Page 70 of Married at Midnight

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Four hours later, Connor parked the white prototype in front of the Museum of Flight, as directed, in the space between the two orange construction cones. Since it was five in the morning on Thanksgiving Day and the museum was closed, no one was around in the big, open parking lot.

Connor stepped from the car. A chill abraded his exposed skin. He flipped up the collar of his shearling-lined coat against the November wind as he searched the surrounding airpark with careful eyes in the early-morning light. Ellie would be here somewhere.

Frustration coiled inside him. There were so many planes.

The final instructions were to park the car between the orange cones and to retrieve Ellie from one of the planes in the airpark. Was she not near a plane but inside it? He’d search them all if he had to.

“Walk away from the prototype,” Trevor said in his earpiece. “Follow the plan. You get the girl. I’ll follow the car.”

Connor’s feet moved along the sidewalk to the north side of the entrance, but his brain had kicked into overdrive, scanning the planes. His head pounded in time with his pulse. Where was she?

He turned to the new covered section of the airpark as he inspected the SST. Not there. Then his heart soared at the sight of her burnished hair in the cockpit of a B-17. “She’s in the green B-17 off to my right.”

“Is she”—Trevor hesitated—“alive?”

“She’s slumped forward, not moving.” His heart in his throat, he broke into a run. She’d placed Ellie farther away from the prototype, most likely so she could get to the car before he could reach Ellie.

“Get ready, team,” Trevor said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Connor saw Amanda separate herself from one of the nearby jumbo jets on display. She raced to the car and hopped in. Wouldn’t she be surprised when she discovered how slowly the car moved? He hadn’t adjusted the navigation system back from accuracy to speed. Connor would have allowed himself a wicked grin if he wasn’t so concerned for Ellie’s safety. He really didn’t care if Trevor recovered the prototype or if he arrested Amanda. All his thoughts were of Ellie.

Adrenaline hit his system like a freight train, pushing him forward. He couldn’t reach the cockpit from the front, so he ran around to the wing. He jumped up and ran along the fuselage to the cockpit windows. Ellie was hunched over the control panel. Her hair fell across her face, and for a moment he wondered if they’d been tricked—if this wasn’t really Ellie at all.

Forcing his panic aside, he peered through the glass at the woman inside. Her hair was pushed to one side, exposing her ear. His heart cried out at the sight of a familiar freckle on the base of the lobe. It was Ellie inside, but was she alive, breathing?

Desperate to reach her, he raced down the wing and jumped down, heading to the waist gunner door. He pulled the hatch lock. It was either stuck or blocked. Unwilling to be defeated, Connor spread his legs wide, giving himself the most leverage possible, and wrenched the hatch lock to the open position. A pop sounded; then whatever was blocking it fell free. He swung the hatch up and went inside.

Quickly he worked his way through the airplane, heading toward the cockpit. When he reached Ellie, he knelt beside her and placed two fingers across the carotid artery of her neck. His breath stopped when he didn’t pick up a pulse. Moving his fingers closer to her windpipe, he released his breath in a rush as a weak pulse beat against his fingers. Mentally giving thanks, he cradled her cheek in his hand. “I’ve got you, love.”

They’d most likely drugged her with the same sedative as before. But it didn’t matter. He’d found her. She was alive. They could deal with the rest. Hope sprang to life within him. A bright flame that warmed him from within.

He clung to that sensation as he scooped Ellie into his arms and headed for the gunner door. Help was nearby. “Trevor. Send in the medic unit. Ellie’s alive but not responsive.”

“On its way,” Trevor replied. “Hang in there.”

He strode through the plane, and by the time he made it outside, the medic team was there with a stretcher. Connor placed Ellie on it, then reluctantly released her as the medics hooked her up to oxygen and started an IV. Once they were satisfied she was stable, they wheeled her inside the ambulance.

Connor got in and sat beside her, holding her hand once more as they made their way to Swedish Hospital. As the medics worked, Connor bent close to Ellie’s ear. “I want to change the terms of our agreement. Come back to me, Ellie.”

Connor paced outside Ellie’s hospital room anxiously. The medics assured him she would be fine. If that were so, then why didn’t she wake up?

“Connor?”

He turned at the sound of Jordan’s voice. Before he realized what he was doing, he pulled the physician’s assistant into a hug, then released her. “Thank goodness you’re here. Can you please tell me why Ellie won’t wake up?”

Jordan met his gaze with a curious light in her eyes. “You really do care about her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. She’s my wife.”

Jordan smiled. “I can see why Ellie likes you.”

At his puzzled expression, Jordan laughed.

“She’s going to be fine,” Jordan said. “The drugs should work their way out of her system fairly soon. I suggest you stay close.”

“I’m not leaving her side.” He looked past Jordan as Trevor came to join them.