Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (62 page)

Wiping the sweat from
his brow, David shook his head.  “I made myself a promise that I’d keep you
safe from him this time,” he explained.  “I’m gonna keep that vow.”

“We can still keep
Honor safe,” Maggie replied, “Just tell us the name of who’s trying to hurt
her.”

“Shut up and stop
trying to confuse me,” David roared, grabbing his head with the hand not
holding the gun.  “Or I swear to God, I’ll shut you up, lady.  Permanently.”

“Please, don’t,”
Honor whispered.  Touching Zeke’s cheek lightly, she leaned forward to press a
gentle kiss to his lips.  “I love you.  I’ll always love you,” she breathed. 
“Ever and always,” she whispered, her breath hitching as she slowly got to her
feet.  Meeting Bree’s eyes, she swallowed painfully.  “When he wakes up, you
tell him that I love him and I’ll be waiting.”

“Honor,” Bree
replied, her usually implacable voice shaking slightly.  “There’s got to be
another way.”

“You heard him,”
Honor whispered.  “He’s getting desperate.  When he feels cornered, he does
things like this,” she said, nodded down to Zeke’s prone body.  “I can’t let
another person get hurt because of me.  Tell Zeke and my family I love them,”
she requested as she slowly got to her feet. 

“I knew you were
reasonable,” David said with a relieved smile.  “It’s for the best, Honor.  I
won’t let my brother hurt you.  He thinks because he’s so rich and well known
that he’s so smart, but I can be smart, too.  He’ll be sorry he didn’t pay more
attention to me.”

“Your brother?” Honor
echoed, staring at the young, obviously deranged man in horror.  “Who is your
brother?” Honor asked with a sinking stomach.

“Henry. Henry
Watson.”

All three women
stared at the man in shock.  “Henry Watson, the man that’s been eating lunch in
my café every day for the last several years?  The one that wheels and deals in
real estate?  The one that’s pestered me to go on a date with him since I
turned eighteen,” Honor questioned, her voice rising with every question as she
stared with horrified bewilderment at the man in front of her.  “You’re his
brother
? 
He
’s the other man who raped me?” she screamed.

David nodded. 

“I didn’t even know
Henry Watson
had
a brother, and we’ve travelled in the same circles for
years
,”
Maggie breathed.

“Henry doesn’t talk
about me much because he thinks I’m a retard,” David explained, tapping his
head.  “Says he can’t afford for people to know he’s got a brother who’s fucked
up in the head, but I’m not.  Or, I wasn’t before he made me do that stuff to
her,” he said, gesturing at Honor.  “Believe me, he’s the one that has the
truly twisted mind.   And he wants you, Honor.  And he’s willing to kill
whoever he needs to kill in order to have you.  So, we need to go.  NOW!”

Friday, September
5, 2016 – 1:15 pm

Paradise County
Hospital

Zeke

“Get the fuck off me,
Cain,” Zeke growled as he struggled to sit up on the examination table in the
Emergency Room of the local hospital.  Shoving the physician away from him, he
groaned.  “I need to go.”  Minutes were quickly ticking by and they were
minutes that he couldn’t afford to lose.  God, how long had he been here already,
he asked himself as he looked around frantically, trying to find a clock.  How
much time had he wasted already by letting these fools poke on him?  “How long
have I been here?  How long has that bastard had my woman?  For God’s sake,
just slap a bandage on me and let me go.”

Restraining the
determined man with a hand on his chest, Cain shook his head.  “Lock your shit
down, Sheriff.  We need to patch up that gunshot wound in your arm and put a
few stitches in your head where you nailed it on the fall down, Zeke.  You
won’t do Honor any good if you pass out from blood loss.  You’ve only been here
about twenty minutes, and we’re moving as fast as two doctors humanly can,
brother.  C’mon, be reasonable.”

“Would you feel real
fuckin’ reasonable if it was Faith that had been taken from you, Cain,” Zeke
growled, wincing as a needle pierced his skin as Mack began sewing the jagged
flesh together.  “What about you, Mack?  You think you’d be calm if it was
Millie some psycho had taken?”

Pressing his lips
together, Mack shook his head.  “Can’t say I would be feeling too sane,
Sheriff, but I also know there’s a whole town full of folks that are on the
case right now.  As soon as Cain and I get you fixed up, you can join them. 
Until then, try to bear with us.”

Tilting his head to
stare at the ceiling, Zeke fought a howl of rage.  Why couldn’t they see that
there wasn’t any time to lose?  Honor was out there, somewhere, with one of the
men that had viciously raped her.  Not only that, but Maggie was, too, because in
that woman’s infinite stubbornness (or stupidity – Zeke wasn’t sure which),
she’d demanded he take her, too.  Could these men see that they only had a
limited amount of time to get the girls back before this David character
thought they were more trouble than they were worth?  Closing his eyes for a
second, he struggled for patience.  “Can you at least get your sister in here,
Mack?  I can at least get some details from her about this dickhead that took
my woman while I wait for you two to finish using me as a pin cushion.” He
ground out.

“She’ll be in here in
a second, Zeke.  She needed to wash up and change her clothes” Cain informed
his patient as he irrigated the wound on Zeke’s head.

“Why?” Zeke growled.

“She had your blood
all over her,” Mack returned, his own voice clipped and curt.  “Since my sister
isn’t real good with the bloodier side of medicine, it’s taking her a hot
minute to get her composure back.  There’s a good reason why she went into
psychiatry instead of surgery.  Plus, she feels guilty that she couldn’t talk
this guy out of taking Honor and Maggie.  I’d appreciate if you didn’t add on
to my baby sister’s guilt, man.”

Just as Zeke opened
his mouth to assure Mack that he didn’t blame Bree for anything regarding this
clusterfuck of a morning, the door opened behind them.  Craning his neck to
look over his shoulder, he saw the red-haired doctor slide into the room. 
Dressed in scrubs two sizes too big for her, the blue material swamped her tiny
frame.  “Good!  You’re awake!” he heard her say as she moved quickly to stand
beside him.  “Zeke, I am so sorry,” she apologized as she grabbed his hand and
squeezed.  “If I’d known that David Watson was one of the men that hurt, Honor…
if I’d even suspected, I would have contacted you.  I’d have been bound by not
only my conscience but by law to do so since it was a crime committed against a
child, but he never said anything”

Zeke nodded,
grimacing as the movement caused his skin on his temple to pull where Cain was
suturing it back together.  “I know you wouldn’t have withheld information,
Bree.  I don’t blame you for any of this, but I do need your help.”

“Anything,” she
offered immediately.  “Whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it.”

“Tell me about this
guy, David Watson.  What’s his story?” he asked bluntly, shifting as Mack
prodded the wound on his arm.  The fuckin’ injury stung like a nest of hornets
had attacked his arm, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that pain.  He needed
to find this David guy because where he was, Honor and Maggie would be, too.

“I’ve got it all
right here,” Bree said, holding up the file in her hand.  “Cheyenne followed us
to the hospital with his records.”  Peering down into the folder to refresh her
memory, she scanned the pages.  “It looks like David Watson contacted my office
approximately eight months ago for what appeared at the time to be classic
anger management issues.  He said he was having uncontrollable bouts of rage
that would be followed by severe depression that sometimes lasted for days. 
After a few sessions, it was clear that David had trouble connecting with
people.  He’s learning disabled and emotionally delayed.  Honestly, he’s thirty
years old, but I estimate his mental capacity is probably that of about a
twelve year old.  His mother and father both passed when he was young.  They
died in a car accident when he was eleven, and at that point his older brother,
Henry, finished raising him, choosing to hire a tutor and pull David from the
public school system.  He never mentioned the brother in any session by name. 
In fact, any time I attempted to discuss his brother, David would become
belligerent and severely agitated.  I suspected…and truthfully
still
suspect
that my patient suffered abuse under his brother’s care.  At least verbal
abuse… and sexual, too, if David was coerced into raping Honor.”

“Nobody made that man
force himself on my woman, Bree.  That little prick did that all on his own,”
Zeke growled.

“Zeke, I’m sorry,
but, respectfully, you’re wrong.  As I said earlier, no matter how old he
actually
was at the time, David has the mentality of a pre-pubescent child.  He
could very well have been intimidated into performing these acts by his
brother.  Fear of consequences is a powerful motivator, and if he’d experienced
his brother’s wrath in the past, he’d be terrified to disobey a direct command.
And honestly, from what Honor described to me during her sessions with me, that
sounds like exactly what happened.  You heard that man in my office.  He was
expressing remorse for his actions.  I honestly don’t think he’ll hurt Honor,
Maggie, or anyone else if he can avoid it.  He only wants to protect Honor from
the threat of his brother.”

“Sis, I don’t wanna
sound like an asshole here, but your patient
shot
the fucking Sheriff. 
Literally.  I’m thinkin’ that he might not care too much who he hurts as long
as he gets Honor to himself.”

“He was sorry for
that, Mack.  You weren’t there, and Zeke, you were unconscious, but David
panicked the moment he realized that he’d shot you.  He clearly didn’t mean to
do it.  This man/child believes that he’s saving Honor from his brother.  And I
believe him.  The things that Honor’s been experiencing these past few months…
the cryptic notes… the menacing phone calls…the video… … my patient isn’t
sophisticated enough to pull those things off.  The brother, Henry, had to have
been responsible for it.  David was watching his brother escalate and felt he
had to act.  In my professional opinion, that’s what happened this morning.”

“Where do we find
this David Watson?  Where does he live?”

“His address is
listed as 320 Sugar Hill Road,” Bree said, reading from her file. 

Recognizing the
address, Zeke’s shoulders tightened.  “That’s his brother’s place.  Look, you
guys need to hurry the fuck up.  I need to get units to Henry Watson’s estate
and get my deputies swarming over it with a fine-toothed comb.”

“David won’t be
there,” Bree denied.  “He wants to keep Honor safe.  He’s not going to take her
into the lion’s den where his brother is.  He’s going to try and hide her.”

“I got fifty bucks
that says we find he’s taken her somewhere up in the mountains,” a deep voice
offered from the doorway of the treatment room Zeke was in.

Turning to stare at
his older brother’s solemn face, Zeke grunted, “How’d you know I was here?”

“Man, half the town
knows what went down. You know better than anybody that word travels fast in a
small town.  Especially when the sheriff gets shot.  When I heard this fucker
had Honor and Maggie, I hightailed it over here.”  Jerking his chin toward
Cain, he asked, “How is he?”

“I’m fine,” Zeke
snapped before Cain could open his mouth.  “My woman and Mags, though, are
probably scared out of their fuckin’ minds right now, and that is a far cry
from okay with me.”

“Honor might be
scared, but I can guarantee you that the red-haired ball of fury is in all
likelihood pissed as hell and plotting the Watson boys’ demise,” Ice replied
with a cold, bloodthirsty smile.  “Hopefully, she’ll let me help her with
that.”   

Zeke could tell that
the fact that Maggie was being held by this whack job, too, was fucking with
his older brother.  “Zach, you solid, man?” he asked his sibling, using his
Christian name. 

“Ice fuckin’ cold,
brother.  I just want some vengeance for all this fucker’s done,” Ice returned,
his voice frigid and hard.

Zeke nodded.  If his
brother said he was fine, he had to believe him.  Right now, Zeke needed every
single man he could trust to join the hunt for the women.  “Tell me what’s
happening out there,” he demanded, nodding his head toward the front of the hospital.

“Faith is in the
waiting room with Mr. Seth, Mr. Jethro and Ms. Orla.  They’re waiting to hear
how you’re doing.  I’ve called in reinforcements and that Deputy Hightower that
you like so much is getting everybody organized.  The Sheriff’s station is
command central.  I’ll drive you over there, but before you go barreling out of
here, though, you need to have a word with Miss Orla.  Zeke, she ain’t holdin’
up too well.  Neither is Mr. Seth.”

“Daddy loves Maggie
like the daughter he and my momma never had,” Cain said softly, speaking of his
father, Seth.  “She and Honor might not be my blood, but they’re my sisters. 
Abel’s, too.  We need y’all to find ‘em, Zeke,” he urged, tying off the string
and dropping his tools back to the instrument tray.  “You’re done on my side.”

“Mine, too,” Mack
remarked as he placed the last piece of medical tape on the bandage on Zeke’s
arm.  “You know the drill.  Keep it clean and dry and watch for signs of
infection. And you best talk to Orla for a moment before she follows through on
her threat to castrate the entire lot of us if we keep her from “that lawman”
for one second longer than necessary.”

Hopping off the
table, Zeke reached for the spare shirt Ice held out to him.  “I’ll have a
quick word with Miss Orla and the family, then I’m out of here to find a way to
get my woman back,” he said as he shrugged the shirt on over his shoulders and
buttoned it quickly before striding out the door and down the hallway to the
waiting room.

He found the elderly
trio sitting with Faith, each one looking as though the end of the world was
nigh.  “Miss Orla,” he said as he headed toward her chair.

“Ezekiel, they said
you were shot,” Orla sniffled, wiping her cheeks as she stood from her chair to
embrace him. 

Hugging her
one-armed, Zeke pressed his lips to her temple.  “Just a flesh wound, Miss
Orla.”

“That man has our
girls,” Orla whispered into his chest. 

“I know,” he replied
heavily.  “But believe me, I’m gonna get our girl and bring her back where she
belongs.  Here.  With us.  Swear to God, I won’t rest until I’ve got her back
in my arms.  I waited my whole life to have a special woman like your niece.  I
won’t turn loose of what I’ve found.  And I’ll find Maggie, too, Mr. Seth.   
I’ll tear this county apart until I locate both of them,” Zeke promised,
squeezing the elderly woman gently as he exchanged looks with Jethro and Seth
over her head.

Orla lifted her head
and firmed her jaw, taking a step back into her husband’s waiting arms.  “Is it
true that this was the Watson boys’ doing?  That they were the ones… the ones
that…”

“It looks like it,”
Zeke informed them all quietly.  “Bree seems to think the younger boy was
coerced into his part in it, but yes, they were both involved.”

“Always knew the
eldest Watson boy was trouble,” Jethro snarled.  “Boy had dead eyes… no soul
shining in them.”

“So, what’s happening
right now?” Faith asked worriedly, wringing her hands as Cain joined their
group in the waiting room and wrapped his arms around her.

“Right now,
roadblocks are going up all over town and we’re getting our resources
mobilized.  I’m going back to the station now and I’ll be able to tell you more
in an hour.  But, you’ve all got my word, I’ll find them.”

“We know you will,
son,” Jethro acknowledged as Seth nodded beside him. 

“Just find her quick,
Lawman.  Find my baby girl and Maggie and end this nightmare once and for all,”
Aunt Orla begged him shakily before she broke into tears again.