Risky Vengeance

by Rhonda Brewer

  “Why are you looking for them?” Trunk asked.

  “If the fake files have those names on them, then I know he’s responsible for it. He was the one who gave me the client names,” Abbie told him.

  “We’ll mention it to James when he gets here, and if we can’t find them here, we’ll talk to Billie.” Trunk walked around the desk and crouched next to her.

  Abbie sat up straight, and her face paled. For a moment, Trunk thought she would pass out, but she turned to him with wide eyes.

  “Abs, what’s wrong?” Trunk could see her panic.

  “My purse was stolen.” Abbie gasped.

  “It was, but they didn’t find it when they found your car.” Trunk didn’t know why she was suddenly so frantic.

  “Did anyone cancel my credit cards?” Abbie asked.

  “I don’t know. You call your mom, and I’ll call Billie.” Trunk tapped the screen on his phone and put it to his ear.

  Chapter 18

  Abbie quickly called her mother, praying someone had the presence of mind to cancel all her cards. She didn’t have a lot, but the two she had she used for business. Abbie started using them for bills to keep her head above water. That memory returned as she was showering that morning.

  “Abbie, is everything okay?” her mother answered.

  “Mom, did you happen to cancel my credit cards after I was mugged?” Abbie didn’t want to tell her parents that her attack may not have been random.

  “I think Billie did that. She and Dana said they would take care of all of it,” her mother told her.

  Abbie breathed a sigh of relief, but she was afraid to relax too much until she was sure. She still didn’t like the fact her attacker had all her information, but if it was a setup, he knew where she lived anyway.

  “Billie canceled everything,” Trunk informed her.

  “I hope they were able to cancel everything,” her mother sounded panicked.

  “It’s okay, Mom. Billie took care of it.” Abbie reassured her mother.

  Abbie gave herself a mental pat on the back for her great idea to share all her personal and professional business with Billie. It was something they decided when Billie joined her agency. At first, Billie worked as Abbie’s assistant, and then she got her real estate license. It was when they became partners and reopened as A and B Realty.

  “I just got a text from James. He’s here.” Trunk took her hand.

  Abbie felt a nervous flutter in her stomach, and it wasn’t a pleasant one. She didn’t feel comfortable with the knowledge someone attacked her as an act of revenge. It didn’t make sense since she wasn’t involved in anything shady.

  “Hey, Abbie. How are you doing?” James asked when Trunk led him into the living room.

  “I’m hanging in there.” Abbie smiled when Trunk brought the cup of coffee she’d left on the table.

  “Good to hear. I wanted to formally let you know all the charges against you are dropped. I am deeply sorry for putting you through that.” James sat in the armchair across from her.

  “You were doing your job, James. I understand.” Abbie tucked her feet under herself and folded her hands around the cup.

  “So, this is what we have so far. That account was opened online in your name, but when the money was transferred out, you were still in the hospital. The man we know as Chad is a ghost and we haven’t been able to find any photos of him. Sandy is checking through the wedding videos and pictures from Pam’s wedding and Nanny Betty’s reception as well,” James explained.

  “He had tons of pictures on his phone, but he never let me take photos with mine,” Abbie remembered as she sipped her coffee.

  “Couldn’t you get prints from his apartment?” Trunk asked.

  “The landlord had the place professionally cleaned. Our techs found some prints, but mostly partials and those we did check came back to employees of the cleaning company.” James sounded frustrated.

  Abbie knew how he felt. How could a man fool her so long without her suspecting he wasn’t who he said he was? The funny thing was they were at a party with the man who was supposed to be his boss. Nobody seemed to think Chad was out of place, and he made small talk with a lot of people.

  She did remember she was never with him when he was talking to other people. When he was close to her, he would steer them away from the crowd. How could she be so stupid?

  “Abs, what’s with the face?” Trunk tipped her chin up with his finger.

  “I feel like a complete idiot for not seeing he was a con man.” Abbie sighed.

  “Don’t say that,” Trunk whispered.

  “Trunk is right. He’s probably done this before, which means he knows how to get away with a lot,” James assured her.

  “How did you meet him?” Trunk asked.

  Abbie thought back to the first day she’d met Chad Grady. It was a little over a year earlier at a convention in central Newfoundland. She’d been there alone because Billie was still on maternity leave.

  Fourteen months earlier…

  Abbie closed the door to her hotel room and tucked her clutch under her arm as she made her way to the elevator. She checked her phone to see which suite she had to meet some of the agents from St. John’s.

  The elevator doors opened, and as she stepped on, she heard a man shout. She peered out and saw an attractive man run down the hallway toward her. She pressed the button to hold the doors until he stepped on the elevator.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome. Which floor?” Abbie asked.

  “Third. I’m trying not to be late for a meet and greet.” The man chuckled.

  “For the Newfoundland Association of Realtors?” Abbie would never have pegged him as an agent.

  “Yes. You too?” He smiled.

  “Yes, I’m Abbie Martin of A and B Real Estate in St. John’s.” Abbie held out her hand.

  “Chad Grady of Donovan’s Commercial Development Corporation in St. John’s.” Chad shook her hand.

  “You’re a developer? Why are you at a meet and greet for realtors?” Abbie didn’t know of many developers who came to the conventions.

  “Mr. Donovan insisted we start to work more with all realtors and hence sent me here,” Chad explained.

  “Cole Donovan is a huge name in commercial development. Is he getting into residential as well?” Abbie asked as the elevator doors opened.

  “You never know with him.” Chad motioned for her to walk off ahead of him.

  “Well, here’s my card. If he is looking for an agency that gives a personal touch to their clients, tell him to call me.” Abbie handed Chad her business card.

  “I’ll make sure he gets this. I might use it myself as well.” Chad winked as he pulled open the door of the suite.

  Abbie wasn’t attracted to the man, but she needed a way to get over Trunk. Maybe dating someone she wouldn’t normally go for would help her do that.

  “I hope you do.” Abbie smiled and left Chad at the door to go meet her friends.

  She watched him a lot over the next few hours, and they did bump into one another a couple of times. She noticed he tended to talk to the female agents from the smaller agencies, and several of them gave him their business cards.

  Hopefully, he was intrigued enough by her to ensure she got any business he had. Working with a developer like Cole Donovan would be a huge boost to her agency.

  Present day…

  “He never gave out business cards,” Abbie said.

  “What?” Trunk seemed confused.

  “Agents give out cards like candy. I give out hundreds a month, but I can’t remember ever seeing a business card with his name on it.” Abbie shook her head because her vision was fuzzy.

  “Probably because he didn’t work for Cole.” Trunk shrugged.

  “Cole?” Abbie narrowed her eyes as she tried to focus on Trunk.

  “That’s what Cole Donovan told us to call him,” Trunk said.

  “You met Cole Donovan?” Abbie didn’t k
now where Trunk and someone like Cole would cross paths.

  “Yes, me, Billie, and your dad went to his office to talk to Chad,” Trunk explained.

  “When did you do this?” Abbie started to feel lightheaded.

  “Abs, we told you this yesterday when you were released from jail.” Trunk’s brow furrowed.

  “Yesterday?” Abbie’s head pounded, and everything began to spin.

  “Abs, are you…” Trunk’s voice faded, and everything went black.

  Chapter 19

  “Abbie.” Trunk jumped to his feet as Abbie slumped over on the sofa, and her cup slipped from her hands, crashing to the floor.

  “I’ll get an ambulance,” James told him.

  Trunk checked for a pulse and blew out a breath of relief when he felt one. He called her name over and over, but she didn’t respond, and she wasn’t waking up. He was frantic because he didn’t know what the hell happened. She’d seemed confused before she passed out, and he wondered if it had anything to do with her head injury.

  By the time the paramedics arrived, Abbie had been unconscious for almost twenty minutes. He hopped in the ambulance and prayed as he watched Abbie’s chest rise and fall. As long as she was breathing, it meant she was fine.

  James called Abbie’s parents when the ambulance left her house, and as Trunk waited for them to arrive, he paced the waiting room outside the Trauma Unit. He was relieved when he saw Dr. Kramer on duty because he knew Abbie would be in competent hands.

  Adam Kramer was a friend of the O’Connor family, and he assured Trunk he’d let him know as soon as he had answers. It was torture waiting for news, but the same thing kept spinning around in his mind. Abbie was recovering from a head injury. All he could think about was maybe the injury was worse than the doctors originally thought. Her memory was returning, but it was possible she had some internal bleeding on the brain.

  “Sweet Jesus, don’t take her from me,” Trunk whispered.

  “Ben.” His brother’s voice surprised him.

  “What are you doing here?” Trunk asked.

  “I was at Jack’s Place when Billie and Mike got a call from James. I came here with them.” Chris sat and dropped his hand on Trunk’s shoulder.

  Mike said he would check in on Chris while Trunk was staying at Abbie’s place just in case his brother needed anything. Not that Chris needed a caretaker, but it seemed like he’d barely moved in when all the shit with Abbie started.

  “She’ll be fine, Ben,” Chris said.

  “We thought she was fine,” Trunk whispered.

  “Maybe she’s just exhausted,” Chris suggested.

  Trunk didn’t answer because she had been restless while she was sleeping, but he knew that wasn’t it. Abbie’s speech slurred, and she seemed to have issues focusing right before she passed out.

  When Claire and Darren arrived, Trunk filled them in on the situation. Not that he knew a whole lot, because Adam hadn’t come out to give him any information.

  Trunk started pacing and was ready to run into the room where they brought Abbie to demand answers. It seemed as if they’d been there for hours, but when he glanced at his watch, it was an hour later. When he looked up, Adam had entered the waiting room.

  “Adam, is she okay?” Trunk asked.

  “She’s okay, but I need to speak with her family,” Adam told him.

  “I’m her mother, and this is her father. Is she okay?” Claire gripped Trunk’s arm and linked into her husband’s as well.

  “She’s stable and starting to regain consciousness. I did blood work, and I just got the results. She had Ketamine in her system,” Adam explained.

  “Ketamine?” Trunk asked.

  “Yes.” Adam nodded.

  “Where the hell would she get Ketamine?” Darren snapped.

  “It’s a sedative a lot of veterinarians use. Some people use it recreationally, and some jerks will use it on women for shitty reasons,” Adam explained.

  “She’s been with me since yesterday. She took Ibuprofen but nothing else. She hasn’t been out of my sight,” Trunk told Adam.

  “I don’t know what to tell you except she ingested it somehow. I don’t know Ms. Martin well, but is it possible she’s taking it on her own and took a little too…” Before Adam could finish, Darren grabbed him by the lab coat.

  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. My daughter has never taken drugs in her life. She doesn’t even like the fact that I smoke weed on occasion.” Darren was pissed.

  “Darren, let go of the doctor.” Claire grabbed her husband’s arm and pulled him away from Adam.

  “I don’t mean to upset you, but sometimes people can be sneaky when they have an addiction,” Adam explained.

  “Adam, I promise you Abbie is not doing any kind of drugs. Check your previous blood work when she was here a few weeks ago.” Trunk knew without a doubt Abbie would never touch drugs.

  “Then someone drugged her,” Adam said.

  “I don’t know how. She’s been with me.” Trunk shook his head.

  “All I can tell you is what came back on the reports. I’m going to keep her for a day, maybe two. You can come in to see her, but she’s pretty out of it.” Adam motioned for them to follow him.

  “Darren, you and Claire go ahead. I want to check something.” Trunk told Abbie’s parents as he grabbed his brother’s arm.

  “Where are we going?” Chris asked Trunk as they headed out of the hospital.

  “Abbie hasn’t been out of my sight. If she was drugged, then there’s something tainted in that house. I’m going to get James to bring in a crew to check everything she’s put in her body today.” Trunk hopped in Chris’s truck.

  “Call him and tell him to meet you at Abbie’s place.” Chris pulled his truck out of the parking lot.

  Trunk placed a quick call to James and was relieved when he found out James was still at Abbie’s place. James said he would get a team there right away.

  Fifteen minutes later, Trunk stood in Abbie’s kitchen. He showed the forensics team everything Abbie used, ate, or drank that day. He headed to the living room when he noticed Abbie’s cup under the coffee table. As he reached to pick it up, he remembered she’d had coffee right before she passed out.

  “James,” Trunk shouted.

  “What’s up?” James asked as he entered the living room.

  “She was drinking out of that cup before she fell over. It’s all she had today that I didn’t have as well.” Trunk pointed to her mug.

  “But I saw you drink coffee too.” James pointed at the mug on the coffee table.

  “Abbie doesn’t drink regular coffee. She uses those pods on the counter. Come to think of it, she didn’t have anything else today.” Trunk bent over to pick up the mug.

  “Don’t touch that, Trunk. I’ll get someone to test it,” James told him.

  They headed into the kitchen, and James sent an officer into the living room to retrieve the mug. James went to the box of Keurig pods on the counter and pulled on a pair of gloves. Trunk remembered the one in the garbage, but when he turned to retrieve it, another officer already pulled it out of the bucket.

  “Trunk, come look at this.” James picked up a pod.

  He pointed to a slight discoloration on the side of the small plastic cup. James asked the man searching through the garbage to hand him something sharp and then gently scraped away the discoloration. Under it, they found a small hole barely visible to the naked eye. Trunk didn’t know what it meant, but James ordered the guy going through the garbage to take all the pods and test them.

  “What do you think that is?” Trunk asked.

  “I think someone injected these with something and covered the hole to keep anything from leaking out. Was this the first cup she had out of this box?” James asked.

  “I think so. She’s been drinking tea mostly, but this morning Abbie asked for coffee.” Trunk nodded toward the box.

  “Was the box opened?” James asked, and Trunk nodded.

 
; He watched as James carefully checked each of the pods in the box. Everyone had the same mark, which made Trunk sick to his stomach. He’d made the coffee for her that morning.

  “Do you know where she got them?” James asked.

  Trunk shrugged. All he knew was they were in her cupboard, and she’d said she was in the mood for coffee when she got up that morning.

  “We need to find out.” James motioned for Trunk to follow him.

  “Where are you going?” Chris asked as they walked out of the house.

  “We need to talk to Abbie and see if she knows where she got those Keurig coffee pods.” James hopped in his car. “Meet me at the hospital.”

  James instructed the men in Abbie’s house to test everything collected immediately and for someone to stay until he returned. A young woman standing outside the house nodded, and James drove off.

  Trunk got in the truck with Chris, and they headed to the hospital. Trunk didn’t know if Abbie would remember when or where she picked up her coffee. Her memory was full of holes, but hopefully, she’d recall something.

  At the hospital, Trunk walked into Abbie’s room and sighed in relief when he saw her sipping some water. She turned toward him and narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m guessing I’ve got you to thank for being here again,” Abbie grumbled.

  “If you mean he was the one to save your life, then yes,” her father snapped.

  “I was joking, Dad.” Abbie rolled her eyes.

  Before Trunk could say a word, James walked into the room, and Abbie’s parents tensed. It was obvious they didn’t trust James because the last time they saw him, he was arresting Abbie.

  “James, what’s wrong?” Abbie asked.

  “I’m assuming you know what brought you here,” James said.

  “Yes, but I don’t touch drugs. I’ve never even smoked a cigarette.” Abbie glanced at Trunk.

  “Abs, the coffee pods you drink all the time, where did you get them?” Trunk asked as he sat next to her on the bed.

  “Supermarket, mostly.” Abbie shrugged.