Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) (32 page)

“Wait!” I yell after him. I peer into the hole and see him on a small ladder built into the earth around him. “You said it was hard to find even with the map. What do I look for?”

He thinks for a few minutes then smiles. “Nope, not gonna give you that one. The house is that way.” He points straight ahead and closes the door.

“Jason!” I try to open the hatch, but it won’t budge.

I don’t want to waste any more time so I take off running as fast as I can in the direction he pointed. It’s getting brighter as the sun rises and I can almost see clearly. The field is flooded with light when I break through the trees. I’m at least seven or eight hundred feet away from the house. I can see people walking around, and as I get closer, I can hear Ryan screaming at someone. I run as fast as I can.

“Ryan!” I scream over and over until finally he hears me and takes off running to me. He gets to me quickly, scooping me up in his arms almost at the exact time that I begin to collapse from exhaustion.

“Shayla,” he murmurs, burying his face in my neck.

I hug him as tightly as I can. He pulls back and looks down at me with such relief that it brings tears to my eyes.

“I’ve missed you.”

He chuckles. “Oh, baby. You have no idea. The past hour has been worse than the two weeks you’ve been missing.”

“Two weeks?” He nods. “Wow, I had no idea I was gone that long. Have you found Dylan?”

His eyes immediately fill with tears, and I shove away from him. “Don’t you dare tell me that after all this he’s dead?” I can’t breathe.

He shakes his head and swallows. “I don’t know. We can’t find him anywhere. The men who took off with him won’t talk. I’ve beat the crap out of them and they still won’t mutter a word.”

“I know where he is.” I take off running, a renewed energy flowing through me.

“Shayla! Wait!” I don’t stop. I can’t. I have to find my son. Others join us, but I pay them no attention.

He catches up to me quickly. “Where are you going?”

“He told me where Dylan is.”

We make it to the tree line behind the outbuilding. “Mathis told you where to find Dylan? Why would he do that?”

“Because his plan was messed up, but he’ll be back when we least expect it.”

“You say that like it’s no big deal.”

I stop and look around. “It is a big deal, but I can’t think about that right now. We have to find our son.”

“Right. Dylan!” We both yell repeatedly. I hear a faint muffled sound to my left and head there. There’s nothing but dead leaves and twigs.

“The hideouts are covered in leaves and stuff. The one he escaped through used a stump to open it.”

I start pulling on every small stump I can find, as I continue to call for Dylan. Ryan, who is doing the same and also scanning each tree for a possible lever, hasn’t let me get very far from him, for which I’m actually grateful. We search everywhere and come up empty handed. Finally, after what seems like hours, I hear my dad call out for us.

“Here!”

I run towards the sound of my father’s voice. It takes him and two others to pry the door open, but they finally break it open and pull a tied and gagged Dylan out of the ground. I wrap my arms around him tightly, not caring that he can’t do the same. I cup his beaten face in my hands.

“I’m so happy to see you.” I say as I pull the gag from his mouth as Ryan and my father untie him.

“Me too. Are you okay?” Dylan asks me as Ryan takes his turn hugging our son. He doesn’t say much, but I can see the relief in his face at seeing Dylan alive.

“I’ll be fine, baby. We need to get you checked out. Do you think you can walk?” I ask him.

He limps a little. “Yeah, I don’t think anything is broken, but I twisted my ankle.

“Here.” Ryan wraps one of Dylan’s arms around his shoulders and his arm around Dylan’s waist to help him walk. “Let’s get you to the medic.”

“Can we slow down?” Dylan asks.

Ryan comes to a stop. “What’s wrong?”

Dylan shakes his head. “I’m just really tired.”

Smith, one of Linc’s men, comes up to us. “I can carry him.”

Dylan shakes his head. “I just need to rest for a minute.”

“Sweetie, I think you should let him help you.”

I rub his back tenderly. He finally nods. Carefully, Smith lifts him up bridal style and carries him the rest of the way without seeming to have any trouble. Once the medic has checked both Dylan and I out, they load us both into the same ambulance. Ryan climbs in behind me, taking my hand and kissing the back of it. I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh in relief.

“Ryan?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Is Trevor dead?”

“Yeah, he bled out.”

“Good.”

I can’t believe we are finally going home. I didn’t think it would really be happening. I didn’t want to accept my fate with Trevor, but I would have if Ryan wouldn’t have shown up. I would have done anything to keep Dylan safe. 

The steady hum of the ambulance traveling down the road lulls me into a sleep like state. I can hear the soft chatter of the EMT’s and Dylan’s answers to their questions. I can hear Ryan’s soothing words in my ear, but none of it completely registers to me as I fall deeper into sleep. 

Ryan

Shayla doesn’t stir as we arrive at the hospital, so I carry her inside. She had insisted that Dylan have the stretcher in the ambulance, which was a good call. He seemed to be in worse shape physically than she was, at least in appearance. I think she probably has had far more damage inflicted mentally.

The doctors at the hospital insist on separate rooms for Shayla and Dylan for the examinations. Of course, I understand the reasoning, but it’s still hard to choose between them, but Gail and Tom offer to stay with Dylan; so I readily agree. I’m sitting beside the bed, holding Shayla’s hand, when Julie, the nurse who helped Shayla and I when we first started investigating, comes into the room.

“Hi, Detective.”

“Nurse Julie.”

She gives me a warm but sad smile as she picks up her chart. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s okay, I guess. The doctor seems to think this is normal.”

She nods as she reads a bit more. “Yeah, she’s suffered a lot of trauma. Her body is healing. Sometimes that means shutting down and resting.”

“That’s what they tell me. Have you seen Dylan?”

“I’m actually his nurse today. He’s doing well.”

“I went to see him for a few minutes earlier. Is he awake?”

“I believe he’s still sleeping.”

Julie checks over Shayla’s vitals and then leaves us. I rest my head on the bed, still clutching Shayla's hand. The past two weeks have been miserable, but the past twenty-four hours have been almost unbearable. After Shayla disappeared with Mathis, I went berserk. I beat Trevor to death, literally, trying to get answers on Shayla or Dylan’s whereabouts. He didn’t know anything. He was only a pawn to Mathis’ masterplan, he just didn’t know it. I close my eyes as I think back to what happened with Trevor.

“What now, Ryan?”

Marsh stands with his hands on his hips, glaring at me as I stand over Trevor’s lifeless body. I know I should feel guilty about this but I don’t. The man was crazy.

“I’ll beat every one of them to death if it will help me find my family. I’m done playing games, Marsh. I won’t lose them after getting this close.”

“I understand.”

I know he’s trying to defuse my anger, but I can’t calm down. I’m past that point.

“No, you don’t! You’ve never had your family taken from you. You’ve never had to wonder if they were being hurt or abused, or if they were suffering, or dead. I’m done wasting time.”

I move passed Marsh and over to two of the men who had taken off with Dylan earlier. I’m getting answers, one way or another.

“Tell me where you took my son!” I scream as I get in their faces.

The man who seems to be the leader, smirks at me. “There’s nothing in it for us to tell you anything.”

“What’s in it for you if you don’t? You’re going to jail.” They all laugh. I kick the guy in the face, knocking him unconscious.

“Ryan, let us handle this for a little while. Why don’t you take a break?”

Tom takes my arm and leads me away from the group of men we’ve caught and tied up.

“Ryan.”

The sweet sound of Shayla’s voice floats in the air to me, and I look around confused. I can’t find her anywhere but I swear that was her voice. That’s when I see her.

“Shayla?”

I start to run, but no matter how fast I go, I seem to be staying in the same place. I see her in the distance and run faster, but I can’t reach her.

“Shayla!”

“Ryan?” I jerk awake, sitting up with a start. I rub a hand over my face and look up to see Shayla watching me.  “Baby! You’re awake.”

She reaches out her hand to me. “Yeah, I’m awake. I didn’t mean to wake you, but my hand was numb. You had a death grip on it.”

I blush. “Sorry. I didn’t want to let go. I guess I fell asleep.”

“It’s okay. I’d like to get up though. I need the bathroom.”

I nod, helping her stand and get the IV situated in the bathroom before leaving to give her some privacy.

“Do you know where my clothes are?” She looks around as she exits the bathroom. “Are we at my hospital?”

“Uh, I’m not sure you have any clean clothes, but yeah, we’re at your hospital. Neither of you were in critical shape, so we came back here. I thought you’d want to be closer to home.”

“That was nice of you. Would you care to get me some clothes from my locker then? I’ll write the combo down for you. There should be some gym clothes and underwear on the top shelf.”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks. I just want a shower and to see Dylan. Is he doing okay?”

I help her sit back in the bed. “He’s okay. He’s pretty banged up; has a couple of fractured ribs and a sprained ankle, but the doctor said he’ll be fine.”

“That’s a relief. I’d like to see him.”

“We will, but let me get your doctor first. I think they had some questions for you. They asked me about a rape kit, but I told them it wasn’t necessary. They are pretty insistent on doing it though.”

She pales. “Did they examine me?”

“Not like that. I stayed with you the whole time. They just checked your vitals, took some x-rays, and a CT.”

She stretches. “Okay. I’m still so tired. I haven’t slept well in so long.”

“You’re safe, Shay. You can sleep.” I kiss her hand.

She shakes her head. “No, I can’t sleep until we’re all home. I need my own bed.”

“I’ll get your doctor; maybe she can discharge you soon.” I kiss her forehead and make my leave.

“Dr. Thorn is awake.”

“Thanks. I’ll let Doctor Gwinn know.” The nurse walks away.

I check on Dylan and find him still asleep. Gail and Tom are still in the room with him, she is knitting and he’s reading a hunting magazine. They look as if it’s any other day, but I know they’re just as worried as I am.

“I’m going to get a few things for Shayla. She’s awake,” I tell them. “The doctor will be in there soon.”

“I’ll go over with her. Thank you for watching out for her.” Gale puts away her knitting and kisses my cheek before heading to Shayla’s room.

I leave Tom in the room with my son and head to Shayla’s locker. I find everything just where she said it would be, but what catches my eye is a piece of paper lying in the bottom. I pick it up to see what it is and if it’s something important.

“Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to see you again.”

There’s no signature on the note, but there’s a little doodle of a fox in the corner. I crumple the note in my hand and angrily punch the locker closest to me.

“You will die, Mathis. Even if it’s the last thing I do in this life, you will die.” I shove the note in my pocket and head back to Shayla.

The doctor is still there when I arrive. I let all the anger I'm harboring drain away so I can focus on Shay. “Do you need me to wait outside?”

“No.” Shayla holds her hand out to me. “I missed you.”

I smile. I missed her too. “How’s she doing, doc?”

“Oh, she’s fine. I was just telling her that I’ll discharge her after she finishes this last bag of fluids. I’d like Dylan to stay another night though.”

“I don’t want to leave him here.” Shayla looks up at me.

“I’m sure your parents will stay, baby. But you need to go home and rest.”

“I need to stay with him.”

“Why don’t we see how he’s doing the next few hours and then decide. It’ll take you a little while to finish this up anyway.” The doctor compromises.

“We can take stuff home and I can look after him. I can bring whatever equipment we need back.”

Dr. Gwinn nods. “That might be doable. But, Shayla, you really need to rest. I also want you to follow up with Dr. Martinson. You really need to talk about what happened and deal with this trauma. I’m recommending that you don’t return to work until you’ve been cleared by her.” She hands Shayla a prescription. “I’ll check in later. Please rest.”

I squeeze her arm. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

“Eventually. I’m more worried about how Dylan will react than how I will. Trevor did awful things, but he wasn’t well. I don’t think he would have done any of the things he did if he was getting help. He was a sick man.”

I snort. “Why do you always see the best in people? The guy was a psycho. He stalked you for twelve years. He was sick, but there was no helping him.”

“I don’t want to talk about him. I just want to get back to my life. I don’t want two weeks to ruin everything. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You aren’t going to lose me, Shay. I’m in this for the long haul. I swear to you.” She smiles softly. “I mean it.”

“I know. I want that too. I just worry that I won’t be able to be what you need.”

I look at her confused. “What are you talking about? You’re exactly what I need. Shayla, I’m head over heels for you. I couldn’t imagine a better person for me than you. It’s always been you.”

“But what if I can’t be what you need physically? Not a lot happened with Trevor, but I still have … this fear. I can’t explain it.”

I move so that I’m sitting across from her. “Baby, look at me.” She does and I continue. “None of that matters. I just want you to be happy. I want you in my life no matter how it has to be. If you just want to be best friends who raise their son together, I’ll take it. If you want to be my neighbor, mother of my teenage son, I’ll take it. If you want to be my wife and have more babies, I’ll take it. I just want you.”

She starts to cry so I gently pull her to me and kiss her head. “I love you so much, Ryan.”

“I love you too, Shayla. We’ll work this out.” She nods into my chest.

After a few minutes, she pulls back. “I want to shower and change. Will you help me get my arm covered?”

“Of course.”

We wrap her arm in a plastic wrap that the nurse left us to keep her IV port from getting wet and then I help her into the shower, making sure she’s settled before I pull the curtain closed.

“You need anything else?”

“No, but can you stand there until I get this gown off? In case I get dizzy.”

“Sure. Is your head still hurting?”

“No, not really, I just feel woozy.” She hands me the gown. “After I’m done, I want to go see Dylan.”

“We can do that. Do you want me to sit in here with you?”

She sighs. “Is it silly that I do? I’m afraid to be alone.” 

I feel a deep-seated sadness for her. She should never have to feel that way, but I’d be lying if I said the thought of leaving her didn’t cause me pain as well.

“No, of course not. Honestly, I don’t want to leave you either. Going to your locker made me feel a little anxious.”

“We probably all need therapy.”

“Probably. I’ll go if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t want to, but I think it’s necessary. I’m sure there will be nightmares.”

“I worry about that too, but we’ll work through it.”

We talk the entire time she’s in the shower, then I hand her the towel and her clothes as she asks for them. She stays behind the curtain, but I don’t blame her. I want her as comfortable as she can possibly be. As soon as we are back in her room, she is ready to leave.

“Can we go see Dylan now?”

“How about I brush your hair for you, then we can go over there.”

She reaches up to her hair. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about my hair. You really want to brush it?”

“I’ve noticed you wince when you reach up. Let me help you.” She nods and hands me the brush.

“Do you remember when we were kids and you tried to put my hair in a ponytail for me?”

I chuckle. “Yeah. It was pretty awful, but I did it.”

“You used a regular rubber band and it got stuck in my hair. My mom had to cut it out, but she was laughing so hard she accidentally clipped some of my hair. I had to get layers to fix it. My dad was so sad that my long hair was gone.”

“That’s why you cut your hair? I don’t think I ever knew that. I can do a mean ponytail now, if you want one.”

“How about a messy bun?”

“My favorite.” She giggles. I absolutely love that sound. I’m so thankful to have her back with me so I can hear it often. “Done.”

She looks into the mirror and nods. “Not bad. Let’s go see our baby.”

“Last I heard he was still asleep.”

I help her get her IV situated and we head to Dylan’s room. He is still asleep, but she presses a kiss to his forehead and sits beside him.

“The doctor was just in,” Gale tells us. “She thinks he’ll be able to go home this evening as long as he’s awake and eats before then.”

Shay nods. “Yeah, they’ll want to be sure he’s alert and functioning properly. I think I’ll take a few bags of fluids and a pole home. Just to be sure. He wasn’t there long, but he’s pretty dehydrated and probably starving.” Shayla flips through his chart quickly.

“Are you hungry?” Tom asks her after she sits staring at Dylan for a long time.

She shakes her head as if to clear her thoughts. “Yeah, I could eat, but I don’t really want to eat here.”