Dusted Star

*

Juan had beenpacing the considerable length of the hospital’s waiting room for over an hour, waiting for news about Lakyn and Trac. Christ, he’deven counted the number of square tiles, he’d been so desperate for a distraction.

Lakyn had been fine when they’d run from the building, but one look at Trac’s bruised and bloodied face as Kent and Cooper helped him out of the burning building, and she’d fallen over a curb, spraining her ankle so badly, they’d had to x-ray it to be sure it wasn’t broken, and she’d gotten a nasty cut on her palmhe was sure needed stitches.

Trac was suffering from a significant concussion and would likely be held at least overnight if the nursing staff didn’t kill him. His hearing had already started to improve by the time he was wheeled through the double doors by two waiting orderlies. Thank God he’d stopped shouting at everyone—a little of that had gone a long way.

Juan had never been in a hospitalyet that operated in a timely fashion, but that wasn’t helping his patience. Damn, if he didn’t hear something about Lakyn soon, he was going to take the place apart looking for her, and that wasn’t going to end well for anyone. Turning his attention to Cooper, he listened as he and Kent reviewed what little information they’d been given by local law enforcement. No one understood why the teamhad cleared the lobby and floor where Lakyn was scheduled to meet the photographer and several members of her staff but minutes later walked into a trap.

Kent pulled his phone from his pocket when it beeped. “What have you got?” Juan was familiar and comfortable with Kent’s terse communication style—once a SEAL, always a SEAL. “Remotely or on-site?” There was a pause before he abruptly disconnectedthe call. Juan saw anger flashing in Kent’s dark eyes when he turned his attention to those gathered around him. Several other team members had joined them when they heard him answer his phone.

“Somebody accessed the elevator’s control panel, sending Lakyn two floors above the one we cleared.” Kent’s anger was practically vibrating around him.

“Of course, they knew we would clear the floorsabove and below the one where she was supposed to meet the photographer.” Sam McCall was standing nearby and sounded as frustrated as Juan felt.

“Andsince they changed the location two hours before the appointment, they knew we wouldn’t have time to clear the entire building.” Juan could see the stress on Cooper’s face as he’d spoken. Hicks was becoming more and more frustrated with his inabilityto keep his sister safe—a sentiment Juan understood all too well. Cooper shook his head as he appeared to be casually taking in everything around him.

“There’s a piece missing and as soon as I know my sister is safe, I’m going hunting.”

Everyone on the team knew who Cooper would be looking for—Reggie Parks. Lakyn’s manager seemed to have dropped off the map after his phone call with Kyle West.His sudden disappearance made everyone question his level of involvement, and personally, Juan suspected the son of a bitch was playing both sides against the middle—a game that would eventually turn deadly because he doubted there was a hole on Earth deep enough to elude Cooper Hicks.

A nearby door banged open, and a nurse pushed a wheelchair holding Lakyn into the room. The young R.N. lookedfrazzled and frustrated while her charge looked like she was seconds from going thermonuclear. Rushing forward, Juan and Cooper surrounded the women. As her brother, Cooper was able to deal with the dismissal paperwork—though Juan suspected the young nurse would have handed the sheaf of papers over to anyone willing to take the mutinous model off her hands.

Kneeling beside Lakyn’s chair, he brushedhis fingers down Lakyn’s pale cheek and smiled. “Cariña,I’m so relieved to see you. I’ve been worried what was taking so long.”

“I’d have been out here a lot sooner if Hitler’s protégé back there,” she pointed over her shoulder at the nurse who rolled her eyes, “would have let me walk out. But no, she has to give me a twenty-minute lecture on why the hospital can’t assume the responsibilityfor me walking on one side of the door, but they don’t care if I pretend to be an Olympic gymnast on this side. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? Cripes, no wonder medical care is so flipping expensive, I’m sure it takes time to brainwash people to this level of absurd.”

He had to fight his smile when he realized she was heavily sedated. Her pupils were dilated to the point therewas only a very thin ring of violet still showing, and her words were beginning to slur.

“I want out of this chair.” Her petulant expression almost made him lose the battle to hold back his grin. Damn, she was so cute when she was annoyed. Pointing at her ankle, she rolled her eyes in a delightfully exaggerated way, “The boot is overkill.Serious overkill.Doctors are always overly cautious withcelebrities because they think we’ll sue them. I’m going to sue his paranoid ass for putting thisfuglything on me when an ace bandage from the local pharmacy would have been fine.”

“You refused the elastic wrap for your hand.” The nurse’s annoyance was easy to hear in her clipped tone.

“You were going to charge me fifty-seven dollars for a three-dollar item. Mercy, it’s no wonder affordablehealth care is out of reach for so many people. That markup is even greater than interior painters. Did you know their markup is estimated at over six thousand percent?Six. Thousand. Percent. That’s criminal.” She was beginning to slur her words so badly, Juan was having trouble understanding her, and he frowned at the nurse.

“What did you give her?” The young woman had the good sense to looksheepish as she rattled off the name of several medications, one of them he recognized as a powerful sedative he suspected they’d given her more for their peace than her comfort. Kent West stepped forward crossing his bulging arms over his chest and glared down at the nurse as Juan picked Lakyn up from the wheelchair. Moving to a nearby chair, he settled her on his lap and smiled when she sighedand cuddled against him like a purring kitten.

Kent’s body language was so out of the ordinary for the man known for charming women rather than using his considerable size to intimidate, Juan had wanted to pump his fist in the air knowing West had stepped up his game in Lakyn’s defense.

“How much and when?” Kent West had been a medic in the SEALs, and his expression darkened when the nurse gavehim the dosage information and time. The woman grabbed the paper Cooper had just finished signing and gave the wheelchair an expert spin before rushing out of the room. “They probably expected some pansy-ass agency employee to show up, so they drugged her to make her compliant.”

Juan was furious but schooled his expression as he picked her up in his arms. Upsetting her further wasn’t going tohelp, and she was fading fast, so he didn’t want his anger to be the last thing she remembered. Kent’s expression softened as he looked into her sleepy eyes.

“They loaded you up, didn’t they sweetness? Did they give you an injection?” At her nod, Kent cursed under his breath. “As soon as we get the word on Trac, we’re taking you to a secure site, and” he didn’t get to finish because Lakyn startedstruggling to get off Juan’s lap. Before Juan could get her under control, Kent’s stern voice crackled like lightning.

“Stop! You are safe and so is Trac. We’ve got someone with him, and as much as it chapped the head nurse’s ass, our guy is armed to the teeth.” He shook his head and sighed. “We don’t get this grief in Texas; our people know you don’t protect bombing victims with words and aslap on the hands. I swear this city is desensitized to the point of being a fucking free-for-all.”

Juan laughed at the Texans obvious dislike for New York. “The world would be a very boring place if everyone liked and believed the same things, Kent. Haven’t you heard the old saying about variety being the spice of life?”

“You’d do well to keep that expression to yourself around my wife, oryou’ll find yourself on the same sinking boat with Cooper.” The man in question chuckled beside them and nodded.

“I’m already scheduling the delivery of gifts to Tobi while I’m in Washington for de-briefing. Hopefully, she’ll have forgiven me before I return to Texas to officially join the team.”

Juan laughed because they all knew Tobi didn’t hold grudges, but she wasn’t going to turn down giftseither. Juan watched as Kent refocused his attention on Lakyn and smiled at her loopy grin.

“We’ll make sure you see Trac before we leave, sweetness. I can assure you, we’re facing a similar battle trying to keep his ass here until the doctor clears him. His family is supposed to be in town soon, and we’d like to have you out of here before they arrive.” Lakyn looked confused, but Juan knew exactlywhat Kent was talking about. The Hughes family was as cold as Juan’s was warm, and the first time Lakyn met them, she needed to have Trac by her side to help her navigate frigid waters.