Covert Justice. Lynn Huggins Blackburn
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of my surveillance. Not the main focus.”
“Okay. That makes sense, but I don’t understand what my work schedule has to do with anything.”
“I’m trying to get a handle on how difficult it would have been for him to plan the attack against you last night.”
He adjusted the seat belt at his neck. “I almost never work late.”
That didn’t fit with the profile she’d been building in her head.
“I work hard while I’m there, and then leave by four-thirty unless I’m covering for one of the engineers or dealing with some major production issues. I make it a point to spend evenings with Maggie. I take her to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes one afternoon a week, and she loves sports. We just finished soccer and are getting ready to start basketball. If we don’t have practice or a game, then we hang out at home. If I have things I didn’t get to during the day, I log in to the system from home and work after she goes to bed.”
“So Kovac took advantage of a rare opportunity.”
“If that’s what you want to call it,” he said.
She decided to take the conversation to a lighter topic. “How did you ever land on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?”
“I earned my black belt a few years ago and I want Maggie to be able to defend herself.”
So much for a lighter topic.
They didn’t talk the rest of the way. Heidi didn’t mind silence, but most people she knew had to fill it with something. Blake Harrison didn’t fit the mold of anyone she knew.
The security guards gave them a curt nod as they entered the hospital. Her weapons could pass for ordinary objects, but not having to submit to a bag search made things much easier.
She punched the up arrow on the elevator. “As long as you’re here, pretend I don’t exist.”
“What?”
“There’s no logical explanation for my presence, or for you to know who I am.”
“Right.”
“Hand me your phone.”
“My what?”
“Your phone. I’ll put my number in there. Then if you see anything suspicious, you can call or text.”
He handed her the phone. She returned it as the elevator settled on the fifth floor.
“I’ll be nearby. Leave whenever you’re ready. I’ll catch up in the parking lot.”
* * *
When the elevator doors opened, Heidi stepped off without a backward glance. To anyone watching, they were two strangers on an elevator.
Except no one watching would know she’d saved his life. Or that she was an undercover FBI agent seeking to take down a notorious crime family. She wasn’t kidding. The more he thought about it, the weirder this whole mess got.
He spotted Caroline and rushed to her side. “How’s he doing?”
Caroline rocked back and forth on her heels. “Okay, I think.”
His mom came out and he pulled her into a long hug.
“Your dad’s waiting for you,” she said. “They said you could both come back.”
Blake followed his mom through the ICU. They passed the nurses’ station and a break room where someone had burned popcorn. The stench was overpowering, but he preferred it to the antiseptic hospital smell permeating everything else.
His mom paused before a small room. “Your dad wants to talk to each of you alone for a minute.”
He shot a glance at Caroline, her eyes wide in fear. “Go ahead, Care Bear.” As much as he wanted to see his dad, he had a feeling Caroline needed to see him, and hear what he had to say, more.
His mom leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “This is not how I expected this day to go.” He put an arm around her and rested his cheek on her head while they waited. He let his eyes travel around the ICU to see if he noticed anything suspicious. Trouble was, he had no idea what he was looking for. Maybe a janitor who lingered too long in a room, or a visitor who didn’t have the same look of concern worn by the families of the patients in these walls?
His dad’s stroke was probably due to heredity and not foul play, but with his entire body aching from the events of last night—had it only been twenty-four hours ago?—he couldn’t shake the fear gripping his heart.
Was Mark trying to eliminate the Harrison men or did he have his eyes set on the entire family? Or was it just him? What could they have done that would justify murder? Or were they in the way of something he planned?
He scanned the room again, trying to be observant without being obvious about it. It was harder than it sounded and he wished he knew where Heidi was.
More than anything, he wished no terror lurked in the wings and that he’d never had a reason to meet her, in an official capacity, but it was hard to dislike a woman who’d saved his life. Or one who’d taken such a keen interest in keeping his family safe.
Caroline came out of the room teary but smiling. “Your turn,” she said.
He stepped through the door, pausing in the dim light to get his bearings and to be certain no one else was in the room before crossing to hug his dad.
His dad had always been his rock. The one thing that couldn’t change. Seeing him lying on the white sheets, his face pale, a slight droop to one side of his mouth, was almost more than he could bear.
“Hey.” His dad tried to smile. Half of his face cooperated. “It’s going to be okay.”
Blake swallowed. How would it ever be okay?
“There’s a scary nurse that’s going to come in here soon. Before she does, I want us to pray.”
“What?”
“Let’s pray.”
Blake took his dad’s hand and bowed his head.
“Father, You know how proud I am of my son. No father could be prouder. So I ask You now to comfort him. Ease his mind and his heart. Give him the strength to face the challenges of the days ahead. Give him the grace to trust You no matter what comes. Help him to remember that You are in control and nothing that has happened has caught You by surprise. In Jesus’ name, I ask these things, Amen.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Blake said. His dad couldn’t know how desperately he needed God to answer that prayer.
His time with his dad was cut short by the entrance of the nurse who didn’t look as if she’d appreciate being asked to come back a few minutes later.
His mom met him at the door. “Go home. Get some rest.”
“I hate to leave you alone.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve told Caroline I want her to go home, too. I’ll call you if anything changes.” She placed one hand on his cheek like she’d done since he was a little boy. “He’s going to recover, Blake, but we need you to be able to run things at the plant and you can’t do that if you’re worn out. You’re going to have your hands full for a few weeks.”
She had no idea.
When he walked back into the waiting room, he tried not to stare in Heidi’s direction. She was sitting in a corner. He assumed it was because that position gave her a good view of everyone entering and leaving and kept anyone from sneaking up on her from behind. She was holding something in her hands and as he got closer he realized what it was.
She was knitting.
Knitting?