Justice Healed

by Olivia Jaymes

  Jason's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Then we'd better go. You can explain it all to me in the chopper."

  Tanner turned to Logan. "Get everybody together and get them staged down the street from my house. I'll call Deputy Sam and he'll meet you on Courtney Avenue. Got it? If Jacks has Maddie, I'll need all of you."

  Logan nodded and headed to round up the other men. Tanner ran with Jason to the helicopter. They would radio Sam from there. If anything happened to Maddie, Tanner would kill Jacks. There wouldn't be a safe corner of the globe for that man to hide in. He'd hunt him down and make him wish he'd never been born.

  * * * *

  Madison was having a weird dream.

  She and Tanner were back in Las Vegas but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She looked and looked, walked all over the hotel and up and down the strip but couldn’t see him. Somehow she knew he was there, but he was frustratingly out of sight.

  A noise from downstairs brought her out of her deep sleep and she went completely still, trying to hear it again. Another bang and everything went silent. Madison sat up and saw that Sherry wasn’t in her bed.

  Probably still watching a movie, Sherry was known to stay up all night. Scout might as well come upstairs with Madison and get some rest. Either way, she needed to see what was going on. Knowing Sherry, she was making Scout a baked chicken dinner. When Scout never ate dog food again, Tanner would be livid.

  Madison groaned and rolled out of bed, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She shoved her feet into slippers and pulled on a large sweatshirt over her T-shirt and sweats. Finger combing the tangles in her hair, she padded to the bedroom door and pulled it open, trudging downstairs. The television was still on but there was no sign of Sherry or Scout. A quick glance by the front door and Madison could see Sherry's coat and boots were gone, as was Scout's leash. She must have taken the dog for a walk.

  Madison sighed and headed for the kitchen. Maybe some hot cocoa would help her and Sherry sleep. She opened the refrigerator door to get the milk when an arm wrapped around her body tightly and a hand clamped over her mouth. She was dragged into the center of the room and when the light flipped on, Fenton Jacks was standing in the middle of her kitchen holding a gun. Another man was sitting at her breakfast table, slumped over and pale. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit with a large bloodstain. His hands and feet were shackled.

  Fear crawled up her spine and she struggled against the iron bands around her.

  “I’m sorry to intrude on you at this late hour, Dr. Shay, but as you can see we are in need of medical assistance.” Fenton nodded to his henchman. “You can let her go.”

  Madison swallowed the lump of fear lodged in her throat as the hands loosened and the man took a step back. In all her years in the Chicago ER, she’d never faced down a gun. She lifted her chin and prayed that Sherry stayed far away from the house. “I’ve never had a gun pointed at me before.”

  “I do apologize,” Fenton said smoothly, but the gun pointed at her never wavered. “We don’t have all day here, Dr. Shay. This man’s life is very important to me.”

  “Bring him into the back of the house and into the room on the left."

  Fenton waved her first, and she led the way into the medical office. The henchman helped the injured man, almost lifting him onto the table. The victim was breathing in pants, and his face contorted in agony.

  She firmed her lips and looked up at Fenton Jacks. "What happened to this man?" She tried to keep her voice cool and controlled and her expression neutral.

  Jacks gave her an appraising look. "He was shot, Dr. Shay. I need you to take out the bullet and sew him up."

  Her stomach twisted into knots, her heart beating loudly in her chest. "He should be in a hospital. It looks like he's lost a lot of blood."

  Laughing, Jacks pointed the gun at her chest. "I can't take him there as I'm sure you've figured out. We're on a tight schedule here, Dr. Shay. Fix him up and we'll walk out of here and you'll never see us again. Make a fuss…well, I don't want to hurt you."

  Madison reached for her white coat and shrugged it on. "I doubt hurting me would bother you in the least, Mr. Jacks. Please stand back and give me some room to work here."

  The other man who had yet to speak, drew his gun when she went to open a drawer. She lifted her eyebrow at Jacks. "Am I allowed to work? I need to cut off these pants to see the wound."

  His lips twisted but he nodded. "Give her some space." Jacks smiled. "But not too much space."

  Madison pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and retrieved the scissors from the drawer before beginning to cut through the blood-soaked material. She kept her eyes on her work and didn't spare the other two a glance. She was equipped to remove the bullet and sew this poor man up, but he'd lost so much blood she feared he might go into volume shock. She couldn't help him with that here. He could code on her at any moment.

  That would probably make Fenton Jacks very upset indeed.

  * * * *

  Staged two blocks from Maddie's house, Tanner wanted to scream in frustration. He'd never felt fear like this before. Not in the Middle East. Not when Emily had pneumonia and had been hospitalized for a week. And not when Chris's appendix burst and they had to rush him to the emergency room.

  "Tell me again what you saw, Sherry," Tanner asked.

  Sherry was practically in tears. Her chin wobbled and her eyes were watery. "I was taking Scout for a walk before I went to bed. As I was walking back to the house, I saw a bunch of men surround it. Two men were helping a third around to the back door while the other seemed to stand guard."

  "Are you sure there are four men outside?"

  "I— I— think so." Tears started to escape Sherry's eyes. "I just don't remember. I'm sorry, Tanner."

  He put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You've done more than you know to help Maddie. You got Sam and now we're here to get her out, okay? I won't let anything happen to her. I promise."

  Jason Anderson hung up his cell. "There are four heat signatures in the house and four outside of it." His expression was sober. "Listen, I know that's the woman you love in there. That's why I think you should stay here and let us get her out. You're too emotional, Tanner. And emotion is a luxury at a time like this that we can't afford."

  Tanner was already shaking his head. "I can keep it under control. I need to do this, Jason. I don't expect you to understand it. I do expect you to respect it."

  The man looked at Tanner for a long time and then slowly blew out a breath. "We better talk about strategy. Once your girlfriend patches Kerr up, Jacks will be wanting to tidy up any loose ends."

  Maddie would be one of those loose ends. He had to get to her and soon.

  The sound of approaching vehicles made Tanner turn on his heel but he breathed a sigh of relief when his friends spilled out of the two SUVs. Logan, Jared, Griffin, Reed, and Seth strode toward him and for the first time in close to an hour Tanner felt some hope. These men were like brothers and as he'd told Maddie, he trusted them with his and her life.

  They all gathered around Tanner waiting for instructions, but Jason cleared his throat. "There appear to be four men stationed around the perimeter of the house. One on each side. There are also four people in the home. We know that one is Madison Shay. From the GPS chip we placed in Kerr, we also know he’s in the house. We believe Fenton Jacks is also there. The last person is probably a henchman of Jacks. Currently all four people are clustered in the back. Madison's friend identified that area as one of the examining rooms."

  "Are there any weapons in the home that can be used against us?" Logan asked.

  "We assume Jacks and the other man are armed. Madison also told me there is one gun in the house. I told her to put it in her bedroom, which is upstairs." Tanner replied. "As far as I know there aren't any more weapons."

  "Does she listen to you?" Seth grinned.

  "Sometimes, " Tanner answered grimly. "Let's hope today's the day."

  Another truck pulled up and Sam a
lighted and headed for them, holding a large rolled up piece of paper.

  "I got it." Sam handed it to him, and Tanner unrolled it on the hood of the vehicle. He'd sent Sam to wake up the county clerk to get the architectural plans for Maddie's home.

  "This is the floor plan to Maddie's." Tanner shined a flashlight down and pointed to the rear of the home. "This is where the exam rooms are and here is where Maddie's bedroom and the lone spare weapon should be." Tanner pointed to the top floor of the house.

  The men studied the drawing and Griffin stroked his chin. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  Jason was leaning on the hood on his elbows, shaking his head. "I know what you're thinking and you're crazy. Let's call the house, set up a dialogue with Jacks. Once he knows he's surrounded, we can bargain for the hostages."

  Tanner shook his head. "No way. Jacks won't hesitate to kill. He'll never give up. He'd die and take everybody with him first. He's an arrogant SOB who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. He'll never think he can't get out of the situation."

  "You can't do shit until we take out the men surrounding the house," Jared scoffed. "Reed, Griffin, Seth, and I can take care of them. I assume you want them taken out of play but alive."

  Jason nodded. "Preferably. I really don't want to explain a high body count to the brass. It's bad enough I've let you talk me into, well, whatever you're about to talk me into."

  "I'm the law in this town. You can blame it on me." Tanner turned to Logan. "That leaves me and you going into the house."

  Logan peered down at the drawing and pointed to the window of Maddie's father's bedroom on the ground floor at the front of the house. "Looks like a good entry point. It's the farthest room from where they are." He flicked a glance at Scout. "Are we taking Scout?"

  Tanner scratched his faithful companion behind the ears. "What do you say, Scout? Want to come out of retirement tonight and help us get Maddie?"

  At Maddie's name, the dog's ears perked up and his tail wagged.

  "You're going to go in there?" Sherry asked incredulously. "You'll be killed."

  Tanner put his arm around her shoulders. She was worried for Maddie, and she didn't need to be worried about them as well.

  "It'll be okay. We know what we're doing."

  "You're walking into your death," Sherry declared. "Can't you throw tear gas into the house or something?"

  "Fenton will just shoot before it can take effect." Tanner shook his head. "This is the only way."

  Sherry sighed. "Then I should tell you that the easiest way to get in and out of the house without anyone downstairs knowing is through Madison's bedroom window. Oh, and the third stair step from the top creaks."

  Seth frowned and then smiled. "That's how she snuck out of the house as a teenager, isn't it?"

  "We didn't do anything wild." Sherry bit her bottom lip. "We would just go driving around or hang out and talk somewhere. It was no big thing."

  "So how did she get out of the window?" Tanner asked, although he had a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be.

  "She climbed down the tree. Heck, her bedroom window is probably still unlocked. It's been unlocked since we were teenagers."

  Tanner was going to have a long talk with Maddie about safety and security when this was all over.

  Fuck that. He'd have Maddie live with him and he wouldn't need to worry about unlocked windows in the future.

  He patted Scout on the head. "Looks like you're staying here. Even you can't climb a tree."

  Jason crossed his arms over his chest, a dubious expression on his face. "I believe you can take out the guards around the house, and it sounds like you won't have any trouble getting inside the house. Just what do you plan to do when you get in there?"

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Madison was in deep, deep shit. Fenton Jacks had a gun pointed at her and Tanner was miles away. She had a genius IQ, but it sure wasn't helping her at the moment. She had no idea what she should do or say. Instead she concentrated on her patient, blocking out any thoughts of what Fenton Jacks might do to her. She didn't hurry through the procedure, taking her time, and hoping against hope Sherry had realized something was wrong and called Deputy Sam.

  The fact that Sherry hadn't waltzed back into the house after walking Scout gave Madison hope that help was indeed on the way.

  "Aren't you done yet?" Fenton's henchman growled. He was pacing back and forth in the small room and making her even more nervous. She had to steel herself so her hands wouldn't shake as she worked. She had to hold herself together until help arrived. She wouldn’t allow herself to believe she was going to die here tonight. She had too much living left to do to go out like this.

  She glanced briefly at Fenton. His expression was one of disgust. He didn't seem to like the other man too much, but then Fenton didn't really have any friends in town.

  "Shut up and get out of this room. Fuck, you're driving me crazy. Go in the kitchen and get us something to drink." Fenton pointed to the door of the exam room.

  Madison bent over the wound and breathed a sigh of relief the victim was unconscious. She'd injected a local anesthetic in his thigh, and at the sight of the needle he'd passed out.

  "So why did you break him out of prison? Is he a friend of yours?" Madison probed the wound.

  Fenton chuckled. "Curious, huh? No, he's not a friend. In fact, he works for an enemy. That's why I want him alive. He has something I want."

  "Tanner told me about the war over the drug route." Madison didn't know why she couldn't keep her mouth shut, but she was compelled by something inside of her to speak.

  "That's old news. I won. They lost. Simple as that." Fenton leaned back in the plastic chair. "Where is good old Tanner anyway? I need to see him before I leave town. I was hoping he'd be here with you."

  "He should be here any minute." The lie slipped out easily. She wanted Fenton to think Tanner was on his way even though he wasn't anywhere near here and wouldn't be anytime soon.

  "Good. He and I need to have a...chat. Sort of a come to Jesus moment."

  Fenton didn't look perturbed that the sheriff of Springwood was on his way. If anything he looked damn happy. That wasn't good.

  Madison began to stitch the wound. She'd pulled one bullet from his thigh and dropped it in a metal cup to give to the police. She learned from her time in Chicago to save it for evidence.

  "He's lost a lot of blood. You shouldn't move him for a bit. Actually we should really get him to a hospital. That much blood loss is dangerous."

  Fenton shook his head. "You know I can't do that. He can stay here in your capable hands while I wait for your boyfriend." He scowled. "Shit, where is Hadley? I told him to get us something to drink."

  Madison indicated the set of double doors on the far end of the small waiting room. "He couldn't have gotten lost. But the doors are very thick. My mother insisted on having privacy in the house from the medical practice."

  Madison tied up the last stitch and placed a bandage over the thigh. "There. That should do for now, although I still think he needs to go to a hospital."

  "Shut up." Fenton moved restlessly around the confining space. "Where the fuck is Hadley?"

  "Maybe he was hungry. I think there was some popcorn on the counter." It sounded stupid, but she was wondering herself what the man was up to. He'd been gone awhile.

  Fenton's eyes narrowed and he grabbed her arm, dragging her into the waiting room and to the back door. He pulled it open, looked left and right briefly, he cursed, and then slammed the door shut, locking it.

  "Fuck. Fuck. My men aren’t in position. Looks like we have company, Doc." He placed the gun at her temple. Her heart raced and sweat broke out all over. She was screwed. It wasn't supposed to end like this, but here it was. She was at the wrong end of a gun of all things. All the crap that had happened to her in Chicago hadn't put her in this kind of danger, but coming home had. Now that she had stitched up the man, she was expendable.

  Hopefully, wh
oever was here was on her side.

  "It's too late, Fenton. If they're here, you're probably surrounded."

  Her voice sounded more hopeful than sure.

  Fenton's eyes were cold and hard, his grip on her upper arm merciless, making her wince in pain. "They must be in the house. You're my ticket through the cops."

  Madison tried to take deep breaths. She needed to stay calm and think. Think hard. She'd been given self-defense training in Chicago. Now her mind was whirling through everything she'd ever been taught, read, or even seen on television.

  Conflicting advice made her head hurt.

  Should she go limp and become dead weight? Should she try to knee him in the groin? Maybe she should try and become friends and talk him out of this?

  He didn't give her time to make a decision. He dragged her through the double doors and down the hall to the kitchen, the barrel of the gun pressed to the side of her head the entire time. He came to abrupt halt in the doorway.

  Madison's eyes widened. Fenton's henchman was sitting on one of her kitchen chairs, duct tape wrapped around his hands and feet and a strip over his mouth. He was jerking in his bonds, but clearly whoever had done this had done it well. The silver strips of tape wrapped around his chest and the back of the chair held him firmly. He wasn't going anywhere until someone set him loose. His eyes were bulging and he was trying to say something but his words were muffled.

  Fenton's complexion went white, his eyes darting everywhere. Beads of sweat had popped out on his forehead and for the first time he looked like he wasn't completely in control.

  A sound came from the living room area and Fenton fired at it, the blast leaving ringing in her ears and her heart almost stopping in her chest. He placed the gun back at her temple and tugged her into the center of the living room. He still kept looking around and his grip had tightened painfully on her arm. If she lived through this, she was going to have one hell of a bruise.

  Another sound, this time from the left side of the living room near the foyer. This time Fenton didn't fire, but he jumped and yanked her arm hard enough to make her grit her teeth. His head was jerking from side to side and his breathing was ragged. He was genuinely shook up as he looked for the source of the noise.