"Sarah, I'm coordinating things for the next four hours. I need to take those calls," he attempted to explain. When had he ever thought she was hesitant and unsure? This was a woman who would punch you in the nose and feed you your nuts.

"Manuel, call Joaquin and tell him we ran into a bit of a snag, and he'll have to take over a little earlier than anticipated." The kid saluted and then pushed past the curtain to let himself out of the little treatment area in the clinic. There was a curtain because half of the wall was missing.

"Sarah, it's not that big of a deal," he started.

"I'm the one who is now tying up your twenty-seventh stitch. I'm going to say this is a big deal," she said too quietly.

Enough. He'd had enough. "Are you done?"

She threw the tools into a stainless steel pan. "Yes, I'm done."

His right shoulder and chest hurt, so with his left hand he picked up her right hand. He held it up in front of their faces. "Your bruised knuckles are also a big deal."

"It's not the same thing at all, you could have been killed," her voice trembled.

Ah, God. Such pain in her voice, and he couldn't even tell her it was going to be all right, because this was a terrible situation, and he didn't know what was going to happen next. He knew this was her worst fear.

"I wasn't. Nor do I intend to be. I'm sorry I scared you." He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them.

"Don't try to charm me."

"Would it work?"

She sighed. "Maybe. Probably. That's why I don't want you to try. This is too important. You scared the hell out of me. I know you didn't mean to, but you did."

David closed his eyes. Then popped them open. "Whoa. What did you give me?"

"I gave you a shot for the pain."

"Honey, I need to keep it together. I'm in charge of this manhunt."

"No, you're not. You just put Joaquin in charge. Which as luck would have it, finally dovetails with the end of my shift. So let's get back to the hotel."

Not that they'd be able to do anything with the horse tranquilizer she shot him with. What the fuck?

"It wasn't a horse tranquilizer."

"Did I say that out loud?"

"Clear as a bell." She helped him off the exam table. She helped him step over the uneven floor on the way to the door. They found Manuel in front of the clinic.

"Did you call Joaquin?" David asked.

"Yes. He wanted me to tell you that he would call you tomorrow. I stayed so I could drive you to your hotel."

"Could you drive both of us? He was my ride this morning." David watched as Manuel smiled brightly at Sarah. Of course, he would. What man wouldn't?

"Yes, ma'am. I would be happy to."

David settled into the backseat. He tried to focus on the conversation going on between Sarah and Manuel, but he couldn't. He was too damn tired.

The phone was ringing, and he groaned in pain. He moved to find it.

"Stop! I'll get it." The bedside lamp turned on, and he got a tasty view of Sarah in his T-shirt as she reached over the side of the bed and groped for his phone. It must have been in his pants.

She handed it to him. Before he could even say hello, Joaquin started talking. He threw off the covers and was standing beside the bed. The pain only mattered because it slowed him down.

"When?" he demanded. Joaquin was garbled. He wasn't making a whole hell of a lot of sense. But one thing was clear. Prisoners had taken over the hospital and were holding Carys and other doctors for ransom, and it was making international news.

"Why are you just telling me now?" It had happened while he had been asleep, and Bernardo had decided to handle things himself.

"Sarah, turn on the TV," David demanded as he started to get dressed. She didn't ask any questions, found the remote, and stopped on the first channel.

"Oh my God, David, that's the hospital," she cried, pointing to the screen. Then she ran towards the bathroom.

"Tell me everything, Joaquin." David sat down heavily on the side of the bed.

"They are demanding a plane off the island, and ten million US dollars."

"They will never get that."

"The lieutenant governor called the US Embassy in Panama and your commander. He has also done interviews. He is begging for the United States to give the men whatever they want. Not only are the Doctors Without Borders at risk, but every man, woman, and child in the hospital are now hostages." David saw Sarah come out of the bathroom dressed in the same bloody clothes she had been wearing yesterday when she had stitched him up. Her intent was clear. He dropped the phone on the bed and blocked her exit.

"Let me go."

"I'm not letting you leave."

"I have to get to the hospital."

"And what will you do when you get there?"

"I'll figure it out when I'm there."

"Stay with me. I need to get to the lieutenant governor's office and find out what he's doing. You can't do anything at the hospital but stand outside. Come with me and we'll see what's being done."

"I have to go to the hospital." Ah shit, she was starting to cry.

He pulled her into his arms. Damn that hurt. She stiffened.

"Stop that. You're hurt." She sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve. She yanked up his shirt and looked at his bandage. "Looks okay for the moment." She took a deep breath. "Let me get my supplies."

"Supplies?"

"I brought extra bandages and sutures. I didn't trust you not to rip your stitches." Her eyes welled up again. Her eyes turned to the TV. She watched the picture of the hospital and the Breaking News headline. She grabbed her bag, turned off the TV and turned to him. "Let's go."

David took one look at Bernardo, and all of his anger left. The man looked like he had aged twenty years since the previous day.

"You should have called."

"You just captured three prisoners and damn near died doing it," the lieutenant governor said quietly. He was seated behind his massive desk, his arms folded in front of him. Carmen was standing over him, she looked like she wanted to cradle him in her arms.

"Tell me the situation and what steps you've taken."

"We think there are ten of them. They've been releasing patients for the last two hours. Two have died because they took them off the machines that were regulating their breathing."

Sarah's fingernails dug into his forearm.

"The others? Where have they been taken? Who is taking care of them?"

Bernardo looked up at her, his expression helpless. "Almost all of our caregivers are in the hospital. Almost all of our medicines and equipment..."

"Haven't you pulled in the personnel from the two regional clinics, they have medicine," Sarah said.

"Yes. But right now I'm more focused on trying to get the rest of the hostages released."

"Carys and the other doctors?" Sarah asked.

"Dr. Adams is the one American doctor. They have actually contacted reporters and told them their ransom demands. They are demanding it of the American government. They are so stupid. America will never give into their demands. Nobody will. These animals must be put down." At last Bernardo seemed to have some life in him.

"What steps have you taken?" David asked again.

"Right now they have us running around handling all of the patients they are releasing. We can't handle anything more. But I have been in contact with the US, they are sending in a team to rescue the hostages."

"Carys?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. There has been an international outcry about the Doctors Without Borders being held captive by our escaped prisoners."

"Who are they sending?" David asked.

"A Navy SEAL team, Black Dawn." If it had been Army Rangers, then David would have heard of them. SEALs not so much.

"When will they be here?"

Bernardo looked at his watch. "Fourteen hours."

"Okay, then this is what we need to do. Get that damn hospital cleared of patients. Sarah, can your round up the medical personnel we have on the island and get whoever is available to the hotel? We'll make that the new hospital." God bless her, she just nodded.

"Bernardo, you're the face of this island, you'll need to work as the hostage negotiator. Whoever we can get out of that hospital before the SEALs get here, the easier their job will be." David turned to Joaquin. "Do we have a real count of how many bad guys are in the hospital?"

"No. We think there are ten."

"Then we need a real count. That's our first priority. We work with the patients. We have prison records, and we know the men who escaped. We have them identify pictures. I want to know who the hell is in that hospital."

Joaquin nodded.

7.

"There's nine."

"Are you positive Joaquin?" The man looked up from the computer screen he had been staring at for the last hour. They were set up in the post office two blocks from the hospital. When David had first arrived on the scene, they had been in an old annex building across the street from the hospital that was used to store old paper patient records. It was one story, and it was obvious the prisoners could pick off the inhabitants.

Now they had someone stationed in the church bell tower that was a story taller than the hospital. It was three hundred meters away, but with a high power scope, it was possible to see into most of the hospital windows. David had been up there an hour ago. The situation was not good at all.

They had released all of the patients and the Las Flores personnel, but it still left them with eight aid workers and nine escaped prisoners. One of the Las Flores orderlies had been assaulted before being released, so it was deteriorating fast inside the hospital. Dr. Adams was the one woman left. She was also the one American. David prayed they wouldn't want to harm her because they would consider her their most essential hostage.

"Joaquin, show me all of the assholes records. I want to see if there are any weak links we can take advantage of." He glanced at his watch. Three more hours. He sat down at Joaquin's desk and went through the files.

"It looks like these two hate one another." David put the two photos up side by side. They ran two separate gangs. "It's amazing they are working together." He got up slowly from the desk. Goddamn, his shoulder, and chest hurt, but if he took anything for the pain, he'd be unconscious, and they didn't have time for that shit.

"You shouldn't be up," Carmen said as she tried to hand him a cup of coffee. He waved her off.

"Where's Bernardo?"

"The governor's in that office sleeping," she said pointing to a closed door. "There's another office with a couch. You should take a nap."

David went over to the office that Bernardo was in. He opened the door and stepped in.

"Bernardo?" The man didn't rouse.

"Bernardo?" David shook him.