Page 54 of Flash and Bang
Thayne had no intention of leaving Jarrett alone for a second. They would have had to drag him out of the room if Jarrett hadn’t spoken up. He watched as Jarrett sat up on the bed and throw his legs over the side. He pulled up his gown and thedoctor unwrapped his bindings. Thayne was shocked to see how bruised he was all over his body. It was horrifying to say the least. He looked like he’d been put in a rock tumbler and turned over and over for hours. Come to think of it, his own body probably looked like that too. The doctor told Jarrett to lie on his back and he began a thorough visual examination before pulling on gloves and then slowly palpating his abdomen.
Jarrett’s face turned white and Thayne could see him clench his teeth as the muscles in his face jumped. He was in pain but he didn’t say a thing to the doctor as he went through his paces. When he finally hit a particularly tender spot, Jarrett yelped. Thayne shot out of the chair and walked over to the bed. The doctor stopped what he was doing and looked up at Thayne who stood several inches taller than him.
“Yeah, I thought that might hurt. That’s where the fluid has gathered.” He pulled off his gloves and stepped back as Jarrett pulled his gown back down. The doctor set his hands on his hips over the white coat he wore and stared down at Jarrett while he contemplated something. He finally blew out a breath and sighed. “Okay, you have some internal bleeding which would normally require an exploratory surgery, but I really don’t want to go inthere if I don’t have to. The scars on your body tell me that this would not be your first rodeo but the truth is, I want to keep you here a day or so and repeat the MRI to see if the bleeding continues. If it doesn’t, I’ll let you go home but if it does, I’ll have no choice but to go in. Better to be conservative so that your recovery is shorter. How’s that sound?” He glanced over at Thayne and then back at his patient.
“I think the whole thing sucks, Doc, but do what ya gotta do. I wanna get out of here and I wasn’t plannin’ on surgery,” he grumbled. “I’ll suck it up and stay put, I suppose.”
“Good,” the doctor said. “I’ll send your nurse in to re-wrap your ribs. Don’t get out of bed until we do that, okay?”
“No problem, Doc.”
As soon as he left the room, Thayne walked up. He gently laid a hand on Jarrett’s bruised belly. “Damn, Jarrett. How can you not take the pain meds?”
“Aw, this is nothin’,” Jarrett said, “Been much worse than this before. I just thank my lucky stars the fall didn’t scramble my marbles.” He tapped the side of his head with one finger.
Thayne smiled at him. “Boy, ain’t that thetruth.”
“You just say ain’t? Pretty soon I’m gonna have ya sayin’ y’all too.”
“Shee-it!” Thayne joked.
“Now you just sound like some dumb hillbilly. Come here.” Jarrett reached up and circled the back of Thayne’s neck, pulling him down to thoroughly kiss him. Thayne loved the feel of Jarrett’s lips under his. There was nothing like Jarrett Evans, and Thayne felt butterflies every damn time he kissed him. He sighed into their kiss, feeling Jarrett’s tongue as he opened his mouth and deepened their kiss. Thayne had begun to harden in his jeans but suddenly jerked back, standing straight when someone cleared their throat behind him. Vera was standing just inside the door holding two large Ace bandages.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. You have some visitors but I asked them to wait outside while I re-wrap your ribs.”
Who now?Thayne frowned over at Jarrett. “I’ll just step out and see who’s here.”
Jarrett appeared to be annoyed but he nodded and Thayne stepped away, walking out into the hall. Sarah Connor stood there along with Tim Darcy whowas wearing an ATF windbreaker. “Sarah?” he asked in surprise. He walked over and gave her a hug and then shook Tim’s hand. “What are you two doing here?”
She smiled at him. “Hi there, Special Agent Wolfe. SAC Stanger sent us to help out. He says that we’re to work with you until your partner gets back on his feet. How is he, or the better question is what the hell happened to the two of you? I’m about ready to ask you to change the beneficiary on your ATF life insurance policy to me.”
Thayne knew she was joking but he was beginning to wonder if someone wouldn’t be cashing in on the policy damn soon. If things continued like this, anyway. “Tell me about it.” He launched into an explanation of what had happened the day before and what the doctor had told them about Jarrett. They were both looking very concerned when he finished.
“Jeez, Wolfe. You sure you saw government plates?” Darcy asked.
“I’m sure,” he said grimly. “I don’t know what the hell is going on but we’re both beginning to think someone in his past is coming back to haunt him. He’s really closed-mouth about it because so much of the stuff he did in the Marine Corps was classified,but I really believe he doesn’t know who wants him dead.”
“Either way, whoever they are doesn’t have a problem trying to take you out right along with him, Thayne,” Sarah said. She reached out and touched his bicep. “Now I’m really worried about you both. Please be careful.”
“I am… we are. Trust me, until we figure out who it is, we’ll be on edge. But I will tell you this. I’m getting damned sick of someone trying to kill us.”
“You don’t think it was Mills Lang, do you? I’ve always wondered how someone on that jury thought him innocent,” Sarah asked.
“I don’t think so, but who knows. We’ve thought about it.” The implications of Mills Lang being connected to someone high up in the government was a fucking scary-ass thought but it was a perfectly believable possibility. A lot of the militia types were former special forces or at the very least, expertly trained military. That meant they might have friends in the government who’d have sympathies with the militia. The Freedom Brigade could be supplied by arms Lang acquired illegally. Militias like the Freedom Brigade were outwardly anti-government because they didn’t agree with the anti-gun sentiments gaining traction across thenation. If they had criminal records, and Thayne figured a lot of those types did, they wouldn’t be able to purchase the guns they needed for their war legally. That made them perfect customers for a douchebag like Mills Lang.
As far as Thayne knew, the militia hadn’t run in Lang’s circles during the two years he’d been undercover in his organization, but that didn’t preclude the possibility that they’d become his customers since the trial. That was a fucking scary thought. The militia had some serious firepower the night of the raid on their fireworks shipment, and he knew the FBI must have some of those weapons in evidence. It was one more thing to check on but if they could prove Lang had supplied those weapons, it would put Lang away for the rest of his life. Terraciano and other law enforcement officers had died in that raid, and that meant Lang could be charged with the murder of at least one federal officer.
“You’re a million miles away,” Sarah said.
“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking if we could connect Lang to the guns used in the raid down at the border, we could have him for the murder of a federal officer. An FBI agent we met was killed in the raid and there were probably others as well. I didn’t evencheck to see. All I wanted to do was get the hell out of the hospital down south and come home,” Thayne said. He looked up as the nurse walked out of the room. Vera smiled at them.
“You can go back in now. I’m done with him.”
Thayne thanked her and they turned and walked into the room. Jarrett was sitting primly in the bed, looking a little green around the gills and he looked genuinely surprised to see whom Thayne had with him. After Sarah and Tim greeted him, Thayne explained why they were there. Jarrett looked none too pleased about being left in the hospital with Tim to guard him, but when Thayne explained that he and Sarah were only going to interview the Mason crew, he seemed to be okay with that. He sent them on their way with a threat that if they didn’t bring him back something to eat other than hospital food, he was going to start throwing things… beginning with his partner.
****
Sarah and Thayne headed out of the hospital about a half hour later, leaving a grumbling Jarrett sitting up in bed with Tim Darcy by his side, armed to the teeth and ready to defend Jarrett if someone should decide to come back and try to finish the jobthey started. Thayne gave him a wistful wave as he walked out of the room dressed in the suit Sarah had picked up from his apartment. She was the only person besides himself who had a key to his place and he really hoped that when she’d gone poking through his closet, she hadn’t recognized any of Jarrett’s suits hanging beside his own. Thayne loved Sarah like a sister, but he wasn’t ready to come out to anyone, not until Jarrett was ready. The fact that they’d be split up as partners if it was ever revealed that they were a couple forced them to keep their relationship a secret. It had to stay that way—for now at least.