Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) (18 page)

Paul looks back at me. “Mathis knew that. He counted on that. This isn't some fly by the seat of his pants plan. This is calculated. He’s going after you.”

“You don't know that,” I insist.

Ryan stands in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. “Baby, listen to me please. This guy isn't a joke. I've showed you his cases. You've seen what he does to women who look just like you. Please, listen to me.”

“I am listening, Ryan. But I can't just stop my life and hide. I have to work. If I lose my job, I have no way of taking care of my son.”

“I will take care of both of you and if they don't understand a family emergency, then you shouldn't be working there in the first place. You aren't going back until this is resolved and that's final.” His voice is loud, almost yelling, it makes me flinch, but it also makes me angry.

“You're not going to tell me what I can and can't do. This is my life too, I won't hide. I'm safe at work.”

Ryan scoffs. “Oh, yeah, you’re so safe there, aren’t you? How many notes have you gotten? It's only a matter of time before this guy comes for you. He'll come there. I know he will.”

I shake my head. “You don't know that. You don't even know if this guy is actually the same person. You have no proof that it's not someone who just has a crush.”

“They tried to get Dylan. Why are you being so stubborn? I'm only trying to protect you.” Ryan growls grabbing his hair. He looks like he's about to hit something.

“I'm not being stubborn. I can't lose my job.”

“But your life is okay?”

I roll my eyes. “I didn't say that.”

He grabs me by the shoulders again, giving me a little shake. Not to hurt me, but I assume to get me to pay attention. I am paying attention, but I won’t let him boss me around. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.

“I won't lose you. Do you understand that?” His face looks so panicked and defeated. I give in just a little.

“I'm not going anywhere. Send Jonathan with me. I'll let him drive me around, but I'm going to work.” I turn to leave.

“If you die, I'll never forgive you.”

I pause at Ryan's words, but I don't turn around and I don't stop. I throw the door open and run to my house, locking myself in my bathroom. I slide down the door into a heap and cry. I cannot believe he'd say something like that to me. I'm so angry with him. Why can't he understand? I can't lose my job. People count on me … our son counts on me. I can't hide in fear over something that may or may not happen. Eventually, after I’ve cried all that I can, I get up and shower. When I'm done, I dress in one of Ryan's t-shirts and climb into my bed.

~*~

I'm almost ready for my day when a soft knock sounds on my bedroom door. I open it to see a sullen looking Ryan standing with his hands in his pockets and head down. He looks up when I say nothing.

“Morning. So, you're going to work then?”

“Yes.”

He bobs his head then pulling his hands from his pockets he pushes my door open and steps forward forcing me to take a step back. He closes the door.

“I don't want you going to work. I know I can't stop you, but I'd really like it if you'd trust my judgement on this.”

“I'm going to work,” I say firmly.

He grunts and shakes his head. “I knew you'd say that. You're so stubborn.” He doesn't say anything for a long moment, then reaches up and cups my face. “I'm so angry with you. You're making my job fifty times harder than it needs to be.” He kisses me then. It's not like our other kisses. This kiss feels like goodbye. It reminds me of the time he kissed me before he left me. I hold back a sob. “Jonathan will take you to work. I'd like you to carry this.” He reaches into his pocket and hands me a can of mace.

I stare at it for a few seconds and then take it from him. “Thank you.”

“Watch your back. Try not to go places alone. I know you have to be in your office, but lock the door.” I nod. “Jon will wait for you at the door to the parking garage. He'll bring you to and from work. If you feel scared or off about anything, you call him.” He takes my phone from my nightstand and programs Jonathan's number. “Dylan isn't going to school. I talked to his teachers and the principal. They think it's part of his recovery. I don't want to cause unneeded gossip. Don't fight me on this. He's my son too.”

“I know. I'm not.” I mean that. I don't want Dylan anywhere but with Ryan or one of the guys.

“Thanks. I'll see you when you get home.”

He turns and leaves. I feel so many emotions right now, none are very good. I totally deserve his cold shoulder. He'll probably dump me and that'll be what I deserve too. Hopefully, after he catches this guy, he'll forgive me. The ride to work is a silent one. Jonathan says nothing the whole way and neither do I. He pulls up outside of the main entrance and stops the car. I open the door and climb out, as I turn to get my bag he speaks.

“Shayla, please call me if you even feel the slightest bit of uncomfortableness or if anything seems strange. I'll do a few drive arounds and come in for lunch. Text me if you want me to grab you something. Ryan said he might come up for lunch.”

“Okay. I don't always get a lunch, but I'll let you know.” He gives me a curt nod then pulls away as I enter the hospital. I head straight to my office.

“Hey,” Amelia says with a little too much pep for this early in the morning.

I smile despite my urge to turn and run back to the SUV. “Morning. Have you been waiting long?” I ask as she stands from sitting on the floor outside of my office.

“Nope. Just about five minutes. Dr. Kill Joy told me I had to wait by your office. You guys don't get many students, do you?”

“I don't think so. I haven't worked here long, but at my old hospital I worked with a lot of interns and students of all levels.”

“Oh, maybe that’s why he is so insistent on me following you.”

“Could be. Come on in. I need to get some files sorted. I start seeing patients at eight.”

I'm actually a little relieved that she's here. The guys have me really paranoid about being at work. Hopefully, having a tag-a-long will help me relax. I work on getting a few of my patient's files together, then we set off for my rounds. I only have two post-surgery patients to see and those go smoothly. Then, I head to the clinic to speak with about ten pre-surgery patients. As I told Jonathan, I work through lunch and by four o'clock, I'm ready to check on my one post op patient, who wasn't released yet.

“Mr. Carver, how are you feeling?”

“Ready to get out of here.” He sighs heavily. He should have been released two days ago, but he developed a fever and an infection.

“Well, let’s see what we can do.” I have Amelia take his vitals and give me her opinion on what his course of treatment should be.

“I think he should be able to go home after the intravenous medication is delivered. He hasn't had a fever in almost twenty-four hours and his incision looks well.”

“His counts?” I ask.

She checks the chart. “Everything looks good. Nothing is elevated.” I nod, checking with her.

“Mr. Carver, I think we can safely release you to go home in about five hours. I'll leave my instructions and you’ll need to see your primary care physician in two days.”

“Thanks, Doc.” I smile and squeeze his hand.

“Dr. Thorn.” I turn to see Trevor walking towards me. I wonder which Trevor I'll face today. I haven't seen him most of the day. He grabs my elbow and pulls me away from Amelia.

“Do you mind?” I ask, pulling my arm back.

He smiles at me. “I don't mind at all, but that's not what I came to talk to you about. I need you to stay for about an hour over tonight.”

I look at the clock seeing it's already after seven. “I've already stayed an hour over.”

“I know, but I'm covering for the E.R. until eight. I need you to see a few of my patients.” He hands me a stack of files.

I quirk my eyebrow at him. “A few?”

“There's only five. It won't take you long. You owe me, remember?” I roll my eyes. Of course he'd cash in on a favor.

“Fine, but I'm not staying a minute past eight. I don't care where you are. The on call doctor can handle anything else.”

“Thanks. I won't make you regret helping me.” He winks then he's gone. He's so mercurial.

I break the news to Amelia and we set to work. She does really well. I think she'll make a fine doctor. I've actually enjoyed my time with her today. By the time eight o' clock comes, we've covered all of Trevor's patients and are both completely exhausted.

I text Jonathan that I'm on my way out and he responds he'll be waiting. I do as Ryan asked and pay attention to my surroundings, but when I step out of the elevator on the bottom of the parking garage I don't see Jonathan. I grab my cell and call him. I hear ringing to my right, so I head in that direction. As I turn the corner, I see Jonathan lying on the ground with a pool of blood around him.

“Jonathan!” I shout, running to him.

I skid to a stop, dropping my purse and briefcase as I kneel at his head. I feel for a pulse, it's there and steady. I grab my phone and call Trevor, but he doesn't answer. I call the hospital, but my phone starts beeping that it's lost its signal. Quickly, I check Jonathan over. He's been shot in the shoulder. It could be potentially fatal, but I don’t believe it will be. It looks as though the bullet went straight through. I'm about to grab my bag when he wakes up with a start.

“Run,” he breathes.

“No, I need to stop the bleeding. Be still.” He grabs my hand.

“Shayla, run, please,” he begs.

His eyes are wide as he stares behind me. I start to stand to follow his orders and to at least get him help, when I'm grabbed from behind. I know immediately I won't get away. I recognize the smell of chloroform as the effects rush through me. The last thing I see is the frightened face of Jonathan.

Ryan

“Dude! You just killed my guy!” Dylan shouts at Tyler as they play video games on my system in the den.

“Hey! That was an accident. Why’d you do that?” I step around the corner as Dylan and Tyler start a shoving match. Normally I wouldn’t say anything, but Dylan still gets dizzy from his head bump.

“Easy, guys,” I warn.

“Oh, man. Sorry, Dyl. I forgot,” Tyler apologizes.

Dylan waves him off. “I’m fine.”

They continue to play and I go back to my work on the CCTV files. So far we’ve watched about a week’s worth of files. We haven’t found anyone coming or going from the doctors locker room. Shayla doesn’t remember the exact day she received the notes other than the one from yesterday, but aside from doctors and nurses, no one enters that room. This leads us to believe that it’s an employee of the hospital that’s leaving the notes. My first guess is Dr. Daniels, but without proof I can’t do much but keep an eye on him.

“I can’t look at this anymore,” I tell Marsh and Paul as I stand and head into my kitchen. My eyes are blurry from staring at the computer for so long. I grab a bottle of water from my fridge. I spy the bottle of oil Shay left me for tension and decide to give it a try.

“What’s the smile for?” Marsh asks as he leans against the counter across from me.

I hold up the bottle of oil. “Shay is into essential oils. She made this up for me. It’s been so long since anyone cared for my well-being and it just reminds me of how lucky I am. I was a complete jerk to her. I knew how she felt about having things decided for her. I should have talked to her and got her more involved.”

“Do you think she would have gone along with it?”

“No, but she would have compromised better. Now, she’s angry with me.” Frowning, I grab my phone and notice it’s about ten minutes past the time she should be home. I try her cell, but get no answer.

“Have you heard from Jon?” I ask.

Paul shakes his head as both he and Marsh pull out their cells. “Ry,” I turn to see an ashen looking Riley.

“What is it?”

“Jon just called. It was hard to hear him, but he said that someone took Shayla from the parking garage and shot him. We need to get down there.”

I stand there, shocked. Mathis moved quicker than I expected. I should have anticipated this. This can’t be happening. I can’t lose her. My mind starts to flash back to my childhood with her. Coming over to her house, kissing her skinned knee, her parents funeral, holding her tightly, the night she snuck into my room, missing her, leaving her, finding her again. I was always her protector. I’d been there through so much, but when she needed me the most, I wasn’t there. When she had Dylan, for the past sixteen years I haven’t been there. Now, she’s gone, and to top it all off, she thinks I’m angry with her.

“Ryan, snap out of it, man. We’ve got to get moving,” Marsh or Paul says, I can’t even tell. My mind is a frozen haze of Shayla.

A hand touches my arm, startling me. I look into the eyes of my son. Mine and Shayla’s son. “Dad, you have to help Mom.” His voice is soft and terrified. He should be scared. I am. 

I snap out of my daze and rub my hand over my face. “I’ll find her,” I tell him.

“I know. Hurry.” I hug my boy to me.

“Riley, stay here with Dylan. Don’t leave this house.”

“Sir,” Riley answers.

“Dad, I want to go.” Dylan looks at me pleadingly, but it's not happening.

I shake my head. “No, it's too dangerous. I can't concentrate on finding your mom if I have to worry about you too. Please, just stay here with Riley. Tyler can stay too. I just need to know you're safe.”

He sulks, but finally says, “Okay. Please find her.”

His eyes begin to tear up and I can't help but to pull him into my arms again. I kiss his head, tell him it'll be okay, that I'll find her, and that I love him. I just hope I'm telling the truth, and I do, in fact, find Shayla. Marsh and Paul are already gearing up. They have their weapons locked and loaded. Paul has gotten our communications together and is working with Riley to be sure everything is a go. I grab my bullet-proof vest and gun harness, putting them on as Dylan watches it all from the edge of the room. I look at him for a few seconds.

“I'll find her.”

“I know you will. Just watch your back. I don't want to lose you either.” I say nothing as I start to get choked up, but I nod to him so he knows I've heard.

“Let’s go,” I announce to the guys. It took us about ten minutes to gather what we need, but it's too much time as far as I’m concerned. She'll be long gone by now. Unfortunately, she was probably long gone by the time Jon called it in.

Marsh drives and I take shot-gun. Paul sets up in the back with his laptop. “I've got the tracker up and running. It looks like they were headed down South Street to the lake.”

I turn in my seat to see the screen of Paul's laptop. “It stops?” I ask.

“Yeah, it just ends. The signal was strong for a few minutes then it just goes out.”

“They threw it in the water,” I surmise.

“Most likely. I'm sure Mathis knows you'd put a tracker on her somewhere. They probably dumped all her stuff.”

“What about her cell phone?” Marsh asks. He continues to drive swiftly to the hospital. We need to make sure Jon is okay and scan the area for clues. I'm hoping the security cameras caught something.

Riley clicks away on his laptop then says, “Nope, looks like it was disconnected about a mile from the tracker. They either turned it off or smashed it, but that gets us a mile closer.” His tone is hopeful and I’m grateful for his optimism. God knows I need some. 

“Can you turn it on remotely?” I ask. He nods as his fingers fly over the keyboard. He curses under his breath.

“It’s either smashed or the battery is out,” Paul answers. I slump against my seat. I have to find her.

We pull into the hospital garage and find Jon sitting on a gurney getting stitched up. “You okay?” I ask.

“It went clean through. They want me to go inside, but I told them no way,” Jon tells us. I shake my head at him. Stubborn mule.

“Tell me what happened?” I demand.

Jon sighs and rubs his head. “I was waiting for Shayla in the car. I saw this guy lurking around, so I got out and followed him. He went to a van, about a block down. He talked to two men; they were all dressed in dark clothes, nothing identifying. The van was black with tinted windows. The license plate number is written down in my SUV. I doubt it’ll come up though.”

“What happened after you followed them?” Marsh asks.

Jon rubs his head again. I can tell he’s fatigued. He should get checked out, but I know he won’t. “They got in and left the guy. I waited for him to pass me and then I followed him back to the garage. They must’ve realized I’d followed, because the next thing I know I’m hit in the head and shot. When I came to, Shayla was running to me, but before she could get to me, the van I’d seen in the street pulls up and two of the guys grab her. I think they chloroformed her, she went limp fast, but I tried to fight them off. I’m so sorry, Ryan. I failed you.”

“No, you didn’t. We’ll find her. You did what you could. I shouldn’t have had you out here alone. We should’ve had a camera or something on you at the very least.” I was so stupid. I should have never listened to Shayla. Even if I had to go behind her back, it would have been better than what she’s facing right now.

Paul comes back over to us, looking grim. “I don’t see anything here we can use. The security system was down for a routine check. It’s possible that the persons involved have someone inside the hospital helping, it’ll be difficult to tell right now.”

“Let’s get down to the water, where the signal was lost. We might be able to find something there,” I tell them.

We help Jon into the back of the car and take off. There’s nothing at the marina that we can find at night and the signal from her phone died around the town border. It’s really impossible to know where they went from there. There isn’t anything else we can do right now so we head back. I want to check on Dylan and maybe regroup a bit. I groan as I flop down on my couch. I feel like a failure.

“Dad?” My eyes burn with tears at the sound of his voice. “Where is she?” he asks, voice wavering.

I sit up and look up at him. “Come here,” I say, gesturing for him to join me.

He sits beside me and I wrap my arms around him, letting him cry into my chest. I try to hold it together, but fail at that too. After a while, we eventually stop crying and just sit silently. My arm stays around his shoulders, but he’s not curled into me like he was.

“I’ll find her,” I say softly.

“Is she dead?” he asks, voice cracking with new tears.

I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees. “I hope not. God, I hope not.”

“Boss.” I look up to see Jessica from the station standing in front of me. I didn’t realize she was even here.

“Jess?”

She smiles softly. “I know this is probably going to get me fired, but I think what the chief is doing is wrong. We needed you there. Those guys don’t know what they’re doing. They let Harvey go.”

I shoot to my feet. “What?” I ask angrily.

She nods. “They let him out this morning. Said Harvey would lead them to the other guys and then they’d catch them both. But they lost Harvey about an hour later.”

Curses fly out of my mouth at lightning speed; I pick up the first thing I see and throw it as hard as I can into the wall. “I told him. I told him they didn’t know what they were doing. Now, Shayla has to suffer the consequences!”

Jessica pales. This isn’t her fault. I know that. She’s actually a better detective than the guy the chief asked me to train. She listens and takes instruction.

“I’m so sorry, Ryan.” Her voice is devastatingly sad.

“It’s not your fault. You did what you could. I just need to figure out what to do now.”

“Well, you can start by getting some rest. I took a nap this afternoon, so I’m good to go. Riley and I are going to start mapping out the surrounding areas and see what we can come up with. We’ll find her, Ryan. You don’t have to do this alone. There are several of us at the station who will help you no matter what. I’m on vacation for the next week. I can do whatever needs to be done.”

I squeeze her hand. “Thank you. That really means a lot.”

“No thanks needed. You’d do it for me.” I nod, because she’s right. I would.

“Dyl, let’s try to get a little rest. We need to be sharp to find her,” I tell my son. He stands and follows me up towards my room. I turn to him to ask what he’s doing, but he speaks before I can.

“Can I stay with you?”

He looks lost and scared, like a little boy and not a six-foot-tall teenager. I nod and he follows me into my room. We change for bed. I let him have the bathroom while I get ready. I don’t want to sleep long, but I really do need some rest. He comes back in lounge pants and a t-shirt.

“You can have the right,” I tell him as I climb into the left side of my king sized bed.

“I’m a wuss,” he says with a huff as he sits down on the opposite side of the bed.

I can't help but give him that crooked grin Shayla loves so much. I rub my chest as the thought of her shoots a pain through me. “You're not a wuss. It’s okay to need your dad every once in a while. I'm not going to tell anyone you slept in my bed. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things parents do. They let their kids’ crash in their beds when times are bad. Honestly, I think I'll sleep better knowing you're right here and you're safe.”

“Yeah, okay. But if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll never forgive you.” He gives me a tough glare, which makes me smile again.

I mime zipping my lips. He rolls his eyes as he pulls the covers back and lies down. “I won't tell.” I hold out my fist for him to bump and he does. “Night. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

We lie in the quiet for a long time. Long enough that I think he should be asleep. Suddenly he rolls over and says, “What will happen to me if she's not okay?”

I copy his position before answering. “I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll be there for you, but I don't think she's dead. I know this might sound horrible, no it is horrible, but the guy who we believe is behind this, isn't going to hurt her right now. He wants to toy with me. He loves the thrill of making people suffer.”

“Making her suffer?”

I grimace. “Possibly, but I don't want to think about that. We're working on this round the clock. Jess and Riley are out there right now putting maps together and getting stuff ready for daylight. We'll do everything we can. I promise.”

“I know you will. I'm just scared.”

“Me too,” I admit.

Eventually we both fall asleep and the next thing I know, Jessica is shaking me awake. “Ryan,” she whispers.

I bolt upright. “What?”

“We found something,” she says. I throw the covers back and dart out of the room after her, not bothering to change.

“What's going on?” I ask as I enter our make shift headquarters in my den. Riley clears his throat. Everyone is looking grim. I begin to freak out. “Tell me what's going on right now!” I demand.