head, shoulder, neck and jaw. A disgusting copper taste filled her mouth, and she tried to move, making the world spin around her.
“Katherine! It’s okay. I’m here. It’s okay,” a voice said as she felt her shoulders gripped. “Don’t try to talk. You’re safe. It’s Brooke. I’m with you, and more help is on the way.”
Katherine felt relief as she realized Brooke Anderson was there. Not only was she the lead nurse practitioner of the facility, but she was a combat-trained veteran. There was no chance those men would get the jump on Brooke.
“I need to sit up,” Katherine croaked.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I have no idea what’s happened to you,” Brooke said. “I just heard a cry and came running. I saw two men over you and shouted, and they took off. I think they were going to seriously harm you, Katherine,” Brooke finished.
“Yes, yes, I think you’re right,” Katherine told her. The spinning was lessening, and she finally managed to open her eyes. “I can sit up now.”
Brooke only hesitated a second longer before helping her, using her own body for Katherine to lean on. She was grateful her nephew, Finn, had married this woman.
“I need Joseph,” Katherine said. “He needs to know something is wrong on this campus.”
“Do you know what happened? If we call and say you’ve been attacked without telling him why, he might deploy the Army,” Brooke said, only somewhat jokingly.
Katherine gave her a hint of a smile. “Yes, I fear you’re right. But if we tell him the truth over the phone, it might be the entire state of Washington he deploys,” she said. She was quiet a moment before she spoke again. “I witnessed a drug deal. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Please call Joseph and tell him I’m fine, but I need him.”
Brooke nodded, then picked up her phone. She kept it short, and to the point, when Joseph answered.
“Yes, my love?” he answered, his voice filled with adoration. She’d called from Katherine’s phone.
“Joseph, it’s Brooke,” she said. He tried to speak and she talked over him, not an easy task. “Katherine witnessed something at the center. She was attacked by the pond and knocked unconscious. She’s alert, and speaking, but she’s going to need to go to the hospital.”
There were a few heartbeats of stunned silence before Joseph’s voice thundered over the line. “I’m on my way. Let me speak to my wife.”
There was no possible way Brooke was going to argue with her uncle-in-law. She handed the phone over. Katherine’s voice was weak. “I’m okay, darling, but I don’t want to talk on the phone. You just keep calm and come to me.”
“I love you,” he said, tears in his voice.
“You’re my world,” she replied. “I’ll see you soon.” She hung up, knowing her energy was waning and not wanting her devoted husband to hear the pain and weakness in her voice. He’d go out of his mind without being able to be at her side.
“That man is the love of my life. I hate putting him through the stress of this,” she told Brooke.
“Can you imagine the heads that would roll if he wasn’t called until you were at the hospital?” Brooke asked.
Katherine smiled. “I wouldn’t put anyone through that temper tantrum,” she said. Her head was throbbing and the nausea was growing worse. “I’d better lie back. Call the ambulance.”
“They’ve already been called,” Brooke assured her.
Katherine faded in and out, giving her no sense of time as she lay in Brooke’s arms, grateful her niece was with her. She heard voices gathering as more people found out what was happening. Then, much to her relief, she heard the thump, thump, thump sound of helicopter blades splitting the air. She had no doubt it was her husband. Katherine smiled a weak smile as she looked at the sky.
She was sure Joseph had already called out the full scope of the military —FBI, CIA, and every other alphabet soup agency in the book — as he’d rushed to get to her. The scary thing was she could see many of those people responding, willing to do what it took for Joseph, for the man who’d done so much for the country they loved.
The chopper drew closer, and Katherine knew her husband was on it. He wouldn’t have waited for traffic to get to his wife. He’d have the thing hover as he took a rope down, just to get