tomorrow.” Kellan’s fiancée was a forensic linguist who also worked for Raiker Forensics. “If I know her, she’ll find a way to swing by here on her way home.” None of them mentioned the obvious. That if Adam didn’t make it, there’d be no reason for the trip.
“Did they give you any idea how they could have screwed up with Jennings so badly?” Paulie inclined his head toward the federal agents.
“Our conversation didn’t exactly end on good terms. They were a lot more interested in asking questions than answering them. Commissioner Lawton didn’t mention anything either.” She sent a quizzical look at Nate, which he interpreted correctly.
“Morales only told me about the shooting and that you were here.”
There was something indiscernible in his tone. Something that had Kellan looking at Nate more carefully, and then at Risa.
“They’ll damn well tell me something.” Paulie strode across the waiting room. Risa silently wished him luck. It wouldn’t be wise for the FBI agents to underestimate the man, even if he was wearing a tie sporting decks of cards and poker chips. Samuels still had a lot of contacts in the bureau. If he didn’t get the answers he was seeking from the field agents, he’d be on the phone demanding them from someone much higher on the bureau’s food chain.
It was nearly fifteen minutes later before Nate’s low voice alerted her.
“Risa.”
Turning, she saw one of the surgeons she’d seen earlier coming out of one of the interior doorways, looking about the room.
“Adam Raiker?”
She and Kellan nearly tripped over each other as they lunged across the room. “How is he?” they asked simultaneously. Holding her breath, she examined the woman’s expression. It was grave, which told her absolutely nothing.
“He’s made it through surgery.” Her next words stemmed the relief flowing through Risa. “We lost him once but were able to stabilize him and continue.” Finally, she offered a small smile. “He’s made of strong stuff.”
“You have no idea,” Kellan said feelingly.
“His condition is critical.” The doctor’s look encompassed Paulie, who had hurried up to them. “We were able to remove the bullet fragments. Unfortunately, one of them nicked his heart, and the repair gave us a few bad moments in there. He’s stable at the moment. If he makes it through the next twenty-four hours, his chances will improve dramatically.”
Kellan’s pale green eyes beneath the trendy-framed glasses were unusually sober. “So you’re telling us after waiting for the last several hours . . . we need to wait.”
The doctor nodded, not without sympathy. “Praying might be a good way to pass the time.”
An hour later, Risa, Paulie, Kellan, and Nate were huddled over coffee. They’d moved to the ICU waiting room, but the only change was the location. Same décor. Same endless passage of time. Adam was still in recovery and hadn’t been brought to a room yet. When he was, he’d be allowed only one visitor for fifteen minutes every hour.
“Jennings beat the feds at their own game,” Paulie was telling them with barely reined fury in his voice. “Raiker and I had been holed up in a hotel while some lookalike stood in for Adam trying to lure Jennings out. The op was a total bust. Jennings never took the bait. So we flew back to DC. Barely got there before we got a call from the bureau saying they’d closed in on him. Their intelligence was solid. They’d trailed him to a known acquaintance’s of his, and he didn’t leave again.”
“Someone didn’t leave again,” Risa put in. “But it must not have been Jennings they had surrounded at that house.”
“No, he was found dead in the vehicle in front of your place. I don’t know the identity of the man they arrested, and he isn’t talking yet. But they share a better than passing resemblance. Jennings must have paid him off to distract the feds by heading to a place he knew they’d be watching while he made one last attempt on Adam’s life.”
“With his death, our chance of learning who he was working for dramatically decreases,” Kellan said with disgust.
Paulie was surprisingly calm at the possibility. “The feds will get warrants for his homes and financials. We still may get a lead, although I doubt even Jennings knew the identity of his employer. It was probably all handled anonymously.”
“Is there going to be a guard around the clock on him?” Nate voiced the worry that had been preying on Risa. When they all looked at him, he shrugged. “I’m