One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,49
come to the hospital and wait, because, Clayton, when and if he regains consciousness, he’s not going to last long.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lenora had never felt safer—and more vulnerable—in her entire life. She literally had three federal marshals guarding her as they went into the Maverick Springs hospital.
Clayton, Harlan and Declan.
However, with a hired killer still at large, she knew they could be attacked anywhere, anytime.
That included the hospital.
“We won’t stay long,” Clayton reminded her again while he led her inside the building.
He had his phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear and was on hold. That didn’t stop him from making some vigilant glances around the parking lot and the waiting room on the other side of the sliding glass doors. His brothers did the same.
“If this guy doesn’t wake up soon,” Clayton added, “we’ll go back to the ranch and wait.”
That, too, was a risk, because they might not make it back into town fast enough if he did regain consciousness and start talking. They could miss something vital, and all because they were trying to keep her safe.
Something she wasn’t even sure was possible.
Clayton came to a quick halt in the waiting room, and for a moment Lenora thought he’d seen something or someone that might be a threat. But she soon realized he’d stopped because the FBI agent on the other end of the line, Kade Ryland, was giving him some information.
“We got a match on the wounded man’s prints. His name is Peter Lomax,” Clayton said the moment he ended the call, and he got them moving again, past the waiting room and down a wide corridor.
There weren’t a lot of people in this part of the hospital, just medical staff in scrubs, but the marshals looked at each one of them as possible threats.
“Peter Lomax.” Harlan tested the name as if deciding if it meant anything to him. He finally shook his head. “How long of a record does he have?”
“Long,” Clayton verified. “In and out of jail since he was sixteen. He’s worked for loan sharks and other lowlifes. But the good news is that he often works with his kid brother, Johnny. Agent Ryland’s already put out an APB on the guy.”
Good. They had a likely name for the second man who’d tried to kill them, and maybe the FBI or marshals could find him before he launched another attack. Of course, Riggs or whoever was behind this could just hire someone else.
Not a comforting thought.
It would take some doing, but if Riggs was indeed the culprit, they needed to find a way to cut off his funds so he couldn’t do any more harm.
They hadn’t made it to the surgical waiting area when Lenora spotted a familiar face coming up the hall toward them. Dr. Cheryl Landry.
“Any change in the patient?” Clayton asked. “Is he awake yet?”
“No to both questions. But come this way,” the doctor said to them. “You can wait in my office.”
It wasn’t far, just a few doors down, and with her attention fully on Lenora, Dr. Landry ushered them inside, and then closed the door. “Right before the wounded guy was brought in, I got a call from Special Agent James Britt.”
Clayton and his brothers mumbled, groaned and otherwise showed their disapproval about that.
“About me?” Lenora asked.
The doctor nodded and wearily dropped down into the chair behind her desk. “He was fishing to find out if I thought you were mentally competent or if you’d been brainwashed or something.”
Clayton cursed. “Let me guess—he’s trying to force Lenora into his protective custody, or something along those lines.”
“Sure sounded like it to me,” Dr. Landry verified, “but I told him Lenora was my patient and that I had no intentions of divulging anything about her.”
“Thank you.” Lenora eased into a chair, as well. She was relieved that the doctor hadn’t told James anything, but she felt no relief that James had attempted to do something like this. Of course, if pressed, James would probably say he was just concerned about her.
And that might be the truth.
The problem was it was just too risky to trust him.
Clayton slid his hand around the back of her neck, rubbed gently. “James might not be the person out to get us, but there’s no way I’d let him take you into protective custody.”
She believed him, but Lenora hated that they had another distraction at a time when they were already dealing with too much.
“If he calls back,” Dr. Landry said, “I’ll transfer him to the