Code of Valor

by Lynette Eason

Emily shook her head. “No, I don’t want to go. I . . . I need to stay here. I need to—”

  “You’re going, Emily,” Brady said. He wasn’t quite sure why she was resisting so much.

  Her eyes flashed. “I don’t have to go.”

  “You’re worried about the phone call.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll get your mother’s number from Linc and have it forwarded to my phone. If they call on that number, I’ll pass the phone to you.” He turned to Derek. “In the meantime, do you mind questioning Parker and see if he knows anything about the pictures?”

  Derek nodded. “Sure. After we finish up here, we can do that. But I don’t like you two going off on your own. You need someone watching your back.”

  “We’re going to the hospital. Have some uniforms meet us there.”

  “We may need to form a task force,” Linc said. “This just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” He turned to Emily. “Agents are already working on finding your mom and Sophia.”

  “Good,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

  “The Sicily police are also questioning your boss, Calvin Swift, about your kidnapping. They’re gathering all of the bank’s security footage as well as the footage on the street you were taken from.”

  “Okay.”

  “Also, when I spoke to Izzy, I asked her to find out the status of Jeremy Hightower. No one’s been able to track him down. There’s been no activity on any of his accounts in the last three days. He’s not at home and none of his neighbors even seem to know who he is.”

  Emily’s lips tightened, but her jaw lifted even while her eyes flashed. “He must not feel like they’re worth anything. Trust me, if he needed something from them, they’d know who he was.”

  “We’ll have some answers soon, I hope,” Linc said.

  “I hope so too. Thanks.”

  Linc nodded to Brady. “I’m going to join my partner and see if we can make some more progress on this. You take care of Emily.”

  “I will. Let me know what you find out.” Brady climbed into the back of the ambulance with Emily and turned to the driver. “Head to Providence in Columbia.”

  “But Kershaw Health is closer.”

  “My sister doesn’t work at Kershaw Health.”

  “Ah. Gotcha.” He shut the door and Brady turned to Emily, who was looking pale and washed out.

  “Close your eyes,” he told her.

  The fact that she didn’t hesitate worried him.

  The other paramedic continued to monitor her vitals while Brady texted his sister, Ruthie.

  Are you working tonight?

  Ruthie

  On call.

  Coming in with a patient for you. Probably not surgical, but can you check her out?

  Yes. Who is she? Do I know her?

  She’s a new friend. Her name is Emily.

  Want to hear more.

  Of course she did. And he’d fill her in later.

  I need a knee brace too.

  What’d you do?

  Jumped off the roof of a building.

  Pause. Then,

  I’m not even going to ask. I’ll have a knee brace waiting on you.

  Thanks.

  When the ambulance pulled to a stop at the emergency entrance, Brady stepped out of the back and waited for them to lower the gurney wheels to the ground.

  Cold fingers clutched his and he looked down to find Emily’s eyes on him. Trusting eyes. Wary eyes. Eyes he couldn’t look away from.

  Until someone made him.

  A nurse shoved past him. “Let’s go. Room 4,” she said.

  When they wheeled her into the room, the door hadn’t quite shut before it was pulled open by his sister. “Ruthie.”

  “What do we have?” She shoved the knee brace at him, and he stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans, although he’d like nothing more than to sit on the floor and pull it on.

  “GSW,” Brady said.

  Ruthie shot him a shut-up-right-now look and turned to the nursing staff surrounding Emily. “Vitals?”

  Brady stepped back while Ruthie evaluated. His heart thundered in his chest while Emily was hooked up to an IV. She looked pale, but alert. He stayed quiet and in the background so he wouldn’t get kicked out, but every so often her eyes would catch his and he got the feeling she was glad he was there.

  Ruthie removed the stethoscope from her ears and let it hang around her neck. She then discarded the gloves into the red bin behind her and patted Emily on the shoulder. “It’s just a nice groove in your bicep. Bleeding has slowed and almost stopped. Whoever kept pressure on it did a good job.”

  “That was Brady,” Emily said.

  She shot him a look of approval. “Nice job.”

  “What about her foot?”

  “It’s fine,” Emily said.

  Ruthie raised a brow. “I’ll take a look.”

  Emily sighed and raised her foot. It didn’t take Ruthie long to declare it healing well. “We’ll get this arm cleaned up and bandaged. I’ll put you on an antibiotic as a preventative, but while you’ll be sore for a while, it should heal up nicely.”

  “Thank you.”

  “It could have been a lot worse. You got lucky.”

  “I think I’ll chalk it up to God looking out for me,” Emily said softly. “I’ll take him over luck any day.”

  “Me too,” Ruthie said. “Me too.”

  Brady gave a light snort and Ruthie lasered him with another one of those “shut up” looks. He held up a hand and she turned back to Emily. “Just sit tight while we get your discharge papers ready. Are you allergic to anything?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  “Perfect. I’ll write you a prescription for a few pain pills just in case that wound makes sleeping difficult.”

  “No pain pills. I don’t do narcotics. I’ve beat an addiction and I’m not going back there.”

  Ruthie raised a brow, then gave a slow nod even as her gaze locked on Brady. He ignored the question in her eyes. “All right,” she said to Emily. “Will you at least take something that’s not addictive and won’t make you sleepy, but will cut the edge off the pain?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll write the script for those and the antibiotic and we’ll get it filled at the hospital pharmacy if you don’t mind waiting for it.”

  “I’ll wait, but while we’re here, you need to do one more thing, if you don’t mind.”

  Ruthie’s brow lifted. “What’s that?”

  “Make Brady get his knee checked.”

  Brady blinked. “My knee is fine.”

  Emily huffed. “It’s not fine. I’m no doctor, but even I can tell he probably needs an X-ray or an MRI or something.”

  Ruthie headed toward the door. “I’ll get that taken care of,” she said over her shoulder.

  “Good. Thank you.” That seemed to lift Emily’s worries about him, and she dropped her head to the pillow and closed her eyes.

  Ruthie eyed him. “Want to step outside for a minute?”

  “Why?”

  “Brady . . .”

  He gave a short nod. “I’ll be right outside the door,” he told Emily.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said without opening her eyes. “As long as you get your knee looked at.”

  Brady followed Ruthie into the hallway. “What is it?”

  “Who is she?”

  “A woman in trouble.”

  “I can see that. Who shot her?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’m working on finding out. Derek and Linc are aware of the situation as well.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry, this isn’t like Krystal.”

  Her stance softened. “Are you sure? She just said she was addicted to narcotics.”

  “Used to be. You just saw her refuse them—and admit she had a problem. Do you think Krystal would have done that?”

  “No.”

  “So, yeah. I think I’ve learned that lesson.” His jaw tensed in spite of his efforts not to let it. “And I refuse t
o not help people because of Krystal’s choices. I’m trying to move on, put her in the past, but it’s hard to do that when other people won’t let me.” She flinched and he sighed. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I know you’ve got good intentions.” He gripped her fingers. “I’m healing, Ruthie. The bitterness and guilt are fading, the hurt isn’t quite so sharp. But it was a lesson I won’t soon forget. Or be able to let go of.” His eyes landed on the door that led to Emily’s room. “And I’m not about to be a repeat offender.”

  “It’s been eight months.”

  “I’m aware.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “I’m just not sure you can be objective.” She sighed. “Seeing you hurt makes me hurt too.”

  He hugged her. “I love you, sis, but you’ve got your own life to worry about right now.” He stepped back.

  “Doesn’t keep me from praying for you, though.”

  “Well, that’s fine, but God doesn’t always answer prayers like we want him to.”

  “I know, but sometimes he does.” She crooked her finger at him. “Follow me.”

  “Where?”

  “To that room right there.” She pointed to the one opposite Emily’s. “It’s empty and I want to take a look at that knee.”

  “Honest, it’s—”

  “I can see you’re in pain. You’re limping, too, even though you’re trying not to. And you asked for a knee brace. That raises all kinds of red flags for me. Now, in the room or I’m calling for backup.”

  “Backup?”

  “Mom.”

  “What? No!” Brady groaned. “Fine, but leave the door open so I can see Emily’s room.”

  Within seconds, she was palpating and pressing his swollen knee and it was all Brady could do not to come off the table. “Okay, I’m no ortho doc,” Ruthie said, “but I think your friend is right. Let’s get an MRI done and see what you’ve done this time.”

  “I don’t have time for an MRI.”

  Ruthie pulled her phone from her scrubs pocket.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Calling Mom.”

  “Ruthie . . .”

  His low growl stopped her and she raised a brow, then sighed and tucked the phone away. “I can’t force you to do it, but I think you should.”

  Brady raked a hand through his hair. “Fine, fine. You can order it, but let me check on Emily. You can find me in her room.”

  “Great.” She spun on her heel and was out the door before he could blink. Probably worried he’d change his mind. He remembered Paul Bailey and shot a text to David Unger.

  Can you do a background on Paul Bailey? See if he has any previous issues of stalking or harassment?

  He waited for an answer, but when David didn’t text him back right away, he decided to check on Emily. He stood and crumpled back onto the examination table with a pained grunt. Letting out a growl, he pulled on the brace and tried standing again. Still not comfortable, but definitely better.

  He stepped across the hall and raised a hand to knock on the slightly open door when her words reached him. “Well, if you want me to meet you, don’t shoot at me!”

  Emily’s entire body quivered. Rage and fear battled it out inside her and she bit her lip to keep from demanding things she knew they wouldn’t give her.

  “Shoot at you?” The voice on the other end of the line laughed. “No one shot at—”

  “She’s in the hospital.” Emily had to strain to hear the second voice.

  Someone cursed, then a crash sounded. She flinched. “I want to speak to my mother,” she said. “I need to do that. I need proof that she and Sophia are really alive. You have to understand that, right?”

  “Hold on.”

  A rustling in the background gave her hope that she would actually hear her mother’s voice. “Emily?”

  The absolute terror in the woman’s voice drove the spear of pain and fear deep into her heart. “Yes, Mom.”

  “What’s going on? What have you gotten yourself into?”

  “Is Sophia okay?”

  “For now.”

  “Okay, I’ll do whatever they want, Mom, I prom—”

  “Good choice,” the hard voice said. “Get rid of the cop. I’ll text you the instructions.” Click.

  Emily opened her eyes and found Brady standing in the doorway, watching her. “Guess you heard that?”

  “Where’d you get the phone? It’s not the one I bought.”

  “It was on the counter at my mother’s house.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She sighed and rubbed her face with her good hand. “You read the note. They said not to.”

  He frowned. “But you told me about the note.”

  “I was scared. Terrified. I didn’t know what to do. So, I showed you the note. And by the time I got my thoughts together, I was afraid I’d done too much by showing you what I did and . . .” She shrugged.

  “If I had known they were going to call that phone, I could have set up a way to trace the call.”

  She shot him a sad smile. “It’s a burner phone.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt to try.”

  “Okay, they’re going to text me what I need to do.” She gave him the number. “Can you figure out where the text comes from?”

  “Possibly.” He paused. “You’ve mentioned your mother and a sister. Where’s your dad? Is he in danger as well?”

  “No. He’s dead.” The phone pinged and she glanced at the screen, then met his gaze. “That’s them. Is it too late to trace it?”

  “Maybe. What does it say?”

  She ran a shaky hand over her eyes. “That I need to meet them.”

  “They say where?”

  “Not specifically. Just to start walking at the corner of Rabon and Two Notch Road in three hours.”

  “Not exactly the best area.”

  “I don’t care what area it is, I’ll be there.” She paused. “The guy on the phone said he wasn’t the one shooting at me outside my mom’s house.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “I don’t know. He actually sounded confused. And a guy in the background told him I was in the hospital. Part of me thinks they just got tired of me not dying and decided this was the easiest way to get to me.”

  He nodded. “Could be.”

  “Then again, it doesn’t really make sense that they’d leave the note with instructions to follow and then shoot at me with the intent to kill me as I come out of my mother’s house.”

  “I agree.” He frowned.

  “So, if you think about it,” she said, “it sounds like there are two different people involved here. One who wants me dead and the other just wants me—for whatever he thinks I can do for him.”

  Brady stood and paced the length of the small room. He finally stopped. “No matter, I’m going to get this set up to intercept these people. We’ll get an officer to be your double and take it from there.”

  “What? No!”

  He frowned. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

  “What if they know you’re there? They’ll hurt my mom and Sophia. They may realize that the person isn’t me. No. Absolutely not. I can’t take that chance.”

  “Emily . . .” He sighed and stepped closer. “You can’t go meet this person by yourself. That’s not happening. This is an investigation that extends farther than just you. Right now, we’ve got your kidnapping, your family’s kidnapping, attempted murder, and the list goes on.”

  “And Heather,” she whispered. “Don’t forget about Heather.”

  “Yes, and your friend. The police are going all out trying to find her.”

  “But no word?”

  “No, I’m afraid not.”

  “And her parents haven’t called me back,” she said. “What’s up with that?”

  “I don’t know, I’m sorry. I’ve asked Derek to arrange for me to listen to the 911 call and talk to the officers who responded to the call. Hopefully, he’ll get back to us soon with a time to do that
.”

  “Okay. Thank you.” At least something was being done to find Heather.

  His phone pinged and he glanced at the screen. “I need to take this. I’ll be right back.”

  “Sure.”

  He left and Emily dropped her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes. For a moment, she let her mind spin, then focused on the fact that her life had fallen apart and she didn’t know how to put it back together again.

  The phone buzzed and she jumped. On the second ring she answered. “Hello?”

  “Now that your cop is gone, ignore the previous texts and get dressed. You have new instructions. Go out the back door near the cafeteria. An Uber will be waiting. Keep the phone, but if you pull it out of your pocket at any other time than to respond to my texts, they die. I’ll be in touch.”

  “What?”

  “If you want your mom and little sister to see dinnertime, leave the hospital now. And don’t let anyone see you do it.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “Figure it out.”

  Click.

  She stayed frozen to the bed for a split second before swinging her legs over the side and standing. Dizziness hit her and she grabbed the rail until the feeling subsided. Then shoved her feet into her shoes that someone had kicked under the chair. While she readied to leave the room, her mind raced. They knew when Brady had been in the room. They knew when he left. They’d deliberately sent her the first text message because they’d predicted that she’d pass the information on to Brady. Her gut clenched. Someone was on the floor watching and monitoring her actions. Would her family pay the price for that?

  Breaths coming in close-to-panic pants, she looked around. She couldn’t do this alone no matter what orders she had. Because she had no doubt if she went alone, she and her mother and sister would all three wind up dead.

  She needed to leave a message. And a trail. She had no idea where she was going or if they could track one of the phones she had on her. Emily grabbed a pen and paper from the nightstand and scribbled as fast as she could, then tossed the note into the middle of the bed. She snagged her jacket from the foot of the bed and headed for the door.

  10

  Brady shoved the phone into his pocket and pressed his fingers against his eyes for a moment. Linc had just called and said Annie was working on getting security footage of Emily’s kidnapping, but so far hadn’t been able to pull any. He’d also had Brady’s truck delivered to the hospital emergency parking area. Thank goodness for brothers who went above and beyond the call of duty.