Desert Rescue (K-9 Search and Rescue)

by Lisa Phillips

  “Yes, Mom. It’s true.” He chuckled. Not good, since the laugh sounded completely fake.

  Someone was trying to reach his son’s bed. “I’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t let anything happen to Nate.”

  TEN

  Jennie flung the door open before he’d even shoved the SUV into Park. Tucker barked at her as she jumped out, but she wasn’t going to stop for anything.

  Someone had approached her son’s bay in the hospital.

  That cop—Eric. The one Patrick introduced as his partner. He’d been on the phone with Patrick when he’d led him to believe someone was approaching.

  That was all she knew.

  The whole drive over—which felt like an hour but was closer to a few minutes—she’d asked and asked what was happening with Nate. Never mind that he didn’t know more than what he’d already told her. Wasn’t withholding anything. Patrick had no intention of keeping her in the dark about what was happening to their son. He just hadn’t had more information to give her.

  “Jennie!”

  She heard him race after her, along with the jingle of Tucker’s tags, but just kept going. All the way to the alarmed Emergency room doors. How had someone gotten past them anyway?

  Patrick touched the small of her back. She didn’t look at him. Not when he did that, and not a second later when the doors slid open. Released by the staff member behind the desk.

  Jennie darted between the doors, but Patrick caught her elbow.

  Jennie said, “No.”

  He tugged her around to him, his other hand holding the leash with Tucker close to his side. The dog looked ready to work. “Jennie.”

  “Nate—”

  He cut her off. “You stay behind me.” She heard the snick as he drew his weapon. “We don’t know who is there. So we’re going to let Tucker go first.”

  She was right behind him, though. No way would she allow anyone to get to Nate if she could help it. But he was correct that he should be the person in front. He had a gun, after all. And that badge on his belt. Tucker sniffed at the floor tiles as they raced down the hall to the bay where he’d been admitted overnight.

  She looked around Patrick, but the man she’d met wasn’t there. Patrick’s partner had worn similar clothes, but now he was gone. A white paper cup lay on the floor, tipped over, its contents spilled in front of the curtain.

  Patrick swiped back the curtain, gun raised. Tucker sniffed.

  Beth sucked in a breath and blinked away a sleepy glaze in her eyes. Nate lay in the bed, still asleep. Jennie rushed around Patrick and went to her friend, so she didn’t disturb her son from his rest.

  Beth yawned. “What’s going on? I heard someone yell, didn’t I?” She looked around Jennie and Patrick. “Where’s the other cop?”

  “I’m going to find out,” Patrick said.

  Jennie glanced at him and nodded. Beyond him, a security guard moved into the hall.

  “Stay here, watch them and don’t move,” Patrick ordered.

  The man seemed a little perturbed but nodded. She didn’t know how much help he would be. He had a badge, but only a stun gun on his belt.

  Patrick left the man watching over them while he disappeared with Tucker to search for the threat.

  “What’s going on?”

  Jennie looked at Beth. “Patrick was on the phone with his partner, who thought that someone was making an approach.”

  At least, that was how he’d worded it. But he hadn’t known. And where was Eric, anyway? Had he run off after someone? That meant the person hadn’t gotten near this hospital bed. Right?

  “He needs to find Eric and figure out what happened.” Jennie checked on Nate, smoothing down covers that didn’t need to be adjusted and laying a soft kiss on his forehead. One he would have groaned about if he’d been awake.

  “Oh.” Beth rubbed at her eyes.

  Jennie glanced at the security guard, who watched them in a kind of detached way while he chatted to the nurse. Of course, he was just a security guard, but she figured Patrick wouldn’t have liked it. Still, this man wasn’t doing anything she should worry about.

  She was just on edge, being paranoid and seeing danger where there was none. Because Patrick was facing down the danger.

  And that meant he was the one at risk right now.

  Something that might be okay with him. But that didn’t sit right with her. No matter that he was a cop, she didn’t love the idea that he was in the line of fire. For her, or for anyone else. Maybe that was irrational. Or silly. Either way, it was how she felt.

  The security guard glanced down the hall where Patrick had gone. Jennie peeked around the curtain.

  She immediately saw the tension between Patrick and his partner. Even Tucker seemed to be on edge. Or just hyperalert.

  Jennie raced over. “What happened?”

  Eric ended their stare-down and looked at her. “I saw a guy. He clocked me and broke off his approach, so I followed.”

  “And lost him.” Patrick lifted his chin.

  “Back off. Partner.”

  Patrick blew out a breath that sounded like it might’ve been a huff of laughter but didn’t say anything. Jennie wanted to squeeze his arm—something—but given his body language figured he didn’t want to be touched right now.

  “You saw someone?”

  Eric nodded.

  She turned to Patrick. “Maybe it was one of those guys I picked out.”

  “If we look at the surveillance, you can see for yourself. I’m sure he’s on the footage.” Eric pointed high on the wall to a surveillance camera.

  Jennie looked up. On the bottom of the round lens, a red light flashed. Did that mean it was recording?

  She glanced at the security guard, who was still watching her son, then turned back.

  Patrick hadn’t taken his attention from his partner. “You didn’t catch him.”

  “Hard to do that when he clocked the shield from twenty feet away.” Eric motioned to the badge on his belt. “He was two floors down the stairwell by the time I got through the door. No point chasing him when that left the kid exposed.”

  A muscle in Patrick’s jaw flexed.

  “Nate is still sleeping,” Jennie assured him. “He didn’t even wake up.” She moved to Tucker and petted him. Maybe if he relaxed, Patrick would, as well.

  He turned to her.

  “Everything is fine.”

  “Nate is being targeted,” Patrick said. “He’s in danger here, the same as he was at your house. We need a safe place to take him.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Wherever we need to go, we’ll go. As long as you and Tucker are with us.”

  Jennie saw Eric’s glance between them. She wanted his friend to think she was a good woman for Patrick’s son to have in his life. That she could stand strong and not fall apart at the slightest thing. He didn’t need to be saddled with all the work unraveling what was happening and keeping them safe while they did nothing to aid that.

  She wasn’t going to be deadweight. Some helpless female who couldn’t do anything to combat what life threw at her. Together, they would protect Nate.

  Patrick turned to her. “I will keep you both safe.”

  “I know.” Her words softened his gaze. He appreciated her faith in him. “You won’t let anything happen to Nate.”

  “To either of you.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  * * *

  Okay. So much faith in him. Too bad he didn’t have faith in himself.

  “She’s quite a woman.”

  Patrick turned back to his partner. “You and I are going to have serious problems if anything like that happens again.”

  “You think I should have been in two places at once, protecting the kid—who is fine, by the way—and catching the guy who tried to approach?”

 
; Patrick clenched his teeth. He didn’t have a better idea for what Eric should have done. In fact, Patrick would likely have done exactly the same thing for the chance to catch whomever it was that had tried to get to Nate.

  “I get this is personal,” Eric said. “You’ve never indicated you’d have compromised judgment when it’s personal, and I doubt you will. But I’m here to be a sounding board, okay? If you need impartial judgment.”

  “What I need is a safe place to take Jennie and Nate when they release him. Somewhere they can lay low and actually rest, and I can know they’re safe while we find these guys and figure out who’s behind this.”

  “Now you want my help again?”

  Patrick nodded. “I need it.”

  They were partners. Eric was right. This was personal—in a way that was unprecedented. And like every other difference between them, they would work their way past it. At the core, they were two cops. Despite personal differences, they’d been trained the same way and had the same goals.

  “Okay, then,” Eric said. For them, it was basically an apology. Things were good now and they would move on. “I’ll get you a copy of the surveillance footage. See if there’s a good angle on this guy’s face.”

  Patrick held his hand out. “I appreciate it.”

  Eric shook with him, then went to the elevator while Patrick returned to Jennie and Nate. They were like a tether. He didn’t want to be too far from either of them. Not for long, at least. Just enough time to figure out what was going on.

  Beth stood. “I’m going to go get some coffee. Do either of you need anything?”

  Patrick shook his head.

  “No, but thanks.” Jennie gave her friend a smile.

  He took the empty chair and Jennie leaned one hip on the bed in front of him, angled toward Nate. He gave Tucker a command to lie down beside his chair.

  Tucker leaned his chin on the bed and Patrick heard him sniffing. Only after he’d done that did Tucker lay down.

  Jennie smiled at him. Patrick was tired enough to want to stare at her and not care that she’d see him do it.

  He tipped his head to the side. “How are you doing?”

  “I feel about as tired as you look.”

  He felt his lips twitch. “So pretty good, then?”

  She smiled back. “I’m not fielding that one. Hit me with another.”

  “I told Eric we need a safe place to say when Nate is released.”

  “I don’t want to stay here long, but I know he needs medical attention. If the doctor thinks he should be in the hospital then I won’t argue.” She traced her thumb on the back of Nate’s hand. “Even though I have to admit, all this makes me want to gather him up, run away and hide.”

  “That’s understandable,” he said. “You want to keep him safe.”

  Didn’t all parents want to safeguard their children? But it was impossible to protect them from everyone and everything that might harm them.

  Jennie said, “That’s not the best for him, though. He can’t live life tucked away from the world. He’ll never learn to be strong that way.”

  “It’s still okay to want to protect him. You should want that.” He was finding he wanted it, also. Not just because Nate was vulnerable and in danger. Eric was right about this becoming personal. Patrick could do his job perfectly fine even when the victim was someone he cared deeply about. He’d be inclined to pray just to cover his bases, but that didn’t really mean he had faith.

  “Jennie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Will you pray, please? I’d like to know we’re covered, but I don’t want to be a hypocrite.” He needed to admit where he stood with that. “I haven’t gone to church in years.”

  “Because of me?”

  “I didn’t leave because of you. It was your father who forced my mother and me from our home, and when I went to talk to him...to confront him...a couple of his guys laid into me. They tossed me on the street.”

  She gasped.

  “It was a long time ago. He’s not here anymore, which means he can’t answer for what he did.” Patrick wasn’t going to tell her that being kicked so hard two of his ribs had broken wasn’t a big deal, because it was. But not as bad as her father trying to toss money at him to induce him to leave Jennie—and town. When he hadn’t taken it, they’d attacked him. “Soon as I got home, my mom drove us out of town. I wrote to you in the car.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away. She was quiet for a while then said, “He told me he talked to you. That he told you about the baby, and you didn’t want to know. That you asked him for money. Then you were just gone.” She sniffed. “I went to your house, but you’d already cleared out and left.”

  Patrick tugged her up and wrapped his arms around her. Jennie melted against him, her arms sliding around his middle as they held each other. He exhaled a long breath, his cheek against her hair.

  Patrick studied Nate as he slept. Eyelashes fanned on his cheeks, his chest slowly rising and falling. Together, they’d made him. Though not under the best of circumstances—understatement—it could not be denied that Nate was astounding. Patrick couldn’t wait to get to know his son better.

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  Jennie backed away. “It’s okay, Beth.”

  Patrick turned, cold from the loss of her embrace. And from a simple hug? It made no sense, except that it had been a long time and what they’d had was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things.

  Eric stood behind Beth.

  “What is it?” Patrick lifted his chin.

  His partner crowded in, weaving around Beth as they both said, “Sorry. Excuse me.” There was hardly enough space for the four of them and the dog, plus the hospital bed where his son lay.

  Eric’s countenance didn’t allow for argument. Especially when he held out his phone. “The security guard sent the email to you, as well.”

  Patrick looked at Eric’s phone screen. The photo was a grainy shot of the hallway. “Can we get an ID from it, see if it’s either Carl Andrews or Michael Danes?”

  It might also be the boss, who’d wanted to talk to Nate and hadn’t cared about Jennie. Who did that? What more value could a child be than his mother? It didn’t make sense that they would want him and not her. Patrick needed to figure out this mess.

  Before it got worse.

  When he looked up, Eric’s attention was on Jennie. Why was he...?

  Patrick caught the expression on her face.

  “Jennie, do you know who that is?”

  ELEVEN

  Jennie strode between Beth and Eric, out to the hallway, though it wasn’t any less crowded than it had been in Nate’s bay. She could hardly believe he was still sleeping. But that was due to whatever the doctor had given him.

  “Jennie.”

  She lifted her arms as though they could hide her face from the world and paced away from where Patrick stood. More attempts at avoidance? No. Jennie was going to face her problems head-on. She’d survived so much in the last day and a half. She wasn’t giving up now.

  She took a couple of deep breaths and then lowered her arms.

  “You know who it is.” Not a question.

  “My brother.”

  She sank into a chair and covered her face again. Patrick tugged her hands down and she saw him crouched in front of her. Tucker got up and sniffed at his face. Patrick nudged him away and said, “The man on the surveillance video, the one who approached Nate’s room, was your brother?”

  She nodded.

  “How can you know that? It’s been years since you’ve seen Martin.”

  So she was either lying or she was guessing? Jennie didn’t know which was worse. “It’s him. I know it is.”

  “The image is grainy.” He glanced at the photo on the phone. “I guess it might resemble him.”

  Sh
e sat back in the chair and tugged her hands from his. It didn’t matter that Patrick didn’t believe her. The picture was of her brother. And now that she thought about it, the whole thing made sense. Not hurting them. Wanting to see Nate.

  But Martin was in the army. This had been going on for weeks. Longer than any leave he’d have, right? She hadn’t seen her brother since he’d left and didn’t know much about army life. But she figured he couldn’t just leave his job—or posting—or whatever, and come home for weeks at a time.

  “Maybe he’s done with the army.”

  “But he hasn’t tried to contact you.”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea why. If he has, I didn’t know it was him.”

  “What is it about that picture that makes you think it’s Martin?”

  “The fact I know my brother?”

  “Is that a question?” When she didn’t answer him, Patrick said, “I knew your brother in high school. He was three years older, but I remember what he looked like then. But this guy?” He shook his head. “I can’t say for sure.”

  “My dad had pictures of him in uniform. I think Martin sent them to him. I have them in a drawer somewhere, so I could show Nate. But I never have.”

  “And you think that man is Martin?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  He didn’t believe her, though, did he? And that hurt a lot. Jennie had been getting used to having Patrick here, supporting her. Helping. It had been a matter of hours, but that was evidently enough time to become dependent on another person. Not just because they’d been in danger, but because she hadn’t been alone as a parent anymore.

  Now Martin was back?

  Instead of coming to the house and ringing the doorbell like anyone else, Martin was involved in something that included trespassing on her land. Then he’d had them kidnapped, and now he was threatening Nate’s life?

  “I don’t want him coming anywhere near me.” She stood, lifting her chin as Patrick stood, as well.

  Beth had gone back to Nate’s bedside, something Jennie would be forever grateful for. Eric stayed at the curtain, another man determined to protect them. But there was nothing in her appreciation for him that even came close to how she felt about Patrick.