“What the hell, Lucy? Why would he do that?”
I dropped my gaze, fighting the urge to let a tear slip free. “I don’t know, but he’s got other kids. I heard him. I don’t know what he’s doing with them or where he has them, but he has other kids, Ford, and he’s hell-bent on taking ours when he or she is born.” My voice shook when I was trying to be strong, and my hand landed on my stomach.
“I’m on the first flight out. I’ll be there before you wake up in the morning,” Ford said. I could hear the rustle of hangers in the background.
“I’ll be at the Watermill.”
“No more investigating until I’m there to watch your back. Do you hear me?”
The sirens were loud as the emergency vehicles raced into the parking lot. “Gotta go. The fire department just pulled in.”
“Lucy, I’m coming.”
I swiped at the single tear that slipped free. “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up as another tear fell.
Noah and Carson were walking toward me while Grant was dealing with the police and fireman. Sam was in the van behind one of the computers.
“I got the go-ahead to pick up Dr. Cline. Are you up for a ride, or do you want to wait here and go to the Watermill with Grant?” Noah asked.
“I just promised Ford I’d stay safe and wouldn’t investigate, but since you’re arresting him, I’m technically not breaking my promise. I’ll just be along for the ride. Let me just grab a pen for my hair.”
Carson grinned. “You don’t need a pen. You’ve got my gun.”
“A girl can never be too careful.” I patted his chest.
“We can’t kill him,” Noah said. “Not until we figure out where the kids are being held and what the hell he’s been giving Lucy. Agreed?”
Carson and I exchanged a look that said we’d do what the hell we wanted when it came to the man that was messing with my health and future. I’d keep him alive until I got my answers.
“Agreed?” Noah asked again.
“Sure. Whatever you say. You’re the boss,” I said while checking the clip to make sure I had bullets in the event I didn’t like whatever answers the doctor was going to give me.
“I won’t kill him yet, but I can’t promise I won’t hurt him,” I grumbled under my breath.
Noah crossed the parking lot to where Grant was standing next to the SUV and the surveillance van. “I want everything salvageable in that building locked up as evidence to comb through. Take it to the warehouse.”
“I guess it’s good you brought in more teams at the Watermill,” Grant said.
“Warehouse? What warehouse?” I asked.
Noah and Grant both smiled as Carson led me to the passenger side and opened the door. “And here I thought you knew everything.”
I slid inside. “I think it’s safe to say that is not true, as evidenced by everything going on.”
Worry must have etched my voice because Carson's face turned somber before he spoke. “I’ve got your back, Lucy. You know that, right?”
“I know. I’ve got yours too.”
He nodded in the way that he understood that if push came to shove, we’d do whatever necessary to get the job done. Dr. Cline wasn’t getting away without giving us answers even if we had to shoot out his kneecaps.
Noah climbed into the SUV and slid the keys into the ignition.
“How do you know where he lives?” I asked as Noah handed me the files I’d stolen.
“Director Matthews provided us the address in his file.”
“I’m sure the Director is aware that he’ll be questioned next,” Carson said from the backseat.
“Oh yeah, heads are going to roll on this one, and I’ve been given the green light.”
That was what Noah had wanted all along. It didn’t take a genius to see it. All of this went back to Justice and keeping her safe. I glanced down at the files in my lap and flipped the top one open. A picture of Claudia stared back at me. I recognized her immediately. Her gaze was brilliant, her face lit with a bright smile. She was a pretty young girl. She was also the ghost in the van that had been trying to materialize. “Justice has her eyes.”
Noah glanced at me and then down at the file I was looking at. “She was the kindest soul I knew. She was happy and optimistic even though she knew the evil in the world. She joined the program to make the world a better place.”
I kept my opinion to myself. She may have started out that way, but being pregnant and having a baby had a way of changing priorities. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect the child growing in my belly. No one I wouldn’t hurt, no one I wouldn’t kill to keep my kid safe.
I slid the file closed. “She left Justice with you because she trusted you.”
Noah glanced at me again. “What makes you say that?”
“Because I’d never leave my child with just anyone.”
Thirty minutes later, Noah turned into a guarded gated community. This was the kind of place that had iron fences and manicured lawns. Where the houses were sprawling and huge. It reeked of money.
Noah slowed, reading the addresses, and turned into a circular drive where a three-story house stood. A water fountain stood in the middle of an elaborate courtyard. Another building attached to the home had three garage doors.
“So, what’s the plan? We just going to knock? He’s not going to comply without a search warrant.”
“Yes, he will,” I said, shoving the door open and getting out of the car. I jogged up the steps to the front door and pushed the damn doorbell obnoxiously over and over again with the gun in my hand.
Noah and Carson appeared by my side, and Noah had his badge out, along with his gun. “This is a bit more than just along for the ride, Lucy.”
I shrugged. “I’m still safe. I’m not sneaking in.” I shoved the doorbell twice more and grinned. “I’m helping you arrest the prick.”
The lights in the foyer flickered on, casting a glow through the stain-glass windows. A distorted figure walked in our direction before the door pulled open.
A tall man, over six feet, was standing in the doorway. His hair was mussed as he tied a blue robe at the waist. “Can I help you?”
“FBI Special Agent Noah Roth.”
The man glanced first at Noah’s badge, and then it was as if the words woke him up. “FBI? What can I do for you?”
“We’d like to…” Noah said.
“Where the hell is Dr. Cline?” I asked, bypassing pleasantries.
“I’m Dr. Cline,” the man answered in confusion. “What can I help you with?”
“No, you’re not.” I shoved the man aside, entering his home. He reached for my arm, and I lifted the gun, pointing it at him. “Don’t touch me, and tell me where you’re hiding the old man.”
Chapter Fifteen
The guy held his hands up. “Take what you want. Just don’t hurt me.”
I exchanged a look with Carson and walked farther into the house, calling out the doctor’s name. I took the stairs three at a time and had searched the first bedroom when Noah called out my name.
I returned to the landing and stared down at him. He held up a driver’s license. “He has an ID.”
“No,” I said, returning to my search.
All the pictures in the bedroom were of this guy and an elderly couple that looked to be his parents. Neither of which looked like the doctor that I’d been seeing for years.
I looked through the man’s office and was about to leave when I spotted the two pictures on the wall. One picture frame showed men in white lab coats that looked as though they’d just graduated med school, and the other was of a similar stamp collection as what I’d seen in Cline’s office. I grabbed both items and jogged out into the living room, where the imposter was sitting on the couch across from Noah.
“Who is this man?” I asked, pointing to the other man in the photo. The man I knew as Dr. Cline.
“That’s Ross Granger,” Cline said, meeting my gaze.
“He was a teacher’s assistant, but I think his specialty was in the lab.”
I raised a brow and set the dark wood shadow box of stamps on the table. “And where did you get this?”
Dr. Cline’s brows drew together in a frown. “A pharmaceutical rep that gave a presentation while we were in school gave those to all of us. Those are collectible commemoratives. They were the first stamps that celebrated doctors.”
“Would Granger have received one?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess he could have,” the real Cline answered, sounding unsure. “What is going on?”
“Do you know where we can find Granger?” I asked.
Cline shook his head. His eyes clouded with confusion. “No. I barely knew the guy.” Cline glanced between all of us. “Now tell me what the hell is going on or I’m calling the police.”
“Ross Granger has been using your name and treating patients for years. Decades if I had to guess.” I answered, unwilling to sugarcoat things.
“What?” Cline asked as the color drained from his face. “What patients? Oh my God. What the hell was he thinking?”
I didn’t answer, and neither did Noah or Carson. I met Noah’s gaze. “They’re tying up loose ends. The real Cline, here, is going to need a security detail.”
“I agree,” Noah answered.
“What, I don’t need a security detail,” Cline said, rising to his feet. “I’m perfectly safe here.”
Carson rolled his eyes.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You let three strangers into your house during the middle of the night. We could have been anyone,” I reminded him. “Granger is stealing children. Trust me when I tell you that you are in danger, and the men he’s working with won’t hesitate to put a bullet through your head.”
“Or set your house on fire,” Carson added with a shrug.
Noah nodded. “They did set fire to the medical facility less than an hour ago.”
Cline’s eyes bulged. The color drained from his face as he plopped down onto the couch.
Within an hour, Noah had a security detail watching the house and the doctor inside.
The ride back to the Watermill was made in silence. Everything we’d learned tonight had been unexpected. I was being drugged with God knew what. Dr. Cline had his identity stolen by Ross Granger, and Justice was still in danger, along with more children in a location we hadn’t uncovered.
I was lost in thought when Carson said my name, pulling me from somewhere deep in my head, trying to find a connection, which I wasn’t convinced even existed.
I turned to look at him.
“We’re here.”
“Right,” I said, climbing out of the SUV. There were no other cars in the parking lot when we arrived, not even my sister’s SUV or the van. For once, I was happy the other agents didn’t have lodging on the property. I’m not sure I could have dealt with all the questions.
“Noah, we need to get her meds analyzed somewhere you trust,” Carson said as he shut the SUV’s door.
I pulled them both to a stop as I glanced around the property. The hairs on my neck stood on end.
“What’s wrong?” Noah asked.
Carson didn’t bother to question my instinct as he pulled his gun.
“Where are the guards? You always have guards stationed at the doors,” I said, sliding the gun from my waistband.
Noah opened the SUV and put the file inside along with the picture of Ross we’d taken from Cline’s house. He locked the doors when Carson gave us the signal to wait. He’d gotten three steps when a force of heated air sent me airborne, throwing me backward several yards away. The explosion tore the Watermill apart, raining debris down on us through the air. I grabbed my head, trying to stifle the ringing in my ears. I struggled to sit up. My vision blurred as I reached for the bump on my head. My fingers came away dotted with crimson.
Flames shot up into the night sky, and my first thought was of my sister. I glanced around for the others. Carson was lying several feet away, unconscious on the ground, and I crawled toward him. Blood slid down his cheek from his cuts.
“Carson,” I said, shaking him. “Carson.” My voice got louder just as his eyes slowly opened.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked.
“Call fire and EMS,” I said.
Carson pulled his phone out of his pocket and held up the cracked screen for me to see. “That might be a problem.”
I handed him mine. “I have to find Noah.”
Chapter Sixteen
I staggered to my feet, trying to step over the debris as I searched the direction the explosion might have sent Noah. I spotted his legs first as I hurried to where he lay. His body lay drooped over the stone wall into the river below.
I reached him to find his head under the cascading water. Blood from a large gash on his forehead floated away, turning the stream crimson. My heart thudded as I struggled to pull him over the edge. I pressed my fingers to his carotid artery: No pulse.
Nothing.
I rolled him onto his back and started compressions as I yelled, “Carson, get me that damn ambulance.”
I counted and pushed on his chest, getting a deja vu feeling of what happened to Justice.
“No, you don’t. You aren’t allowed to die until we finish this, do you hear me!” I screamed at the man.
His apparition stared down at me, and tears filled my eyes. “You get back inside your body,” I demanded, my voice shrill with terror.
Noah’s eyes saddened, and he turned to float away. “Noah Roth, so help me God. I will find you in the afterlife and haunt every one of your reincarnations if you don’t get your ass back here.”
Sirens sounded in the distance as tears streaked down my face. I didn’t stop. Not until they took over and we were moved out of the way.
Carson handed me my phone, and I called Gigi. “Pick up, pick up.”
I fell to my knees when I heard her voice. “Hello.”
“Where are you?” I asked, my voice a whisper.
“I ran out to the store to get stuff to make tacos. I was craving,” she said. “Crazy, right? I don’t even eat tacos.”
“Don’t come back to the Watermill. Go home.”
“Lucy, what’s going on?”
“I have to call Grant. Gigi, go home, get your gun, and lock the fucking door until Grant gets to you.”
“Lucy, you’re scaring me.”
“Just do it, Gigi,” I said before I hung up. I called Grant, and his tired voice answered on the third ring. “What!”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m at the warehouse, making sure we have room for all the doctor’s things that survived the fire.”
“Is Sam with you?” I asked.
“Lucy, isn’t it a bit late to need something hacked…” Grant started to say.
“Just answer my damn question. Is Sam with you, or did he go to the Watermill?” My vision blurred and I struggled to stay up straight.
“He’s here with me. What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard. “Gigi is safe. She had a craving and left the building, but they blew up the Watermill. I think Noah might be dead.”
“Wait. What? How?” I could hear the confusion in his voice. “Are you sure Gigi’s safe?”
“I swear it. I just hung up with her. Grant, go home and take Sam with you. Whoever did this knows about us and where we were working. Get her and keep them safe. Do you hear me?”
“Who’s with you?” he asked.
“Carson,” I answered. “I’ll be there when I can.”
I watched as they worked on Noah, even as police and fire trucks arrived on the scene. How were we going to explain any of this?
Not many people even knew the Watermill was an FBI facility. I handed Carson my phone. “You need to call Special Agent Hunt and have Director Matthews picked up before he turns up dead too. They need to know Noah might be dead.”
Diesel Hunt’s name wasn’t one we spoke often. He was the
agent in charge of our operation, although he remained in the shadows, letting Noah handle us and keep us corralled.
Carson took my phone and dialed, apparently knowing the number from memory. Hell, I didn’t even know Ford’s from memory yet.
When two cops I recognize approached, it all hit me at once. The baby, the drugs, the dead women, the missing kids, and now Noah. How was I going to tell Noah’s mom?
“You okay?” Detective Asher Rowen asked as he approached and shook Carson’s hand.
“She’s a Steinman, of course, she’s okay,” my sister-in-law Emily said, pulling me into her arms for a hug.
“Don’t say that too loud. People close to me tend to die,” I said.
I’d been married to her brother for a minute several years ago, and her entire family still considered me one of theirs, even though I had a hard time accepting it.
“Is Noah dead?” I asked, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
The somber look in Asher’s face told me enough.
“How am I going to tell his family?” My question wasn’t aimed at anyone. It was a whisper from my lips.
“Agent Hunt is handling everything. He and the deputy director are on their way. I’ve been ordered not to leave Lucy’s side until they get here. They’re going to want answers,” Carson said.
“Answers I can’t give them,” I said, jabbing a finger toward the building that was charred and broken in pieces. “All of our evidence and files were in there.”
“Oh, that’s bad,” my sister-in-law said. “Now, my sisters and I are going to have to start from scratch.”
“No,” I said, holding up my hand to her. “Do not call your sisters. They could have killed my twin. If Gigi hadn’t left.” Fear clogged my throat and I swallowed hard. “I can’t handle anymore loss.”
It was like I was living a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. There was no way to stop the deaths and disasters surrounding me. Pain radiated through my brain as the apparition finally formed in front of me. Justice’s mother appeared with several women I’d only ever seen in pictures from the Crater Lake murders.
The pain throbbed to a pinnacle, and I reached for Carson as I felt my knees going weak.
Guarding Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 7) Page 8