Hard Target: Elite Ops - Book One Read Online Free PDF Page B

she snapped.
    The officer stilled. “But ma’am, I need to talk to him.”
    Leland stepped in. “Not without his mother’s permission. Why don’t we take care of her arm first. You got a first aid kit?”
    Officer Betts, according to his nametag, took in the blood and nodded. “Be right back. Looks like she might need stitches, but we’ve got supplies to fix her up till she gets to the hospital.”
    Leland turned to her again. “What do you want me to do?” His kept his voice calm amidst the pandemonium swirling around them.
    She swallowed audibly. Clearly, she didn’t trust that he could help her. “My son needs his medication . . . now. He has a heart condition with a pacemaker and this,” she swung her uninjured arm to indicate the room, “is really exacerbating things.”
    Oookay . Being jacked up—totally justified. “Where’s the medicine?”
    “In my bag on the bathroom counter.”
    “I’ll get it . . . sit here.” He put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her down into the sofa again. She started when he made contact with her collarbone. He wondered if that was a reaction to him or the husband who’d just tried to kill her.
    Jeez. Where was Leland’s “stay away” tendency now? Completely crushed under the “rescue her” tendency that kicked into high gear when he was around women who were in trouble. The problem was he couldn’t always be there when the trouble was as unpredictable as it tended to be in his line of work. And his not being there could get someone dead.

 
    Chapter Four
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    “I ’LL HELP HIM get the medicine, Mom,” said Zach.
    “But—” Anna’s stomach roiled. She didn’t want Zach to walk away from her, even in this room of police officers. The stress of the entire day, the adrenaline rush and crash, and now nausea from all the blood seeping down her arm suddenly swamped her.
    “I know what I’m supposed to do,” he interrupted. “You taught me what to take if I was ever alone and needed my meds. Right now I need Atenolol. I can do it.” Zach gave her a confident smile and disappeared into the bathroom with Leland clearing the way.
    Alone on the sofa, her eyes burned from unshed tears while she waited. I will not panic , she thought, forcing herself to calm her breathing. Zach did know what to do. She’d taught him a lot of independence in the past year, despite his illness.
    Her head felt like it was going to explode from trying to figure out why Max would want to prevent Zach from checking into the hospital. Was having the police involved good news or bad, in terms of keeping her son safe? Could this kind of bizarre drama bump Zach from his place on the list?
    Before she had time to dwell on that thought, Leland was walking toward her, stopping to speak with two other officers on the way.
    “Where’s Zach?” she asked.
    “In the bathroom talking to one of the policemen. He got his own pill. Atenolol. It was white. That’s correct, yes?” Leland settled on the sofa beside her, propping his orthopedic boot on the coffee table. “Zach says he’s fine. He’s sitting on the toilet lid, and they’re talking the latest Transformers movie.”
    She wanted to believe him—that things could be this simple. But her life and Zach’s illness never were. “Please, absolutely no questions about his dad. He can’t be upset. This is extremely important. He’s so ill. It would be a bad thing.” She wanted to go and check on him herself, but Leland put a gentle hand on her arm.
    “They understand. I’ve explained to the officer in charge, and he’s telling the others about Zach’s heart. They won’t question him, but they would like to talk to you . . . in case there was something you needed to tell the police that you didn’t want your boy to overhear?”
    She turned to stare at him, hard. Could she tell him? He didn’t flinch under the scrutiny, still she remained silent.
    “I appreciate that you’re scared, but you’ve got a real mess