No one moved. The fire alarm continued to blare as an announcement came over the PA. "All ambulatory patients proceed to the nearest stairwell and exit the building. All doctors, nurses, and security officers should report to the nurse's station on their floor to get evacuation assignments."
The door to the room began to swing open. Both Chris and Josiah moved to block view of the bed. Chris pulled his weapon.
"Whoa, Stud. We're the good guys, remember?"
Chris let out the breath he was holding. He lowered his gun as Buck and J.D. entered the room. "What the hell are you two doing here?"
"That was my idea, Brother." Josiah stepped forward. "I thought Jill could use some company today."
Buck walked over to the bed and handed the girl the bouquet of flowers he was carrying. "Hey, little lady. You seem to be having an exciting morning."
"There's a fire. We have to get out." She looked panicked.
"It's OK, darlin'. Chris here has a plan. Right, Chris?"
Chris thought quickly. "All right. J.D., take Jill down to the first floor. Find a place to stash yourselves."
"I know the perfect place. I will go with them," Josiah offered.
"But we have to get out!" the girl cried. She started to cough.
"Listen to me. I doubt there really is a fire. But you have to leave this room." Chris motioned for Buck to follow him out of the room.
The announcement repeated. The alarm continued, but at a lower volume. Flashing lights could be seen in the hall before the door closed.
J.D. opened the standing cabinet and found some hospital-issue bathrobes and slippers. "Where are we headed, Josiah?" he asked as he handed the items to his teammate.
"The hospital chapel. I was planning to take Jill there later today for Sunday services. It's small with only one entrance and close enough to the main entrance in case we do have to leave," the profiler answered while helping Jill out of bed.
She pushed away his hands. "Wait a minute. I don't understand. Why aren't we going outside?" she demanded.
"I believe Chris suspects the fire alarm is a ploy to get you out in the open. You can't leave this building."
"Why not just stay here?" J.D. wondered.
The girl's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god, the phone."
Josiah nodded. "It seems that someone may have tracked you down to this room. We need to get out of here quickly." He helped her put on the robe around her injured arm and shoulder.
When J.D. bent down to help with the slippers, he noticed the girl looking at his holster under his jacket. "You're a cop?"
J.D. couldn't help but sigh. "Yes, I am an ATF agent."
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I thought . . . I mean, you look . . ."
"It's OK. I get that all the time. When you hang around with these old timers, people tend to think . . . Ow!" J.D. winced as Josiah pinched the back of his neck.
"What were you saying, J.D.?"
"Nothing, Josiah. Nothing at all."
The large man released J.D.'s neck and pretended not to notice the wink the younger man passed to Jill. Josiah frowned when she started to cough. "I'll be right back." He stepped out of the room.
"So how long have you been with ATF?"
J.D. stood back up. "I was a cop first, back in Boston. That's where I'm from. After my mother died, I headed out west to join the ATF. I was lucky enough to get picked to be on Team 7. Sometimes they call us the Magnificent Seven," he finished proudly.
"Like the movie?"
J.D. beamed. "Yeah. That's one of my favorites. I'm a sucker for westerns. You like westerns?"
"Not really. My dad does, though. He's always picking westerns for movie night."
"What's movie night?" Josiah asked, stepping back into the room. He handed the girl a small plastic cup. "Here's some cough syrup."
Jill downed the medicine with a grimace. "My dad and I try to spend one night a week together watching a movie or two. Sometimes it's the only time I get to see him." She shook her head. "He has the weirdest taste in movies."
"Hey, The Magnificent Seven is a classic. There's nothing weird about that movie."
"Easy, Brother." Josiah turned to the girl and loudly whispered, "He's pretty sensitive about that movie." He was pleased to see her giggle at J.D.'s hurt face.
Josiah handed her a pillow and a couple of blankets. "We're going to move quickly to the stairwell. Keep moving unless we tell you to stop. I'm going first. Wait about half a minute, and then you two follow. Understand?" J.D. nodded, pulling out his gun and taking off the safety. The girl also nodded, any sign of laughter gone from her face when she saw the gun.
Josiah left the room. The only sounds for the next 30 seconds were the fire alarm. After what seemed like an eternity to her, J.D. motioned for Jill to follow him out of the room. The hall was strangely empty. Well, not completely empty. She noticed the man with the moustache who gave her the flowers was standing inside the nurse's station. Chris was positioned next to the elevators, as if waiting for someone to come out. Josiah was at the stairwell door, propping it open.
If any of the others patients or hospital personnel noticed the two-armed men with a teenaged girl in the stairwell, no one said anything. Everyone made their way down in relative silence.
The small group exited the stairwell on the first floor. Josiah led them towards a small hallway off the main entrance. At the end of the hall was a set of wooden double doors.
The profiler opened the doors, but motioned for Jill to wait. She waited, clutching the blanket and pillows against her chest. J.D. gave her a small smile, but didn't say anything.
The girl couldn't help but jump when the door opened again. Josiah guided her down the center aisle of the small room, simple wooden pews on either side of them. He could feel slight tremors when he touched her back. The younger agent entered as well, but stayed by the doors, leaving one slightly ajar to watch the hall.
"Let's have you wait here," Josiah suggested when they got to the first row. "Okay, Jill?"
When the girl didn't answer, he took a good look at her. Her eyes looked dilated and glassy. He picked up her hand to check her pulse, her skin feeling clammy. Her pulse was a little rapid. Recognizing the signs of shock, he tried to remove the pillow and blankets from her death grip.
"No, these are mine!" she snapped. She weakly struggled with the man.
Josiah easily took possession of the items and laid them on the pew. He gently pushed her to sit beside them. He could imagine Nathan's voice telling him to get her to lie down, get her feet above her head, and keep her warm.
"We can't stay here. They'll find us here!"
"I have an idea. How about you lay down? That way no one will be able to see you from the door." She put her head down on the pillow at the other end of the pew. He unfolded one of the blankets and covered her with it. Then he put the other folded blankets under her feet, so they were elevated.
Josiah noticed she was mumbling. He knelt by her and listened. "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."
"What's your fault, Jill?" he prompted gently. He needed to keep her talking.
"I shouldn't have talked to him. I knew I wasn't supposed to. But I did and now . . . it's all my fault. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry," she finished with a sob.
Before he could ask who she was talking about, his cell phone rang.
"Josiah?"
"Hold on, JD." He fumbled open his cell phone and saw who the caller was. "Hey, Nathan. I can't talk. We have a little situation here."
"I know. Rain called me about the fire alarm. I tried Chris, but he told me to call you and then hung up. Are you guys all right?"
"The alarm may be a ploy to get Jill outside. There was a call to her room. We're hiding out in the chapel. I've got JD with me. Buck stayed upstairs with Chris to see if anyone approaches the room."
"How's Jill?"
Josiah moved away from the pew he was kneeling in front of. He motioned for JD to switch places with him. Watching the corridor leading to the chapel, he continued, "She's suffering from shock. I've got her lying down, covered up with her feet elevated. But, I'm worried about her mental state."
"Did Chris tell you about the nightmares?"
"I overheard him ask her about them. This little girl is holding on to some kind of guilt, and it's eating her alive. For some reason, she thinks all of this is her fault."
"I'm heading back to the hospital. I'll be there in about 15 minutes."
"We'd sure appreciate the company, but you might have a hard time getting in."
"I'll figure something out. You guys might need some back-up. I'm gonna call Vin and Ez, too."
Josiah smiled. "That will be an interesting call to Brother Ezra's home. It's not even nine o'clock yet."
"That's true. Maybe I'll have Vin call him for me. See ya in a few and stay safe."
Josiah closed his cell. Seeing no one in the corridor leading to the chapel, he stepped back towards the pews. JD's jacket now laid on top of the blankets. The younger agent was kneeling on the ground beside the pew, one of his hands being gripped by the girl.
Josiah tried not to smile at the panicked look at his teammate's face, "She's asleep, but she won't let go of my hand."
"I think she needs to hold on to someone for the moment, to feel safe." The older agent checked the girl's pulse, pleased that it was slower and steady. "Did she say anything else to you? About talking to someone she wasn't supposed to?"
J.D. whispered back, "No, she just keep saying she was sorry. I didn't know what she was talking about, so I just said that she was safe and everything was going to be okay. Should I not have said that?"
"That was fine. I just pray you're right."