Free Zero Separation by Philip Donlay

fell from his hand, his knees buckled, and he crumpled straight down like an imploded building.
    Montero kicked away the silenced weapon and then leaned over the body, her Glock poised to fire again.
    â€œAre you all right?” she said to Donovan without looking at him.
    The heavy smell of gunpowder filled the room. Behind Montero, two other agents rushed through the doorway. Montero began issuing orders to shut down the hospital. She wanted everyone who tried to leave the premises searched for weapons in case the assassin wasn’t alone. Donovan stepped away from the carnage. He went to Michael and searched for any sign that his friend had been injured. A quick inspection found blood spatter on the sheet, but it wasn’t Michael’s.
    Montero holstered her pistol and then dug in the pocket of her blazer. She produced a latex glove and snapped it over her hand. She leaned down and turned the gunman’s head to get a good look at his face. She swore under her breath, whipped out her cell phone, and dialed. As she waited for an answer, she raised an eyebrow at Donovan. “Are you still wishing I’d go away and bother someone else?”

CHAPTER NINE
    Donovan’s ribcage throbbed from where he’d been kicked. The would-be assassin lay in a pool of blood. FBI and hospital personnel were running in and out as they followed Montero’s orders to set up a perimeter in the hallway. He glared at Montero as her words began to seep through his fear at having nearly been killed. His fury grew exponentially as it became clear what she’d done. He pushed away from the wall and stood directly in front of her.
    â€œYou used the room’s intercom system to listen in on me. You knew someone might try this, didn’t you?”
    Montero hardly made eye contact with him as she surveyed the work being done to move Michael to another room without disturbing the corpse on the floor. “I’m going to need you to get out of my way for now. But don’t leave the area.”
    â€œYou almost got him killed. As far as I’m concerned, we’re finished.”
    Montero straightened and her jaw tightened. “You and I aren’t finished, and don’t even dream of leaving Florida, let alone this hospital, until I say you can. Now, go wait in the lounge until I have time to talk to you one-on-one.”
    Donovan stormed out of the room, pushing through the security detail that had cordoned off the hallway. He found an empty waiting area, dug out his cell phone, and dialed.
    â€œWilliam, it’s me. Where are you?”
    â€œI’m in the main lobby waiting for an elevator. Lauren just found me and told me you were on your way here.”
    â€œIs she still with you?”
    â€œThey’re moving Michael to a room. Susan took the boys to the cafeteria. Lauren went to find them. We’re all going to meet on Michael’s floor shortly. Why, what’s going on?”
    â€œSomeone just tried to kill Michael—and me in the process.”
    â€œAre you okay? Is Michael all right? Tell me exactly what happened.”
    â€œEveryone’s fine. I’ll fill you in later. I want to fly everyone out of here as soon as possible. Call Peggy and see what she can do about getting a medevac flight and crew to take Michael home.”
    â€œI’ll take care of it.”
    â€œHow much has Lauren been able to tell you about what else is going on?”
    â€œShe whispered to me that the three of us needed to talk. What’s going on?”
    â€œAn FBI agent may have started to put some things together. Is the airplane you flew down here still available? We might need to go visit Stephanie.”
    â€œAre you sure? Is this agent a blonde woman named Montero? I met her; she didn’t come across as much more than a pushy Fed. How could she possibly know anything?”
    â€œI might be wrong, but a partial fingerprint led her to an old mug shot taken in California.