by Laura Scott
Gabby’s eyes widened and this time, instead of balking, she edged around him and then ran down the hall to her call room. He couldn’t deny a flash of relief when he watched her punch the buttons for the code and then disappear inside.
Shane debated waiting for backup, since he felt certain the intruder who’d done this was long gone.
But the small bathroom was located on the far wall, behind the door. There was a remote possibility that the intruder was still in there, hiding.
Lying in wait.
Shane couldn’t imagine why the perp would stick around, unless he planned on making another attempt to kidnap Gabby. But then why leave a mess behind as an early warning?
No, the more he turned the idea over in his mind, the more convinced he became that the call room was empty. He’d wait for backup because there was no sense in getting on Griff’s bad side again.
One of the hospital security guards arrived, a young guy who appeared about thirty pounds overweight, his chest heaving from exertion. “I’m the senior officer on night shift. Someone hiding in there?” he asked between panting breaths.
“Doubtful, but I’m waiting for backup to make sure. In the meantime, I need you to stand guard outside call room number ten. Dr. Fielding is in there.”
“Got it,” the security officer said, hurrying farther down the hall.
A security officer armed with nothing more than a Taser wasn’t exactly reassuring, but at least the young man seemed to take his job seriously.
Feeling impatient, Shane called Dispatch again. “This is officer twelve, what’s the status on backup?”
“Entering the ER now, should be there in a few minutes,” the dispatcher said calmly.
“Ten-four.” Shane tightened his grip on his weapon, keeping his eye on the call room. A young third-shift deputy by the name of Jay Sanford arrived less than a minute later.
“The room has been tossed,” he told Jay. “Dr. Fielding used this room last night, so I believe the perp assumed she was still here. I doubt he decided to hang around, but we need to be sure. The bathroom is located on the far wall, across from the bed. I’ll go in first.”
Jay nodded. “I’m ready.”
Shane ducked into the room, first verifying there was no one behind the door.
The bathroom door remained shut and he crept forward, keeping up against the wall. Bullets could go through flimsy doors and drywall without a problem.
He twisted the door handle, glad it wasn’t locked. When he pushed the door open, he was stunned to see a guy in scrubs lying with his hands tied behind his back and a rag tied over his mouth, apparently unconscious on the floor. Shane dropped to his knees, feeling for a pulse, thankfully finding one.
“Get Gabby in here right away,” he shouted to Jay. “Room ten, go!”
The man on the floor groaned as Shane pulled out his pocketknife to cut through his bindings. As he was removing the gag, Gabby arrived.
“Oh, no,” she cried, dropping down beside the prone figure. “We need to get help from the ER.”
“I’ll go,” the security officer volunteered.
“Do you know him?” Shane asked Gabby as she carefully eased the man over on his back.
She nodded, her expression grim. “Brandon Johnson, one of our trauma attending physicians. Did Creighton do this?”
Shane sighed. “I believe so. After all, this was the room you were using until late last night.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Gabby muttered. “How could he find out the combination on the door? Even if he did come in to search the room, why would he stick around to wait?”
“He was probably expecting you, Gabby,” Shane said slowly. “And if that’s the case, it’s just sheer luck on our part that we moved several call rooms down.”
“Poor Steve,” she whispered brokenly. “He was hurt and it’s all my fault.”
“Not your fault—Creighton’s,” Shane reminded her.
“I can’t stay here,” Gabby said in a hushed tone, her tortured gaze meeting his. “I have to take a leave of absence from work. I can’t keep putting my colleagues at risk.”
“I know,” Shane murmured. “I’m sorry, Gabby.”
At that moment the security guard arrived, bringing an ER doctor, a nurse and a gurney.
Gabby insisted on helping as they rolled the physician onto a long board. There wasn’t a lot of room in the tiny bathroom, but somehow they managed to use the long board to lift him up and carry him out to the waiting gurney.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Gabby repeated helplessly.
“We’ll take good care of him,” the ER doctor assured her before they whisked Brandon away.
Gabby stood in the hallway, staring after the retreating gurney, looking completely shell-shocked.
“Don’t do this, Gabby,” he said in a gruff tone. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is. I should have anticipated something like this. After all, you told me I needed to move to a different room. I should have told the operator to keep this room vacant. If something happens to Brandon...” Her voice trailed off.
He wrapped his arm around her slim shoulders and drew her close. “He’s going to be okay. Creighton didn’t shoot him, which makes me think that this guy might have caught him by surprise.”
For an instant Gabby leaned against him, as if suddenly weary. Then she abruptly straightened. “We need to get out of here before anything else happens.”
He nodded, glancing over at Jay. “I’d like a crime scene tech to go through the room, just in case.”
“On it,” Jay agreed.
“I’m taking her someplace safe, and then I’ll be in touch.” Shane took Gabby’s arm and escorted her back to her room. He waited patiently in the hallway while she gathered her things.
Gabby believed she was responsible for Brandon’s injury, but Shane knew the blame rested squarely on his own shoulders.
Regret coursed through him. He’d allowed himself to be complacent...to believe that Gabby was better off in a familiar place surrounded by people who knew her and cared about her.
Yet Creighton had almost found her, anyway.
Close. The whole thing had been too close. And an innocent bystander had gotten hurt as a result.
No way could he afford to make a mistake in judgment like that again.
* * *
Gabby blinked back tears, trying to get the vision of Brandon’s unconscious body out of her mind as she changed from her scrubs. She drew on her favorite pair of black stretch pants topped with a green sweater. Tossing her things back into her duffel bag didn’t take long, and she soon emerged from the call room. “Let’s go,” she said to Shane, anxious to leave before something else happened.
Gabby desperately wanted to know how Brandon was doing, but she knew it would take time to get him examined and then sent to Radiology for testing. Even then, the results from the CT scan wouldn’t be back for at least twenty minutes.
And she planned to be long gone from the hospital by then.
“This way,” Shane instructed, taking her duffel from her and slinging it over his shoulder. He took the back stairs down to the outside exit.
He didn’t rush but seemed to be keeping a sharp lookout as they went. When the stairwell ended in a doorway leading outside, she sucked in a harsh breath at the chill in the air.
Shane put out his arm, holding her back for a long moment before moving forward and taking the sidewalk around the building to the parking structure.
She soon realized that this could very well be the exact path Creighton had used after knocking out Brandon and tying him up.
It wasn’t easy to swallow past the lump in her throat. And she didn’t once look back at the brightly lit hospital as she followed Shane to his police vehicle.
“Are you all right?” he asked once they were both inside the car.
She shrugged, looking away from his probing glance. “As good as I can be.”
Shane didn’t pre
ss the issue, but he did reach out to take her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Oddly enough, the sweet gesture made tears prick behind her eyes again.
She subtly wiped them away as Shane drove out of the structure and headed toward the interstate. There wasn’t much traffic at five-thirty in the morning, so it didn’t take long to hit the open road.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked.
“There’s a motel called the American Lodge that happens to be located not far from my church. I’ll get us connecting rooms there.”
Swiveling toward him, she studied his strong, masculine profile as he expertly maneuvered the multilane freeway. “Do you live near there, too?”
“No, my place is a few miles in the opposite direction. But right now we’re not going to the motel. We’re meeting Nate to swap this ride for something else.”
“A different car? Why?”
He glanced over at her, his expression grim. “I have to assume that Creighton knows who I am. He must have seen me sleeping outside call room number five, otherwise there is no way he could have figured out which room you were in.”
It took a minute for that information to sink in. “You think he had the nerve to follow us inside the hospital? And that he seriously knows who you are?”
“Yeah,” Shane said. “Unfortunately, I do. So we need a vehicle that can’t be linked to either one of us.”
Gabby tried to swallow another wave of guilt. Who had hired Creighton to do all of this? And why?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Hey, you don’t have to apologize, Gabby.” Shane reached over once again to take her hand. “This is Creighton’s fault, not yours. He hurt Brandon, not you. We’re going to get to the bottom of this...you’ll see.”
She wanted, desperately, to believe him. But it wasn’t easy. She closed her eyes and thought about how Shane had prayed with her over her stepfather’s bedside. Gabby had expected to feel awkward but had been pleasantly surprised to experience a sense of peace instead.
Maybe she could try that again. Granted, she didn’t have much experience, but she tried to clear her mind and focus on the prayer.
Dear Lord, please heal Brandon’s injuries and keep me and Shane safe in Your care. Amen.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Shane squeezed her hand and she glanced at him in surprise.
“Gabby, would you please attend church with me today? There’s a ten o’clock service that we should be able to make in plenty of time.”
“I’d like that,” she agreed, touched by his offer. She tried to tell herself not to make a big deal out of his invitation, but it wasn’t easy. She knew Shane probably didn’t want to skip the service, so of course he’d ask her to go along rather than leave her alone in a motel room.
Still, the satisfied expression on his handsome face made her wonder if Shane might actually want her to be with him on a personal level. Oddly enough, she found she liked the idea of being more to him than just another responsibility.
He exited the freeway and then turned to head south. Soon he pulled into the driveway of a chain restaurant that specialized in making breakfast.
“I hope you’re hungry, because I guarantee Nate is going to order breakfast.”
Her stomach growled with anticipation. “I am,” she confessed.
They headed inside the restaurant and she easily caught sight of Nate seated in a booth along the north wall. He waved them over.
Gabby took the seat across from him, hyperaware of Shane as he slid in beside her. Their server hurried over holding a pot of black coffee.
“Yes, please,” Gabby said gratefully as she pushed her cup over.
Their server filled up their mugs and then handed out menus. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order.”
Gabby added a liberal dose of cream to her mug before taking a sip.
“Did you bring me a different set of wheels?” Shane asked.
“Yep.” Nate slid a key fob across the table. “Don’t be upset, it’s a nine-year-old car that my aunt Margaret agreed to let me borrow for a few days.”
“Thanks,” Shane said, taking the keys. “Did you bring clothes for me, too?”
“In the car,” his buddy confirmed.
Gabby watched Nate warily, wondering if he still believed the worst about her. The way he’d interrogated her during that so-called interview still rankled.
She lowered her gaze to the menu, determined not to let Nate’s suspicions ruin her appetite.
“Thanks,” Shane said. “Be careful driving my car back to headquarters. I have to believe Creighton saw me outside Gabby’s call room, and if he knows who I am, then it’s highly likely he has the license plate number of my vehicle, too.”
“I can handle it,” Nate assured him. “I’ve convinced Griff to put your vehicle through its annual maintenance check a few months early. That way no one else will be driving it, either.”
“Good. That’s good.” Shane glanced down at his menu. “I’m hungry. I think I’ll have the full Irish breakfast.”
“Me, too,” Nate agreed. For the first time since she sat down, he looked at her directly. “Are you ready to order?”
“Yes. I’ll have the breakfast special.” She closed her menu just as their server returned.
When they were alone once again, Nate eyed her over the brim of his coffee mug. “I have some interesting information.”
Tiny alarm bells went off in the back of her mind.
“What?” Shane demanded, leaning across the table toward him. “Did you find Eric Ambrose?”
Nate grimaced. “Not yet. We’re still looking though. The information I have is on Gabby’s father, Travis Fielding.”
The knot in her stomach tightened and the headache that she’d pushed out of the way after her nightmare came back with a vengeance.
“Gabby, did you know your father was a certified public accountant?”
She frowned. “Yes, so what?”
“Apparently he worked for one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas before he allegedly died of a heart attack. But here’s the thing. Why would you and your mother be taken into witness protection after your father’s death if he only died of a heart attack? I’m not buying it. I think it’s more likely that your father was involved in something illegal.”
The pounding in her temples intensified, but since she was blocked in the booth by Shane, there was no way to flee.
To escape.
She knew Shane and Nate wanted to know what she remembered, but that was the problem. She didn’t remember anything related to her father’s death.
Obviously, Shane was right. She needed to find a way to get past the headaches to find the truth.
Before it was too late.
ELEVEN
Shane glanced at Gabby, wishing there was something he could do to erase the pinched expression on her face.
To ease the shadow of pain in her luminous green eyes.
But he also couldn’t ignore the truth in Nate’s words. It was likely that Travis Fielding had been involved in something illegal, otherwise there would have been no reason to place Gabby and her mother in witness protection.
But why would anyone wait twenty-one years to come after her? It still didn’t make sense.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Gabby whispered, pressing her fingertips against the sides of her temples. “I don’t remember anything other than what I’ve already told you.”
“It’s okay,” Shane murmured, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders and ignoring Nate’s pointed gaze. He understood his buddy was suspicious, but there was no way Gabby was faking these headaches.
“I need to use the restroom,” she whispered again.
Shane didn’t want Gabby to be alone, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop her from leaving. And maybe she needed a few minutes to pull herself together. He slid out of the booth, allowing her room to get out. When Gabby headed toward the restroo
ms, he slid back in and glared at Nate.
“What’s your problem?” he demanded. “Why do you believe she’s involved in this?”
“You’re the problem,” Nate accused. “You’re too emotionally involved with her. She was kidnapped at gunpoint, wasn’t she? Therefore she’s involved.”
Shane suppressed a sigh. “Yeah, but she’s the victim. This isn’t like you, Nate. You’re normally a huge advocate for victims. What’s really going on?”
Nate paused for a moment and shrugged. “Okay, fine. You want to know what’s going on? I’m worried about you. Right from the beginning you’ve been on her side. You’re the new guy on the team and I want to be sure you’re looking at this investigation through impartial eyes.”
Shane conceded that Nate had a point. “All right, I can appreciate that. But you have to trust me on this. Gabby is a victim. She’s dedicated her life to saving trauma patients. Why would she throw all of that away on something illegal?”
“I don’t know,” Nate admitted.
“She wouldn’t,” Shane said firmly. “Gabby suffered through a difficult childhood and still managed to come out on top. She paid her stepfather’s mortgage because of a deathbed promise to her mother. I’m telling you, she has too much integrity to be involved in something illegal.”
A faint smile flashed across Nate’s features. “But you’re not too personally invested in her, right?”
Touché, Shane thought wryly. “I care about her as someone who needs protection, nothing more. I’m dedicated to keeping her safe until we get Creighton or whoever hired him behind bars.”
“So this isn’t the same way you were dedicated to helping your former fiancée, Linda? The same woman who later walked away, stating that she’d mistaken her tender feelings toward you for love, when in fact she was just grateful for your help.”
His mouth tightened. “She did more than walk away, she cheated on me.”
“Yeah, but that was only because she didn’t really love you. She appreciated your protection, but being grateful isn’t being in love.”
