Free SEIZED, A Romantic Suspense Novella by Suzanne Ferrell

Judy’s, he nodded, hoping she’d try to maneuver the son-of-a-bitch out the door and give him a clear shot.
    She shook her head no.
    No?
    What the hell was she thinking?
    As he watched, her head whipped to the left, back into the operating room. She pulled back slightly.
    What was going on? Did the bastard threaten her?
    The silence was shattered by a gunshot, the sound echoing out of the room and down the hall.
    He felt it like it had pierced his soul.
    “Judy!”
    Shoving the senator out of his way, he lunged for the door, Jake’s body stopping him before he could jerk one open. “Stop!”
    He struggled against Jake, the need to get to Judy clawing at him. “Get out of my way, Carlisle.”
    “No, Dave! You’ll set off the bombs!”
    The words were like a slap to the face. He froze.
    Arms come around from behind, pulling him back from the chasm that separated him from his love. “Dave. Try to get it together, bro,” Matt’s voice in his ear cut through the pain, bringing him back out of his panic.
    “It wasn’t her, Dave. He didn’t shoot her. We could see her. She’s okay,” Jake said.
    “But for how long?” He looked at his family standing around him, his heart gripped with pain, silently asking them what they were all thinking. How long before the bastard decided to shoot the others or her?
    A loud crash sounded down the OR hallway.
    He tried to lurch towards the door once more, only the steely arms of his brothers holding him back. “Wait. We don’t know what that was.”
    “Fuck it, I have to get in there!” He struggled once more.
    “Look!” Katie said, pointing at the window.
    A man in scrubs darted out in the hallway, Judy right behind him.
    Dave shook off the arms holding him and raised his weapon, taking aim.
    Judy slammed the man into the wall, her arm at his neck, just like he’d taught her when she’d been helping him learn a self-defense course years ago. He paused his finger from pressing the trigger, watching them through the scope.
    She was talking to the man, stopping to point out the window at him. She nodded at him.
    He didn’t lower his aim as he watched, but he returned her nod.
    Slowly she eased her body back, looking behind her. Two others dragged a man with a tube hanging out of his mouth across the hallway.
    “Is that the bomber?” Katie asked.
    Still focused on Judy, Dave lowered his weapon as she released the other man and let him head back into the operating room. Then she strode to the door, stopping a foot away. He met her there, his hand pressed to the glass. Stretching her arm out, she placed hers on the other side, their fingers spread.
    “Are you okay? Did the bastard hurt you?”
    She gave him a soft smile, the kind that made him want to pull her into his arms and hold her tight. “I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me, just has me scared shitless.”
    “We’ll get you out of there quick. What did you take him down with?”
    “A syringe of Succinylcholine. Bill’s hooking him up to an anesthesia machine. He’ll be completely paralyzed for a while.”
    “Judy,” Katie stepped up to the window. “Can you tell me what you see on the door handle?”
    Judy slowly turned her eyes away from them to step back a bit, lowering her hand from the glass. He wanted to force her to keep it there, to keep looking at him, her dark eyes reassuring him she was okay.
    “I can send you a picture to Dave’s phone.”
    Stepping back, she pulled the smartphone from where she’d hidden it in her scrubs pocket and focused on the door. A moment later his phone buzzed. He slid his finger over the text-message icon and a picture of the door with C-4 compound wrapped around it appeared. Centered on it was a cell phone with wires coming from it into a small device imbedded in the explosive material.
    “Crap.” Katie shook her head.
    “What?” he asked, his gaze meeting Judy’s worried one through the glass.
    “See this?” Katie enlarged the photo. “The guy has the cell phone