Page 72 of Jobe

They immediately began assessing, against her protestations. Jobe leaned down, his face directly in hers and said, “Not taking a chance, doll. Please,” he begged, as his voice broke.

Nodding, she lay back still clasping his arm. Not letting go.Never letting go.

* * *

Swish, swish, swish. The baby’s heart monitor gave off the clear signals that it was alive and well, bringing both Mackenna and Jobe to tears as she continued to cling to him.

With her high blood pressure, the ER doctor admitted her for overnight observation. Once settled into the hospital room, she slept fitfully as Jobe kept watch, his hand still holding hers and his gaze moving between the monitor and her face.

A slight movement at the door had him swinging his head around, nerves instantly on alert. He relaxed as he saw Shane and another man enter. His eyes appraised the second man, his large frame filling the doorway as he hung back from the others. Dark hair, with an expression of hardness on his Hispanic features.

“Tank?” came Mackenna’s soft voice.

Jobe’s head jerked around, seeing her eyes open and a quizzical expression on her face.

“Yeah,” the large man said, walking over to join the others. Looking down at Jobe, he extended his hand. Jobe glanced at it momentarily before taking it. “Real name is Cam,” he said to Jobe, but his eyes shifted over to the woman in the bed. “Glad you’re okay.”

Jobe, wanting an explanation of who the man was, looked at Shane. “Undercover with the Sixers,” came the short answer. “He got Gabby out of the park and gave his weapon to Mackenna.”

Jobe stood, not used to looking up at anyone, but found himself directing his glare upwards several inches to Tank. “She didn’t know how to use the gun.”

Tank nodded but said, “She’s smart. She’d done all right. And it was better than nothing.” His gaze dropped back to Mackenna as he said, “But I hear that a tennis racket is almost as good as a baseball bat.”

She blushed as the others tried to hide their smiles, while Jobe sat heavily in his chair again. “Fuck,” he said, the fight leaving him as the thought of the danger she had faced sunk in once more.

After a moment, she stared past Jobe at the men in the room. Licking her lips, she asked, “How’s Gabby?”

Receiving assurances of the young woman’s health, she looked back up at the large man who had shifted to the other side of her bed. “What happens now? Now that your cover’s gone?”

“I’ll be okay. Got options. Anyway, just wanted to check on you.” He gave a head jerk to Jobe and with a last smile down at Mackenna, turned to walk out of the room. Pausing next to Shane, he stopped. As the two men held each other’s eyes, silent communication between them, he just nodded again before stepping into the corridor.

* * *

Outside of the hospital, Tank slid on his sunglasses just before climbing into the large, black SUV. The driver glanced at his passenger carefully before saying, “You ready, Cam?”

Tank nodded silently as the vehicle pulled into traffic. Several minutes passed before he spoke. “Yeah, time to make a change.”

Jack Bryant just nodded.

* * *

Shane stayed in the hospital for just a few more minutes, updating Mackenna and Jobe on the latest. With preliminary information from Tank and Paulina, Tito’s gun running operation was going to be shut down. He had not been arrested yet, but indictments would be coming.

“From what Tank had seen, Gabby was Tito’s greatest downfall,” Shane said, much to the surprise of Mackenna. “He hated that she left, but must’ve really had feelings for her—enough that the others were questioning some of his judgements. It’s true that he wanted you out of the way, but he wanted Gabby back with him.”

Shane left soon, letting Mackenna know that once she was out of the woods they would question her about the events of the previous night.

The sun was just rising as Penny, Rachel, and Joseph tiptoed quietly into the room. Jobe lifted his head from its position on her bed, giving a tired smile to their parents. Standing, he moved over to offer hugs to all of them, then took Penny by the arm leading her to her daughter’s side.

Mackenna’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled seeing her mother’s face. “Mom, I’m fine,” she assured as Penny leaned down to hold her.

After a few minutes, the parents left, with Rachel’s vows of filling their refrigerator with food so that Mackenna would not have to cook.

Jobe watched Mackenna as his mother left, whispering, “You know what that means, doll? She’ll bring enough to feed an army.”

Giggling, Mackenna laughed. After a moment she sobered, looking at the monitors. “Everything still okay?”

“Yeah, babe. Your blood pressure’s back down and listen,” he said, encouragingly.

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