Page 89 of Shadow Redemption
“Yep. Let’s get you on your feet.” Sam removed the IV and called for her husband. When he entered the room, the two of them assisted Ben to his feet.
Face draining of blood, Ben’s knees gave out.
“Whoa there, buddy.” Joe eased him back down to the side of the bed. “Give yourself a minute.”
“Don’t have it. We need to go.”
“You can sit for five minutes. We’re not that far from the hotel.”
Sam glanced at Ruth. “See if Mr. Lopez has a bottle of water in the kitchen.”
“Sure.” She pressed a light kiss to Ben’s bare shoulder and scrambled off the bed. In the kitchen, she checked the refrigerator. Nothing. After a fruitless search in the pantry, she turned to the laundry room.
Ruth peered inside and breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Lopez had several cases of water stacked against the far wall. Grabbing two bottles, she returned to the bedroom and handed them to Sam.
“Perfect.” The medic dumped powder into the bottles and shook them. She pressed one into Ben’s hand. “Drink. Let’s see if this will do the trick. You’ll still be weak,” she warned. “You should stay in bed today.”
The operative shook his head as he guzzled half the contents of one bottle.
“Stubborn much?” When Sam judged he’d consumed enough, she set aside the drink and nodded at Joe. “Let’s try again.” They maneuvered Ben to his feet a second time.
He swayed but his legs didn’t fold. After a few seconds, he straightened away from his teammates. “I’m good. Find me a shirt and we’ll get out of here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Ben shifted on the beach chair to find a more comfortable position. The effort proved futile. All he wanted was a long nap in the air-conditioned suite.
At this rate, he’d soon sound like the cranky toddler his teammates accused him of imitating. He tried not to show his discomfort since Ruth and Sam watched him closely. More than once, Scott yelled at Ruth when she missed a positioning cue because she focused on him instead of the photographer.
Shadow’s medic handed him another bottle of water spiked with electrolytes and two capsules. “Mild pain meds,” she murmured. “Take them for Ruth if not for yourself.”
Ben swallowed the pills. “No one has shown interest in my health,” he murmured. “I’m disappointed.”
“Maybe the models aren’t guilty.”
He hadn’t ruled them out. When he returned to the suite, he planned to call Zane. The tech wizard might locate security footage of the hallway where he’d been knifed before the lights went out. “What did Joe learn from the hotel manager?”
“Someone set hotel linens and towels on fire in the laundry room. Two dryers were damaged in the blaze, but no one was hurt.”
“Except me.”
“The police don’t know that since we didn’t report the incident.”
He refocused his gaze on Ruth. “Anything else?”
“A party Ruth is expected to attend is planned for tonight. It’s a fundraiser for a local charity and a photo op for the designer’s new line of clothes.”
Fantastic. Another event where Ben and his teammates would be stretched thin to protect Ruth. “When and where?”
“Hotel ballroom on the second floor at 7:00. Thankfully, it’s not a black-tie event. The models are to wear beach casual clothing donated by the designer.”
“We need to come up with a security plan.”
“The rest of us will cover security. You stick close to Ruth.”
A lot of good that did earlier. He’d ended up with a boatload of stitches in his back and side.
“Drink the water, Ben. The photoshoot should finish in two more hours.”