Nash looked toward the doors through which they had whisked Steers away. “I don’t know.”
He clicked off and hung his head.Part of me wants her not to recover. But another part of me? After what I’ve seen and what Hiroko told me?
He waggled his head, the inner debate in his mind beyond his ability to process it.
“Sir?”
He looked up to see a nurse standing in front of him.
“Yes?”
“You are injured.”
“What?”
She pointed to his forearm. Where his jacket sleeve had been ripped open there was blood, his blood.
“Come with me.”
He rose and she led him over to a small cubicle. The nurse had him take off his jacket and roll up his sleeve.
“It is not too bad,” she said. “But it could become infected.”
He looked at the damaged flesh and immediately thought of Steers.
“Does it hurt much?” she asked.
“Well, considering I didn’t even know I was wounded until you pointed it out, I guess the answer is no.”
As the nurse worked on him she shot Nash curious glances. “I do not see a ring, so was that woman your girlfriend?”
Nash, who had been staring at the floor, looked up. “What?”
“The woman you brought in? Your girlfriend?”
“No, she’s. . .my. . .boss.”
“Oh, I see.” The woman did not look like she believed him.
After she was done, Nash returned to his seat and kept an eagle eye on the doors leading into the emergency center. Whoever had ambushed them might have managed to follow them, intending to finish the job. Nash had already reloaded his Glock, and he still had his Beretta. He had also called the police again and told them where he and Steers were.
An hour later Nash jerked upright when a number of officers entered the building. One of them, who appeared to be in charge, looked around and spotted Nash, who rose and hurried toward him.
“Are you the one who phoned?” said the officer, who glanced over all the blood on Nash’s clothes.
“Yes. Ms. Steers is with the doctors. She was badly wounded.”
“We have found the dead men. I need to know exactly what happened. And I need to see your identification.”
Nash showed him his passport, and for the next half hour he went over all the details as best as he could remember them, while one of the other officers took down his account on a laptop.
“So one of her own people tried to kill her?” said the officer.
“Yes. I used his knife against him. That’s when the gunfire opened up. The other men were killed. And we got away in the car. I didn’t notice she was wounded until we stopped.”
“And you were wounded as well?” he said, noting the bandage wrapped around Nash’s arm.
“Just a nick.”