Sloan caught movement from the corner of her eye. She saw a short, wiry man in a tan mechanic suit, walk into the hangar with an AK-47 in his hand.
“Down!” Sloan yelled, pushing past Dan, jamming her hand into his shoulder, knocking him sideways. As she did that, she yanked the Glock from her waistband.
The man raised the AK-47 right at them.
Sloan snarled a curse, crouching, both hands on the Glock, firing it through the plate glass of the door. The boom of the pistol sounded like thunder crashing through the entire hangar. Glass exploded outward, a silvery shower.
The man fired directly at them.
Dan hit the concrete floor, rolled, and grabbed Samiah, who sat frozen in fear, yanking her down beside him. Sloan kicked open the door with her boot as he sprang to his feet. He reached for the drawer where he kept his Glock, grabbing the firearm from inside.
*
Fahd Ansari pulled the trigger on the AK-47. The selector was on automatic, and he sprayed a veil of bullets at the woman advancing upon him, her hand steady on the Glock. The first of her bullets hit his thigh. He screamed, the arc of the AK-47 going skyward, still firing. He hit the deck hard, with an oomph, rolled over, and aimed at her again. This time, he hit her, and he hit the man running toward him with a pistol. They both went down.
The woman fell and rolled. She came back up on her stomach, firing at him. Ansari felt a red-hot sensation in his gut. He staggered. The third bullet hit him in the neck, and he crumpled, his finger loosening from the trigger.
*
Sloan bit back a moan, bleeding from a left calf wound. She pushed to her feet, weaving, holding the Glock steady. She heard the mechanics crying out for help but kept her focus on the bastard who was trying to kill all of them. As she drew up on the man, she recognized him instantly. It was Fahd Ansari. He remained unmoving as she kicked the AK-47 away from him. His eyes were wide and staring. Breathing harshly, trying to ignore her pain, Sloan limped forward and placed two shaky fingers against the carotid artery of Ansari’s neck. There was no pulse. He was dead.
Staggering a little, feeling dizzy, Sloan turned. What she saw made her cry out. Dan lay unmoving on the concrete floor. Samiah had flown out of the office and was kneeling by him, screaming his name.
Trying to think through the haze, Sloan turned, checking both the front and back hangar doors to make sure Ansari didn’t have friends. Malusi ran over to her.
“Malusi,” she rasped, tucking the gun into her waistband, “call for an ambulance. Call airport security. Hurry.”
Sloan’s mind was clear as she limped heavily toward Dan and a weeping Samiah. She saw a pool of blood quickly growing beneath his body. Where was he hit? How bad?
“Samiah!” she said sharply, “get me towels from the bathroom! Hurry!”
Her face wet with tears, she quickly leaped to her feet and ran across the hangar toward the restroom.
No…no…don’t you die on me! Sloan saw an exit wound through Dan’s back near his left kidney. Her heart thudded in her chest as she carefully turned him over. The bloom of red blood covered his torso. Jerking open the shirt, buttons flying, Sloan saw the entrance wound. The round had hit his kidney; there was no doubt.
Samiah raced back, sobbing, holding the towels out to her.
Quickly, Sloan placed one beneath him and the second one on top of the bullet wound. She vaguely heard an ambulance screaming in the background. How close was the nearest hospital? Was there a surgeon there that could operate on Dan and save his life? Her heart shredded as she worked to stabilize him and lower the shock she knew he was in. His eyes were closed, and he was unconscious. Damn him! He should have remained down on the floor in the office! And yet, he’d grabbed his pistol and was running up to defend her. Sloan groaned inwardly.
“Dan? Stay with me. Do you hear me? Stay with me,” she whispered near his ear. “Don’t you dare leave me! Fight, dammit. You aren’t leaving me now!” She felt tears spilling down her taut cheeks.
It seemed like hours before they got Dan into an ambulance, two paramedics working with her. The ambulance careened down the airport road, siren blaring, racing past cars on its way to the University Medical Center in downtown Port Sudan. Sloan demanded in Arabic that an IV be put into Dan’s arm, and they agreed, quickly following her order. With shaky hands, she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm. The reading she got made her go cold with fear. She loved him. She didn’t want this to happen. She wanted to have time with Dan. Time to see if he could make the changes she needed to trust him once again.
Angrily, Sloan swiped at her eyes, getting rid of the tears. The other paramedic was tending her leg wound. She’d lost blood but wasn’t sure how much. She sat on the bench, her gaze riveted to Dan’s pale features.
*
Back in Alexandria, Virginia, Tal listened intently in one of the mission planning rooms to Sloan describe the attack on the Delos Charity office in the Port Sudan airport hangar. She sat with Wyatt, her younger brother, Matt, and Cav Jordan. Two hours ago, Sloan had called from the hospital, telling them that Dan was in surgery. He’d been shot, and his left kidney was destroyed. She had left him as soon as he went into the operating room to talk with the police. She’d just arrived back at the hospital, and Dan was still in surgery. Tal could hear the exhaustion, the slurring of words in Sloan’s weary voice.
“What do you want to do, Tal?”
“We sent one of our jets to you two hours ago when we heard what happened. We have a security team on board to assist and protect both of you. We also have a medical team on board. Until it arrives, stay with Dan at the hospital. Once you’re on board the aircraft, the security team will remain behind. We have a new helicopter pilot to replace Dan. We have no idea if Ansari had a team there, or if he was acting alone.”
“That’s what I was wondering,” Sloan said. “I’m not leaving the hospital again. I’ll be with Dan at all times after he gets out of surgery.”
Wyatt spoke up. “I doubt Ansari had an accomplice, Sloan. Sudan doesn’t like Al-Qaeda or terrorists in general, so he probably came in alone. But do keep watch?”
“I’ve got two policemen here with me, and they’re armed. I’ve told them what happened and they’re here to help all of us.”
“That’s good,” Tal said, a little relief in her voice.
“Sloan, you’re a combat corpsman,” Wyatt said. “How serious is Dan’s wound?”
Tears burned in her eyes, her voice a wobble. “He could die from it. I don’t know the extent of his internal injuries, Wyatt. At the very least, he’ll lose his kidney. A person can live with one kidney, no problem. But it’s the collateral damage around that organ that could complicate things. I just don’t know and neither will the surgeon until he opens Dan up to look at the extent of this.”
“Well,” Wyatt said, “we’ve got a surgeon and nurse on board that plane coming your way. He’s going to get the best medical help possible.”
“Then you’re taking him to a hospital near you?”
“Yes, we’re getting things underway for Dan when he lands at Joint Base Andrews outside of D.C.,” Tal said. “We have a special ambulance waiting to take him over there. He’ll remain there until the surgeon and his primary care doctor, give the okay to move him.”
“Move him where?” Sloan said, wiping her face wearily. “He’s going to need around-the-clock care the first four weeks, minimum, Tal. He can’t be left alone at his condo.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Wyatt said.
“We’ll handle that,” Tal promised. “We’re all praying for him here at Artemis. And you need to get your own wound taken care of.”
Grimacing, Sloan said, “I will. It’s a through-and-through on my calf. It missed the major artery, so I’ll get it taken care of here at the hospital.”
“Are you ambulatory?” Wyatt asked.
“Completely. I limp, but I’m on my feet.” She heard Wyatt chuckle.