“I was counting on you not having done so,” Cantara replied as Raoul helped her to a chair. She was trembling so badly that he refused to let her go, even when she was seated. If this episode caused her any setbacks then Raoul wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
“I’m gonna cause one hell of a stink with the hospital administrators over this,” he said, grinding his jaw as he continued to hold Cantara in a protective embrace, sensing her trembles slowly decreasing. “This is the one place where you ought to have been safe on your own.”
“We should have figured he’d get worried when word leaked that Cantara had regained her memory,” Zeke said, checking Romney to ensure he had a pulse. “Unfortunately, he’s still alive.”
“He hacked into Dr. Sanford’s appointment book,” Cantara said.
“What’s going on?”
Hospital security belatedly streamed into the room, closely followed by Sanford, who appeared both harried and horrified. He checked Romney for himself, then started barking orders to his hovering underlings.
“You were lucky, Cantara,” Sanford said grimly when Romney, unconscious and with a drip attached to his arm, was gurneyed from the room.
“I’m calling the sheriff,” Zeke said, watching him go and pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “He can’t be allowed to leave.”
“He won’t be going anywhere,” Sanford replied. “Whatever he was trying to inject Cantara with, some of it got into his system when he fell on the needle and it pierced his skin. His weight on the syringe itself must have somehow forced the liquid into him.”
“Not enough if he’s still alive,” Zeke groused.
“We’re running some tests to identify what it was so we can treat him.”
“Strychnine is my guess,” Raoul said, scowling. “Bastard! How the hell did he get in here without anyone noticing?”
“It’s not a prison. People come and go all the time. Staff rotate.” Sanford sounded defensive. “I probably shouldn’t say anything more and refer you to our legal people, just in case you decide to sue the hospital for which, off the record, I wouldn’t blame you.”
“You’re safe. We deal with our problems our way,” Zeke replied, his tone silk on steel, as he hung up on the local sheriff. “But you might wanna adjust your bill, seeing as how—”
“Zeke!” Cantara punched his arm. “It’s not Dr. Sanford’s fault.”
“Hmm,” was Raoul’s only response.
“Come on, guys,” Cantara said. “Take me home. We’re expecting visitors this afternoon, don’t forget, and I can’t wait to help Levi clear his name.”
“After you’ve had your scan,” Raoul replied, brushing his knuckles softly down the side of her face. “That’s what we came here to do and that low life ain’t gonna stop us.”
Chapter Sixteen
An hour later they were back in the truck. Cantara finally had her scan, but Raoul and Zeke refused to wait outside the room or leave her alone for a single second. Cantara wouldn’t admit it but she was grateful for their protectiveness. The incident with Romney had shaken her badly, probably because she wasn’t firing on all cylinders again quite yet. She felt cold, in spite of the warmth of the day, and was forced to lace her fingers together in her lap so the guys couldn’t see her hands shaking and worry about her more than they already did.
“At least Romney’s under guard,” Zeke said with satisfaction. “I’ve given Parker a call. He’s sending people to pick him up.”
“That I would pay good money to see,” Raoul replied.
“No need. This one’s on the house.” Zeke slid an arm around Cantara and kissed her hair. She gratefully rested her head on his broad shoulder and closed her eyes as tiredness seeped through her. “You okay, darlin’?” he asked.
“I’ve had better days,” she replied, still with her eyes closed. “But at least we got the bad guy and the danger’s gone.”
“Yeah,” Raoul replied from behind the wheel. “It’s finally over.”
“We should have anticipated that Romney would pitch up here,” Zeke growled. “We left you exposed again, darlin’. That ain’t acceptable.”
“What he said,” Raoul added, grimacing. “We’re the ones who put it about that Cantara had regained her memory. We didn’t stop to think that Romney would have time to come up with a plan to ambush her and expect to get away with it.”
“He might have done,” Cantara said, shuddering. “If he’d injected me and I collapsed, everyone would assume it was something to do with my treatment. Some allergic reaction, or something like that. By the time the truth came out, he would have been long gone.”
“Even so, we thought he would be more likely to do a runner,” Zeke said.
“Good job I’ve had practice kneeing men in the balls.”
Cantara’s comment earned her scowls from Raoul and Zeke and her attempt to lighten the mood fell flat.
“What will happen to Pool and Romney?” Cantara asked.
“None of this will come out,” Zeke warned her. “You need to be ready for that. It would be a disaster for Israeli-American relations, and would spell disaster for the negotiations with the Palestinians.”
“That’s not fair!”
“No, darlin’, it ain’t,” Raoul agreed, squeezing her shoulders. “But it’s why Parker was so closely involved. I always suspected he knew more than he was letting on, and he was here to make sure none of it got into the public domain.”
Cantara widened her eyes. “He knew Levi wasn’t the traitor?”
“He probably suspected it,” Zeke replied. “And once you resurfaced, it was just a matter of waiting to see if you regained your memory, and what shook loose. Course, they didn’t count on Levi showing himself, which could have been a bit awkward if Parker hadn’t been around to smooth ruffled feathers.”
“Pool and Romney, at best, will get dishonorable discharges on some pretext or other,” Raoul said, curling his upper lip in evident disdain.