“Only if I get her where she needs to go,” he snarled. “Right now she’s as worthless as you are.”
Given the choice between boarding the jet or watching AJ get shot, I knew exactly what my choice would be. No one else would understand. Not the FBI agents surrounding us. Not the kidnappers.
“Stop,” I squirmed on the stairs. “I’ll go.” My breath was ragged. “I’ll go with you.”
He looked down at me.
Be a distraction.
Get his attention.
“Please.” I forced a tear out of the side of my eye. “I want to go. If you leave me, they’re going to take me in. They’re after me too. I have to get out of here. This is my chance too. The FBI just wants to use me. Please.”
“Huh. Likely story. I don’t fucking believe that for a minute.”
It couldn’t have been more than a second, but the diversion was just long enough for AJ to rush the stairs and throw a powerful punch across the man’s jaw. AJ reached for his gun. I tried to scramble out of the way to give him space to overpower him.
They were a tangle of arms. Everything was a blur.
“Agent Hart!” the agent on the ground shouted.
The gun went off.
I screamed and everything faded to black.
Chapter Thirty
The fluorescent lights hit me when I rushed inside the emergency room. My bag was slung over my shoulder and I was in a full sprint in heels. I pushed past a nurse, wheeling a patient along the hall.
I tapped on the desk. “I’m looking for my boyfriend, AJ Hart. Is he in here?” I couldn’t reel my voice to a level of calm that was appropriate.
The nurse blinked. “Was he brought to this hospital?”
“Yes, but he’s in surgery now. It’s his arm.” I held my elbow to demonstrate.
“I can’t give out patient details, but more than likely he’s in ortho. There’s no surgery in the ER, ma’am.”
I hit my forehead. “That’s right. I knew that. I’m sorry. I’m just all over the place, trying to get here. And I should have been here sooner. Which way?” I asked.
“Follow the blue arrows around the corner. You’ll see the signs.”
“Thank you.”
I took several turns before I burst through a set of doors and emerged in the ortho waiting room.
“Where is he? Where is he?”
Travis rose from one of the chairs grouped in a pod. He greeted me with a smirk. “He’s in surgery. Just hold on.”
He was wearing his soccer jersey and holding a team water bottle.
“But, I wanted to see him. I should have seen him,” I argued. How could someone have rolled AJ into surgery without letting me see him first? Who made that decision?
“You can see him when he gets out. They wanted to reset the bone as quickly as possible. Surgeon says as young as he is, there’s a good chance he’ll never be able to tell it was broken. Thank God it was his left arm, right? I think he shoots right. Fuck. Do you think he’d get benched in the bureau if he couldn’t shoot?”
I ran my hands through my hair, dropping into one of the hard seats. I mostly wanted Travis to shut up, but I had questions. “How did it happen? It’s supposed to be league soccer?” I looked at Travis for an answer. “It’s supposed to be fun. Not violent.”
“Freak thing. Other guy was charging and AJ was in the goal. You know he’s the best keeper in the league. Doesn’t flinch for anything. The forward took him out. They didn’t score though.” He smiled.