Above us, Bishop said, “Give him a minute, Wolf.”
“We need to call in to Delacourt,” Wolf’s low tone carried.
“I’ll do it,” Bishop offered, moving to the front of the sedan.
As he reported my death, I closed my eyes and listened as he filled Delacourt
in on the mission details. Finally, he said, “No sir, we haven’t searched the car,
Hobbes, or Ellery yet. I’m sure the drive’s here somewhere.” A pause. “Yes, sir.”
Another pause. “Yes, sir, we’ll call for two more buses and have them taken to
the hospital and held for transport.”
The men on this team deserved Academy Awards.
The faint sound of sirens drifted to us. Within minutes an ambulance pulled
up. Kayden stayed at my side. I kept my eyes closed as chaos ensued.
“Sir, you’ll need to let us take care of her.” Rabbit’s voice sounded strange
without his drawl.
Wolf dragged Kayden away as Rabbit made quick work of checking my
vitals and confirming my TOD. His electronic instruments sang the same monotone theme. No pulse, no heart rate, not one damn beep. The electronics bowed to Rabbit’s will, reading only what he wanted them too. Nifty talent.
Then came the hard part. Not freaking out when they zipped me into a body
bag.
A metallic hiss sounded as the zip began to close. “Hold up.” That was Jinx.
“Maybe I should go with her.”
Her hand slipped inside the bag and curled over my wrist, a burst of tingling
warmth drifted over my chest, then settled like a heavy sweater. I sent a fervent
plea that Jinx’s illusional ability would hold, otherwise, this would all be for nothing when they unzipped the bag.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t allow that.”
Jinx’s hand disappeared and the bag was zipped closed. It was surreal being
surrounded by the heavy black material. The hospital was a five-minute ride away, but it took everything I had not to hyperventilate.
As soon as the ambulance doors shut and the siren picked up its eerie wail,
Rabbit unzipped the bag over my face. Blinking, I sucked in the cooler air.
Above me, Rabbit held a latex covered finger to his lips. A warning to stay quiet.
I let my eyes close and kept my breathing shallow, shocked the improbable plan
might have actually worked. He tapped my shoulder, and I lifted my lids. He raised an eyebrow in question.
I carefully pulled out the flash drive tucked in my front pocket as he pulled
the zipper farther down. We swapped the drives. Just because I was okay playing
bait for Bosch didn’t mean it was worth risking the actual information.
Hopefully, Bosch would have no idea what the actual drive looked like. Once the
exchange was complete, Rabbit mouthed, “Sorry, ” and re-zipped the bag closed.
The ambulance made a sharp turn as it headed into the emergency bay at the
hospital. Moments later the ambulance doors opened again. Then I was on a hard
surface, wheels rattling across rough concrete, only smoothing out once it hit the
interior. Around me, I could hear Rabbit explaining this was one of three incoming DB’s. There was some wrangling about the immediate delivery to the
morgue for holding, but eventually Rabbit got his way.
A few more rattling minutes passed before I was lifted and laid on a very hard surface. A chill crept over my back. Once more the zipper came down, stopping at the top of my shoulders. Then Rabbit left me alone in a cold, silent
room.
Barely lifting my lids, I confirmed I was really alone before I pulled my gun
from my back and held it under my hip. No way did I want to face Bosch without some sort of weapon. I checked my mental shields, the way Wolf had shown me, ensuring they were still holding strong. This time, when I found Kayden’s subtle glow, it didn’t freak me out. Instead, it steadied me. Contrary to
appearances, I wasn’t alone. Not really.
Then came the hardest part of being bait—waiting.
Five minutes ticked by.
Then ten.
Just as the fifteen-minute mark came around, a soft click in my still
functioning communication unit ignited the soft hum of anticipation. I slowed my breathing just as I did when I sighted down a scope and sank into that lethal
