Risky Vengeance

by Rhonda Brewer

  “The box that’s at your house. Do you remember when and where you got those?” James asked her.

  Abbie stared blankly over James’ head as if she was trying to remember. When she glanced at Trunk, he knew she had no idea.

  “I know they were there when I got home from the hospital. I’m assuming they were there before everything happened. There’s still some pieces of my memory missing.” Abbie shrugged.

  “Was the box open the first time you used them?” James asked.

  “You’d have to ask Ben. He made a cup for me this morning. It’s the first cup I’ve had since I got home. Why?” Abbie glanced back and forth between Trunk and James.

  “I don’t have verification yet, but I think they were all injected with something. Since there was Ketamine in your system, I’m assuming that’s what we’ll find,” James explained.

  “How’s that possible? I haven’t been alone since I went home from the hospital last week.” Abbie said. “Wait, you don’t think any of my family or friends did this, do you?”

  “I doubt anyone of your family or friends are responsible,” James assured her.

  “Did Chad have access to your house?” Trunk asked.

  “We dated, of course he had access,” Abbie returned.

  Trunk felt a surge of anger bubble up inside but did his best to keep it from showing to anyone. He had a feeling Chad was responsible for drugging Abbie, but when did he inject the coffee pods?

  She must have noticed something in Trunk’s expression because Abbie grabbed his hand, and instantly the anger dissipated. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her, but when he didn’t know what direction the danger would come from, what was he supposed to do?

  “Chad wouldn’t do something like that.” Abbie shook her head.

  “Are you sure? We already know he lied about his name and about where he works.” Trunk held her hand between his.

  “Why? What would he get out of drugging me?” Abbie sighed.

  “What would he get out of having you attacked?” Trunk asked.

  “We don’t know he’s responsible,” Abbie returned.

  “We don’t know that he’s not.” Trunk didn’t know why she would defend him.

  “Ben, he’s not a violent guy. He may be a liar and a thief, but I don’t see what he would get out of having me attacked.” Abbie was getting pissed.

  “If he’s not guilty, then why has he vanished?” Trunk asked her.

  Abbie glared at Trunk, but she didn’t respond. He knew she didn’t have an answer to his question, and everything pointed to Chad. They shouldn’t be calling him by that name since it wasn’t his name.

  “Abs, I don’t want to upset you, but we’ve got to go where the evidence is pointing.” Trunk ran a finger down her cheek.

  “Trunk’s right. It’s looking more and more like this guy is responsible,” James agreed.

  Abbie blew out a breath, and Trunk knew she wanted to say something, but she kept it to herself. She probably felt horrible from the drugs, but she would tell him eventually.

  “Haven’t you found that bastard yet?” Darren snapped.

  “We’re working on it, Mr. Martin,” James told him.

  “How can that useless piece of shit outsmart so many people?” Darren grumbled.

  “Dad, stop,” Abbie told her father.

  “It’s okay, Abbie. It’s pissing me off too. If we knew who he was, maybe we’d find him.” James wasn’t the only one frustrated.

  Abbie suddenly sat up straight in the bed and gasped. She frantically looked around her, and when she didn’t find what she was looking for, she scanned the room.

  “Where’s my phone?” Abbie asked almost as if she was panicked.

  “Back at the house, I guess. I don’t think you had it on you when the ambulance took you. What’s wrong?” Trunk asked.

  “I remembered something. Chad… or whatever his name is, took me to a cabin once. I have the address in my contacts. It should still be there if it uploaded to the cloud. I think everything from my old phone is on the new one.” Abbie tried to get out of the bed.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Darren asked.

  “Abs, get back in bed.” Trunk held her on the bed.

  “I need to get my phone. You don’t understand. He said it was his family’s cottage. There were pictures of him with other people on the mantel over the fireplace.” Abbie was getting way too excited.

  “I’ll get someone to bring your phone here. You can’t go home. The doctor is keeping you here for a day or two.” Her mother tucked the blankets around Abbie.

  “I’ll run to your house and get it. Where did you have it last?” Chris asked.

  “It may be in the kitchen,” Abbie told Chris. “No, it’s in the den. I called Mom from there earlier.”

  When Chris ran out the door, Abbie lay back in the bed and calmed. She had started to remember more and more every day. Trunk prayed something would click in her brain and tell them why she was targeted by someone out for revenge.

  “I should have known something was wrong when I was up there,” Abbie said.

  “Why?” James asked.

  “I asked him about some of the people on the pictures, and he said they were family. I was with him for almost a year, but I never met any of them. The second morning I was there, he was sleeping, and I took a walk around the property. There was a sign with Sweeney Hideaway etched into it. It was like someone purposely covered it with branches, but when I asked Chad, he told me it was the first time he’d seen it. He did tell me it might have been the previous owners,” Abbie explained.

  “You don’t think his family owned the cottage?” Claire asked, but her voice sounded odd.

  Darren must have noticed because he stepped next to his wife and wrapped an arm around her. There was an odd expression on both their faces, but Trunk assumed they were worried about Abbie.

  “I know he’d been there before because there were pictures of him all over the place. There were even pictures of him as a kid. Maybe his last name is Sweeney.” Abbie looked up at James.

  “We’ll wait until Chris gets back with your phone, and then I’ll send the information to Sandy.” James smiled at Abbie. “Glad you’re getting your memory back.”

  “Me too.” Abbie sighed.

  Chris was gone about twenty minutes when Trunk’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw his brother’s number on the screen. He probably didn’t find the phone and didn’t know where else to look.

  “Have you tried calling it?” Trunk answered the phone with a chuckle.

  “Tell James to get over here. The officer who was left here is unconscious.” Chris sounded calm, but as a firefighter, he was trained to remain cool in a stressful situation.

  “We’re on the way.” Trunk ended the call.

  Chapter 20

  “James, we got to get back to Abbie’s place.” Trunk jumped up and shoved his phone into his pocket.

  “What’s going on?” Abbie asked.

  “Don’t worry. Hulk is outside your room. I’ll be back as soon as I know more.” Trunk kissed her and ran out of the room.

  Abbie stared after him, pissed because he didn’t explain. Was Chris hurt? She wanted to know. She was irritated that she had to spend more time in the hospital when she felt perfectly fine.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” her mother, ever the optimist, said as she smoothed her hand over Abbie’s head.

  “Don’t panic until we know more, Monkey,” her father told her.

  Abbie stared at him as if he was crazy. The man who used to punch people and then ask questions, telling her to relax. She snorted because, as a child, she used to think her dad was calm and cool. As an adult, she realized he was a hot head sometimes.

  “Dad, you’re telling me not to panic, but I can see the vein in your forehead getting bigger by the minute.” Abbie chuckled.

  “You stop worrying about the vein on my forehead and get some rest. I’m going to
grab a coffee from the cafeteria.” Her father kissed her cheek and walked out through the door.

  “He’s going to interrogate Hulk,” Abbie scoffed.

  “More than likely.” Her mother smiled, but it seemed forced.

  Abbie rested her head back on the bed and met her mother’s eyes. Her mom looked ready to burst into tears, and Abbie felt awful for upsetting her parents again.

  “Mom, I’m fine.” Abbie grasped her mother’s hand.

  “Abbie, I wouldn’t survive losing you.”

  A tear ran down her mother’s cheek. Abbie sat up and wrapped her arms around her mother, trying hard to hold back her own grief. Abbie missed her sister, but her parents lost a child, and that was something a person never got over.

  “I’ll be fine, Mom.” Abbie tried to sound positive, but the truth was she was frightened.

  If she’d been home alone when she drank the coffee, she could have died. She argued with Trunk about who was responsible because she didn’t want to believe she could be stupid enough to date someone capable of such a dreadful thing.

  Trunk and James were gone more than two hours, and Trunk hadn’t called or returned. Neither had her father. Abbie asked Hulk if he knew what happened, but the asshole said he didn’t know. She didn’t believe him, but she didn’t have a phone to call anyone.

  “Mom, please give me your phone,” Abbie begged.

  “Honey, I don’t have it with me. Maybe when your father returns, he’ll have his.” Her mother sat back in the chair, staring at the tiny television next to Abbie’s bed.

  She didn’t understand how her mom could remain so calm when they didn’t know where either of their men had gone. Abbie was tired of lying in the hospital bed. Her daily entertainment was when the cute doctor came to see her.

  Adam was a nice guy, and he had a wonderful bedside manner. She’d met him first after the fire, and except for being a huge flirt, he was a nice guy.

  When he left the room, he told her if things went well overnight, he’d release her in the morning. That didn’t help make her feel better. Abbie wanted to go home and see why Trunk ran out in such a hurry.

  “Do you come here so you can spend more time with me?” Dana entered her room with a huge smirk.

  “Yes, because I never see you.” Abbie snorted.

  “Maybe if you stayed out of the hospital, I’d drop by your house and have a glass of wine.” Dana sat on her bed.

  “I doubt that.” Abbie laughed.

  “Billie filled me in on the whole story. Chad is not Chad.” Dana shook her head.

  “Yeah, I hope when they find him, they kick his balls up in his stomach and then shove his head up his own ass,” Abbie grumbled.

  “That sounds like it would be painful.” Dana laughed.

  “Not painful enough.” Abbie sighed.

  “At least one good thing came out of it.” Dana smiled.

  “What good came out of all this?” Abbie looked at her friend like she was crazy.

  “You and Ben.” Dana winked.

  “I’m so glad they’re together.” Her mother smiled.

  “I wanted to kick him in the ass back then, but I guess I can understand why he did what he did.” Dana shrugged.

  Abbie wanted to kick his ass too, but she was more concerned about what happened at her house. Hulk had to know something.

  Chapter 21

  Trunk’s heart raced as he ran up the front steps of Abbie’s house behind James. They found Chris in the kitchen kneeling on the floor next to a young police officer. She was awake, but Chris had a cloth pressed to the top of her head, and the young officer looked annoyed.

  “I’m fine. Can I get up?” she grumbled.

  “Natalie, stay there until the paramedics get here,” James told the woman.

  “I’ve been telling her that since she opened her eyes. She told me I don’t know what I’m talking about.” Chris chuckled.

  “He’s a firefighter,” Trunk told the girl.

  “Of course, he is.” Natalie sighed.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” James asked.

  “I was outside the door and heard something in the house. It sounded like cupboards slamming. I opened the door and called out, and I know I heard someone curse. I came into the kitchen but didn’t see anyone. I checked all the rooms, but when I walked into the office, someone clocked me over the head.” Natalie pushed Chris’ hand away and held the cloth to her own head.

  “She was in the kitchen when I got here,” Chris told them.

  “Where’s your weapon?” James asked.

  Trunk glanced down at her holster and noticed it was empty. Natalie’s eyes grew big, and she sat up before anyone could stop her. When she tried to stand, she swayed, and Chris caught her before she hit the floor.

  “Natalie, sit down for Christ’s sake,” James ordered.

  “I had it in my hand when I entered the house,” Natalie said as Trunk and Chris helped her to a kitchen chair.

  “I’ll check the house. Maybe…” Trunk was interrupted when she put up her hand.

  “Maybe the asshole who knocked me out took it. I just made the biggest rookie mistake of my career. I knew I should never have joined the department.” Natalie sighed.

  “Natalie French, you made a mistake. You’re not the first to screw up on the job, and you won’t be the last, but we do need to report your missing weapon.” James pulled out his phone and tapped the screen.

  “How could I be so stupid?” Natalie whispered.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Chris spoke softly.

  “I should’ve stuck to being a receptionist for the Newfoundland Police Department.” She sighed and covered her face with her hands.

  Chris met Trunk’s eyes, and they both shrugged. Neither of them knew how to help the poor woman. She’d made a major blunder, but she was human. Trunk decided to check the rest of the house in case, by some slim chance, it was in another room.

  Trunk headed to the den and when he stepped into the room he wanted to roar in anger. Abbie’s office was a disaster. Someone had torn the room apart. Trunk didn’t know what they were looking for, because Abbie hadn’t been able to find anything in the papers when she searched through them earlier.

  As Trunk turned to leave the office, he saw something sticking out from under the credenza. He crouched to get a better look and smiled as he reached for the SIG Sauer P226 handgun. He held it by the grip and made his way to the kitchen.

  The paramedics had arrived, and Natalie was trying to tell them she didn’t need to go to the hospital. Trunk chuckled at the spunky woman as she argued with the frustrated paramedic.

  “Natalie, I have great news.” Trunk held her weapon behind his back.

  “I didn’t leave any bloodstains on the floor,” Natalie scoffed.

  “I’ll tell you if you go to the hospital and be examined,” Trunk teased.

  “What am I, eight years old?” Natalie returned.

  “She’s going to the hospital, or I’ll have her suspended.” James stepped behind Trunk.

  Natalie’s mouth dropped open and closed again. It was obvious she wanted to say something, but since James was her supervisor, it wouldn’t be a good idea.

  “Fine.” She sighed.

  “If it helps. I found this under the credenza.” Trunk placed her weapon on the table.

  “Thank God,” Natalie blew out a sigh of relief.

  “You must have dropped it when someone hit you,” Trunk explained.

  “At least we don’t have to worry about that,” James said.

  When Natalie was taken off in the ambulance, James, Trunk, and Chris searched the house to see if anything was missing. Natalie heard cupboards slamming, but Trunk didn’t notice anything in the kitchen missing, besides Abbie’s coffee pods, but the police took those.

  “Natalie is a real spitfire,” Chris said as he helped Trunk pick up papers from the floor of the office.

  “I don’t think she realizes she’s a terrific of
ficer. It’s her first year on the force, and it took her a few years to get the courses she needed to be accepted to the academy,” James told them.

  “At least she didn’t have her weapon stolen,” Chris replied.

  “Yeah, that would be a huge mark on her record.” James walked around the office. “What was he looking for?”

  “I have no idea, but I hope he didn’t find it.” Trunk dropped some papers on the desk as his phone buzzed. “Hello.”

  “You better get back here before Abbie has an embolism.” Hulk chuckled.

  “We had a bit of a situation here, but I’ll head back shortly,” Trunk told his friend.

  “Okay, she’s sending her mother to harass me every ten minutes, and her dad headed out shortly after you. He hasn’t come back either,” Hulk said.

  “Did he say where he was going?” Trunk asked.

  “No, told me to keep Abbie safe and practically ran out the door,” Hulk explained.

  “Okay. He might have had something to do at home,” Trunk said, but he had a feeling Darren was on a mission.

  Trunk found Abbie’s phone on the kitchen counter and grabbed it before he left the house. He asked James to drop by Darren’s house to see if everything was okay, because Abbie’s father wasn’t answering Trunk’s phone calls.

  After Trunk arrived at the hospital, he waited for her to yell at him, then he gave Abbie her phone. He apologized for leaving without an explanation, and after a quick kiss, Abbie sent the address of the cottage to James.

  “Where is Dad?” Abbie asked as if Trunk should know.

  “I don’t know.” Trunk shook his head.

  “He left with you,” Abbie accused.

  “No, he didn’t. I haven’t seen him since I left earlier,” Trunk told her.

  Abbie stared at him for a minute and then turned to her mother. Both women seemed concerned about Darren’s sudden disappearance. Trunk was curious himself, but no matter who called Darren’s cell phone, he didn’t answer.

  “Maybe he left the phone in his car, and he’s at home.” Claire didn’t sound convinced.

  “Did you try the landline?” Abbie asked her mother.

  “Yes, but he never answers that phone,” Claire replied, but Trunk could see the woman was anxious.