Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1)

by Reese A. Stephens

  “Jonathan!” I shout, running to him.

  I skid to a stop, dropping my purse and briefcase as I kneel at his head. I feel for a pulse, it's there and steady. I grab my phone and call Trevor, but he doesn't answer. I call the hospital, but my phone starts beeping that it's lost its signal. Quickly, I check Jonathan over. He's been shot in the shoulder. It could be potentially fatal, but I don’t believe it will be. It looks as though the bullet went straight through. I'm about to grab my bag when he wakes up with a start.

  “Run,” he breathes.

  “No, I need to stop the bleeding. Be still.” He grabs my hand.

  “Shayla, run, please,” he begs.

  His eyes are wide as he stares behind me. I start to stand to follow his orders and to at least get him help, when I'm grabbed from behind. I know immediately I won't get away. I recognize the smell of chloroform as the effects rush through me. The last thing I see is the frightened face of Jonathan.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ryan

  “Dude! You just killed my guy!” Dylan shouts at Tyler as they play video games on my system in the den.

  “Hey! That was an accident. Why’d you do that?” I step around the corner as Dylan and Tyler start a shoving match. Normally I wouldn’t say anything, but Dylan still gets dizzy from his head bump.

  “Easy, guys,” I warn.

  “Oh, man. Sorry, Dyl. I forgot,” Tyler apologizes.

  Dylan waves him off. “I’m fine.”

  They continue to play and I go back to my work on the CCTV files. So far we’ve watched about a week’s worth of files. We haven’t found anyone coming or going from the doctors locker room. Shayla doesn’t remember the exact day she received the notes other than the one from yesterday, but aside from doctors and nurses, no one enters that room. This leads us to believe that it’s an employee of the hospital that’s leaving the notes. My first guess is Dr. Daniels, but without proof I can’t do much but keep an eye on him.

  “I can’t look at this anymore,” I tell Marsh and Paul as I stand and head into my kitchen. My eyes are blurry from staring at the computer for so long. I grab a bottle of water from my fridge. I spy the bottle of oil Shay left me for tension and decide to give it a try.

  “What’s the smile for?” Marsh asks as he leans against the counter across from me.

  I hold up the bottle of oil. “Shay is into essential oils. She made this up for me. It’s been so long since anyone cared for my well-being and it just reminds me of how lucky I am. I was a complete jerk to her. I knew how she felt about having things decided for her. I should have talked to her and got her more involved.”

  “Do you think she would have gone along with it?”

  “No, but she would have compromised better. Now, she’s angry with me.” Frowning, I grab my phone and notice it’s about ten minutes past the time she should be home. I try her cell, but get no answer.

  “Have you heard from Jon?” I ask.

  Paul shakes his head as both he and Marsh pull out their cells. “Ry,” I turn to see an ashen looking Riley.

  “What is it?”

  “Jon just called. It was hard to hear him, but he said that someone took Shayla from the parking garage and shot him. We need to get down there.”

  I stand there, shocked. Mathis moved quicker than I expected. I should have anticipated this. This can’t be happening. I can’t lose her. My mind starts to flash back to my childhood with her. Coming over to her house, kissing her skinned knee, her parents funeral, holding her tightly, the night she snuck into my room, missing her, leaving her, finding her again. I was always her protector. I’d been there through so much, but when she needed me the most, I wasn’t there. When she had Dylan, for the past sixteen years I haven’t been there. Now, she’s gone, and to top it all off, she thinks I’m angry with her.

  “Ryan, snap out of it, man. We’ve got to get moving,” Marsh or Paul says, I can’t even tell. My mind is a frozen haze of Shayla.

  A hand touches my arm, startling me. I look into the eyes of my son. Mine and Shayla’s son. “Dad, you have to help Mom.” His voice is soft and terrified. He should be scared. I am.

  I snap out of my daze and rub my hand over my face. “I’ll find her,” I tell him.

  “I know. Hurry.” I hug my boy to me.

  “Riley, stay here with Dylan. Don’t leave this house.”

  “Sir,” Riley answers.

  “Dad, I want to go.” Dylan looks at me pleadingly, but it's not happening.

  I shake my head. “No, it's too dangerous. I can't concentrate on finding your mom if I have to worry about you too. Please, just stay here with Riley. Tyler can stay too. I just need to know you're safe.”

  He sulks, but finally says, “Okay. Please find her.”

  His eyes begin to tear up and I can't help but to pull him into my arms again. I kiss his head, tell him it'll be okay, that I'll find her, and that I love him. I just hope I'm telling the truth, and I do, in fact, find Shayla. Marsh and Paul are already gearing up. They have their weapons locked and loaded. Paul has gotten our communications together and is working with Riley to be sure everything is a go. I grab my bullet-proof vest and gun harness, putting them on as Dylan watches it all from the edge of the room. I look at him for a few seconds.

  “I'll find her.”

  “I know you will. Just watch your back. I don't want to lose you either.” I say nothing as I start to get choked up, but I nod to him so he knows I've heard.

  “Let’s go,” I announce to the guys. It took us about ten minutes to gather what we need, but it's too much time as far as I’m concerned. She'll be long gone by now. Unfortunately, she was probably long gone by the time Jon called it in.

  Marsh drives and I take shot-gun. Paul sets up in the back with his laptop. “I've got the tracker up and running. It looks like they were headed down South Street to the lake.”

  I turn in my seat to see the screen of Paul's laptop. “It stops?” I ask.

  “Yeah, it just ends. The signal was strong for a few minutes then it just goes out.”

  “They threw it in the water,” I surmise.

  “Most likely. I'm sure Mathis knows you'd put a tracker on her somewhere. They probably dumped all her stuff.”

  “What about her cell phone?” Marsh asks. He continues to drive swiftly to the hospital. We need to make sure Jon is okay and scan the area for clues. I'm hoping the security cameras caught something.

  Riley clicks away on his laptop then says, “Nope, looks like it was disconnected about a mile from the tracker. They either turned it off or smashed it, but that gets us a mile closer.” His tone is hopeful and I’m grateful for his optimism. God knows I need some.

  “Can you turn it on remotely?” I ask. He nods as his fingers fly over the keyboard. He curses under his breath.

  “It’s either smashed or the battery is out,” Paul answers. I slump against my seat. I have to find her.

  We pull into the hospital garage and find Jon sitting on a gurney getting stitched up. “You okay?” I ask.

  “It went clean through. They want me to go inside, but I told them no way,” Jon tells us. I shake my head at him. Stubborn mule.

  “Tell me what happened?” I demand.

  Jon sighs and rubs his head. “I was waiting for Shayla in the car. I saw this guy lurking around, so I got out and followed him. He went to a van, about a block down. He talked to two men; they were all dressed in dark clothes, nothing identifying. The van was black with tinted windows. The license plate number is written down in my SUV. I doubt it’ll come up though.”

  “What happened after you followed them?” Marsh asks.

  Jon rubs his head again. I can tell he’s fatigued. He should get checked out, but I know he won’t. “They got in and left the guy. I waited for him to pass me and then I followed him back to the garage. They must’ve realized I’d followed, because the next thing I know I’m hit in the head and shot. When I came to, Shayla was running to me, but before she coul
d get to me, the van I’d seen in the street pulls up and two of the guys grab her. I think they chloroformed her, she went limp fast, but I tried to fight them off. I’m so sorry, Ryan. I failed you.”

  “No, you didn’t. We’ll find her. You did what you could. I shouldn’t have had you out here alone. We should’ve had a camera or something on you at the very least.” I was so stupid. I should have never listened to Shayla. Even if I had to go behind her back, it would have been better than what she’s facing right now.

  Paul comes back over to us, looking grim. “I don’t see anything here we can use. The security system was down for a routine check. It’s possible that the persons involved have someone inside the hospital helping, it’ll be difficult to tell right now.”

  “Let’s get down to the water, where the signal was lost. We might be able to find something there,” I tell them.

  We help Jon into the back of the car and take off. There’s nothing at the marina that we can find at night and the signal from her phone died around the town border. It’s really impossible to know where they went from there. There isn’t anything else we can do right now so we head back. I want to check on Dylan and maybe regroup a bit. I groan as I flop down on my couch. I feel like a failure.

  “Dad?” My eyes burn with tears at the sound of his voice. “Where is she?” he asks, voice wavering.

  I sit up and look up at him. “Come here,” I say, gesturing for him to join me.

  He sits beside me and I wrap my arms around him, letting him cry into my chest. I try to hold it together, but fail at that too. After a while, we eventually stop crying and just sit silently. My arm stays around his shoulders, but he’s not curled into me like he was.

  “I’ll find her,” I say softly.

  “Is she dead?” he asks, voice cracking with new tears.

  I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees. “I hope not. God, I hope not.”

  “Boss.” I look up to see Jessica from the station standing in front of me. I didn’t realize she was even here.

  “Jess?”

  She smiles softly. “I know this is probably going to get me fired, but I think what the chief is doing is wrong. We needed you there. Those guys don’t know what they’re doing. They let Harvey go.”

  I shoot to my feet. “What?” I ask angrily.

  She nods. “They let him out this morning. Said Harvey would lead them to the other guys and then they’d catch them both. But they lost Harvey about an hour later.”

  Curses fly out of my mouth at lightning speed; I pick up the first thing I see and throw it as hard as I can into the wall. “I told him. I told him they didn’t know what they were doing. Now, Shayla has to suffer the consequences!”

  Jessica pales. This isn’t her fault. I know that. She’s actually a better detective than the guy the chief asked me to train. She listens and takes instruction.

  “I’m so sorry, Ryan.” Her voice is devastatingly sad.

  “It’s not your fault. You did what you could. I just need to figure out what to do now.”

  “Well, you can start by getting some rest. I took a nap this afternoon, so I’m good to go. Riley and I are going to start mapping out the surrounding areas and see what we can come up with. We’ll find her, Ryan. You don’t have to do this alone. There are several of us at the station who will help you no matter what. I’m on vacation for the next week. I can do whatever needs to be done.”

  I squeeze her hand. “Thank you. That really means a lot.”

  “No thanks needed. You’d do it for me.” I nod, because she’s right. I would.

  “Dyl, let’s try to get a little rest. We need to be sharp to find her,” I tell my son. He stands and follows me up towards my room. I turn to him to ask what he’s doing, but he speaks before I can.

  “Can I stay with you?”

  He looks lost and scared, like a little boy and not a six-foot-tall teenager. I nod and he follows me into my room. We change for bed. I let him have the bathroom while I get ready. I don’t want to sleep long, but I really do need some rest. He comes back in lounge pants and a t-shirt.

  “You can have the right,” I tell him as I climb into the left side of my king sized bed.

  “I’m a wuss,” he says with a huff as he sits down on the opposite side of the bed.

  I can't help but give him that crooked grin Shayla loves so much. I rub my chest as the thought of her shoots a pain through me. “You're not a wuss. It’s okay to need your dad every once in a while. I'm not going to tell anyone you slept in my bed. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things parents do. They let their kids’ crash in their beds when times are bad. Honestly, I think I'll sleep better knowing you're right here and you're safe.”

  “Yeah, okay. But if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll never forgive you.” He gives me a tough glare, which makes me smile again.

  I mime zipping my lips. He rolls his eyes as he pulls the covers back and lies down. “I won't tell.” I hold out my fist for him to bump and he does. “Night. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  We lie in the quiet for a long time. Long enough that I think he should be asleep. Suddenly he rolls over and says, “What will happen to me if she's not okay?”

  I copy his position before answering. “I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll be there for you, but I don't think she's dead. I know this might sound horrible, no it is horrible, but the guy who we believe is behind this, isn't going to hurt her right now. He wants to toy with me. He loves the thrill of making people suffer.”

  “Making her suffer?”

  I grimace. “Possibly, but I don't want to think about that. We're working on this round the clock. Jess and Riley are out there right now putting maps together and getting stuff ready for daylight. We'll do everything we can. I promise.”

  “I know you will. I'm just scared.”

  “Me too,” I admit.

  Eventually we both fall asleep and the next thing I know, Jessica is shaking me awake. “Ryan,” she whispers.

  I bolt upright. “What?”

  “We found something,” she says. I throw the covers back and dart out of the room after her, not bothering to change.

  “What's going on?” I ask as I enter our make shift headquarters in my den. Riley clears his throat. Everyone is looking grim. I begin to freak out. “Tell me what's going on right now!” I demand.

  “There's a body near the pier. It matches Shayla’s description,” Riley responds hesitantly.

  I feel like the earth has opened up and swallowed me whole. This can’t be happening. This isn’t how he plays the game. He should be contacting me, leaving me a clue, something. He doesn’t just kill his victim, especially one who he’s using to get to someone else. I spent almost two years with this guy. He’s sneaky; hence the name The Fox. He playfully torments his victims and anyone else from whom he seeks a response or reaction. He delights in others suffering. That’s what made him the perfect mob boss; it’s also what made him so hard to catch. He had the means and know-how to cover his tracks. It wasn’t until I infiltrated his organization that we were able to catch him. Whoever let this piece of scum out of prison is going to pay! Shay and Dylan wouldn’t have been in any danger if it weren’t for that.

  “Boss,” Jessica says, touching my arm to get my attention.

  I blink and few times, coming out of my thoughts. “It’s not her,” I say solemnly.

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Jonathan says.

  But I do know. He won’t break from his pattern. He won’t hurt Shayla until he has me where he wants me. “Let’s go,” I command, not bothering to explain myself to my men.

  “Are you going to get dressed?” Marsh asks as I grab my gun. I look down at myself and shake my head.

  “Yeah,” I grumble before heading to my room where my son is still sleeping. Quietly, I grab a pair of jeans and a shirt then go to my bathroom to change.

  Dylan is sitting up, yawing and stretching when I c
ome out. “Where are you going? Did you find her?” he asks, jumping out of bed.

  I shake my head. “We’re going to go investigate something. We’ll be back soon.”

  “Can I go?”

  “No, bud. This is serious and highly dangerous. I can’t take you. You can stay here with Riley and help with the mapping if you want.” He sighs and nods his head. I squeeze his shoulder. “We’ll find her. It’s going to be okay.”

  “Stop telling me that,” he says angrily as he stalks out of the room.

  “Dylan,” I call after him.

  He wheels around so quickly, I almost run into him. “No! Stop lying to me. That’s what you’re doing when you say it’s going to be okay. You’re lying. You have no clue if she’s okay. She could be hurt or dying or dead! You don’t know!”

  “You’re right. I don’t know. But I do know The Fox. I know how he works. He’ll want me to witness whatever it is he’s going to do. He’s playing the same game he always has. He likes to make people suffer.”

  “What if it isn’t this guy?”

  “I have no reason to think it’s anyone else. He’s sent me clues and messages. I’ll take every precaution I can, Dylan. You’re just going to have to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

  “I don’t know if I can trust you. You haven’t been there my whole life, she has!” He turns and storms out of the house before I can say anything else.

  “I’m on him,” Paul says as he follows Dylan.

  “He’s just stressed, that’s all. I’m sure he trusts you,” Jessica says, trying to comfort me, but it doesn’t.

  Dylan’s right. I haven’t been there for him; we have a fledgling relationship. Sure he calls me dad, but I think it’s more about wanting to fit in with the other kids his age than because he feels that way towards me. I choose to ignore this situation for now and deal with the death of the girl, who most likely only died because she looked like Shayla. This is all on me.

  “Let’s go,” I command, this time dressed and ready.

  I leave Riley and Paul behind with Dylan, as Marsh, Jess, and I head out to the crime scene.

  “I knew you’d show up,” Chief says exasperated.