Читать книгу Forgotten Memories - Laura Scott - Страница 11

THREE

Shane scowled and glanced around the clearing, trying to piece together what exactly had taken place. “Don’t you think it’s odd that he didn’t come after us? Why give up so easily?”

Gabby shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Did you notice anyone following you before all this happened?” Nate asked her.

“No, but again, I wasn’t really paying attention to that kind of thing.” She shivered again, and Shane didn’t think it was from the cold. “I was focused on getting home.”

He wanted to put his arm around her for support, but reminded himself he was here to protect her. Nothing more. “Maybe Creighton heard the gunfire and knew that Gabby escaped with my help. Since he knew I was armed, Creighton decided to kill the guys who had let her get away and decided to wait for a better time to come after her.”

“Sounds plausible,” Nate agreed.

“But the real question here is why they’re after Gabby in the first place,” Shane said thoughtfully. “I still find it incredible that they dared to grab her from right outside the hospital.”

“I know, and that’s been bothering me,” she admitted. “Those guys had to be waiting there in the parking structure for a really long time. I ended up working over twenty-four hours straight, and frankly, the only routine thing about my schedule is that it’s not routine.”

“Is it possible they couldn’t find your home address?” Nate asked. “Did you move there recently?”

“Yes, I moved into my current place just three months ago,” Gabby replied. “But I only live a mile from the hospital and, considering how everything these days is on the internet, I can’t imagine that they couldn’t find the address if they really tried.”

“True, but maybe they hadn’t gotten that far,” Nate mused. “Could be that they knew you worked at the hospital so used that as their stake-out point.”

Shane knew that with resources, finding Gabriella’s address wouldn’t take long. “That settles it,” he said, taking Gabby’s arm and drawing her away from the corpse. “You’re not staying at your place alone until we figure out who’s after you and why.”

“Wait, maybe we’re overreacting,” she said, backpedaling. “The whole time they had me, I couldn’t help thinking they’d grabbed the wrong person. Maybe they mistook me for someone else?”

“You mean they would have kidnapped any beautiful woman with red hair?” Shane echoed drily. “No way, Gabby. This is definitely personal.” He gave her a pointed look. “It’s obvious they want something specific from you—otherwise, why would they tell you to cooperate with Creighton?”

“None of this makes sense,” she said with a scowl. “But I’m telling you, I don’t know Creighton and I think they grabbed me by mistake.”

Shane turned to Nate, tired of arguing and determined to get Gabby away from here. “Would you mind giving us a lift back to the hospital? That’s where I left my car.”

“Sure,” his friend agreed. “After we’re finished here, I’ll give you both a ride back.”

“Good, that way I can take Gabby someplace safe where this Creighton guy will never find her.”

“Wait a minute,” Gabby protested. “I can’t just disappear! I have patient-care responsibilities.”

“She has a point,” Nate said. “And really, it might be best if she stays inside the hospital where there are plenty of people surrounding her. These guys waited for her outside because it was a better place to grab her. It wouldn’t be so easy to get to her inside the hospital.”

Shane hesitated. Nate was right. Being surrounded by dozens of people around the clock was a good way to remain safe. “I wish the hospital security guards carried weapons,” he muttered.

“A Taser is a weapon,” Nate said mildly. “And I know the senior security guards carry Tasers.”

“There are dozens of call rooms,” Gabby spoke up. “I can stay in one of them.”

Shane considered the fact that Gabby might be safer in a call room at the hospital than in some isolated hotel room. And he could sleep on the floor outside her room as an extra point of security. The floor wouldn’t be comfortable, but maybe they could find a blanket or two for him to use as a cushion.

“Uh-oh, we’re in trouble now,” Nate muttered. “I just saw Griff pull up.”

“Who’s that?” Gabby asked with a frown.

“Our boss,” Shane explained. “He’s tough but fair, even if he doesn’t know how to smile.”

“That guy is seriously intense,” Nate added.

Their tall, blond-haired leader climbed out of the police vehicle and strode purposefully toward them. “Hawk, fill me in on what went down,” he ordered.

Shane gave him the condensed version and as he spoke, Griff’s serious expression morphed into a dark scowl.

“Why didn’t you follow protocol by calling for backup right away?” Griff demanded. “You could have tailed the truck using your squad.”

Shane shook his head, deciding this wasn’t the time to explain how he owed Gabby for saving his life. “I followed my instincts, and my vehicle was too far away to go back for it.”

Griff glared at him for a long moment before he spoke in a grim tone. “Hawk, you’re the newest member of my team and a good cop. But I need you to follow the rules. Trust me, if you pull a stunt like this again, I’ll cut you loose so fast your head will spin like a top.”

“Understood,” Shane said, swallowing hard. The last thing he wanted was to lose his job, but he wasn’t going to apologize for rescuing Gabby, either.

Given the same set of circumstances, he’d do the same thing again.

“Excuse me, Mr. Griff?” Gabby spoke up.

It hardly seemed possible, but Griff’s expression turned even darker. “Vaughn, Lieutenant Vaughn,” he corrected in a clipped tone.

“Oh, sorry, Lieutenant. I wanted to make sure you understand how grateful I am for Shane’s actions tonight. Maybe he didn’t follow protocol but he saved my life.”

Shane wanted to tell Gabby to be quiet, that she was probably only making things worse, but the fact that she spoke up in his defense at all caught him off guard. Was she actually trying to shield him from Griff’s anger? The notion was inconceivable.

“Look, Miss—” Griff began, but she swiftly cut him off.

“Doctor,” she corrected, adopting the same clipped tone he’d used earlier. “Dr. Gabby Fielding, trauma surgeon.”

Griff looked polaxed by Gabby’s quick comeback and Shane didn’t dare look over at Nate for fear he’d burst out laughing. Obviously, Gabby didn’t have red hair for nothing.

“Dr. Fielding, I’m truly glad you’re all right, but the end doesn’t always justify the means.”

Gabby opened her mouth to argue, but Griff shook his head.

“Let’s put that aside for now, okay? Have either of these deputies taken your statement yet?” the lieutenant asked, his tone softer than it had been before.

“No, but I’m happy to do that right now if needed,” she responded.

Shane wasn’t surprised when his boss backed off. After all, Gabby wasn’t just any victim—she was a well-respected doctor in the community. She’d been the surgeon on duty after the airport shooting that had taken place ten days ago, and he’d had the opportunity to see her in action since he and Nate had ended up following the victims to the ER.

Watching Gabby in the trauma room had only reminded him how good she was at her job. She was smart, gutsy and never once hesitated doing exactly what needed to be done.

He’d admired her from afar but didn’t dare allow his feelings to get personal.

Nate took her statement at Griff’s direction. Gabby reported the events she’d suffered in a monotone voice, as if she were reciting a recipe rather than describing the way she’d been victimized. Once again, he was struck by the need to place a reassuring hand on her arm, but of course he didn’t. Shane glanced back at the dead men in the clearing. After his dad died, he’d run with a rough crowd and had gotten arrested. He counted his blessings that he’d been able to turn his life around, becoming a cop rather than continuing on a downhill spiral.

“Thank you, Doctor. Are you sure you can’t describe the men in more detail?” Griff pressed.

Gabby’s control snapped. “I gave you everything I saw and heard in explicit detail. I have a good memory, so trust me when I say there isn’t anything more I can tell you.” She huffed out a weary breath. “Besides, I’ve been up well over twenty-four hours straight and I need to get back to the hospital so I can get some sleep.”

“We’re almost finished here,” Nate said.

“No, we are finished here. I refuse to be interrogated as if I’m the one who did something wrong.”

“Dr. Fielding, I assure you my intent wasn’t to treat you like a criminal,” Griff said. “But victims often remember more details than they realize. We have to ask questions over and over to get the full story.”

“I remember everything crystal clear,” she said flatly. “I have an eidetic memory, so there’s no point in rehashing this any longer. You know everything I do, so I’d like to leave. Now,” she added for emphasis.

“Griff, why don’t you let me drive the doctor and Hawk back to Milwaukee,” Nate offered. “We can follow up more later if we need to.”

“Okay, fine,” the lieutenant said with reluctance. “But keep in touch...and Hawk? I expect to see your report on his first thing in the morning.”

“Will do,” Shane agreed, even though first thing in the morning was only six hours from now. It was already two o’clock and they had a good thirty-minute ride back to the city. Being off duty for the next couple of days was good timing. He’d have a chance to keep a close eye on Gabby.

“Come on, my car is parked out on the road,” Nate said as he turned away from the clearing.

Gabby followed the deputy without saying a word, stumbling a bit as she walked. Shane slipped his arm around her waist, silently offering support.

“Thank you,” she murmured, leaning against him. “Do you think we can go to my house to pick up some things before we go to the hospital? I really need a change of clothes.”

“If it’s safe,” he hedged, wishing he could do what she wanted. But he wouldn’t sacrifice her safety for clothes.

She swayed as she walked and he told himself that if she stumbled again, he’d lift her up into his arms and carry her, but they managed to make it out to Nate’s car without any trouble. He tucked Gabby in the backseat and slid in beside her.

Nate lifted his eyebrow but didn’t comment as he went around to take the driver’s seat. Gabby fumbled with the seat belt, so he reached over to help her before clicking his own into place.

Shane wasn’t surprised when Gabby curled into the corner between the seat and the door and closed her eyes, finally giving in to her exhaustion. He couldn’t imagine how she’d held herself together for these last few hours after finishing a grueling shift.

“Is she out?” Nate asked, catching Shane’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, wondering how in the world they’d find this guy, Creighton, before he found her. He didn’t buy her theory that she’d been grabbed by mistake. Although, with her eidetic memory, surely she’d remember an unusual name like Creighton.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they were better off going straight to Trinity Medical. It could be that the hospital was the last place Creighton would look for her at least in the next day or so.

Gabby shifted in her seat, turning to burrow against him instead of the hard door. He put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

“Don’t get in over your head, Hawk,” Nate warned. “She might be a victim in all this, but we really don’t know for sure that she’s totally innocent. She might actually know Creighton.”

“No way,” Shane protested, every instinct in his body refusing to believe the worst. “I saw how frightened she was, Nate. She stabbed the gunman with her scalpel to get away. If she knew Creighton, she would have said something.”

“I get that’s what you want to believe,” Nate said bluntly. “But just remember to keep an open mind.”

Shane didn’t answer, distracted by the citrusy scent lingering in Gabby’s hair. He inhaled deeply, letting the fragrance fill his mind.

Yeah, he’d consider all possibilities, but at the same time, he knew he’d absolutely protect Gabby from harm.

Sacrificing his own life, if necessary.

* * *

From the dim recesses of her mind, Gabby could hear someone calling her name.

“Gabby? Come on, Gabby, you have to wake up, we’re here at the hospital.”

“Sleep,” she whispered, pressing her face into the warmth of her pillow.

“Gabby, please, I know how much you need to rest, but you need to show me where your call room is so I can take you there. Then you can sleep.”

She heard the words, but it took a few minutes for them to register through the fog in her brain. As much as she wanted to go home, she forced herself to open her eyes and lift her head.

At first she didn’t understand that she was still in the backseat of the car, but when she saw Shane so close, she was chagrined to realize his shoulder had been her pillow. “Sorry,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes against the burn of fatigue. “Okay, I’m up.”

“Good, now just show me where your call room is located, okay?”

Gabby focused on pulling herself together long enough to get out of the car. But the muscles in her body seemed to be moving in slow motion. She lifted the door handle and shoved, barely having the strength to open the door, but then Shane was there with a helping hand.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She stumbled out with a low groan.

And then suddenly, she was swept up off her feet and cradled against his chest.

She clung to Shane’s broad shoulders as he strode into the hospital through the ER doors. There were several nurses sitting at the triage desk and one of them jumped up when she saw him.

“Oh no, is that Dr. Gabby?” she asked, aghast. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened, she’s just tired,” Shane retorted. “I need you to show me where the call rooms are located.”

Gabby was half listening to the exchange, too tired to be mortified. Just the thought of walking under her own power was overwhelming.

All the adrenaline that had rushed through her bloodstream had drained away, leaving her limp and weak.

“Right this way,” the nurse replied. “Are you sure she’s not hurt?”

“I’m sure.” Shane’s tone was firm enough that the nurse didn’t argue.

Gabby must have dozed again, because the next thing she knew, she was being set carefully down in a bed.

“Rest now, Gabby,” Shane murmured, brushing her hair away from her face in a soothing gesture. “You’re safe here. I’ll be just outside the door if you need anything.”

She wanted to assure him that wasn’t necessary, but he flipped the light switch off and left her alone, closing the door behind him.

And this time, she didn’t bother to fight against the desperate need to sleep.

* * *

“So now what?” Nate asked as Shane closed the door of the call room behind him.

Good question. “I need a favor,” he said. “Will you stay here outside her room for a few minutes?”

“Why, where are you going?” Nate asked suspiciously.

Shane had a feeling his buddy wasn’t going to like his plan. “I want to head over to Gabby’s house,” he admitted. “Just to make sure everything is okay.”

“So what if it is?” Nate countered. “That doesn’t mean Creighton won’t show up hours from now, looking for her there.”

“I know, but my gut is telling me to check her place out now,” he repeated. “Thirty minutes. Give me thirty minutes.”

Nate let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, take your half hour. But how are you going to find her house?”

“I’m hoping one of the nurses knows her address,” he said. He decided against calling his sister, Leah, because it was the middle of the night and he didn’t want to risk waking her son, Ben, or her husband, Isaac, who also happened to be a member of their SWAT team. Since Isaac was off this weekend, Shane knew he wouldn’t appreciate being dragged into this mess.

Besides, Gabby’s safety was his responsibility.

Getting the location of Gabby’s home was way too easy. Stacy, the triage nurse who’d showed them to Gabby’s call room, had been able to give him everything but the actual house number.

“She lives in the third house from the corner, on the west side of Rivera Street,” Stacy said. “It’s a brown ranch-style house with tan shutters on the front window. I live in the four-family apartment that’s two blocks over and have seen her there several times.”

“Thanks,” Shane said. “Deputy Nathan Freemont will be waiting here until I return. If you can spare a chair for him, I’d appreciate it.”

“Oh, uh, sure, no problem.” Stacy frowned. “Is Dr. Gabby in trouble?”

Shane debated how much to tell her. “No, of course she’s not in trouble. We just want to be sure she’s safe, that’s all.”

Stacy looked as if she wanted to ask more questions, but he abruptly turned and strode toward the doors leading outside.

After sweeping his gaze around the area to make sure he didn’t see anything amiss, he jogged across the street to the surface parking lot where he’d left his sheriff’s deputy vehicle.

Following Stacy’s directions wasn’t difficult and he slowed his speed when he approached Gabby’s house. The windows were dark, although there was a small light on over the side-entrance doorway.

Instead of stopping, he drove past, circling the block to park on the next street. Shane silently got out of the car and then walked between the two houses into Gabby’s backyard.

There were two young maple trees and he hovered behind the one closest to the side entrance to the house, looking for any signs of an intruder.

If he were Creighton, he’d make Gabby’s house his next stop. Shane fully believed the guy was either here himself or had sent yet another flunky to keep an eye on the place.

Shane stayed where he was for what seemed like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes. He was just about to give up so that he could fulfill his thirty-minute promise, when he saw a light flicker inside the house.

His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he carefully pulled his .38 from his shoulder holster. The light had almost instantly vanished, and for several seconds he wondered if he’d imagined the entire thing.

But then he saw the light flicker again, in a different location, and knew his instincts had been right.

Someone was inside Gabby’s house.

This time he didn’t hesitate to call for backup and it wasn’t because he was worried about Griff being ticked off with him. He wanted the house surrounded as soon as possible.

This time the intruder wasn’t going to get away.

After giving the dispatcher the location, he darted from the tree over to the house, plastering himself against the brick. He carefully peeked around the corner to the side entrance.

The light was still on, but from the back of the house he couldn’t see the front door. He needed a better position so he could watch both doorways.

The neighbor’s yard was his best option. Shane made his way carefully around the neighbor’s house, hoping that no one would catch a glimpse of him and yell out, giving away his position. The fact that it was the middle of the night worked in his favor.

After a long three minutes, he was hidden along the front of the neighbor’s house, where he could see both doorways. He crouched down to wait.

Almost instantly, the front door opened a crack and a figure emerged. There was no sign of his backup, but he refused to let this guy get away.

“Stop, police!” he said, stepping out of the shadows.

The figure on the porch lifted a gun and Shane hit the ground mere seconds before the shot echoed and a bullet whizzed over his head.

By the time he looked up, the figure was gone.

No! He was getting away!

Shane leaped up and dashed over to Gabby’s front yard, frantically searching for a sign of the intruder. But he was gone, vanished somewhere into the night.

Leaving Shane to wonder if the guy had found what he was looking for inside Gabby’s house? Or not?

He hadn’t seen anything in the interloper’s hands, but that didn’t mean much. But he obviously needed to keep a vigilant watch over Gabby, until he could be absolutely sure she was safe.