Exceptional When a shooter shows at the hospital, all hell breaks lose Looking for Orion - 2 : Trouble Follows -- part 2 by DeboraDyess Book of the Month contest entry

In previous chapters: Two years after Cody McClellan's wife is murdered in the commission a robbery, his brother Jack decides it's time for them to take a long-awaited men's weekend. They go to a state park nearby and set up camp.Cody decides to take a hike while Jack naps. As he hikes, he hears crying and jogs to the top of a hill to see if he can find its source. He stumbles into a botched assassination. Cody is shot by the hit men and their intended victim runs. They give chase, leaving Cody for dead. Jack finds him and begins a long trek back to his Bronco, knowing the shooters will be trying to find them. He loses his compass in a fall and gets lost, but finds a father and son who are camping there, as well. The pair rush the brothers to the hospital in town. The next day, Cody awakens to the news that the men he saw are wanted by the FBI. As the special agent questions him, he warns that the McClellan family is in danger.  One of the assassins shows up at the hospital, dressed in a stolen orderly uniform, and gives Cody a shot just as Cody's son, Michael, wanders into the room.  The door opened. Michael stepped into the room, smiling tentatively. The smile froze as he realized that the man beside his dad couldn't possibly be an orderly. He yelled out the closing door, "Uncle Jack! Hurry!" and dove into the huge man, barely moving him. The giant swatted him away, into a wall across the room. Michael slid onto his knees, stunned. Lehmann frowned at the boy. "You ruined it!" he accused. "Now there's no time!" He reached into the pocket again, this time producing a revolver. "So you die. Just like your daddy." Lehmann spoke as calmly as a librarian discussing the Dewey Decimal System. "Run!" Cody tried to yell, his voice ragged and frantic. He swung upward, hitting Lehmann's elbow as the big man pulled the trigger. Michael dropped and rolled, taking cover on the other side of the bed. Lehmann cursed and slammed the gun down on the side of Cody's face. The blow bounced Cody's head into the pillows and he lay still. "Stupid boy," Lehmann growled. He laid the gun on the bed right beside him, glancing at the door as he spoke. "I want you to feel every minute of this, McClellan. Every minute.." He repositioned the syringe and pushed the plunger. Jack charged through the door, never breaking stride as he took in the scene. Lehmann grabbed for the gun, but Jack hit him and tackled him into the bedside table. The syringe came loose from the IV port and, together with the weapon, clattered to the floor. Jack swung into the big man's belly. Lehmann grunted and pushed Jack away. As he caught his balance, Jack took another punch at the man, hitting squarely in the jaw. Lehmann staggered backwards, recovered, and hit Jack in the face. Jack stumbled into a chair, fell to his knees and clung to its padded back, disoriented by the blow. Lehmann turned back toward Cody. Michael, hands shaking, tugged at the tape holding the IV needle in place. Lehmann rushed at him, reaching over Cody to grab Michael's shirt. Michael tried to scream but terror stopped the sound. He stood paralyzed with fear, his eyes locked with those of the killer. Lehmann laughed again, a low, vulgar sound, and moved one hand to the boy's throat. His fingers against the back of Michael's neck, he shoved hard against the boy's larynx with his thumb. They stood unmoving, Michael gasping for air that could not come. He managed to choke out a hoarse gurgle of pain as his knees gave way and he sagged into his father's chest. Jack grabbed Lehmann from behind, but the giant barely moved, maintaining his death hold, smiling. Jack released him, clenched his fists together and slammed them into the base of Lehmann's neck. Lehmann lost his grip on the terrified boy, spun and hit Jack in the middle. Jack doubled over, sucking in air. He saw the gun on the floor and grabbed it, coming up with the weapon leveled at Lehmann's chest. "Freeze," he panted, and added, after a breath, "Police." Lehmann narrowed his eyes, figuring the odds, weighing his chances. He froze. "Uncle J-J-Jack," Michael sobbed, his voice tattered and scratchy. Jack could barely understand him. He spared one second to look at his nephew. The boy's whole body shook. "Mike, what the--" "He p-put something in d-dad's IV," Michael stammered. Jack looked at the IV line. The last of a thick, pale liquid stained the tube. Lehmann took advantage of the distraction, jumped toward Jack and tackled him backwards onto the bed. Jack kicked the big man off of him and Lehmann stumbled into the wall behind him. Lifting himself from the bedrail where he'd been pinned, Jack raised the weapon again. "Do anything ... anything at all. Make me shoot you," he begged, pointing the revolver level again. "Please." Lehmann looked behind Jack, to Cody and Michael, smiled and held up his hands. "Your game, Detective." Aulers exploded into the room, gun drawn. He looked as expressionless as before. He ordered Lehmann away from the door with a word and a wave of the weapon. The giant stepped back. "Well, if it isn't our hero, the very special Agent Aulers. Good to finally meet you, face-to-face like. We've heard so many nice things about you. Truly. How's that family of yours, Agent? Had time to make any calls to Tulsa lately?" Aulers' expression never changed. He activated a small microphone on the lapel of his suit coat and requested backup. Jack ripped the tape off the back of Cody's limp hand and jerked at the needle. Blood erupted from the vein, soaking into the blanket and bed sheets. Jack put his thumb on top of the wound, pressed and looked up at the hit man, who smiled. "Too little, too late, Detective McClellan." "What'd you do to my brother?" Jack glared at the man in front of him, and realized he would kill him without a second of hesitation. Before Lehmann could answer, Dr. Kitman, Rachel and a nurse rushed into the room, hesitating as a group at the sight of Aulers and Lehmann. Aulers nodded them on and the trio moved past. Rachel knelt by Cody's face, talking softly and gently checking the welt on her son's cheek. Dr. Kitman strode to the other side of the bed, opened the hospital gown and looked in horror at the new damage to Cody's back. She raised her eyes to the killer, shock replaced by disgust. "I need a portable x-ray and a stitch kit in here," she told the nurse without looking away from Lehmann. He returned her stare, his smile chilling. The little doctor did not alter her gaze, challenging the assassin with her eyes. "What did you do to my brother?" Jack asked again. He had moved away from Cody and the women now, and stepped toward Lehmann. He leveled his gun at the big man once more. "Tell me what you put in that IV." "Or what? You'll have me arrested? Or shoot me in front of all these lovely witnesses?" Lehmann laughed. "Get out of my face, man." "I'll start with your kneecaps," Jack said flatly. Lehmann looked at Aulers, eyebrows raised. Aulers stepped out of the way. "I wasn't in here when it happened," he said. "Don't know anything about it." "Now, you son of a bitch, what did you do to him?" Lehmann paused, his lips pursed, frowning. He looked at Jack with cold, emotionless eyes. "It's a neurotoxin," he sneered at last. "I reckon it's a little bit too complicated for you, though. Way over your head." "What will it do to him?" Jack worked hard to control the urge to twitch his finger, just a little, and see how many directions the blonde's head would travel. "It'll attack his central nervous system. Pain's goin' to get a lot worse before it's over, so you better batten the hatches, big brother. You both in for a long ride tonight." He looked smugly from the doctor to Jack. "And there ain't nothin' she can do, either. This is a special made thing. We was goin' to test it yesterday, but today'll do just fine. If it works right, and my stuff always works right, either his heart is goin' to stop, or he'll start havin' seizures and die 'cause of them. Either way's just fine with me. Just fine. I win. He dies." Lehmann raised his lip, either to smile or snarl. "Guess who's next?" He looked pointedly at Michael and Rachel and back to Jack. "Could be almost anybody." Jack gritted his teeth, calling on every ounce of his strength to maintain control of his temper. The revolver felt hard and heavy in his hand, and it was all he could do not to raise it to the maniacal grin and pull the trigger. "How do we stop it?" Lehmann grinned again. "That's the beauty of it. You don't. It just gets worse and worse 'til he dies." Recognized

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