. He took up position by the side of the door so he could peer out into the parking lot. “But keep watch. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on us.”

Neither did Kelly, so she kept watch, as well. “Maybe if I could get a look at the gunman, I might recognize him?” she said.

Jameson spared her a glance. “Your memory’s starting to come back?” There it was again. The skepticism that she’d never lost it in the first place.

“No. But seeing him might trigger something.”

“Seeing him might get you killed,” Jameson pointed out. “This glass is reinforced, but it’s not bullet-resistant.”

Which meant Jameson could be shot, too. Kelly had already put him in enough danger, so she leaned out, trying to get a glimpse of the gunman.

And she got it all right.

The tall lanky man ran from the back of an SUV to a truck. But the new position didn’t put him closer to the building. Nor did his next move when he darted behind a car. He was moving laterally. Maybe so he could have a better shot?

Or was this about something else?

“Hell,” Jameson said. “I think this clown is just a decoy.” Obviously, he’d reached the same conclusion Kelly just had. “A second gunman’s probably already in the building.”

Both Hank and Kelly shot glances around them. The hall wasn’t empty. There were two people wearing green scrubs, a man holding the hand of a toddler and a woman carrying a vase of flowers. All seemed to be doing normal things that people would do in a hospital.

Seemed.

The flower-carrying woman was walking slow, staying behind the man and the little boy, but Kelly didn’t think they were together. She got confirmation of that when the boy stumbled and the woman didn’t even reach out to break his fall. It was the man who picked up the child. He kissed the boy on the cheek and started walking again, coming up the hall toward them.

Jameson took out his phone and texted someone. Gabriel, probably. To let his brother know what was going on.

“See anyone suspicious?” Jameson asked Hank and her when he’d finished.

Hank shook his head. Kelly didn’t. “The woman with the flowers could be carrying a gun,” she said.

Though it wasn’t visible. Still, she was wearing jeans and could have a concealed weapon in a slide holster. Plus, there was something about the intense look on her face that set off alarms inside her. So intense that Kelly moved out of her line of sight and pulled Hank next to her.

Jameson hurried from the back door just long enough to glance down the hall, and he made a frustrated sound of agreement. “We can’t risk her firing shots. Not with that kid and the other innocent people standing around.”