Code Red Read Online Free PDF Page A

his own physician within the next forty-eight hours, he pulled
on his shirt with slow painful movements.
    The door opened, and his partner George
Fletcher walked in, sporting a navy suit and a pissed-off attitude.
“What the hell went wrong?”
    “I didn’t have backup.” Kieran stepped
forward and poked his friend in the chest.
    “We had a flat tire caused by a bullet. They
must have spotted us. It took twenty minutes to fix it, and by then
you guys were gone and some beat-up bartender was freaking out
about a woman named Jess. I’m guessing she’s the person we found at
the barn.”
    “She is.”
    “Do you know why they broke protocol?”
    “Mark died before the exchange and they
didn’t want to transport Max out of Canada. I don’t have the
precise details.” Kieran should have halted the mission when he saw
people in the place, but he hadn’t and the result included two
injured civilians and Max’s murder. “It would have been easier if
we were at the farm we used before. No civilians. What moron orders
a swap at a bar?”
    “Logistics is full of morons. And they’ll
blame us.” George cracked his knuckles and frowned after Kieran
filled him in on more of the details. “The Director’s going to
demote us to file clerks if this gets out.”
    “What happened to the witnesses?” Kieran
asked.
    “Toby took care of the bartender. He’s got a
busted nose but is otherwise okay. It’s the woman we need to worry
about. Someone at the hospital already leaked her gunshot wound to
the press.”
    The idea she’d end up on the front page in
some media circus sent chills through Kieran. She didn’t need the
hassle and the agency didn’t need the negative press. Jess’s part
in the mess today could be easily hidden if the group at Langley
did their jobs. “See if someone can change the story. Maybe heroin
users on a crime spree.”
    “I’ll get Oswald on it. Worst case scenario,
he can shut down their servers for a few days. They’ll be too busy
to worry about some unlikely Russian spy conspiracy.”
    Kieran nodded. “Thanks. Is she okay?”
    “She’s fine. If we can keep all of this
hushed up, she’ll be even better.”
     
    Fine. But Kieran
needed to see her, just to be sure.
    “Let’s go. I booked us on the first flight
back to Dulles,” George said, stepping toward the door.
    “Right now?”
    “You want to stay here in the middle of
nowhere?”
    “Let me check on the woman first.”
    “Don’t take too long.”
    George waved and walked down the hall,
probably in search of a cup of coffee, and with him gone Kieran
manipulated a young nurse into giving him the information he
needed. One step from Red’s door, however, another older nurse
stopped him. She should, he must look like a thug with his ripped
clothes and hunched over posture.
    “I’m sorry, but family only at this time.”
Her hands rested on her hips. Her eyes flashed a threat.
    “We’ll be related soon enough. She’s my
fiancée.” The lie wrapped around him and felt comfortable, as
though a hint of truth existed within the words.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” A smile
emerged, and the nurse stepped out of the way.
    Monitors beeped a steady rhythm inviting him
into the room. A pair of exotic eyes greeted him without an ounce
of the hostility he’d expected, and all the pain in his torso
disappeared at the sight of her. Damn, she was pretty. Her hair
spread across the pillow like molten lava. Her jaw sported a huge
bruise on the right side and her leg was wrapped and propped up on
pillows.
    The leg he’d shot with his gun.
    “So we’re getting married?” Her voice low and
scratchy. Her eyebrows rose.
    “Just say ‘yes’ and make me a very happy man.
I hope you don’t mind moving away from here. I had my heart set on
living near the coast of Maine.”
    She ignored his comment. “Are you okay?”
    “I’ll be fine. I was more worried about you.”
He sat in the chair next to her bed and clasped her hand.