I grabbed the only weapon I could find, the IV stand, having left my gun on the ground next to Mom’s van. It was heavier than I thought. The moment a man stepped around the curtain, a man I’d seen guarding the hall of doom at the party, I swung the stand, smashing it into the side of his head. “Run, Brian!”
He leaped from the bed and raced for the nurse’s station. I was close on his heels.
“Call the police!” I told the wide-eyed nurses as Brian and I ducked behind the counter.
A woman screamed.
“That’s my mom.” Brian started to stand.
I yanked him back down. “You aren’t going anywhere until the police arrive.”
“We have armed guards in the hospital,” a nurse whispered. “It will only be a few minutes before they arrive.”
It was less than two. I peered over the counter as the man I’d hit was dragged away in handcuffs. A cut above his left ear bled. Good. I wish I’d done more damage. I stood up and swayed until a nurse lowered me to a chair.
“You brave thing.” She shoved a Styrofoam cup of water into my hands. “Would you like a doctor to check you over?”
“No. My mother is down the hall. I need to go to her.”
“I’ll have someone escort you.” She waved over an orderly who didn’t look much older than my nephew.
Brian was having his face covered with kisses from his mother. His father glared protectively at anyone who passed by. I wished them luck.
“Miss?” Mr. Colville called. “Thank you.”
I gave a sad smile, so tired of the violence, and followed Doogie Howser number two to the elevator. He tried engaging me in general conversation, but I stared at the water in my cup and didn’t answer. I now knew the possible location of Cherokee and Matt. Did I share the information with Wayne or go alone? I couldn’t stand to have anyone else harmed.
Wayne and Angela greeted me in the hall where I’d left Mom. “They’ve moved her to a room,” Wayne said. “She has a concussion. They have her heavily medicated to keep her asleep until the swelling in her head goes down.”
I wanted to cry. Instead, I squared my shoulders. “I have some things to tell you. But, not here. First, we wait until Rusty gets out of surgery.”
We waited two hours before a doctor came to get us. “Mr. Hensen made it out of surgery just fine,” he said. “We’ll keep him for a few days, then he’ll be released with crutches. Will there be someone available during his recovery?”
“I will.” I’d take the man home and treat him better than he’d ever been treated. Mom would too, once she woke up. Rusty would be the brother I’d never had.
I turned to Wayne and Angela. “Let’s go home. We have a plan of attack to formulate.”
19
“You hit someone over the head at the hospital?” Wayne’s eyes were the size of silver dollars.
“For the third time…yes.” I’d do anything to get closer to rescuing Matt. Every minute, every second, put the chances of bringing him home safe at risk. If it meant cold-cocking someone, I’d do it again. “I’m pretty sure he would have killed Brian.”
“You’re the bravest person I know,” Mary Ann said. She’d heard the gunshots and rushed to the house as the ambulance pulled out of our driveway. Wayne had explained to her what had happened and she’d agreed to stay with Dakota.
“Not so much. It was more instinct, really.”
“The kid said the Pink Flamingo is where the girls are?” Wayne cocked his head, tapping an ink pen on the pad of paper in front of him.
“Why are you questioning me for the third time on everything?” I crossed my arms and glared. “We need to take action.”
“I’m alerting the authorities as we speak.” He reached for his phone on the table in front of him.
I put my hand over his to stop him. “We should check it out first. I know it’s protocol to call in reinforcements, but if we’re so close…right on the edge of getting Cherokee and Matt back…I want to make sure they’re actually there so we didn’t risk tipping off the bad guys. Is that something we can do without getting into too much trouble?”
“I’ll head over there and investigate.”
“I’ll go with you. All I need to do is put on my stupid disguise, that will only work from far away. But…” I grinned, “I don’t want anyone to get close.”
“I suppose if someone questions us, I purchased you for the hour.”
My grin faded. What a way to bring it all back into focus. We weren’t playing pretend. Lives hung in the balance. My gaze clashed with his. We could very well die that day.
I had a tendency to, even when under extreme stress such as I had been the last few days, to push things to the back of my mind when feeling overwhelmed. I’d sort through it when life gave me a breather. I could pretend it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The bad part of that was when someone yanked it back to the forefront, it was like getting hit with a tsunami.
Maybe it was a mental illness. Maybe I needed to have my head checked when this was all over. If I still had a head.
“Mom said the person who shot at us looked familiar. Before she could say more, she was…”
“We’ll find him.” A muscle ticked in Wayne’s jaw.
“Did someone get my gun off the lawn?” I asked.
“I did.” Mary Ann opened a kitchen drawer and handed it to me. “I’ll stay here with Dakota and call you with regular updates on your mom and Rusty.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Thank you.” I glanced at Angela, who sat, shoulders slumped, face in hands, at the table. I sent Mary Ann a quiet request to look after my sister as I slipped my gun into the backpack on the table.
She nodded, her face grim. “As if they were my own. Michael will be here as often as he is able. We’ll pray without ceasing.”
“Do you know Mr. Clean?” Suddenly remembering our guardian angel from the party, I whirled to face Wayne.
“Who?” His brow furrowed.
I explained. “Undercover?”
“Most likely.” A spark of hope leaped into his eyes. “This is the best news we’ve had in what seems like a long time. Matt isn’t in there alone.”
“Cherokee?” Angela looked up.
I shook my head. “I don’t think Mr. Clean knows I was looking for her. I’m sorry.”
She folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them. “That’s all right. I know my daughter. She won’t cooperate. We probably have a few more days before she succumbs and disappears.”
Wayne started to say something, then shook his head. Good. Angela didn’t know all that I’d learned online about trafficking. It was enough to curl her straight hair and steal her hope. I pushed to my feet. Holding on to what hope and bravery I had left, I went upstairs to change.
After dressing in the same clothes I’d worn at the warehouse, I rejoined the others downstairs. Somehow, I didn’t think a jogging outfit, no matter how pretty it had once been, would fit in where I was going.
Wayne had changed from jeans and a tee shirt to a tailored business suit. Wowsa! If I weren’t so carzy in love with Matt, and Wayne wasn’t dating my sister, I might consider asking him out. “You clean up good. But, why so fancy?”
“I’m a business man just off work and out for a little sordid fun.” He marched outside and to my Mercedes.
I guessed he was taking the charade all the way. I hugged Sadie, Mary Ann, and Angela, took a deep breath. “Promise you’ll take the dog and cats if I don’t come back.”
“You’ll come back,” Mary Ann said, squeezing my hands. “But, I promise.”
I followed Wayne, praying it wasn’t the last time I’d see what was left of my family. I clicked my seatbelt into place and closed my eyes to pray for safety. For me, for Wayne, for Matt, for Cherokee, for those left at the house. The list seemed never-ending, going in a ceaseless circle like a ring on a finger.
“Are you okay?” Wayne asked.
I opened my eyes. “I will be, once this is over.”<
br />
“It’ll be over soon.” He turned his attention back to the road. “We’ll get your niece and Matt back with no more than a few scars to give them fuel for future stories.”
If only it were that simple. I feared my niece might be scarred beyond repair. Instead of voicing my fear, I nodded and stared out the window as Wayne pulled the car to the shoulder of the road in front of our destination.
The Pink Flamingo, a U-shaped atrocity once painted the color of a pink flamingo, now looked as if it had a bad case of leprosy. Gray stucco showed through faded paint. The neon sign, in the shape of a giant flamingo, of course, stated the place was closed.
“There are no cars.” I glanced at Wayne. “Maybe Brian is wrong.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
A truck, wearing a sign that stated Worth’s Auto Shop, peeled rubber from a side road. “Brian and Miranda both mentioned the old man at the auto shop,” I said. “Follow that truck.”
Wayne yanked the wheel and stepped on the gas sending us speeding after Worth. The man slowed near an intersection and turned right. We followed him into the parking lot.
“Stay in the car with your head down,” Wayne said, sliding from the car. “Crack your window if you want to hear, but pretend to be cowed.” He straightened his tie and followed Worth as the man exited his truck.
“I’m closed today,” Worth said.
“I just want you to take a look. I, uh, need to take her back to…well, she needs to be somewhere and the car is stuttering.” Wayne motioned his head toward the car.
I peeked at them through the safety of my hair. When Worth glanced over, I turned away, playing the part to the best of my ability.
“They let you take her away for a while?” Worth’s voice radiated with anger. “They won’t even let me pay! They don’t do credit, they said.” He cursed. “I guess only a rich man like yourself can sample the goods. Fix your own car.” He started to turn away.
Wayne grabbed his arm and yanked him back, bending close to the little man’s face. “Consider yourself lucky. If you had bought one of those girls, I’d have to beat you within an inch of your life.” He patted the man down, then shoved him toward the building. “Let’s go.”
“Who are you? Where are you taking me?”
“I’m just going to make sure you can’t cause any problems for a few hours.” Wayne shoved him again.
I couldn’t help but grin to know that at least one scumbag was being put in his place.
It took Wayne fifteen minutes to return. By then, the sun was setting over the trees. It would be a lot harder to see when it was dark. Country roads were not known for their abundance of street lights. Not to mention the bad things that came out at night.
“The little bugger was tougher than he looked,” Wayne said, sliding behind the steering wheel. “It took two hits to the head to knock him unconscious.”
“I would say police brutality, but I won’t.”
“Good. Because it wouldn’t have stopped me.” He turned us back toward the motel. “He’ll manage to get free of the tie I used to bind his hands once he wakes up, so we probably only have an hour before he wakes up. Then, a bit more time for him to get out of the room I locked him in. Maybe two hours, tops.”
“This is rather…unorthodox, isn’t it? I mean, I don’t think even Matt would take me along on something of this magnitude no matter how much I fought to go.” I scooted closer to the door.
He cut me a sideways glance. “I’m not Matt.”
“You are a police officer, though. That means you could be in serious trouble taking along a civilian.”
“You don’t trust me?” A shadow passed over his eyes. “It wasn’t me shooting at you this morning.”
“Maybe you let me come along so you could turn me over to Bomberg and his boss.” I gripped the door handle, prepared to bolt at the slightest hint I might be onto something.
“Now, you’re being paranoid.” He turned the car rather sharply down a road that led to the back of the motel.
“Mom said it was someone close to us. Who, other than Matt, is close to this family?”
“I’m not the bad guy, Stormi.” He pulled into a pothole-filled parking lot, sporting several expensive cars. “Bingo.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I’m calling for backup now. Believe what you want. I’m putting a stop to this now.”
I half listened as he gave our location. It seemed as if the person on the other end was law enforcement, but I was following Mom’s advice and not trusting anyone.
Someone darted around the corner of the motel and ducked behind a metal trash bin. They peeked over the edge. Heather!
I cut a glance at Wayne, grabbed my backpack, and thrust open the door. “Do what you gotta do,” I told him. “I’m talking to that girl.”
Somehow, someway, I was going to get Heather to tell me where Cherokee and Matt were.
20
Wayne hissed my name, then cursed, and call me a bunch of other girl names in a failed attempt to remember my alias. I ignored him and continued my mad race after Heather, losing my shoes in the process.
“Please, stop.” I leaned against the side of the motel and put a hand over my heart. The poor muscle was seriously overworked and striving to pump blood through my body at a normal rate.
Heather stopped, hung her head for a second, then turned. “You must really want to die.”
“Not really, but I promised Dakota I would help you. Not to mention that I’m trying to get my niece and boyfriend back.” I straightened. “Do you know where they are?”
An aluminum can rattled in the parking lot behind us. I grabbed Heather and yanked her behind a steel dumpster, my other hand already reaching into my backpack for my gun.
Her eyes widened when she saw the Glock. “Maybe you won’t die after all.”
“I’m not planning on either one of us meeting God today.” I peered over the top of the dumpster. I didn’t see anyone, not even Wayne. So much for him being worried about me.
“Let’s go.” I stood and took Heather’s hand. “Which way?”
“Your niece is in a back room of the manager’s office.” She pointed. “Your boyfriend is being held somewhere else.” She scrunched up her face. “We were there, not too long ago. Yes,” she grinned. “he’s in a warehouse not far from where the party was.”
“Some party,” I muttered. My heart sank. We’d been so close to finding him. “Cherokee first, then Matt. Show me.”
“Show you what?”
I swear I died for a second. I whirled and punched Wayne in the chest. “Are you crazy? I have a gun!”
“Why did you run off?” He crossed his arms. “You need me in case you run into one of those guys.”
“He has a point,” Heather said, shrinking against me. “He’s very big.”
I studied him for a few seconds. There really wasn’t much of a choice. Trust him and pray I wasn’t a fool, or try and go it alone. I chose to trust. “Cherokee is behind the manager’s office. Matt is in a warehouse.”
“We get your niece, let the authorities handle the bad guys, and we go get Matt.” Wayne gave a definitive nod. “Follow me, and no more running off on your own. I can’t split myself in two to guard you and rescue Angela’s child.”
“Ah.” My heart warmed toward him. Sometimes I really was dense. It all made sense now. “You’re breaking the rules because you love my sister.”
“Yeah. Even with all her faults, I adore her. Let’s go make her happy.”
“Agreed.” I prayed I could get my love back, too.
With my hand on Wayne’s back and Heather glued to my side, the three of us dashed toward the building. Clouds skittered across the sky, blocking the moon’s light and providing us with the cover of darkness.
“This way.” Heather tugged my arm. “There’s a back way in. That’s how I got out.”
Wait. I stopped. “If you know about the back way, then your abductors do.” I narrowed my eyes. “You wanted us to
catch you.”
Her eyes shimmered with tears. “They made me. Please. They said if I brought you to them, they’d let me go.”
“They’re lying.” I spit out the words, angered and frustrated. “They can’t let you go. Wayne?”
It was too late. Three men stepped around the corner of the building. One grabbed Heather and shoved her inside a back door. The other two held guns on Wayne and I while the first guy removed our weapons and took my backpack.
“This way.” He motioned for us to enter through the door Heather had gone through. “Turn right.”
A door ahead of us had a plaque with the words Manager’s Office stenciled in black on a shiny brass finish. I risked a glance at Wayne. Maybe we’d get to Cherokee after all. The problem would be getting back out.
One of our escorts rapped his knuckles on the door. A voice commanded us to enter.
We stepped into a room decorated as nice as any CEO corporate office. Behind a polished cherry wood desk sat Mom’s boyfriend, Robert Smithfield. This is who I wasn’t supposed to trust.
I launched myself in his direction, sliding across the slippery desk and into his lap. His office chair toppled, taking us both to the floor. My hands grappled for his neck. “You shot my mother!”
“Get her off me!” He rolled out from under me, aiming a kick that took me high on the leg.
I screamed and scrambled after him again, until one of the men grabbed me around the waist and heaved me off of Robert as if I weighed nothing more than a child. “You’ll pay for this.”
“Hurting your mother is one of my greatest regrets,” Robert said, righting his chair. He motioned for them to release me. “Please, have a seat.”
“No.” I wouldn’t do anything he requested.
One of the men punched Wayne in the stomach, doubling him over.
“Fine.” I plopped in a burgundy vinyl chair that whooshed under me. “Now what?”
“It’s a real pity you aren’t ten years younger,” he said. “But, I have a buyer who will pay top dollar for you, Stormi Nelson.”
“Excuse me?” Someone wanted me? “Why?”
“You’re famous.”
Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery) Page 73
