Reuniting with the Billionaire

by Lori Ryan

  Hell, even if they hadn’t understood, they would stand by Andrew’s decision.

  Chad spoke next. “Jason, how sure are they that she didn’t walk away from the car or that someone didn’t take her into the woods here?”

  “There’s no evidence of anyone walking into the woods. With the level of snow we still have on the ground, we would see any disturbance clearly. Justice is an extremely capable dog with an experienced handler. He can’t tell us for sure what happened, but I think Jill got into a car.” As Jason finished his assessment, Kelly walked up.

  “I’ve called the Gundersons and the Peters. Jill isn’t at either of their houses and they haven’t seen anything unusual in the area.”

  The Gundersons and the Peters were the only other families on the mountain.

  “If Jill’s been taken off the mountain, then we need to leave the mountain,” Andrew said.

  He could see Jason struggling with his response. It probably was not at all normal for the fire chief to leave the scene and go looking for a missing person with the missing person’s friends. Most likely Jason was risking his job to go with them.

  The man rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and let out a frustrated groan. “Fuck it. I’ll drive.”

  Jill’s head was pounding and her eyes wouldn’t open. She moved her head but was immediately rewarded with searing pain that brought on a wave of nausea.

  She heard a whimper and thought it might have come from her. Then a soft, soothing voice spoke from her side.

  “It’s okay, Christina. You hit your head but we’re doing some tests. I need you to lay still for me. Can you do that?” the voice asked.

  Christina? Who is Christina?

  “Jill,” she heard herself croak. Her voice didn’t seem to be working.

  “Shh. Try not to talk, dear. Is Jill your friend? She’s waiting for you in your room. We’ll get you back there in no time. You just relax for one more minute for me.” The voice was so soothing.

  Jill heard someone ask for a neuro consult. That was the last thing she heard before she drifted off again.

  Jill opened her eyes and tried to take in the room around her. Small. Beige walls. IV in her arm. Hospital. And someone was speaking to her.

  “Wakey, wakey, Jill. Time to go for a ride.”

  She felt a bite of pain in her forearm and looked down to see her IV had been ripped out. She turned her head toward the voice and saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar. Where had she seen her before?

  The woman put her arms under Jill and dragged her off the bed. Her body felt like rubber. She couldn’t move her arms or legs as she was dumped into a wheelchair.

  Panic began to settle in her belly as confusion washed over her. Something wasn’t right. The woman pushed and pulled until Jill was sitting, albeit slumped over, in the wheelchair.

  She felt the chair begin to move and as the chair crossed the threshold of the room, a foggy part of Jill’s brain was screaming out to her to stay. Stay in the room where she was safe.

  Elevator doors. Sliding open and then closed.

  Jill’s chair was pushed next to the buttons by the door and the woman spoke again.

  “Hmmm. Up or down? Up or down?” The woman spoke in a sing-songy voice. “I wonder if there’s a furnace in the basement? That’s probably only in the movies, huh? Roof it is then, little whore. You can jump from the roof. Poor Andrew will have to do the obligatory mourning thing for a while, but don’t worry, I’ll be there to see him through it.”

  Jill’s head was beginning to clear and her limbs were coming back to life. The rubbery feeling was slipping away, but she kept her head down, stayed slumped over as she processed.

  This was the woman who hit Jill with her car. Hit her with a rock. And stability didn’t seem to be in this woman’s repertoire. But what was her connection to Andrew? What was going on?

  Jill knew she needed to stop this before they reached the rooftop. Keeping her body still, she thought things through. The elevator wouldn’t go all the way to the roof. They’d have to get off at the top floor and then use the stairs.

  Would the top floor have people on it? Should she wait until they were off the elevator and then call for help?

  Jill was facing the wall of the elevator. The woman stood behind the wheelchair. Could she shove the chair back and fight? No. Better to wait until there were other people around to help her. Because the way she felt, she didn’t have a whole lot of fight in her.

  As they climbed into Jason’s Suburban, Andrew asked Kelly for the list of hospitals she had called. Kelly handed him her iPhone with the search results for nearby hospitals on the screen.

  “You asked about Jane Does and Jill Walsh?” Andrew asked as he scanned the list. Four hospitals. Two to the north and two to the south.

  “Yes. None of them had anyone like that,” Kelly said.

  Andrew punched the number for the first hospital into his phone and then tossed Kelly’s phone back to her. “Call the second one and ask for any unusual IDs,” he said and then began to speak into his phone when someone picked up at the hospital.

  “Hello. We’re looking for a missing woman. I understand you have no Jane Does there, but can you tell me if anyone was brought into the emergency room with any unusual form of ID? Someone else providing the ID or an ID that maybe didn’t look like the person? An ID that doesn’t look real?”

  Kelly gave out phone numbers for the others to call. Andrew heard the woman on the other end of his phone talk to other voices in the background before coming back with an answer for him. They’d had nothing like that.

  Andrew hung up just as Jack and Jennie were hanging up their phones. They both shook their heads at Andrew. Chad was still on hold.

  “Which way now?” Jason asked Andrew as they approached the highway.

  Andrew had no idea what the hell he was doing. It seemed ludicrous to think if Theresa took her, Jill would have somehow made it to a hospital. But even so, for some reason, Andrew’s gut was telling him Jill was in one of those hospitals. He could feel it in his bones.

  He just prayed he was right. Because if Jill really was up on that mountain and he was taking them further away from her, he would never forgive himself.

  “South. The only other hospital is south. Head there,” Andrew said, saying a silent prayer over and over.

  Chad hung up the phone. “I’m getting the runaround at the last hospital. It’s one thing for them to say they have no Jane Doe’s but they won’t say if they have anyone who might be Jill under a different name. Jason, maybe you can make it an official inquiry?”

  Jason continued speeding down the highway, eating up the road between them and the last hospital. He grabbed his radio and spoke into the mic. “Dispatch, I need you to patch me through to Angels of Mercy Hospital.”

  The radio crackled and the gravelly, female voice of a longtime smoker came through. “I was just about to radio you. I’ve got an Officer Kelter on the line. Thinks he saw your missing woman earlier. You want me to patch him through or get you the hospital?”

  “Patch,” Jason answered quickly.

  It took a minute before another voice came on the line.

  “Jason? It’s Matt Kelter. I think I saw your missing woman a couple of hours ago. Pulled over a woman for speeding. She said her friend had been in an accident and she was trying to get her help. The friend was there clear as day in the backseat with a gash in her head, so I gave an escort. The friend didn’t try to run off when we got there or anything. Sat in the waiting room to wait for news. They’re at Mercy now. Well, at least they were when I left.”

  Andrew felt both a wave of relief and a wave of anguish wash over him. Theresa must have gotten caught speeding and done the only thing she could. Made up some bullshit story to cover the fact that Jill had been knocked out and lying in her backseat.

  But Andrew had no idea what Theresa would do now. Would she run, leaving Jill safely at the hospital? Or would she remain, trying to get Jill ou
t of there or get into her room to hurt her? Never mind his worry over the head wound Jill had. No telling what Theresa did to Jill before that cop found them.

  Jason’s foot pressed on the gas, increasing his speed and Andrew was grateful for the red flashing lights of the Fire Chief’s truck.

  “Kelter, I need you to call Mercy. We’re four minutes away but the woman Jill is with is dangerous. They need to take her into custody and get her away from Jill,” Jason barked into the phone.

  “Got it,” the officer said and the connection was broken.

  Jason exited the highway and turned right, following the large blue H signs to the hospital. As they pulled into the lot, the radio crackled to life.

  “Jason, the room is empty and both women are missing. They’re searching the hospital now and they have it on lockdown,” Matt’s voice reported.

  “Shit,” Andrew said as he ran for the hospital doors. A guard was shaking his head ‘no’ at Andrew through the locked glass doors, but Jason and the others caught up to him and Jason’s credentials got them through the door.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Jill kept her head down but listened carefully to the ping of the elevator as it traveled up the floors.

  Why isn’t anyone else getting on the elevator? This is crazy.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theresa move. She was holding something, but Jill couldn't see what it was.

  “Time for a little cocktail party for you, Jill. I think this is a sedative. I hope so anyway. Snagged it from one of the nurses. Time to knock your ass out so you can’t cause any trouble while I figure out how to get you on the roof.”

  Now or never. Please let this work.

  Jill hit the alarm button on the elevator panel and shoved the wheelchair back as hard as she could, using her legs to push off the wall in front of her. It wasn’t a direct hit, but her captor went flying against the elevator wall just the same.

  Jill stood and turned, but her legs were weak. She mostly stumbled into the woman, wrapped her arms around her waist and pushed her into the wall again. Jill managed to raise her arm and grab the kidnapper’s hair and slam her head into the elevator wall before Jill fell, her strength depleted.

  As Andrew listened to hospital security explain that they were searching the floors of the hospital – all ten floors with a staff of six security officers – he knew they needed a better plan. It would take forever to find Jill and who knew what Theresa might do to her in that time.

  He slipped from the room. Screw waiting around like they’d been instructed. Jack and Chad exited the room with him. Jason gave him a look and continued to chat up the head of hospital security, hopefully distracting him long enough for Andrew, Chad, and Jack to find Jill on their own. Kelly and Jennie were waiting out in the hall and approached as soon as the three men left the room.

  “All right, Andrew. Your gut has worked for us on this so far. Turn on your Jill homing signal and tell us where to look,” said Chad.

  “Sorry, I don’t have shit. I have no idea where to look now.” Andrew had never felt so hopeless as he eyed the clock on the wall wondering how much time Jill had left.

  “Let’s think like a crazy chick,” Jennie said. Everyone turned expectantly and her face clouded. “What, me? Why do I have to pretend to have the crazies?” She received pointed looks in answer and waved a hand. “Okay, okay. Good point.”

  Jennie shook out her arms and legs as if getting into character and stared at the ceiling. Then at the floor… Then the ceiling… Then the floor.

  “Roof or basement. That’s where I’d go. Roof or basement.” Jennie nodded her head at the group.

  “Good,” Andrew said. “Chad, take the basement. Jack and I will hit the roof. Jennie and Kelly can you stay here and call us if these guys find anything?” Andrew jerked his head toward the security office.

  The three men took off running. Just as they arrived at the bank of elevators, the alarm went off in one of them. All three men shared a silent look that spoke volumes. They homed in on the elevator that was making all the noise and checked the lighted number above it.

  “Fourth floor. Jack, call me if it starts moving again,” Andrew said and he and Chad ran for the stairwell. Even in the stairwell, the men could hear the tinny ring of the elevator alarm. When they hit the third floor the alarm stopped.

  Andrew’s phone rang seconds later.

  “Talk to me, Jack. Which way?” Andrew asked.

  “Up,” came Jack’s voice through the phone. “They’re going up.”

  Chad and Andrew continued to run the flights.

  “Let me know if it stops,” Andrew said into the phone and then pressed his body into high gear. Chad was ahead of him, taking the steps in triple time without breaking a sweat. Andrew’s legs burned, but not as much as the pain in his heart at the thought they might not make it in time.

  Up and up and up. Andrew pictured Jill waiting for him. Praying for him to get there. He just hoped she could hang on long enough. Panting, he lifted the phone to his ear and spoke.

  “Anything, Jack?”

  “No. They’re still going up. They’re on nine now but still going up. Get to the tenth floor.”

  The last floor marker they had passed had said eighth floor. They were two behind.

  “On tenth, Chad. They’re almost there,” Andrew said, picking up his pace, putting everything he had into it. Chad did the same.

  Chad and Andrew burst through the door to the tenth-floor moments later, but the floor was quiet. Eerily silent. It was a floor filled with offices that appeared to be empty for the weekend. The men stood and listened.

  A shrill scream.

  “Rooftop,” Chad said, pointing to another door at the end of the hall marked Rooftop Access.

  Jill was barely hanging on by a thread. There were black spots at the periphery of her vision and her body felt sluggish. Slow to respond. She’d been unable to fight as her attacker dragged her from the elevator and up the stairwell.

  She felt battered and bruised by the repetitive knocking of the stairs. Her mind grasped at threads of ideas, wisps of defenses, any way to ward off the blows and escape what was clearly a completely insane woman.

  The woman dragged Jill out onto the roof of the building and let Jill’s body drop to the rooftop. The woman was winded and clearly agitated. She circled Jill, ranting about Jill’s manipulations, her scheming against Andrew.

  Jill went back into possum mode and lay huddled on the ground, regaining her strength. Planning. Preparing.

  She focused on her breathing, steadying it. She cracked her eyelids open to see where her kidnapper was and she watched, waiting for the woman to come close. Jill could hear the woman trying to catch her breath – as if she, too, were readying for something.

  She didn’t want to know what that something was. She had a pretty good idea that it had to do with the edge of the roof and Jill going over it.

  “Well,” the woman said, taking a deep breath, “it’s that time. Any last words before you go?” She laughed the laugh of a crazy loon as if she had made the joke of the century.

  “You know, I wasn’t going to do this. I was going to let you confess all you’d done and record it so Andrew could finally learn the truth about you. But I can’t do that now that we’re here.”

  She looked around. “I’ll tell them I followed you up here because I was worried about your state of mind. That I thought maybe you’d run your car off the road on purpose. That I tried to stop you from jumping but couldn’t.”

  Jill watched through slitted eyes as the woman came toward her and bent over, placing her hands under Jill’s arms to prepare to lift her again.

  Without hesitation, Jill struck. Thumbs gouged as hard as she could into the woman’s eyes. The scream of pain was all Jill heard as she got to her knees and crawled toward the door to the building. She felt one hand clutch at her ankle but she kicked out as hard as she could and then kept moving.

  Move. Just keep moving
, keep trying. Don’t stop.

  One minute she was crawling and the next she was hallucinating. Jill’s emotions were ripped to shreds as she realized if hallucinations had taken over, she was probably done for.

  She had no more fight left in her. She let her weight sink into her illusion that Andrew’s arms were really around her. That she could really hear Andrew whispering words of safety and love to her as she lay wrecked in his arms.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Andrew’s whole body shuddered with relief when he finally had Jill in his arms. She had fought. He’d seen her.

  She’d gotten away long enough for Chad and Andrew to get to her. As Chad subdued a shrieking Theresa, Jill sank into Andrew’s arms and he dropped to the rooftop and held her tight.

  He rocked Jill and whispered to her. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. You’re safe now.” Over and over he whispered the words. “I won’t let you go.”

  And he didn’t. Not while they treated her wounds. Not while they began an IV to rehydrate her. Not while she finally slept. Andrew held her all through the night, laying kisses on her temple whenever she began to dream or toss in her sleep.

  When Jill woke in the morning, she blinked up at him, confusion washing over her features.

  “I thought you were a hallucination. I thought I imagined you. That you were a dream,” she whispered.

  “The only dream here is you, Jill. You’re my dream, my heart, my future. I thought I’d lost you forever. Don’t ever leave me, Jill.”

  Epilogue

  Andrew didn’t let Jill out of his sight for a week. Kelly took Jill to the support group she’d found after her ordeal—a group for survivors of violent crime. Jill hadn’t wanted to go, but she had to admit, it felt good to meet people who had been through similar situations. Everyone’s story was different, but they shared similar emotions and struggled with similar obstacles as they tried to settle back into everyday life.