Page 21 of Her Steadfast Hero

“What happened?” she asked.

“You fainted.” Sarah explained.

She looked around frantically, then relaxed as she spied her children, then she gasped with pain.

“Hold still,” Sarah admonished. “I’m going to get you into a triage room as soon one is available and we will get you fixed up.” The front door of the clinic opened, and she saw a big man helping a smaller man. The smaller man was holding a compress to his head. It was going to be a busy day.

* * *

Dr. Fredericks finally staggered out of the area where he had been working on Angel. Sarah had arranged for an ambulance to be waiting to transfer the teenager to the hospital. The doctor said there was a good chance that the teenager would survive, barring any infection.

Rosa, Alejandro and their mother, Lisa, were currently huddled in a corner. Sarah had put her shoulder back in its socket and put a cast on her ankle. Lisa explained that her husband had died in the earthquake and she was now waiting for her in-laws to come and pick her up. There were scant supplies, but Sarah had managed to find juice boxes for both of the children, and she handed over the bananas and biscuits that David had forced her to take from the hotel.

When she took a much needed break, Sarah cuddled little Alejandro. His dark brown eyes and wavy hair made her think of David as a child. Then she started to think of what a child of theirs would look like.

Tears welled, but she forced them back. The last time she had thought of dreams like that had been with Matt, and look where that had gotten her. She kissed the top of the little boy’s head and handed him back to his mother.

* * *

“Where is he?” David asked again, his voice low, deadly.

The man who had been slouched at the break table shot up and saluted.

“He left yesterday after you and the governor did, we haven’t heard from him since.”

“Gather every other officer in this building, and have them in the warden’s office in three minutes.”

“But the warden’s office is locked,” the man protested.

“It won’t be for long.”

David turned and walked down the hallway and up the stairs back to the warden’s office. The damn building felt like a ghost town. It had taken him ten minutes to find the one ass clown in the break room.

The administrative building, which was separate from the rest of the prison, was still intact after the earthquake. For fuck’s sake, the guard at the gate had let David in, believing him when he had shown his military ID. At least the fencing around the perimeter was back up. There were also armed guards in the two towers that were still intact, but he hadn’t seen anyone walking the prison yard.

When he got to the door of the warden’s office, he saw a man standing outside looking as pissed off as David was feeling. He looked up when he heard David arrive.

“Don’t bother knocking, he’s not here.”

“I know.” David gave the door a considering look. Damn it. It would normally be a piece of cake if his leg wasn’t still bothering him. Still. He was sick of this shit. He braced and lifted his leg and kicked. Fuck! That hurt. But the door gave way, and he strode through into the office.

“Guess you wanted in.” The man chuckled.

“Guess so.” David turned on the light, strode around the desk, and started opening desk drawers. Every single one of them was unlocked. For this alone, the man needed to be fired. “Why are you here?” David asked the man.

“To quit.”

“Why?”

“It’s wrong just to leave a job. My supervisor isn’t here. So I was going to tell the warden.”

Interesting.

“Yeah, but why do you want to quit?”

“Because the warden and his men are useless,” he said vehemently.

“Don’t quit just yet. I need your help.” David found the drawer with the personnel files. He found the warden’s phone number, as well as the numbers of the five men who reported directly to him. He started with the warden. He didn’t get an answer. It wasn’t until he made his fourth call that somebody picked up.