Shirlee McCoy - Running Blind

And now he’d found Kane’s sister bound and gagged in the stronghold of the Mexican Panthers.

“Dougherty here.”

“Are you still in the States?”

“In Denver. I’ve got a three-hour layover here. I’ll be in Mexico at three. Do you have any news?”

“Better than news. I’ve got your sister. We’re a couple of miles from the border.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s injured.”

“How badly?”

“She’s blind.”

Dougherty didn’t respond, his silence speaking volumes. He was worried about his sister. Desperate to be there to protect her. Frustrated because he wasn’t. Nikolai understood all those feelings. He’d felt them all in the twenty years during which he’d been separated from his sisters. He’d been blessed to be reunited with Morgan, but Katia was still out in the world somewhere. An adult now, but still his little sister and still, in some indefinable way, his responsibility.

“Tell him I’m okay.” Jenna roused herself enough to speak, and Dougherty must have heard.

“Is that her? Let me speak to her.”

“Are you up to speaking with your brother?” Nikolai asked, and Jenna nodded.

He placed the phone in her palm, felt her hand trembling. She was still terrified and probably in shock, her skin cool and clammy to the touch. He should have grabbed the blanket he kept in the trunk of the car and wrapped it around her shoulders, but there hadn’t been time for anything but getting her in the car and getting her out of the line of fire.

“Kane? No, I can’t see anything, but I’m sure it’s not permanent.” There was confidence in her voice, and Nikolai wondered if she really believed what she was saying or if she was simply trying to reassure her brother.

He didn’t ask, just took the phone after she finished her conversation and tucked it into his pocket. The border checkpoint was just ahead. Several cars were waiting to pass through, and Nikolai pulled into line behind them.

“We’ve slowed down. What’s going on?” Jenna asked, her voice much weaker than it had been when she’d spoken to her brother. Her lips and face were colorless, the bruise on her forehead deep purple.

“We’re at the border.”

“Then I guess we’re home free.” There was no relief in her voice, no indication that she was happy to be within reach of safety.

Was she thinking about Magdalena?

Or had she realized that making it to the border and making it across were two different things?

Nikolai didn’t ask. Just inched the car forward, his gaze on a car pulling up behind him. It looked like any other car, and maybe it was, but the hair on the back of Nikolai’s neck stood on end, his pulse thrumming. Danger hung in the air, and he couldn’t ignore it.

He turned the steering wheel, maneuvering out of line, and speeding toward the border checkpoint.

“What’s happening?” Jenna’s panicked cry mixed with the roar of the engine, but Nikolai didn’t have time to answer. The doors of the other vehicle opened, and two men climbed out.

“Get down!” He shouted the command, and Jenna obeyed, diving down as the first bullet exploded through the rear window. Another followed, the sound reverberating through the car as Border Patrol agents streamed from their stations. Nikolai slammed on his brakes, the tires squealing as the car shuddered to a stop.

“Are w—” Jenna started to rise, and Nikolai shoved her down again, throwing his body over hers.

Gunfire blasted around them, the sound blocking out everything but the thundering beat of Nikolai’s heart.

For a moment he was in Afghanistan again, diving for cover as the enemy fired from a rooftop. He could smell the dirt and the coppery scent of his comrades’ blood, could hear his own desperate prayers rising from the deepest part of his soul.

And then there was silence, and he was back in the present, pressing Jenna down into leather seats, smelling flowery shampoo and fear.

Jenna tried to move, but he held her down. “Wait another minute. Let’s give everyone time to calm down. We don’t want to get shot by the good guys.”

“Right.” She panted the word, and he shifted his weight, trying to give her room to breathe. He could feel her trembling, could hear the quick, sharp intake of air as she struggled not to panic.

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine,” he said quietly, smoothing deep red hair from her cheek. Her skin was silky and much too cool for such a warm day.

“You. In the car. Sit up slowly. Keep your hands where we can see them.” The shouted command was repeated in Spanish, and Nikolai did as he was told, rising slowly, his hands in the air.

Jenna did the same, swaying slightly as she moved.

Nikolai wanted to put a hand on her shoulder and hold her steady, but he doubted he’d live long enough to regret it if he did.

The car doors opened, and Nikolai was dragged out.

“Watch out for my friend. She’s got a head injury, and she can’t see. We need to get her medical attention,” he said as the patrol officer frisked him.

“Let’s take things slow. Why don’t you tell me who you are and why you’ve got someone gunning for you?” The officer took a step back, allowing Nikolai to turn around and face him. A body lay on the road a few yards away, and another gunman was being frisked by a border patrol officer.

“I’m Nikolai Jansen. My friend was kidnapped and held prisoner by the Mexican Panthers. She managed to escape, and I’m trying to get her across the border and to the hospital.”

“Do the police know about this?”

“They know she was kidnapped, but I haven’t let them know that she’s escaped. I thought it would be safer to get her across the border first.”

The officer frowned, and then nodded. “There’s been some trouble with the Mexican police being on the payrolls of several different drug cartels, so I can understand your concern. How about we move inside? We’ll check out your story and see what the police have to say.”

“Sounds good.” Anything to get Jenna out of the open.

A female officer finished frisking Jenna and stepped back, nodding with satisfaction. “She’s clean.”

Nikolai took Jenna’s forearm, steering her toward the narrow border patrol station. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I even think my vision is returning.” She offered a brief smile, but her pallor and the tentative way she moved belied her words.

“Are you able to see light?” He slipped an arm around her waist, knowing that she needed the support whether she wanted to admit it or not.

“I think I’m seeing shadows moving. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wishing.”

“No, but wishes usually don’t come true. If they did, I’d wish bigger than getting my vision back.”

“Yeah?”

“I’d wish Magdalena were here with me.” Her voice broke, and Nikolai tugged her closer to his side.

“It really is going to be okay, Jenna.”

“For me, but that’s not what I’m worried about.” It was what Nikolai was worried about. He didn’t have time to say it.

One minute Jenna was walking and talking, the next she was slipping out of his grasp. He just managed to catch her, pulling her up into his arms and shouting for the border patrol officer to call for an ambulance. As he looked down into Jenna’s colorless face, he could only pray that the ambulance would get there in time.

Gray and black. Shadows and light. Fuzzy images that didn’t quite make sense. Jenna blinked, trying to bring the hospital room into focus. There was a clock on the wall, but she couldn’t make out the time. That was just as well. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how many hours had passed since she’d arrived at the hospital, or how much time had passed since she’d last seen Magdalena.