Well-Grounded

By Linda Driscoll

When an injured man walks into Dr Stephanie Torrey's ER, she doesn't realise that he has also walked into her life. Accompanied by a minder, Mac, Jake receives treatment and discharges himself, only to be brought by Mac into her personal life a few days later needing further medical help. Despite her reservations, Stephanie helps the two men and discovers that the mystery patient is actually a veteran ex-army medevac helicopter pilot who had been working undercover for the federal police for the past three years as the personal pilot of an underworld figure. As Jake waits to give evidence, he is now in danger from his old boss and the corrupt people who will become targeted by his testimony.
As the details of Jake's history come to light and they get to know each other, Jake and Stephanie realise they are falling rapidly and totally in love but Stephanie is now involved in his risky situation to the extent that it could make her a target also. Unless they can keep her involvement a secret.
They desperately hope to achieve this but, as the date for the hearing nears, Jake realises he must distance himself from Stephanie to keep her safe, and reluctantly breaks up with her.
Through media reports Stephanie follows Jake's story from afar as, in his role as an anonymous witness, he begins to give his testimony and she watches in dismay at the legal and personal attacks that he has to endure. She begins to become obsessed with the hearing proceedings to the point that it begins to affect her quality of life. Jake, too, is finding being apart from Stephanie distressing and is wilting under the strain of his court appearances. When he is told that she is not coping with their separation also, he breaks his own rules to be with her.
Unable to stay apart, Jake and Stephanie steal time together, still very much in love, until the day his identity is revealed to the world on social media and he becomes a danger to her again. Jake's own well-being is now also at stake and his minders want to take drastic action to keep him safe – action that will impact upon their relationship.
Having said a final goodbye to Stephanie, Jake steals off for some time alone, only to be tracked down by the very men he had been testifying against and hiding from. Wounded and running out of time, Jake must find a way to get help – but that may involve Stephanie again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Driscoll
• Release date: Jan 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310794148

Book preview

Well-Grounded

Linda Driscoll

Copyright 2015 Linda Driscoll

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Other Books by Linda Driscoll

Two Close to the Edge (2014)

Vortex (2014)

WELL-GROUNDED

Chapter 1

When Doctor Stephanie Torrey returned from her coffee break to the Casualty Department of Reading Bay Hospital, it was immediately obvious that the warm, uneventful evening had been disrupted. The low hum of activity in the far examining room grew louder then died away as a nurse came through the rubber swinging doors and they closed behind her. As Stephanie raised her eyebrows questioningly at her, she jerked her head towards the room.

Injuries and stab wounds consistent with having been in a fight. Dr Maddison is with him. He's lost a lot of blood but the bleeding has been stabilised and I'm just lining up X-Ray. It must have been a hell of a punch up, but he's the only one to come in. Stephanie acknowledged her comments with a nod. A street fight on a week night might not require her to attend too but it had miraculously been an unusually quiet night for once so she pushed through the doors into the examining room.

A man was lying on the examining table. He had an IV drip in his arm. His blood stained clothes had been cut off him and the Senior Registrar, Dr Maddison, Stephanie's superior, was leaning over him, pausing a stethoscope over the brawny chest. The patient was a chaos of cuts and bruises and Stephanie could see that he was finding breathing painful. There was a big, older, bald man leaning against the wall at the head of the bed and Stephanie thought that he had the look of a police detective. Dr Maddison motioned her over, addressing her as Dr Torrey, and the officer looked up as she walked over. Stephanie recognised that look of surprised amusement she had come to expect from older male patients who were not accustomed to young women doctors and who expected all females in the emergency room to be nurses. However, he said nothing and looked back to watch Dr Maddison.

Stephanie had long ago learned to minimise her femininity and maximise her authority. She was dressed for work in scrubs that hid the slim figure beneath. She exuded a no nonsense manner, with no makeup, hair pulled back into a bun, and no scent. The only sign that a warm-blooded female lived behind the façade was a healthy tan from underneath the blonde blunt cut fringe, the beautiful blue eyes, and the long legs that couldn't be hidden by the scrubs.

Anything I can do to help? she asked as she reached the bed. What's the situation?

Got into a fight and was pushed through a first floor window, said the older man who leaned forward as he spoke, but a look from Dr Maddison made him aware that his information was unwelcome. He leaned back against the wall again. Dr Maddison looked at Stephanie and, with his eyes, directed her gaze to the man's face. Deep brown eyes looked up at them. One eye and cheekbone were swollen. He was bleeding from lacerations on his mouth, and his nose was caked with blood. He had two deep lacerations on his chest that certainly looked like stab wounds. He also had many small shards of glass in his arms and chest. He stared back at Stephanie unselfconsciously for a long time, as if trying to focus, then he reached up and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. Dr Maddison reached out, took his hand away, and showed Stephanie the back of it. He did the same with the left hand and Stephanie realised at once what she was being shown. Both hands were not bruised. His fists had not been used in a fight that night.

You must be a pretty bad fighter, Dr Maddison said with sarcasm. I usually get told that I should see the other guy. I think, in your case, I have.

There was no response from the two men.

We're none of us fools, Detective McMahon, Dr Maddison addressed the older man. This man has not been fighting. He has been assaulted, gone through a glass window certainly but been stabbed twice with a chiv of some sort. I hope your men are not responsible for any of this.

Detective McMahon sighed. I'm offended that you would even think that, doctor.

Then why the attempted deception? If you wait long enough, with him bleeding out, to come here instead of the inner city hospital – and I'm suspicious about whatever reason that could be – at least don't expect us to be morons.

Your observations are correct. Your deductions are not. I'd appreciate your discretion until we can talk in private.

The last few words were spoken as the doors opened and a wardsman entered, pushing a gurney. Detective McMahon continued speaking as they shifted the patient onto it.

In the meantime I'll stay with him since he's in my custody. You've no objection to my going to X-ray with him, have you?

Not unless you're pregnant, Dr Maddison replied laconically. Detective McMahon laughed, but Stephanie knew that it was meant to be sarcasm – a sign of her superior's impatience and disgust. And you might have been a bit more creative with your choice of name. Peter Parker is not his real name, is it? He's obviously not Spiderman.

Peter Parker was away for some time being scanned in X-ray and having an ultrasound of his abdomen and chest done. In the meanwhile Stephanie saw to a child who had scalded herself by knocking over a hot drink and several other patients who had presented but the evening had continued to be unusually quiet. Dr Maddison came up to her as she finished with her latest patient and asked her to attend to the mystery man. A Code Red, a car crash victim, was on his way in and Dr Maddison was going to meet the helicopter.

Stephanie checked the notes belonging to Peter Parker. He had two fractured ribs without any sign of flail chest, pneumothorax, cardiac or splenic complications but he did have a costochondral separation – a rib that had separated from his breastbone. He had a zygomatic fracture but his eye socket and jaw were not involved. He was fortunate that all he had apart from his fractured ribs and cracked cheek was severe bruising; unfortunate in that he was in pain whenever he tried to breathe. There was nothing they could do for him but help him with the pain, and let nature, time and rest do their job. The stab wounds were deep but scans showed the stabbing had missed all vital organs, due probably to the patient's muscle mass. Dr Maddison wanted the stab wounds cleaned out and stitched up, all the glass fragments removed and he was to be admitted and observed for 24 hours with intravenous fluids to replace blood loss, plus antibiotics and pain relief.

When Stephanie entered the treatment room, Peter Parker had been cleaned up and the tray with the suturing equipment was ready next to the bed. He still had a fluid drip in his arm which was also administering a sedative to ease his pain and make him groggy during the long process of removing all the glass. Stephanie set to work with local anaesthetic and the assistance of the nurse cleaning out the stab wounds and suturing them. She had just started on searching for all the glass splinters when the noise of a disturbance in the reception area came through to them.

Who is it, Mac? Peter Parker anxiously asked the ever present detective. As if in reply the swinging doors flew open and a third man, perhaps another policeman with a rank higher than Detective McMahon came into the room, followed by a protesting nurse. Detective McMahon immediately stood away from the wall as if coming to attention. The police superintendent, or whoever he was, turned to the Detective and gave an order.

I want to talk to Jake. Clear the room out, he said. The nurses looked at Stephanie. She paused a moment then nodded, so they left, along with Detective McMahon. However, Stephanie stood her ground, took a deep breath, and spoke up.

I presume you are Detective McMahon's superior. I'll let you talk to my patient for two minutes but there's no way I am going to leave him alone with you. If anything happens I'm responsible. He is being given a sedative so he may not be very lucid. Also any longer than a few minutes and those local injections I have given him will start wearing off and I'll have to start all over again. I'll be at that desk if you want me. Without waiting for an answer she walked to a desk at the other end of the room, sat down and busied herself with paperwork.

They think you guys are responsible for my condition, said Peter Parker, aka Jake, with a mirthless laugh that ended in a wince.

The superintendent looked at Stephanie for a moment then went over to Jake. He leaned over him and spoke, his voice little more than a whisper, but Stephanie caught the gist of the conversation.

Why didn't you tell me Schering was involved? It was not really a question, more of a demand delivered in an angry, whispered tone.

Jake returned his demand with a quietly spoken answer. You shouldn't be here. And where's your sidekick? You haven't shared any of this with him, have you? The superintendent ran his hand through his hair and looked around him in frustration, as if pleading for some invisible help.

You haven't told me the half of it! He drew up a chair to the bed. I've listened to 4 hours of recordings and there are 80 more to go. Damn it! You haven't told me one tenth of it! You didn't report everything in your debriefings, did you?

I hope you kept your word and listened to the recordings alone, sir. And came here alone and weren't followed. Where's the others? And how did you find me anyway? Jake's voice was a little louder. Then there was silence. Stephanie looked up from her paperwork. The scene was in suspended animation. Stephanie wondered if Jake had drifted off but the superintendent was staring at Jake with his mouth open. When he spoke again, his voice was even quieter than before. Stephanie looked down at her paperwork again.

Is that why you said so little? Because others were there? Who else in-house is implicated too? Damn it! he scraped his chair back as he got up again. "How high does this go? How do you even know to trust me?

"I know whom Adkins didn't trust. It's the only way I can tell whom I can trust."

How high does this go? the superintendent repeated.

There's not anyone much higher than Schering, is there. So don't tell anyone anything no matter how influential they are. You understand now why I have to go it alone? And you have to keep all this to yourself for the time being. If we remove all the white ants at once, the whole building will come down. I don't want to be caught in it when it does, or for you to be. You shouldn't even be here. You haven't answered me about how you knew we were here.

Don't worry. You're not on any hospital computers under your own name. I got my secretary to ring around hospitals until we found Russell McMahon with a 'prisoner'. It took a long time and she had to pull quite a few strings. He dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand and returned to what was really interesting him. No wonder Adkins reacted so violently. You've knackered him – and Schering. And how many others? When Adkins gets out on bail – and he will – you'll be too hot to handle. How much does he know you've got on him?

He's not sure.

Jake, I need to know the full truth on this point. That wasn't just an assault – he wanted information. No-one's going to condemn you if you talked – you're only human. How much did he get out of you?

Sir, I've been undercover for three years. Knowing when to lie and when to clam up goes with the territory. I told him exactly what I told Mac. No more. He paused. Like I was taught, I didn't stonewall in silence. I talked about nothing, and pretended to co-operate. I fed him endless leads and by the time he checked the truth of each of them, I had gained myself a bit more time for Mac to realise something was wrong and for him to find me, but …

But what?

But you haven't got the significance of that, have you? Adkins certainly did. There were some operational bugs still in place during the incident. Most phone call anyone made in his house, conversations in some rooms, his car phone, the helicopter, his jet – they were all still bugged. They probably will even have recorded the assault. They won't be there anymore though. He'll have had every object and every place swept for more bugs after I gave up some of them. I doubt any of them are operational by now.

There was a sharp intake of breath. The superintendent was almost drooling at the mouth at that piece of information

Where is it being recorded? he asked Jake.

Now? It won't be. He's probably found them all by now. We'll have what was recorded up to the bugs being found, that's all He paused. You shouldn't be here, he repeated forcefully. And I won't be here for long because of it. It's too dangerous. Mac should never have used his own name.

Mac should have been reporting to me more often and more fully, said the superintendent forcefully. I can't believe he kept all this from me.

We weren't sure who was caught up in it until recently. Mac has done the reports, he just didn't hand them in. Except the redacted copies he gave your office, of course. We knew quite early that some agents were on the payroll so we had to make the reports sound innocent enough not to attract attention.

We need to bring you in. You can't stay out in the cold. There's no time to lose. The superintendent's voice was adamant.

Jake paused, as if gathering his thoughts. No. I've been under for nearly three years. I need time to re-adjust – to get back to the real me, to real life, to some sort of normality. I don't know how long it will take me to come back from the deception I've been living. Hell, I don't even know if I am able to come back to the person I was at all.

The superintendent put his hand on Jake's arm reassuringly.

Jake, you'll make it. I've never known anyone with as much strength of character as you, or as grounded as you are.

That's not a good word to say to a pilot, replied Jake.

Stephanie cleared her throat and pushed her chair back.

That's it, she said deliberately. The superintendent looked at her as if to speak, then turned back to Jake.

Ten days. If you don't contact me, I'll come looking for you. Then I want everything. And this time there will be no arguments, Or I'll just put you in protective custody now.

Then you may as well just shoot me now, Jake paused for a moment, thinking, then agreed. Ten Days, he said. Then I'll come in. In the meantime listen to the recordings and read the full reports – by yourself. And I'm taking Mac with me now. He will liaise.

The superintendent nodded and turned to leave. He turned around suddenly and said,

I've seen the window and the drop to the ground. That was a bloody good stunt, Jake.

It bloody hurt, sir.

The superintendent chuckled to himself, then left.

Detective McMahon and the nurse returned. The nurse gave Stephanie a look of admiration for standing up against the man's officious order to clear the room. Detective McMahon gave her a look of amusement. Jake grabbed at the Detective's sleeve.

You used your own name! That's how he found us. If he can, others can.

The Detective put his hand on Jake's shoulder and nodded at him. It's all right, Jake. No-one in Adkins' camp knows my name or who I am in the scheme of things.

Other agents know who was putting in the reports. It won't take them long to work out who was handling me. You could be in danger too. You need to be careful, Mac!

He was becoming agitated but Stephanie needed to get on with her probing and suturing. She picked up one of her instruments and the noise from