Rescue Me (Hayes Brothers Book 4)

by Karen Kelley

  “I told you so.”

  He pulled me close, then his lips were brushing against mine. The kiss deepened. I sighed. I would miss this. I would miss him holding me close, kissing me. Making love to me.

  He didn’t mention Jeremy, so I knew he hadn’t heard back from him yet. I hadn’t thought he would. It was probably too soon. I pulled away from him.

  “I think I’ll just go to bed,” I told him.

  He hesitated, then nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said the news didn’t hurt. Of course it did. I think deep down I had assumed that was what happened. My parents didn’t have a great marriage. Hell, they didn’t even have a good marriage. I don’t blame him for leaving my mother. I blame him for leaving me. It would’ve been nice to have him in my life, whether he stayed married to my mother or not. It is what it is, though. But am I okay?” I nodded. “Yes, I’m okay.”

  “If you need me, I’m just next door.”

  “And I’ll see you tomorrow. We’re still going out to your house, right? You did say the furniture was being delivered tomorrow.”

  “Yes, tomorrow afternoon.”

  "I’ll see you then." He kissed me goodnight, then left. I locked the door, then went to the bedroom. I began to tremble. I immediately forced myself to calm down. You’re strong, I told myself. You’ll make it through this. Don’t think about Layne, Zoey, or Darby. Cut the emotional ties with them.

  I gave a short laugh. I could do that. I’d been doing it all my life. Acting around other people, pretending to be normal. I could do it this time, too.

  That’s where being a paramedic came in handy. You learned to control your emotions. I was damned good at it—most of the time. You don’t think. You don’t feel. You’re the one who’s in control.

  The next day, I smiled when I knew I was supposed to smile. I laughed when I knew I was supposed to laugh. I knew the moment Layne thought I would be okay. I went with him when they brought his furniture. We laughed when we realized the mirrors were still on the ceiling. The delivery men had also noticed the mirrors. As soon as they left, we laughed about that, too.

  Once again, I pleaded tiredness and needing to get ready for our shift the next day. He accepted my excuse. We planned on driving to work together. I knew this could possibly be my last shift with him.

  I continued to keep my emotions under control as we drove to work the next day. We checked out the truck with the other crew and everything was fine. One of the paramedic’s mentioned they’d brought Abigail back to the nursing home and she was doing a lot better. Yes, she had stolen everyone’s hearts. They’d had a busy shift, though, and were exhausted. They wished us a better one.

  We stayed busy the rest of the day.

  It was almost dinnertime when Jeremy called.

  Chapter 22

  Fiera

  As soon as Layne walked out of the day room, my gut told me that Jeremy was calling. The oddest sensation washed over me. I realized, it didn’t matter what he told me. I think I was already expecting more disappointment.

  Don’t let the pain in or it will consume you.

  No, of course I won’t.

  Zoey and Cliff left on a call, so it was just the two of us.

  “What did he say? I assume it was Jeremy you were speaking with.”

  “It was. He met with his lead. He said Nolan Murphy showed up just about the time your mother told you that your father was dead. The lead bought his car from him for a fraction of the cost. Nolan told him that he was starting a brand-new life. It was such a sweet deal, the man hadn’t forgotten about it.”

  “Did Jeremy see my father?” I kept all my emotions in check, congratulating myself on being able to do that.

  “Not yet. He lives a couple of hours away. He’ll check everything out tomorrow to make sure. But when he showed the man the picture you gave Jeremy, his lead thought it looked like him, but he wasn’t sure. People can forget faces after fifteen years.”

  “He was lucky to find out this much.”

  “Actually, he found out what kind of car your father had been driving. He kept working forward until he traced the VIN number of the car to the junkyard his lead sold it to a few years later, when the vehicle was totaled during a storm. But the junkyard owner couldn’t locate the paperwork. That was Jeremy’s last resort to finding out what happened to your father.”

  “What changed things?”

  “Jeremy got lucky. The guy at the junkyard has a kid who wants to be a detective someday. He heard Jeremy talking to his father and decided to see if he could locate the last owner. The kid finally found the records buried with a lot of other paperwork in his dad’s storage shed. From the information the kid unearthed, Jeremy was able to find the last person who’d owned the car. Which just happened to be this guy, who had an excellent memory. Once he has all the information, I’ll go with you if you want to see your father.”

  “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” I sensed there was more to the story. “What aren’t you telling me this time?”

  “Maybe we should go into the rest when we get off shift.”

  I slowly shook my head. “Tell me now.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “As I told you, Nolan has a family. A wife and a son. Jeremy did a little research. He knows the sheriff in the town where your father now lives. Your father has a bad reputation. He’s never been arrested because no one wants to press charges. The people he hurts are scared of him.” He took my cold hands in his. “I’m sorry.”

  My mind screamed this wasn’t the father I remembered. “Jeremy might be wrong,” I said as my emotions began to break from the restraint I had on them.

  “I’ll call someone in to work the rest of your shift,” he said.

  I came to my feet, putting distance between us, drawing in deep breaths until I had better control over what I was feeling. “No, I’ll be okay. I thought he might have a new family, I just hadn’t expected he would be in trouble with the law. I never believed my mother when she used to tell me he had a bad side. He never showed it to me.” I turned and faced him. “I’ll be okay, though.”

  Thankfully, the overhead sounded.

  A call to the nursing home for a fall. I didn’t want to talk about my father anymore. As far as I was concerned, he died the day he left.

  As soon as we got to the nursing home, I called on scene. We grabbed the stretcher and the jump bag out of the back and hurried inside. I thought it was strange that no one met us at the door. Usually, they sent an aide to meet us. We hurried to the day room, then stopped dead in our tracks.

  “I’m sorry,” Wanda said. “He made me call for an ambulance.”

  “Shut up,” Ray said. “Or I’ll blow your brains out.” His maniacal laugh told me he’d already gone off the deep end.

  “Ray, put the gun down,” Layne said.

  Ray flopped down on one of the chairs beside a resident. It just happened to be Abigail who was crying softly. He put his arm around her and squeezed until she cried out. “Now, why in the fuck would I want to put my gun down? If I put the gun down, you’ll come after me. But you see, now I’ve got all the power. It’s my turn to have everything.”

  “Don’t you hurt my Abigail,” Mr. Jenkins said with a fierce frown.

  Ray hooted with laughter. “Well lookee here. You’ve got a champion, Abigail. The old fart probably hasn’t had a hard-on in years.” He waved the gun around and Abigail began to cry a little louder. “Shut up, bitch,” Ray growled.

  “Why don’t you just leave her alone?” I said.

  He jumped to his feet. “Why don’t you just sit the fuck down? In fact, both of you take a seat.” He waved the gun toward two chairs.

  I sat down next to John, and Layne sat next to me. John was softly crying and rocking back and forth. I took his hand and squeezed it. “It’s going to be okay, John.”

  “Fire,” he said the word softly, then smiled.

  I smiled back. “Yes, my hair
is red.”

  “When we don’t call in route, they’ll wonder why, and send the police,” Layne said. “You don’t want to do this, Ray. Think about it.”

  “It’s too late for that.” He began pacing around the day room.

  The residents that were in the day room were starting to cry louder.

  “I said shut up or I’ll kill all of you. I’m sick of listening to you whine. That’s all you know how to do. You’re old. Why can’t you just die and be done with it?” He stopped pacing as if a new thought had just occurred to him. He began to laugh. “Don’t you want a better life? You’re always saying Heaven is so great. I can send you there.”

  Layne came to his feet. “Don’t do it, Ray.”

  “Or what? There’s not a damn thing you can do. I’m the boss now.”

  He walked closer. He waved the gun around, first aiming it at Layne, then me.

  “Maybe I’ll just kill your little girlfriend. Yeah, everyone knows you have the hots for her.” He kept walking toward me, pointing the gun at my head.

  Was I about to die? Panic swept over me and I began to tremble.

  Beside me, John stiffened. I squeezed his hand, trying to keep him calm, but it was almost as if I could feel the tension building inside him.

  Before I could stop it from happening, John lunged toward Ray.

  Ray wore a surprised expression on his face. Momentarily distracted.

  Layne rushed Ray. As his fist slammed into Ray’s face, the gun went off. John stumbled and fell to the floor.

  It all happened so fast that it took a moment for me to react.

  Ray hit back, but he’d already lost the gun. I looked around. Mr. Jenkins jumped to grab it off the floor, pointing it toward Ray and Layne. I hurried to John, hoping against hope that he’d only lost his balance and fell.

  “Be careful with that gun, Mr. Jenkins,” I heard Wanda tell him.

  “This ain’t my first rodeo. I was a Marine. I know how to handle a gun.”

  I pushed the mic on my shoulder and called dispatch. “Darby, Ray was waiting for us. He had a gun. We need police backup. Fast.”

  One more punch, and Layne had Ray subdued. He jerked Ray’s hands behind his back, then half sat on him, to keep him there.

  “Were you shot?” I asked Layne as I knelt beside John.

  “Not me.” He was breathing hard.

  I eased John to his back. “Oh my God, John’s been shot. There’s a lot of blood on the side of his head and his face.” I grabbed the jump bag and some gauze to see how bad the wound was. “It looks as if the bullet grazed the side of his head, but it’s deep.”

  John’s eyes fluttered open.

  “He’s alive,” I said, immense relief flooding through me. John had saved all our lives. I had no doubt that Ray would’ve shot some of us before the police could have gotten here.

  John’s gaze locked with mine. He smiled. “Fire,” he said.

  I returned his smile. “Yes, my hair is like fire.”

  “My Fiera. Baby girl.”

  Cold chills spread over me as I held pressure on his wound. “Shh, don’t try to talk,” I said.

  “Sleep little angel,” his whispery voice wobbled. “And I won’t let the fairies carry you away. When you wake, I’ll be here.”

  I stilled. “Who are you?”

  “Daddy.” His eyes fluttered, then closed.

  My heart fell to my feet. “No! No! Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me.”

  The police stormed in, guns drawn.

  “Over here!” Layne called.

  Mr. Jenkins lowered his gun, laying it carefully on one of the chairs. “Son of a bitch, I would’ve liked to send him somewhere, like maybe hell.”

  “Oh, Eddie,” Abigail said. “I love you.”

  Mr. Eddie Jenkins puffed out his chest. “It’s about time you said that.” He sat down beside Abigail and took her into his arms.

  Zoey and Cliff came rushing in.

  “Over here!” I turned to Layne. “We’ve got to save him. He’s my father.“

  Layne looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. Maybe he thought the trauma of everything that had happened, and speaking to Jeremy right before we left the station, had been too much. I didn’t care what he thought. We had to get my father to the hospital. I knew this was him.

  Zoey and Cliff quickly moved in to take care of John. No, not John. The scars on his face had kept him hidden from me, but I’d always been drawn to his eyes, and how they looked familiar to me.

  I turned to Wanda. “You said his name was John.”

  She wore a confused expression. “Yes, John Doe. We don’t know his real name.”

  My world suddenly felt as if it was spinning out of control. Zoey and Cliff loaded John on the cot. I was right beside them as they wheeled him to the ambulance.

  “Go with them,” Layne said. “I’ll follow behind in the other ambulance.”

  I nodded, getting in the back with Zoey. She already had an IV going. She put him on oxygen, then began alerting the hospital what we had as I rechecked his vital signs. “His blood pressure is dropping,” I said, then grabbed the cardiac monitor leads.

  We didn’t have time to do much. We weren’t that far from the hospital. As soon as we pulled under the awning, hospital staff was opening the back doors. We jumped out, then unloaded the cot. Layne was just getting out of the other ambulance.

  I stayed right beside the cot as my father was wheeled into the emergency room, but at the doors leading into the trauma room, Layne grabbed my arm and held me back.

  “Let them do their job,” he told me.

  “But he’s my father.” I saw the pity in his eyes. “You have to believe me.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. Even if he is, you still have to let them take care of him.”

  I finally nodded and let him lead me into the room where we did our paperwork. It was away from the other part of the waiting room and gave us a little privacy. I ran a shaky hand through my hair.

  “I have replacements on their way to cover the rest of our shift. Now, talk to me,” Layne urged just as Zoey and Cliff came into the room.

  My gaze jerked toward them. “Is he okay?”

  Zoey and Cliff looked at each other, then back at me. “His blood pressure is better. He has a big bump on the back of his head and the gash from the bullet. What’s going on here?” Zoey asked.

  “Remember, I told you that I’ve been searching for my father. My mother told me he died in prison, but that wasn’t true. They had no record of there ever being a Nolan Murphy in prison.”

  Cliff sat down in one of the chairs. “So she lied to you?”

  I nodded. “I was only ten years old at the time. I believed her. When a job opening came up near the prison he was supposed to have been in, and supposedly buried in the prison graveyard, I took it. I wanted to find closure. I wanted to go to his grave.”

  “That’s when we discovered her mother had lied to her,” Layne said. “I hired a private investigator to start looking for him.”

  Layne glanced my way. I knew he still didn’t believe that John Doe was actually my father.

  “Jeremy finally located him a couple of hours away.” When Layne hesitated, I nodded for him to go on. “He has a wife and a son. Jeremy thinks that man is Fiera’s father.”

  I was shaking my head. “But he’s not. John Doe is actually Nolan Murphy, my father.”

  “Is it just that you want to believe he’s your father?” Zoey asked as she sat down beside me and took my hands in hers.

  “I know he’s my father. After he was shot, he looked at me and said my name.”

  “He’s heard me call your name,” Layne said.

  “No, there’s more to it. He called me his baby girl. Daddy always called me his baby girl. But then, he began to sing an Irish lullaby to me. A stranger wouldn’t know that was what my father used to sing to me. When I asked him who he was, he said Daddy. I know with everything that’s inside me that he is my fathe
r. I don’t know who that man is who says he’s Nolan Murphy, but he’s not my father.”

  Layne studied me for a moment, then reached inside his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. After punching in the number, he put it to his ear. “Yeah, Jeremy, we have a new development. He quickly explained the situation, and that I thought John Doe might be my father, and not the man who claimed to be Nolan Murphy. Layne asked Jeremy to see what he could find out.

  An ER nurse joined us. I looked up, my heart fluttering inside my chest. “How is he?”

  “The bullet only grazed the side of his head, but it was still pretty deep. His vital signs are stable now, but his heart rate is irregular. He’s still unconscious, but it could be from the trauma he suffered. Poor guy has been through a lot.”

  “You know him?”

  She nodded. “I had just started working at the state hospital when he was transferred to us. At times, he was combative and he would scream fire all the time. Which was strange because his scars weren’t from a fire. When we got him, he was almost healed, but someone had beat him pretty bad and then cut him. The man or men who did this to him, tortured him so bad he couldn’t even talk to us. That’s how he got the name John Doe.”

  “How did he end up at the nursing home?” I asked.

  “After a couple of years, he seemed to calm down. It was as if he was lost inside himself. State hospitals always need beds, so a lot of times they transfer patients that don’t need as much care anymore to nursing homes to make room for others. John ended up getting transferred to Forest Green about the same time I came to work at the hospital. Every once in a while he’ll come back in the hospital for one thing or another. Never talks. Just lays there staring out the window.” She looked at us. “I heard he talked before he slipped unconscious.”

  “He’s my father,” I told her. She didn’t look as if she believed me any more than the rest of them.

  Layne came to his feet. “Her father went missing when she was ten. We think John Doe might be him.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” the nurse said.

  “Can I see him?”

  She hesitated for a brief moment. “Come on. Don’t expect him to say anything, though. He had quite a shock and it might take him a bit to come back.” Her expression was full of pity. “If at all.”