She’d matured and changed her hair color from blond to brunette, long to shorter, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be recognized by the same criminal element that had caused her to enter witness protection in the first place.
“Prepare for casualties,” someone shouted. “There’s just been an incident at the Washington Monument!”
Daniella froze for a heartbeat, then jumped to her feet and hurried down the hallway to the ambulance receiving area, where the majority of the night shift was gathering around a police scanner.
“Was it an accident?” one of the young orderlies asked.
“Doesn’t sound like it. The first responders pegged it as a bomb,” someone else answered.
Daniella clenched her fists. Her stomach churned. She suddenly saw herself as a frightened teenager again and pictured her father being arrested for the bombing death of her mother. Ten long years had passed since then, yet those terrible memories were as vivid as if everything had just happened.
Her initial disbelief about her mother’s fate had quickly been supplanted with righteous anger, especially when she’d heard her estranged father begin to laugh. Laugh! And so she had done the only thing she could. She had mustered her courage and agreed to testify against him in court.
While most of the ER staff remained gathered around the scanner, Daniella eased away and headed for the hospital chapel.
Until the victims of this current attack arrived for treatment, the best thing she could do was pray. Fervently. The way she had prayed for her mother—even though she’d known in her deepest heart that Mama’s survival was impossible.
* * *
Being incapacitated made Isaac frustrated and angry. He’d repeatedly waved off paramedics, sending them to tend to others. As the area was systematically cleared, however, he realized he was eventually going to have to let the medics look at his throbbing leg.
Detective Delvecchio approached. “I wondered where you’d gotten to. Is Abby all right?”
“Yes.” Isaac tried to rise and was stopped by the other man’s hand on his shoulder. “Relax, man.”
“I can’t. There’s work to do. What if there’s a second bomb?”
“If there is, your team will find it. Some of them are sweeping the area now. So far, so good.”
Isaac heaved a sigh. “Thank God—literally.”
“I have been. Particularly since there don’t seem to be any life-threatening injuries.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yeah, and a surprise. So, are you ready to go to the hospital?”
The detective offered a hand and Isaac took it, grimacing as he rose. Standing wasn’t too painful as long as he kept weight off his injured leg by leaning on David’s shoulder.
“If you can make it to my car I’ll drive you to the ER.”
“That’s against protocol.”
“Your choice,” Delvecchio said, arching a brow. “All the ambulances are busy. I consider this an extenuating circumstance, but it’s up to you. Do you want to wait?”
“No.” Isaac leaned slightly to glance at his calf. Blood had stuck the dark fabric of his uniform to his lower leg but seemed to have stopped flowing for the present.
“Why don’t you help me to my car so I don’t get yours dirty?”
“That’s what plastic sheets are for,” the detective said with a slight smile. “There’s no way I’m letting you drive in your condition. I saw you send the medics to other victims and I figured it was high time you got some TLC yourself.”
Isaac managed a smile. “No offense, buddy, but I’d rather have a pretty nurse taking care of me than a bossy cop like you.”
Chuckling, Delvecchio slipped his arm around Isaac’s waist for added support and started to move toward his unmarked car. “I’ll see what I can do about finding the right nurse when we get to the hospital. What about Abby?”
“I’ll handle my dog. You just get me to a doctor who can sew me up so I can go back to work.”
“You’re pushing it again.”
Isaac sobered, glancing over his shoulder. “I know. But I feel responsible for what happened tonight and I intend to catch whoever did this.”
“I’ve already ordered every news crew to give me copies of their raw footage. My men are also collecting the shots taken by bystanders so we can run facial recognition on anyone we don’t know.”
Pausing, Isaac gave the man a serious look. “Don’t just concentrate on strangers. Watch the politicians, too, particularly Harland Jeffries and his staff. Considering his long-standing reputation in dirty politics, I wouldn’t put it past him to try to create sympathy by pretending to be exposed to possible injury. It wouldn’t be the first lie he’d ever told.”
Isaac got a sinking feeling when David shook his head. “I strongly doubt that’s what took place tonight,” the detective said.
“Why? Was he hurt in the blast?”
“No. He may be a master manipulator but he was complaining of chest pains when they hauled him away. If this bomb scare was supposed to boost his chances of getting his new crime bill passed and it caused him to have a heart attack instead, he badly miscalculated.”
* * *
Daniella had been working behind the scenes while one of the on-call doctors did triage on the victims. None seemed badly hurt and outside of a little first aid, a few stitches and a tranquilizer here and there, they had been easy to treat.
She was cleaning up one of the exam cubicles and hoping she could avoid the reporters who were still milling around the lobby when the head nurse separated a gap in the heavy curtains.
“I’ve got another victim here—brought in by private vehicle. All the doctors are busy and we’re out of wheelchairs. Take care of him for me, will you?”
“Of course.”
Daniella relieved the other nurse and slipped her arm around the uniformed officer’s waist, starting to guide him. She was careful to avert her face for the brief moments when she was exposed to the public, hoping no cameras would capture her image. That was when she noted the leash in the patient’s hand. “I’m terribly sorry. You can’t bring a dog into the hospital.”
“This isn’t a dog.”
“Sure looks like one.”
“Nope. This is officer Abby of the Capitol K-9 Unit. See her vest?”
“She’s still a dog.”
“I beg to differ. You permit service dogs, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course, but...”
“Then
