The Midnight Hour Read Free Page A

man and would be justified in whatever disciplinary actions he took regarding her outright defiance of his orders.
    "Hawk," she tried to say in a casual yet respectful tone. It had been hard making the switch from calling him Colonel to Hawk now that they were no longer in the marines.
    "Do you know what you've done, Tori?"
    His voice was filled with anger to the umpteenth degree and his features reflected such. He also looked world-weary, which was probably one of the reasons he had decided to retire in three months and spend more time doing all the things he wanted to do.
    She swallowed as she continued to hold his gaze. "Yes, sir."
    He looked at her for a moment longer, and then shook his head. "No," he said slowly. "I don't think that you do."
    Hawk eased his body into the chair behind his desk and motioned for Tori to take the chair across from him. When he had gotten word of the bizarre incident at the Bethesda Naval Hospital a few weeks ago and quickly put two and two together, he knew that Tori had been the person posing as the doctor. Unfortunately, she had been on an assignment in Madrid when he'd gotten wind of it and hadn't been available for questioning. And now that he knew all the facts and had time to piece everything together, he knew without a doubt that it had been Special Agent Victoria Green who had risked everything he had carefully kept top-secret for the last five years, just for the chance to see Drake Warren.
    Hawk by no means considered himself a heartless man and he knew the trauma Tori would go through when he'd first received word of Drake's condition. Unfortunately, Hawk had been vacationing in Barbados when word had spread to the other agents. Had he been here he would have made sure she didn't do anything rash, like going to the hospital to see the man. But he hadn't been here and she
    had gone.
    Now everyone was wondering who was the woman who had slipped past security and paid Drake a visit, imparting upon him the will to live. Within twenty-four hours, Drake had come out of his coma and only remembered bits and pieces of his late-night visitor. He assumed what he'd had was an out-of-body experience with an angel, of all things.
    But there had been two people who had actually seen "Drake's angel" to know the woman had been real flesh and blood. Now enough people were wondering who she was and what was her purpose in visiting Drake under the pretense of being a doctor? But most importantly, the big question was how had she pulled him back into the land of the;
    living?
    The two individuals who had actually spoken to "Dr., Chadwick" had been the marine sentry posted outside'; Drake's room and Marine Colonel Ashton Sinclair. The' sentry's description of Tori was vague, but Colonel Sinclair's description was a whole lot sharper. He was a man trained to be observant, to notice any detail, no matter how minor and indicated he would definitely recognize the woman if he were to see her again.
    In Abram Hawk's book that didn't bode well.
    Everyone believed that Sandy Carroll had died during that mission in Haiti. Instead she had been left for dead, her body burned almost beyond recognition. Even with extensive injuries, she had managed to roll her critically injured body from the burning building before it exploded, only to be buried under flying debris. Because of the extent of her injuries, as well as the secrecy of the mission, she had been immediately secreted away to a private hospital under another name. And because Cross and his group had immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, and Hawk knew the man would retaliate and try again if word got out that Sandy had lived, a decision was made that, in addition to the reconstructive surgery that she desperately needed, that she would also be given a new identity. In a way to protect both Drake and Sandy, such drastic measures had to be taken. Cross was already something of a crazed lunatic before his wife had gotten killed and her death had