Page 17 of Saving Grace
“Thanks, man.”
“She okay?”
He exhaled deeply and took a sip of the amber liquid. “Depends how you define okay.”
Thank fuck he was able to catch Grace when she fainted and before she hit the pavement. The nearest hospital was just a couple of blocks down from where he found her, so he ran the short distance and marched her right into the emergency room.
“Bombing victim,” he barked and nurses immediately swarmed around them. Grace had regained consciousness at the hospital but was too weak to protest treatment. The blood loss and the concussion had taken its toll on her. It cut deep when she wouldn’t let him near her, clutching at the hand of the head nurse as if the medical personnel could shield her from Matt.
“She’s confused, I think,” he said hoarsely.
“Don’t let him near me,” Grace begged of the nurse.
“We won’t, sweetie.”
Many eyes looked at him suspiciously, but he didn’t give a fuck. All he cared about was Grace’s well-being, so he backed away from the exam room so the doctors could get to work. They wouldn’t tell him anything until several scans, MRIs, and many hours later revealed that Grace couldn’t make medical decisions for herself.
She had a bad concussion that caused almost total retrograde amnesia. She didn’t remember people or events. She remembered skills that depended on muscle memory and general social and historical information that was learned.
The only reason Grace allowed herself to be taken home by Matt was because she didn’t trust the cops either. Apparently, she had overheard that the person or entity who had her kidnapped had some Atlanta PD in their pocket.
“Why should I trust you?” Grace fired at him.
“Because I’m the only friend you can trust right now, Grace. It may be too much for you to process, but you are DEA, and you’ve hinted before that the Mexican cartel has sent an assassin after you.”
“They mentioned a man named El Segador.”
Matt’s blood had run cold. The Reaper. He tried his best not to look alarmed and smiled reassuringly instead. “He won’t get you. I have the resources to protect you.” An entire town actually.
“If I’m DEA, shouldn’t I be contacting my boss? Shouldn’t they be taking care of me? Maybe I was on assignment.”
Matt hated Grace’s boss, Elliot Holden.
“Would you simply trust him if he walks in here right now and whisks you back to DC?”
Her face looked troubled. “The man at the airport told me to trust no one.”
“Until you get your memory back, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
Luckily Grace was too groggy to reason or argue with him. Her doctor wanted to keep her overnight, but with people who’d been capable of blowing up Atlanta airport looking for her, they’d be too exposed at the hospital. Hell, it’d be so easy to walk in disguised as a doctor, a nurse, or a paramedic.
So he brought her to Colt’s condo and they would be leaving for Misty Grove at dawn.
“How’s Diaz and the other guy?” Matt asked.
“They’re in police custody,” Colt said. “My buddy will keep me updated. Don’t worry.” He trusted Colt to be on top of it.
“We know they work for El Segador, but I doubt they’ve dealt with him directly. He’s the cartel’s top hitman. He’s not going to make himself accessible to low level foot soldiers.”
“You know this throws a wrench in the ISIS theory of the airport bombing.”
“They’ve claimed responsibility,” Matt reminded him. A few hours ago, all news channels and social media were abuzz with the video released by the terrorist organization.
“How did deLamar take the news of Grace?”
“I didn’t tell him she has amnesia.”
“Damn …” Colt chuckled. “So, you told him Grace simply went with you willingly?”