Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(11)

As he lay on the white sheets, Tate wouldn’t have known he was alive if it weren’t for the beeping of the machines showing a steady pulse. “Birch,” she whispered as emotion overwhelmed her. Again Humphrey was there.

He rested his hand on her shoulder. “He’ll pull through. He should be waking from the anesthesia soon. And when he does we’ll be right here.”

Tate nodded as Humphrey parked her wheelchair next to the bed. “I’ll check with the doctors,” Humphrey told her, walking over to the ICU’s main station that overlooked the beds.

Tate reached out and clasped her hand in his. “Birch. We’re safe. We made it. Please come back to me.”

Tate hoped his eyes would open, but they didn’t. Instead, she rested their clasped hands against her cheek and talked. She talked about their future, about places she wanted to travel with him and things she wanted do together. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours.

Tate’s voice had gone hoarse, but that didn’t stop her. “I always wanted to spend time at a small lake in the middle of the woods. It would be just you and me there. No outside world and no responsibilities, at least for a few days. Can you imagine sitting wrapped in each other’s arms on a dock overlooking the sunset?”

“I can.”

Tate’s eyes shot up to Birch’s face at the sound of his hoarse voice. He was so pale, but his eyes were opened, and there was a slight smile on his face.

“Birch!” Tate cried, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing him as doctors and nurses rushed into the room. Humphrey fought them off long enough for Tate to whisper that she loved him, and then a nurse yanked her wheelchair out of the room.

“Stop!”

Tate’s heart clenched as she heard the pain and energy it took Birch to call out. Everyone froze. “Since I am very much alive, I want you to bring my girlfriend back to my side immediately. We are not to be separated until our release. Is that understood?”

Tate was rushed back as a doctor looked down at Birch. “You’re doing well. You’ll be in the hospital five days or so. You lost a lot of blood. You had some internal bleeding when your rib punctured your lung. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to take Miss Carlisle away in about three hours. She needs surgery to set her broken leg. After that, I will return her to your side so long as you both rest. Do we have a deal?”

Birch nodded and grabbed her hand. The room cleared, and he looked at her with such love that Tate felt her heart fill. “I want you by my side forever,” Birch said, never taking his eyes from hers.

“There’s no place I’d rather be,” Tate smiled at him as he kissed her hand.

No matter what the next day brought, they’d all face it together. They would find Valeria, and the team would be back together. Humphrey, Lizzy, Dalton, Alex, Valeria, Crew . . . they were more than a team. They were family. Mollia Domini may have struck a direct hit that day, but her family would be together again soon. Mollia Domini would feel the full force of what they were capable of. The cracks had been made. It was time to blow them apart.



* * *



He sat looking at the videoconference screen. There were two black squares, and he felt the rage all over again. Fucking Stanworths and their mess. Sandra and the man looked worried. And they definitely should be. He would kill them faster than he killed the Stanworths if they didn’t get their jobs done.

“He survived,” Sandra said with a hint of fear lacing her voice. “The vice president has already turned power back over to Stratton.”

Rage erupted. He threw his glass against the wall, sending shards exploding into the air. His secretary knew better than to come in when he was like that, but he almost dared her. He wanted to lash out, but instead he took a calming breath.

“We have to move up phase three,” his other partner said. “How soon can it be done?”

He leaned back in his chair and looked at the list of locations he’d stolen bombs from. “It’s already begun.”





6





Valeria put her lips to the hose and sucked. She coughed as the mild tasting gasoline filled her mouth, but then spat at the aftertaste coating her mouth. She shoved the hose into an old gas can she found at the marina as she tried to act as casually as she could next to the large speedboat. She’d love to steal this one, but Val knew it would be missed all too quickly. However, the smaller, older speedboat next to it wouldn’t be. The amount of debris on the cover led her to believe no one had touched the boat in a month.

Valeria put a kink in the hose and set a large stone on it, holding it in place as she carried the now full gas can to the older boat and filled up the tank to the top. Then she went back and filled the can the rest of the way up before pulling the hose and tossing it in the back of her boat in case she needed to steal more gas.

Val pulled the ball cap she’d stolen from a beach chair low over her eyes, hopped onto the boat, stored the gas can, and hotwired the boat. Without looking back, she pulled out of the local marina down a way from the resort and headed out to sea.



* * *



Grant Macay landed the Pave Hawk HH-60G at the Coronado naval base. Whoever this Valeria was, she must be important. And whoever was sending the orders had major talent for getting things done. The second Grant landed, fuel was being pumped full into his helo. A Navy man hit the side of the helicopter and Grant was off again, this time to a naval ship in the Pacific Ocean halfway down the Baja Peninsula.