The Immortal Hunter(14)

"What's under the tarp?" she asked suddenly, and didn't miss the way the two men glanced to each other, exchanging a silent message before Decker cleared his throat and admitted, "The men from the clearing."

Dani was silent for a minute and then asked, "And what about the women in the ravine?"

Another silent exchange occurred, and then Decker said, "We had to leave them behind for now. Lucian, our boss, will arrange for the local authorities to find them after we talk to him."

Dani stared at his profile for several moments, considering his words. Arrange for the local authorities to find them seemed an odd way to frame it, but she merely asked, "Who is the man who chased after my sister and her kidnapper in the other van? Is he CSIS too?"

Interestingly enough, that question brought about a very long pause indeed before Decker said, "He used to be one of us."

Before Dani could ask another question, Decker slowed the van, and she glanced out the windshield to see that they'd reached the end of the street.

"How many bars now, Justin?" he asked.

"Three," came the grim response.

Decker turned the corner going left and drove up this new road, steering the van up a steep hill before slowing to a stop. "Now?"

"Four out of five bars," was the answer.

"Good enough," Decker decided, and steered the van off the road to park on the small stretch of grass between the pavement and the row of trees that sided it. "Give me the phone."

"Maybe I should call while Dani tends to your shoulder," Justin suggested quietly, and then pointed out, "She's a doctor. She's just going to pester you until you let her look at it, and it really is better if she does it sooner rather than later." He allowed a moment for that to sink in and then added, "Unless you'd like me to"-his gaze slid to Dani before he finished-"do my thing."

"No," Decker said sharply, and then glanced warily to Dani. Seeing that she was listening, he turned back and added, "I can make the call while she tends my shoulder. It was my decision to leave the keys in the SUV, I'll take the flack."

Justin shrugged and handed over the phone and then turned to Dani. "I didn't find a first aid kit when I searched the van earlier, so you'll have to make do with what we have. I have a pocket knife you can use to dig out the bullet, but I don't know what you'll use for a bandage and there's nothing to use to clean the wound."

Dani merely shrugged and accepted the pocket knife he dug out of his pocket and handed to her. She no longer really had any interest in looking at Decker's shoulder. There was something wrong here, and she was suddenly positive the two men weren't with CSIS or any other law enforcement organization. Dani was now afraid that she'd escaped one group of crazies only to land in the hands of two more.

However, she'd been insistent on tending to Decker's shoulder earlier, and demurring now would look suspicious, which was the last thing she wanted. It would be easier to get away if they thought she still believed she was in safe hands and was perfectly content to be there, so Dani merely glanced to Decker and asked, "Where do you want to do this?"

He hesitated and then shifted out of the driver's seat and moved to join her in the back. The bodies under the tarp took up most of the cargo space, leaving a very small area for the two of them. Dani turned and moved backward until she came up against the side door to make as much room as possible for him, and Decker shifted to kneel facing her.

When he began to unbutton his shirt, she found her eyes following the action, running over every inch revealed until Dani realized what she was doing and turned her attention to the knife she held, occupying herself with opening the blade. She then stared at it, her medical training reminding her that it wasn't sterile, and poking around in his wound with an unsterilized knife might do more harm than good.

Her gaze slid to the tarp, but Dani glanced back as Decker turned slightly so that the wounded shoulder was closer to her. She peered reluctantly at the bullet wound then, and found herself frowning and leaning closer for a better look.

"What is it?" Decker asked, tension in his voice.

"I-Nothing," she said quickly, but had trouble schooling her features. Dani didn't see a lot of bullet wounds in her practice. In fact, she had never seen one, but if she didn't know better she would have said the man had been shot at least twenty-four hours ago rather than the fifteen minutes or so since the Shootout in the clearing.

"Why are you looking like that? Is there something wrong with the wound?" Decker asked before she could delve too far into the confusing questions plaguing her.

"No," she lied. "It just doesn't look as bad as I expected."

"I told you it wasn't bad " he reminded her.

"Yes, you did," she said quietly, her eyes refocusing on the wound. The glow cast by the overhead light wasn't very strong, but she could see the bullet just inside the wound. That couldn't be normal. Surely it should have traveled farther in than that?

"Just dig out the bullet and bandage it," Decker said when she simply sat there staring for another moment. "It will be fine."

Dani hesitated and then admitted, "I'm reluctant to use the knife to dig it out. It's not sterile."

"Neither was the bullet," he said with a shrug, and then turned his attention to punching numbers on the cell phone. Putting it to his ear then, Decker added, "Just dig it out and I'll have it cleaned up and get some antibiotics later."