Page 50 of Nightfire

“Ah, yes. I saw no signs of concussion, but to be certain, it would be best if she were not left alone.”

“Oh, of course!” Ellen cried. “She’ll be staying with⁠—"

“Me. With me.” Mike dropped the little bomb in the room and scanned everyone in it—Harry, Ellen, Sam, Nicole—narrow-eyed and defiant. “She’s staying with me.”

Utter silence. Deep, uncomfortable silence.

“Now listen here—" Harry began.

The doctor cleared his throat. “I think, ah, I have other patients. Yes. Um.” He left in a hurry, white coat fluttering behind him.

“What the fuck—" Harry began again.

“Listen to me.” Mike directed his gaze between Harry and her. Each time he looked her way, she had the feeling he was somehow reassuring himself that she was okay. “Those two guys came looking for Chloe. It wasn’t some random rape attempt. And one of them told me that they’d be back.”

Chloe jolted under his arm, mind racing to understand the implications of this. It had been bad enough thinking she’d been the victim of a random attack by two violent men. Horrible, but unfortunately something that happened in this violent and unstable world.

But they’d been after her specifically? It was almost impossible to process. There was no way she could grasp this.

“Why me?” she whispered, dry-mouthed. Chloe tried to be brave, but the truth was she was terrified. Those two men had been unstoppable. Only Mike had saved her from rape and a violent beating. “What could they possibly want from me?”

“I don’t know, honey. And until we do, you’re staying with me.” Mike’s big arm tightened around her shoulder. He turned to stare at Harry. “Those two guys were ex military, I’d swear to it. I guess we’re lucky they weren’t armed. I wasn’t, either, out of respect for the shelter, but that’s not gonna happen again. No, sir. Next time I’ll be carrying, count on it.”

A shudder went through her. Next time…

Soldiers, Mike had said.

“They had foreign accents. I don’t know if that helps,” Chloe offered.

The three men focused their attention on her.

“What kind of accents, honey?” Harry’s voice was gentle.

Chloe closed her eyes, eliminated her emotions. Took herself right out of the equation. An old trick during those long, terrible years of excruciatingly painful operations.

She’d been so shocked, it was hard to remember even what they’d said. But there was something…

We need for you to listen to us, the tall guy had said. What about that sentence resonated?

Like many introverts, Chloe really listened to people. She listened to their words, she observed their body language, she watched their eyes.

She liked to play a game and guess where people came from. She often failed with Americans since she’d had few contacts with people in what she called the Hospital Years and had spent so many years in England after that. But she was pretty good with foreign accents since there were so many foreign girls at Sacred Heart. Her best friend there, Lydia…

Why was she thinking of this? Because Lydia had a catchphrase—you need to listen, with a swooping sound in listen. Lydia’s family had come from Moscow.

“Russian,” she said decisively. She turned to Mike. “They had Russian accents. Or maybe East European.”

“Ok.” He nodded sharply. “That makes sense. They used SAMBO moves. One of the guys got me to the ground immediately. And I think the knife he threatened Chloe with—" he gave her a look so fierce she almost expected to see beams coming out of his eyes. “That knife looked like a Kizlyar. We’ll have to ask Kelly. So, we’ve got Russians after Chloe, for some reason. We’ll get to the bottom of this but until we do, she’s in danger, every minute of every day.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Harry growled. “She’s my sister.” Harry’s face with tight and pale with tension. “I’m not going to let anything else happen to her. She’s my responsibility.”

Ellen looked up at her husband and then at Chloe, face sad. She’d told Chloe how losing his baby sister had tormented him all his life.

“Look at you,” Mike said. “You’ve got a wife and a child. And you—Sam.” Sam had his arm around a hugely pregnant Nicole, due any day now. “You’re going to become a father again in a few days. You guys have divided responsibilities. Your attention’s going to be split at all times between caring for your wives and children and protecting Chloe. I don’t have that. My full attention will be on Chloe. I don’t have divided loyalties. Right now there is nothing more important in my world than keeping Chloe safe and she’ll have 100% of my attention until we figure out what’s going on and we can be sure the danger is gone. However long it takes, whatever it takes, I’m on it. 24/7.” He tightened his arm even more and kissed the top of her head.

Harry looked at Sam, then Ellen and Nicole.

“He’s right, Harry,” Ellen said. “I know you like to think you can do it all, but I think he’s right.”