by Barbara Gee
“This is far enough, kid. Now I suggest you tell me exactly what you told Jimmy Callahan.”
“Wha--what are you talking about? I don’t know Jimmy Callahan.”
In less than a second Tuck had his gun drawn and aimed at the kid’s head. “Slowly take out your gun and toss it over to that tree,” he said, his voice low and menacing. “Don’t make me ask again.”
The kid did as Tuck asked, his eyes darting toward the front door of the station. “One yell and Chief will be out here,” he said, his voice wavering. “Even an FBI agent can’t threaten a cop for no reason.”
“But I do have a reason, as you well know. Go ahead and yell though, if it makes you feel better. I don’t mind an audience. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.” Tuck put his gun away but somehow that didn’t make him any less threatening.
Five minutes later Tuck opened the station door and shoved the weeping cop inside.
“He’s the one. He called Jimmy.”
The police chief was incredulous, but one look at his man was enough to convince him that Tuck spoke the truth. He met Tuck’s gaze, his own eyes full of remorse.
“Well ain’t that a shame. Anson here is my nephew. I thought I could make him into a good cop. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Agent Simon. I was wrong, and he’ll pay.”
Tuck nodded acknowledgement and as the chief cuffed his sobbing nephew, the five FBI agents huddled in the corner so Tuck could relate what he’d learned. The kid hadn’t been hard to break. He was nothing but a coward hiding behind his uniform. Simply knowing he’d been found out was enough to have him singing like a bird. Unfortunately, the only thing he could tell Tuck was that he’d been on Jimmy’s payroll for almost a year, getting five hundred dollars a month just to keep his ears open and let Jimmy know if he heard about anything that affected him or his operation. This was the first time the young cop had reported in.
“I have the number he called,” Tuck said, “but he said it didn’t connect him to Jimmy directly, it was someone else. Someone who obviously does have a connection to Jimmy and was able to warn him.”
“Send the number to Emma, see if she can trace the owner,” Tim said.
“Already done,” Tuck assured him.
“All right then. The guys and I will wait here to interrogate the seven men coming in. You go on and take the chief’s car and head to the hospital. Since Madison doesn’t have any family, I’ll pull some strings and get you appointed her medical power of attorney. Also, with Jimmy still on the loose, we’d better get a guard outside Madison’s room.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Tuck said, taking the car keys the chief handed him and moving toward the door. Part of him wanted to be in on the interrogations, but he trusted his fellow agents to get the job done. Right now he needed to be at the hospital.
“Stay in touch,” Tim said.
“Likewise,” Tuck replied over his shoulder, breaking into a jog as he headed for the car. He buckled in, then turned on the flashing blue lights in the grille and sped off into the night, guided by the map app on his phone.
He forced everything else from his mind. Madison Harper was his sole focus right now, and he would do everything in his power to make sure she received the best care and came to no further harm at the hands of Jimmy Callahan.
Chapter 11
Tuck called Libby when he was close to the hospital. She was on her way as well, but the safe house was a lot further away than Bailey, where Tuck had been, and it would be another hour before she arrived.
“I’m going to beat you there,” he told her. “I got away earlier than I thought, and I’m only a few minutes out. I’ll call you if I’m able to get an update on her condition before you get here.”
“Thanks, Tuck, I’m worried sick. I can’t stand that she was hurt just because she’s my friend. Have you caught him yet?”
“We have seven of his men, but not Jimmy himself. We’re hoping the ones we have can lead us to him.”
“You’ll get him, I know you will.”
Tuck wiped a hand wearily down his face, not sure he was worthy of her faith in him.
“I’m giving it my best shot, Lib, I can promise you that. I’m pulling into the parking lot of the hospital now. Talk to you soon.”
He hung up and jogged across the lot, bursting into the reception area, which was deserted except for the desk attendant. Startled by his sudden appearance, she shrank from his imposing form, her hand going to her phone to summon help.
“FBI,” Tucker said quickly, pulling out his badge. “I need to find Madison Harper. She was airlifted in a couple hours ago. I’m guessing she’s still in surgery, but I need to talk to someone who can give me an update on her condition.”
The elderly woman squinted at his badge, then punched some keys on her computer. “Ms. Harper is in the surgical unit, sir. Go up to the second floor and take a right out of the elevator, then another right, and you’ll see the waiting room. There’s a nurses’ station just down from there, and they can keep you updated on the patient.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your help. And when a woman named Libby Simon comes in, please send her to the same place.”
“I’ll do that, sir.”
Tucker found the elevator and followed the directions to the nurses’ station, where two women dressed in teal colored scrubs chatted and laughed. They grew silent quickly when they noticed him approaching. The younger one stood to greet him, smiling appreciatively as her eyes swept over his body before meeting his intense gaze.
“Well hello there, I’m Trina, an RN in this unit. We don’t get many visitors this time of night, but if Betty from downstairs let you come up I’m sure she had a good reason. What can I help you with?”
Tucker flashed his badge again. “Special Agent Tucker Simon,” he said shortly. “I’m here for Madison Harper. I’d like to speak to one of her doctors as soon as possible.”
The other woman, identified on her nametag as the Unit Clerk, stood up, tapping a clipboard. “That’s the girl who was unaccompanied,” she said in a clipped, nasally voice. “Do you know when her next of kin will be here? I have paperwork that needs to be completed.”
Tuck looked over at her, his blue eyes icy. “It’ll be taken care of,” he said shortly. The clerk immediately plopped back down onto her chair, her own eyes wide.
Tuck turned back to the nurse. “Her doctor?” he prompted.
“She’s in OR-8, Dr. Stanton is her head surgeon. I can let you know when she’s out of surgery, but I can’t guarantee the doctor will talk to you if you’re not related to her or otherwise authorized,” she said apologetically.
Tucker took out his phone and checked his email. He opened a message from Tim that said: POA incoming, two hours max.
“I’ll have a power of attorney document soon,” he said tightly. “And I’ll be waiting right there.” He pointed to the waiting area. “Don’t forget about me.”
“I won’t.” Trina promised. She looked him in the eye, her flirtatiousness now gone. “I saw her before she went into the OR. I hope you catch whoever did that to her,” she said softly.
“We will,” Tucker replied. He prayed he was right.
Time dragged as he waited for the doctor. He called the local police department to request that an officer be placed outside Madison’s room around the clock, and was assured that the first in the rotation would arrive within the hour. Then he checked in to see how the questioning of Jimmy’s men was going. A frustrated Tim told him that Jimmy apparently didn’t share much information with his hired hands; they had managed to learn where Jimmy’s gang had been heading, but not much else. The sheriff would have a couple deputies check out the location, just in case, but no one expected Jimmy to be there.
Tim also reported that Zeke wasn’t among the men arrested, which was slightly encouraging. Maybe he would find a new way to communicate with them. Or maybe Zeke’s problem with Jimmy had only been his boss’s treatment of Madison, and now tha
t she was out of the picture he was content to once again become Jimmy’s mindless lackey.
It could go either way. Tuck ran his hands repeatedly through his short dark hair, frustrated and worried.
When Libby burst out of the elevator, he met her in the hall, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She sobbed into his shoulder and he walked her into the far corner of the waiting room, where it was dimly lit and too far away for the nurses to hear their conversation.
“I’m glad you came, sis. I’ve been going crazy here by myself.”
“I thought we’d never get here,” Libby said when she had calmed down a bit. She dug in her purse for a tissue. “Frances doesn’t believe in breaking speed limits, I can tell you that. How is Maddy? Is she out of surgery?”
“Not yet, but that’s all I know. I’m hoping a doctor will come out soon, but I don’t have a POA yet so I’m not sure they’ll even talk to me. I’d raise hell and demand it if I thought it would help, but I know they have their policies, just like anywhere else.”
Libby wiped her eyes and looked up at him fearfully. “I know you said it’s bad, Tuck, but how bad? I don’t want to know, but I have to know. What did that monster do to her?”
Tucker blew out a long breath. “Unfortunately that’s a question I can answer all too well.” He took a seat and tugged her down into the chair beside him.
“What do you mean by that?”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and middle finger. “I saw it, Lib. The bastard video taped it and we watched as it happened. Two sessions.” He put his arm around his sister and pulled her against his side. “She’s lucky to be alive,” he said roughly.
Although it was the last thing he wanted to do, Tuck told his sister what Madison had suffered through, not sparing any details. By the time he finished, Libby had her arms wrapped around her stomach and was rocking with the pain she felt on her friend’s behalf.
“Damn it all, Tucker,” she said shakily. “I can’t even tell you how much I hate that Maddy was taken in my place, it’s just so incredibly wrong. It should have been me, but honestly, I don’t think I could have survived it. I’m not strong like her. I wish I was, but I’m just not.”
“You’re stronger than you think, Lib, but yeah, your friend is something else. She never did give Jimmy the satisfaction of seeing her fear.” Tuck kissed the top of Libby’s head, then stood up and looked over at the nurses’ station. “I don’t know how much longer I can be patient. What could be taking so long?”
“Tucker.” Libby reached up and grabbed his arm. “What you said about the guy who won the bidding and had that time alone with Maddy—are you sure he didn’t hurt her? Didn’t rape her?”
“I’m almost positive. I think he made sure he had the winning bid just to keep someone else from hurting her. Otherwise, why would he have tried so hard to help us rescue her?”
“God, I hope you’re right.” Libby raised her tear stained face to look at him. “Maddy wants her husband to be her first and last partner, it’s really important to her. If those bastards ruined that for her in any way, I’d welcome the chance to break some bones myself.”
Tuck nodded, his anger spiking yet again. “I know a few FBI agents who might like to help.”
When his phone began to vibrate he grabbed it, thankful for the distraction. He brought up his inbox and found a new email from Tim, with the medical power of attorney attached. Armed with the form, he headed toward the nurses’ station. It was time to get some answers.
The two women at the desk watched his approach warily, obviously afraid he was going to have questions they couldn’t answer. They were saved when a door at the end of the hall opened and a doctor walked into the unit.
“That’s Ms. Harper’s surgeon,” the nurse named Trina said helpfully, as the tall, weary looking man walked toward them. He was dressed in blue scrubs, a disposable paper hat still on his head.
The doctor’s eyes met Tucker’s intense gaze, then he looked at Libby, who had walked up quickly behind her brother.
“I’m Dr. Stanton. Are you Madison Harper’s family?”
“She has no family. I’m Tucker Simon with the FBI, and I’m temporarily in charge of her care.” Tuck took out his phone and brought up the document authorizing him to be Madison’s power of attorney.
The doctor studied the document, then nodded shortly. “Thank you, Agent Simon. If you could send a copy of that to our clerk here on the floor I’d appreciate it. It’ll mean less hassle for all of us. Now let’s go sit down so I can tell you how Madison is doing.”
The waiting room was still empty, so they could talk freely. Dr. Stanton took a seat and waited for the other two to do the same. Then he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped.
“I’m going to give it to you straight. Ms. Harper has a long road ahead of her, but her life is no longer in danger. We managed to stop the internal bleeding, and believe me, there was a lot of it. She’s lucky to be alive. With the amount of blood loss she suffered, I’m not sure how she survived long enough for us to operate.”
Libby let out a sob, then pressed a fist to her mouth, motioning for the doctor to continue.
“Much of our surgery was exploratory. It took a while to get the blood suctioned out, and then we had to find all the bleeders and stop them so we could see her injuries. Then we fixed everything we could find that needed it. We did have to remove her spleen, as it was beyond saving. Her liver is also badly lacerated, but we concluded that leaving it to heal naturally was the best route to go in this instance. Her kidneys are bruised, but not otherwise damaged. Thankfully that appears to be the extent of her internal injuries. Well, except for the fact that she has a number of broken ribs, and one of the ribs punctured her right lung. It was partially collapsed, so we put in a chest tube. That will need to stay in for a couple of days, but the lung has reinflated nicely. I don’t believe either the lung or the ribs will cause her any long term problems. She’s weak and severely dehydrated, and as I said she lost a lot of blood. We gave her three units already, and we’ll monitor to see whether another is needed. We had a couple of close calls while she was anesthetized, but she’s in the recovery room now and the worst is over. I’m afraid she does face some additional surgery to repair the broken bones in her legs and arm, but we won’t know exactly what she’s facing until we do a lot of X-rays. We also need to get a CT scan of her head. It looks like she took a number of hard blows there, and I’m worried about brain trauma and also skull and facial fractures.”
“Oh, dear god,” Libby breathed. “Poor Maddy. How could anyone do that to an innocent girl? What a sick, twisted creep.”
“I would have to concur,” the doctor said, anger flashing in his weary eyes. “She’s very lucky she got here when she did.”
“When can we see her?” Libby asked.
“She should wake up within the next couple of hours, and then we’ll move her out of the recovery room. I’m not sure how coherent she’ll be, though. She’ll be groggy from the anesthesia and the pain meds, and we don’t know whether she’s suffered any brain damage. At any rate, a nurse will come and let you know as soon as she’s settled in a room in ICU.”
“When will you do the X-rays and other tests?” Tuck asked.
“I hope before noon tomorrow. We’ll give her a chance to wake up and we’ll monitor her closely to make sure she’s up for it, but we really need to get them done as soon as possible.”
Tuck nodded and they all stood.
“Just to let you know, Doc,” Tuck said, “Madison is still in danger from her abductor. We’re going to have a law enforcement officer stationed outside her room around the clock.”
“Understood, Agent. And godspeed in bringing that monster to justice.”
“Appreciate it, Dr. Stanton. Thanks for what you’ve done for Madison.”
“Yes, thank you,” Libby added before sinking weakly back down into a chair. The doctor left and she looked up at T
uck, her eyes filling once again.
“What if she does have brain damage? I didn’t even think about that. She might never be the same Maddy, and I can’t even tell you how tragic that would be. The world needs more of her, not fewer.”
Tuck lowered himself heavily beside her, his lack of sleep and emotional exhaustion starting to catch up with him.
“I think her brain function is ok. I didn’t tell you this before, but at the warehouse where we found her, she talked to me. I didn’t even know she was conscious, but I was telling her to hang on, and then she said my name.”
Libby sat up straight, staring at him in surprise. “She said your name? Did she get a good look at you? I know she’s seen a lot of photos of you in my apartment, she must have recognized you from those.”
“She couldn’t have. It was dark and I’m pretty sure her eyes are swollen shut.”
“So how did she know it was you?”
Tucker shrugged. “Probably because Jimmy talked about me so much, always addressing me during the videos, blaming me for what was happening to her. I guess she knew I’d be looking for her.”
“So is that all she said? Just your name?”
“No, she said, ‘Tucker’, as in a question, asking if it was me. I said yeah, it’s me, and then she said she knew I’d find her.” Tuck shook his head. “She even thanked me.”
Libby laughed through her tears. “That’s my Maddy. Always the optimist. God I love that girl. And you’re right, if she had the presence of mind to ask if it was you who found her, her brain is fine. It has to be. Thank God.”
The elevator down the hall dinged, and a tall, muscular police officer got off and strode toward the nurses’ station. Tuck got up and intercepted him, bringing him back to their corner of the waiting room. They made their introductions, and Tuck outlined the procedures he wanted him to follow. All medical staff who would need access to Madison’s room would report in to the officer on duty as a group, at the beginning of every shift, so they could vouch for each other. Aside from medical personnel, only he and Libby would be allowed inside the room. If anyone else attempted entry, the officer was to call Tuck immediately, and if he couldn’t be reached, the FBI office in Charlotte. Tuck furnished the man with the contact information, then invited him to wait there with himself and Libby until they got the word that Madison had been taken to her room.
