Agony surged through every fiber and tore her mind from his. She screamed, then darkness hit and she lapsed into unconsciousness.
When awareness returned, it was again to the sensation of someone shaking her shoulder.
It should have hurt but it didn't. She frowned. Gabriel had been shot, not her. He was alive, that much she knew. For how much longer was anyone's guess — and there wasn't one damn thing she'd seen that could help them in any way.
"Samantha, open your eyes and look at me," Jessie demanded, her voice cracked with worry.
She opened her eyes and said, "He was shot while trying to escape. That's all I know, all I saw." All she felt.
"Fuck." Stephan thrust a hand through his hair. "There has to have been something you saw that can help us find him."
"He was in a warehouse of some kind. It was abandoned."
"Which leaves us with probably a thousand choices citywide," Jessie commented, her expression worried as she glanced up at Stephan. "How much man power can you muster?"
"Not nearly enough, quickly enough," Stephan muttered, and resumed his pacing. "Even if we pull in Federation operatives, it'll still take hours."
In which time, Gabriel could have bled to death if he didn't get medical help. The phone rang in the brief silence.
Stephan grabbed the receiver almost savagely. "Byrne here."
He listened quietly for several minutes and then said. "Get all available teams down there immediately, but don't move until I join them."
He hung up and swung round, his expression an odd mixture of anger and surprise. "Why didn't you tell me you'd ordered a break team on Whittiker?"
"When did I have the chance? I was shot and dragged down here for questioning. I don't believe I was given much of a chance to say anything." She hesitated, more to keep her growing tide of anger in check than anything else. Stephan was not someone she wanted to get on his bad side. "Why? Have they got an address out of him?"
"Yes. A warehouse in Altona." He pressed a button on the side of the phone. "Security, cancel the medics and take agent Ryan straight down to medical. I want a twenty-four hour guard placed on her."
"Gee, nice to know I'm trusted."
Stephan barely glanced at her as he walked towards the door. "Until I check out your story thoroughly, you will remain under guard."
And if they didn't find Gabriel at the warehouse address Orrin had given them, she was in big trouble. That much was obvious.
The door opened. Three gray-clad security officers strode in.
"Barnes, I want full identity tests taken on anyone entering the building."
Barnes, a big man with craggy features, frowned. "That'll cause a bit of hostility, sir."
"I don't care. Just do it."
Barnes nodded and stepped aside as two medical officers came in, guiding a gurney between them.
"I'll let you know what happens," Jessie said to Sam, then rose and stepped away as the two doctors approached.
One shoved a needle none too gently into her arm. Thankfully, it was her numb arm, she thought wryly. After a few seconds, the throbbing aches that assailed her body began to ease and her eyes grew heavy.
The doctors picked her up and placed her onto the gurney. The last thing she saw was Stephan handing Jessie a laser rifle as he walked from the room.
* * * *
She dreamt again of the white room. This time Joe's shadow was less indistinct, more man-shaped than merely a blot of darkness."You call to me again. Why?" His voice held just a hint of annoyance.
She shrugged. "It's not as if I do this consciously. It just happens."
"Nothing just happens, Samantha. You reach out because you wish to talk. But your timing right now is not the best."