by Melody Anne
“Okay. I’ll explain this so everyone can understand,” he told Spence before looking out at the rest of the group, who were standing by tensely.
“Martin had what we call a transient ischemic attack, TIA stroke for short, or what a lot of people call a ministroke. Some don’t give these strokes the proper attention, but this is a warning, and you need to take it very seriously. A small clot traveled to his brain, and though we’re still going through the scans, it looks like the episode isn’t going to leave any lasting symptoms. We’re very optimistic that there won’t be any permanent brain damage.”
“Then can we see him?”
“He’s getting transferred now,” Dr. Eiseman said, “but I want to repeat that TIAs are often a warning, letting us know we need to make some lifestyle changes so a major stroke doesn’t follow.”
“Is he still in danger?” Cam asked.
“We’ll keep him overnight at the least, but I think the clot will dissolve fully. However, you should know that, after a TIA, one in three people go on to have a major stroke within a year. We need to get him on meds, and he needs to start doing some things differently.”
“I’ll make sure he follows through. I’m not losing my father,” Spence said, the doctor in him never more evident.
“I know you will, Spence. Give the nurses about fifteen minutes to get him moved to his room, and then you can visit. If the people now filling this lobby are all here to see Martin, you know to take turns.”
With that, Dr. Eiseman left them and a hush fell over the crowded lobby, which seemed to be growing more crowded by the minute as news about Martin spread through their small community.
Michael finally spoke up after maintaining his silence the entire time. “Does this mean he’s going to be fine?” he asked.
“Yes, Michael, he should be fine,” Spence assured his brother.
“I’m still not going to feel better until I can see him,” Michael said.
The whole crowd nodded their heads in agreement. Fifteen minutes seemed to take forever, and then there was chaos when it came time to deciding who could go in first.
“Cam, why don’t you and Grace take Eileen back there?” Spence said as he gave his brother a compassionate look.
Eileen objected. “You kids should go and visit him first,” she said.
“I have a feeling he’s going to want to see you,” Spence told her before leaning down and kissing her cheek. “Go give him hell for scaring us so much.”
Eileen attempted a smile but was unable to pull it off. Grace wrapped her arm around the woman and led her through the hallway to Martin’s room. When they paused in the doorway at the sight of him, such a large, robust man looking so pale and tired with his eyes closed, it brought more tears to Grace’s eyes.
“If he’s sleeping, we shouldn’t disturb him,” Eileen said as fresh tears tracked down her face.
“Eileen? Is that you?” His voice was so hoarse, it broke Grace’s heart. She stood back as Cam and Eileen moved forward.
“I’m here, darling. I’m here,” Eileen whispered. She sat in the chair by the bed and reached out to take his hand.
He opened his eyes and gazed at Eileen with such a look of love that Grace could see the radiance from ten feet away. She felt like an intruder. Cam moved back by her and whispered in her ear.
“How did I miss this?”
“I don’t know how any of us did, Cam.”
“Now, don’t you be crying for me, Eileen,” Martin said. “I’ll be just fine. I wouldn’t leave you or my children. There’s too much life still to be lived.”
“Oh, Martin, I’ve never been so frightened. You’re my life now, and I just . . . I can’t lose you, my love.”
She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, and he lifted his free arm and wrapped it around her.
“I love you, too, Eileen, so much that my heart aches when you aren’t around. Not everyone gets to find two soul mates in this lifetime, but I’m one of the lucky ones. You bring me joy and there’s no way I would give that up to something as silly as an itty-bitty clot.” His voice was stronger now, love coming through it loud and clear.
“Well, we’re making some changes, Martin. I’m talking to your cook right away, and we’re both going to eat healthier and drink less and get more exercise.”
“I’ve been doing just fine with how I live, Eileen. This was just a little bitty thing, nothing to get so worked up about. I promise you that I’ll still be swinging you around the dance floor when we’re ninety.”
“I’m going to make sure you keep that promise, Martin,” she said, a smile finally filling her lips as she lifted her head and looked into his eyes.
“Then you will have to become my wife so you’re with me every single day.”
Eileen couldn’t speak through her tears, but she nodded, and it was the most beautiful thing Grace had ever witnessed.
“Let’s leave them alone,” Cam whispered as he pulled Grace into the hallway.
“I thought you needed to talk to him,” Grace said.
“I just needed to know he was okay, to see it with my own eyes. My dad has been alone for a very long time. He’s found love again with an amazing woman. This stroke scared him enough, it looks like, to admit it to her—or maybe to us, I don’t know, but I’m grateful. Let’s go tell the rest of them to give the lovebirds a few more minutes.”
“It’s kind of funny, but I think your father and Eileen—the town’s favorite grandparents—are going to have a wedding before I do,” Grace said with a laugh.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Cam muttered as they pushed through the waiting-room doors.
Grace’s heart nearly stopped with his comment, but before she could ask him to clarify it, they were surrounded by people asking questions about Martin. Soon, Grace was pulled from Cam’s hold, and the crowd between them kept growing wider.
When their gaze connected a few minutes later, she saw something shining in his eyes that gave her hope of finally getting her happy ending. Even though he hadn’t asked her to love him forever yet, her own eyes answered him with a glowing yes.
“I need coffee. Can I get you any?” she asked Sage.
“I’ll follow right behind you,” Sage replied. “I want to chat with the nurse for a minute.”
Grace walked from the room, the quiet a relief after the din of so many people talking at once. But a smile was on her lips. Although the day had taken a scary turn after starting out well, love was in the air right now and the possibilities seemed endless.
She decided to step outside and get a little fresh air. She’d meet Sage in a few minutes. She couldn’t wait to tell all to her best friend—tell her she was going to marry the love of her life even if she had to drag him to the altar, which she didn’t think she’d have to do, and then the two of them could gossip about Martin and Eileen.
Who would have ever imagined that—
“You stupid bitch. You’ve ruined everything for me. Now I’m going to ruin it all for you.”
Grace froze at the sound of that voice—the voice she’d thought was gone from her life. But she’d already decided to face her fears, and she was through with running from people. Her body stiff, she turned and then the blood ran from her face.
“Yeah, you should be afraid, because today you’re going to die—but not until I get something first!”
Before Grace could scream, run, fight, do anything, Jimmy’s arm came up and he hit her in the head with the butt of the gun he’d just been pointing at her. Everything went black.
Grace’s head was pounding and a buzzing was sounding in her ears as she tried to figure out where she was. She could tell even with her eyes still closed that it wasn’t pitch-black, so either night hadn’t fallen yet or she was in a lit room.
The last thing she remembered was Jimmy attacking her, then nothing. As much as she feared what she’d see when she opened her eyes, she had no choice. She had to try and figure out her surroundings.
/> Slowly, she cracked her eyes open, and the light and the movement of the car she found herself in sent more pain shooting through her head. Trying to move, she discovered that she was tied up in the backseat of what had to be Jimmy’s vehicle, or one he’d stolen.
She looked toward the window, but that gave her no clue as to where she was. All she could see was a blur of green as Jimmy sped through what seemed to be a remote area. There were no billboard signs, nothing to show her any sort of location.
Trying to make as little movement as possible now, she shifted on the seat, rubbing her hip against the back of the cheap vinyl to see whether her cell phone was still in her pocket. At that moment, it vibrated—she’d turned it off the ringer at the hospital—and she nearly sobbed with relief.
Her purse was nowhere to be found, and the fool must have assumed her phone was in there and gotten rid of it. As long as her phone was on her, she knew there was a chance she could call for help.
The car suddenly stopped, and Grace briefly considered shutting her eyes, pretending she was still knocked out. But the thought of not seeing what he was going to do next was too scary.
Holding her breath, she didn’t have to wait long for Jimmy to exit the car and pull open the door to the backseat.
“Ah, you’re awake. Good.”
Grabbing her by the hair, he yanked her up into a sitting position, sending the pain in her head to a whole new level.
“What do you want, Jimmy?” she cried.
“You destroyed me, Grace. At first I was just going to shoot you in the head, end your life, and bring myself some sort of relief, but then I started to think about it as we were driving. And you see, my life is ruined because my source of money got cut off. I didn’t want to have sex with your wrinkly old mom anymore, so she quit giving me my monthly payments. I wasn’t thinking that was a problem, since I had a very wealthy fiancée. But then my fiancée figured out I didn’t make as much as I’d claimed to make from the art gallery, so she left me—the shallow bitch.”
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
“I want money, Grace. So if you don’t want me to kill you, I need you to give me a nice, fat lump sum of cold, hard cash so I can start over somewhere else and keep living the life I’ve grown accustomed to. I can find me another rich whore to keep me nice and happy, and I’ll be glad to walk away.”
He pulled her from the car, toward an old trailer home sitting on an overgrown piece of land.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere no one will be able to find you. This is my old friend’s piece of ground, but he’s not here anymore. I come here when I don’t want to be found, when I need a week or two to do whatever I want.”
A shudder passed through her at the thought of what he’d done at this place. She’d figured out very quickly that Jimmy was a thoroughly disgusting human being, but she was beginning to think she’d underestimated him—he gave new meaning to the word twisted.
“How do you expect me to get you any money while we’re out in the middle of nowhere?” she asked as she tugged against the ties on her hands. If she could loosen them, he would eventually pass out and she could call for help.
“Once I have you all secure, I’ll go and buy a computer with your credit card. And then you’re going to transfer a nice, tidy sum into a bank account I’ve already set up. Before you can do anything about it, like putting your rich boyfriend on me, I’ll be long gone.”
He opened the squeaking door of the trailer and the stench that came out made her gag. She doubled over as she tried to breathe again.
“Dammit! I think something got in there and died,” he snarled as he left the door open and walked away from it, pushing her so she fell to the ground, twisting her ankle.
Jimmy sat down next to her and then a whole new terror filled her at the look that came into his eyes. “It looks like we have a little time to kill . . .”
He moved closer to her and then yanked her over his lap.
“Don’t do this, Jimmy. This isn’t what you want,” she said, trying to keep the fear and disgust from her voice.
“Haven’t you figured it out, little girl? I can do whatever the hell I want to do.” He stopped talking, but only because he had mashed his mouth against hers, thrusting his nasty tongue inside.
Gagging again, Grace fought him with all her strength, but it did her no good. Her hands were tied, her head was pounding, and her fear was growing by the second. He yanked the hem of her shirt as he pushed her to the ground, and her arms screamed in pain as he pushed down on her with his full weight and crushed them beneath her body.
“Please stop, Jimmy. I’ll give you the money,” she cried out when he released her mouth so he could pull at her shirt.
“I know you will, but since I don’t have my whore lover or my sweet little fiancée anymore, I need someone to help with my needs.”
“You don’t have time for this, Jimmy. If you want to get money from me, you’ll have to hurry. Cam will already be tracking me. We have plans for today,” she told him. She kept her tone calm, her eyes on his, so he wouldn’t think she was bluffing.
“He can’t find you here,” he said, but he seemed unsure.
“Yes, he can. They’ve known someone has been after me for a while now. They’ve been watching me, have placed security all around me. If you don’t think he’ll find me within a few hours, you’re sadly mistaken.”
The more she spoke, the stronger her words became. She needed to believe what she was saying, or there was no way she would get this monster to believe it.
Unsure, he stopped tugging against her clothes as he sat back, looking thoughtful. Grace twisted sideway and then sat up, her fingers tingling as blood rushed back to them. Tears were fighting to break free but she couldn’t fall apart. If she did, she would lose everything.
“Just get the computer. Let me give you the money and then we can both be free.”
“Free? I’ve been a slave my entire life. My entire life!” he screamed.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy. I know that must be hard,” she said, trying her best to sound sympathetic.
“You don’t know anything about it. You grew up rich. I had to fight for everything I ever wanted. I deserved so much more than you and your stuck-up parents. I had to bed your mom for years to earn money. At first it wasn’t so bad, but she kept getting older . . .” His face was filled with disgust.
“You can get the money from me and never have to do anything you don’t want to again,” she told him.
“Shut up!” Reaching out, he slapped her hard enough that she tasted blood and felt her vision blur. She couldn’t pass out again. She had to focus. “Just let me think.”
Grace decided to be quiet as she pulled at her bonds. If she could get free, she’d grab the nearest thing to her and clobber this bastard, take his car and get away, call Cam, and get rescued. And Jimmy could spend the rest of his days as a kept man—in a state prison.
“People like you always think you’re so much better than me. You think your money makes you someone special, that you can buy whoever and whatever you want. But you’re wrong. Yeah, we all need money—it’s what makes the world go round—but I’m smart, Grace, real smart, and I know I’m better than you.”
“You’re right, Jimmy. I know you’re right.” She’d say anything at all to get him to stop this. He stood up and grabbed his gun, and all the blood washed from her face, a tingling sensation taking its place. She was going to die. This would be how her story ended.
“I gotta get that money, Grace. I need it. But if I leave you here alone, you might get out of the binds, and you might run away,” he said, pacing back and forth in front of her.
“I won’t run away, Jimmy. I promise. I don’t know where we are. I would get lost and then I’d never be found,” she said.
“I know you, Grace. I know you,” he said before turning back to her, his eyes wild as he pointed the gun straight at her. “I’m not gonna kill you, though, j
ust shoot you in the leg so you can’t run away. But don’t move, okay? I’m not a real good shot, and I’d be awfully upset if I killed you before I got my money.”
“Please don’t do this, Jimmy. Please,” she begged.
“I have to,” he said before smiling. “But don’t worry. I’m going to enjoy it.” He cocked the gun and Grace finally allowed a tear to fall.
“Has anyone seen Grace? We were supposed to get coffee, but she’s been gone for half an hour now.”
Cam turned, immediately focusing on Sage. “What do you mean?” he asked as he glanced quickly around the hospital waiting room.
“I had to talk to the nurse, but Grace was going to meet me in the cafeteria for coffee,” she said, and then concern filled her eyes. “She’s safe, Cam, right? You solved the problems with her being harassed.”
“Nothing has happened for a couple of weeks, but I don’t like this,” Cam said, and his brothers immediately tuned in to what was going on.
“Let’s find her,” Jackson said. “Something’s wrong.”
“Sage and I will check the back areas,” Spence said.
“Hawk and I will check the south exits,” Cam said.
“I’m going to talk to security and see if the cameras picked up anything,” Jackson told them before moving in that direction.
“Everyone else, search the grounds. We all have our cells. If you find anything, send out a group message,” Bryson said.
Cam tried to hold in the panic that was threatening him, but when he and Hawk checked the doors and found no signs of Grace anywhere, he was consumed with worry.
When he found her purse behind the Dumpster near the parking lot, he went cold inside. She hadn’t left this hospital willingly.
His phone rang as he picked up the purse, praying that her phone wasn’t in it.
“She was assaulted by the south entrance by a man wearing black about thirty minutes ago, and the footage on the camera shows her being stuffed into the back of an older blue sedan,” Jackson said.
“Why in the hell didn’t they alert us?” Cam yelled into the phone.
