Ben pulled the gloves on and did as instructed. Pulling the top tray from her kit, Julia found her old stethoscope in the bottom from nursing school. She laid the stethoscope’s bell against Levi’s chest. She could hear breath sounds even to the base of the right lung.
She sat back on her heels, relief flooding through her.
The glass seemingly hadn’t punctured the lung, but it could have cut through his liver, which would lead to rapid blood loss if not controlled.
She smoothed her fingers through his hair. “Levi, things will be okay. Breathe with me.” Julia inhaled deeply and held her breath.
Levi tossed his head side to side. “It hurts!”
Ben continued to stack gauze around the shard of glass to stabilize it and began to secure them down with wide swaths of medical tape.
Julia reached for his hand “I know, but you’re so brave. Everything is going to be okay.”
“What about my mom?” he cried.
Julia’s heart tore open. It was a basic tenet of pediatric nursing that children were never lied to. There was always the balance of telling the truth without provoking more anxiety. She settled her hand against his cheek. “She’s injured but breathing.”
Sirens...finally. The whoosh and squeal of brakes. A small army of firefighters dressed in bunker gear disembarked from three trucks. Their reflective stripes made them look like disembodied stick figures dancing. Three men grabbed fire hoses from the back of the truck. Two at the nearest fire hydrant. An ambulance screeched to a halt and a paramedic team dressed in navy blue slacks and white shirts pulled a gurney from the back.
Three other firefighters neared Julia and Ben on the lawn. “What do we have?”
“This is Deanna Jones. Approx forty-five. I found her on the lawn. She’s unconscious but has a pulse and is breathing.” Julia motioned to the boy. “This is her son, Levi. He has a large piece of glass in his chest that we’ve stabilized in place to control the bleeding.”
The firefighter peeled his hat off. “What about you?” He reached toward Julia’s face.
In her haste to help her neighbors, she’d forgotten the blood she felt on her own face. “I’m fine—really.”
A black car squealed to a halt at the base of her driveway and Eli bolted from it, his hand on his weapon as he closed the distance between them.
Ben stood up from where he’d been kneeling next to the boy as the firefighters took over his care.
“What happened?” Eli asked.
“It’s like I told you—the neighbor’s house just exploded.” Water gushed through the firefighter’s hoses. Julia’s mouth dried as she saw small areas where her roof was burning. Another hose began streaming water to the side of her house and onto the roof itself—water pouring through her shattered bedroom windows.
Eli grabbed Julia’s elbow. “You’re coming with me.”
She yanked her arm free. “I’m going to the hospital with Deanna and Levi. She doesn’t have any family here, and no one will be there for Levi until she wakes up or his father arrives.”
Eli grabbed her arm again and pulled her close, his hand behind her neck, his lips hot against her as his breath funneled into her ear. “You will come with me. Right. Now.”
The intensity of his words scared her, and suddenly the gravity of the situation hit her like a wrecking ball. Jace continued to scope the area. Ben nodded at her, confirming Eli’s directive.
Her knees softened, and she bent over to ease the light-headedness. Was this her fault? Had her mere presence in her own home put these people’s lives at risk?
Eli hurriedly guided her to his car. Moments after she secured her seat belt, Eli peeled out down the street.
“Where are we going?”
“The only place I know that is truly safe—my house.”
* * *
Eli gripped his steering wheel so tight that his hands ached, his eyes laser-focused on the road in front of them. He made a covert check of the rearview mirror every few seconds. At four o’clock in the morning, there wasn’t much traffic, a blessing because it would be easier to tell if someone was following them.
So far, so good.
Julia sat as still as a hunted animal in hiding. The blank stare in her eyes petrified. What could he say to lessen what she was feeling? The truth was she now realized how diabolically intent the hit man was on collecting his money.
Four incidents in the span of four days. It was a pattern. What disturbed Eli more was that he couldn’t rule out someone on Julia’s detail being involved. At a minimum, someone had to be feeding the hit man information on their whereabouts. Had Julia’s hit man accidentally gotten the wrong house? What member of Eli’s team could be involved? The same agent had not been present at all four events, and at each event every agent had a partner with him. Was it someone from the office?
Eli arched his shoulders and tried to ease the muscle soreness. Was this paranoia? Even though he was convinced none of these instances were accidental, why would someone on his team be involved? If they were, how were they connected to the Hangman?
Parking his car in his driveway, he said, “Stay here until I come and get you.”
He slid from the vehicle and paced to the other side. Keeping a hand on his gun, he pulled the door open and reached for Julia’s hand. She willingly took his hand, and he escorted her up the stairs to his third-story apartment.
Eli led her into the kitchen and settled her on a bar stool by his kitchen counter. Reaching for her chin, he pulled it up until her eyes met his. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and he felt his eyes moisten in response.
Please, Lord. Help me ease her pain. Let me do and say the right thing.
“Does anything hurt? Should I have taken you to the hospital?”
Almost imperceptivity, she shook her head at his statement.
He left her and moistened a towel with warm water. When he circled back, he wiped the blood and tears from her face. He grit his teeth against a desire to plant soft kisses where the glass had parted skin.
As gently as he could, he washed the dried crimson crust from her face. There were also cuts to the side of her neck, hands and feet. “What else should I do to treat these? They’re small cuts. I don’t think you need stitches.”
“Antibiotic ointment.”
He was relieved to have some on hand. Gathering what he needed, he returned to her quickly. Placing small gobs on the end of a Q-tip, he brushed the ointment over her injuries.
Eli placed his hands on her knees. “Julia, please talk to me. I can’t take this silence.”
Her lips trembled, and all his work to clear her tears was undone.
Though he’d promised himself he wouldn’t cross a professional line, he gathered her in his arms and held her against him. After countless minutes, he could feel her heart beat less erratically against his chest. The tension in her muscles eased to the point where it became difficult to differentiate her body from his. He stroked her hair, breathing in its soft citrus scent.
Julia fit perfectly against him. His father always told him when he found a girl whose body melted against his own like a missing puzzle piece—she was the one God designed to be his forever.
When her trembling stopped, he reluctantly eased back.
“Don’t leave me again,” she said.
“I promise, I won’t.”
Julia smoothed her hair from her eyes. “Something happened after the explosion. I remembered more. It was all mixed in with Ben trying to get me out of the house.”
“Did you see your assailant?”
“Just part of the attack.”
“What’s best for you right now? Considering what’s happened—do you still feel like seeing the psychologist in the morning?”
“Absolutely, it’s time to stop this cree
p. I’ll do whatever it takes to end this.”
And Eli resolved to do whatever it took to keep her safe—even if it meant his life.
THIRTEEN
After Eli settled Julia down enough for her to get a few hours of sleep in his guest room, Ben stopped by unannounced. In his hand was a grocery bag full of Julia’s clothes. He offered it to Eli as some sort of peace offering.
They sat briefly at Eli’s kitchen table. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, dispelling the darkness and evil that attempted to consume Julia in the night.
“There’s significant destruction to Julia’s home. Not a total loss, but she’ll be displaced for months. Water damage—mostly to the side that faced the home that exploded. Major roof damage. Windows blown out. Firefighters kept her home from burning to the ground, but...”
Eli sat and waited for him to continue. Even though Eli hadn’t been with the marshals’ service long, he’d never had so much go awry with a witness in such a short amount of time.
Ben continued. “I looked for the journal she kept, and found it in her nightstand table. It’s significantly water-damaged—hard to even see the words she wrote. I don’t know how useful it will be in offering clues about the Hangman and his other victims.”
“Where is it?” Eli asked.
“I put it in the FBI evidence locker. I figured that would be the safest place for it.”
Eli nodded. Ben was probably right on that account. Over the coming days, there’d be, at the very least, insurance investigators traipsing through her house doing a damage assessment.
Eli could only assess the physical damage Julia was suffering—the displacement, the loss of her home and belongings. Two Bibles that she had a deep personal connection with. The emotional and psychological toll was immeasurable. Every person had a breaking point. Where was Julia’s? Had they already crossed it?
“I might have a bit of good news,” Ben said.
Eli opened the grocery bag and was overwhelmed by a smoky odor. He’d have to get these in the wash before Julia woke up. He didn’t want her to suffer any more trauma.
“A neighbor had a security camera that shows a man entering the Joneses’ residence a few minutes before the explosion. We think it’s Ryder.”
Eli retied the flimsy plastic bag. “That doesn’t make any sense. What, he gets the wrong house?”
Ben shook his head. “It makes perfect sense to me. He knows we’re protecting her, so a full-on assault at the house isn’t going to work. Blowing up the house next door has the potential to kill two birds with one stone.”
“Which two?” Eli asked.
“Julia and the...” Ben paused and clamped his lips closed. “Us.”
“It’s so risky. Plus, it endangered the lives of two other people. By the way, how are they?”
“That’s the bright spot. The mother had a skull fracture, which caused the bleeding from her ears and unconsciousness, but she’s awake and talking. The son had an operation to remove that nasty piece of glass, but otherwise he did well. Both are expected to make a full recovery. Aurora Fire was investigating it as arson even before the video revealed someone entering the house. The husband is on his way back from a business meeting in New York.”
Another curious fact. The father, perhaps the only defense shield the family had, was out of town.
“What’s your plan?” Ben asked.
“Julia’s adamant about going through with this forensic interview. I got a hold of Kathleen, and she was able to move the interview to later today so Julia could sleep in—if she’s even sleeping.”
“Good. Hopefully, she’ll be able to remember something, because I feel like as long as this guy is out there, none of us are going to be getting any sleep.”
“I’ve got Julia covered today. Maybe Will or Jace can help me tonight so I can sleep. I want you over at Julia’s house eavesdropping on the fire investigation. Work with your FBI cohorts and do whatever you can to find this Ryder character and bring him in.”
“There’s a BOLO for Ryder. Every cop in the city is looking for him.” Ben headed to the front door. “I’ll keep you informed.”
Eli tried to get a few hours of sleep, but his restless mind caused the same reaction to his physical state. All he knew when Julia emerged from the guest bedroom was just how uncomfortable his couch was and how long it took a few clothes to be washed and dried.
“Tea?” Eli asked Julia.
“Absolutely.”
She sat at the table just as he left it. He warmed up the griddle and pulled the pancake batter out of the refrigerator.
“Your pumpkin spice creamer is a little out of season, but I thought caramel had your name all over it.”
“You’d be right,” Julia said. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I would have been fine with cereal.”
Eli set a steaming mug in front of her. “After the night you’ve had, I think you deserve to be spoiled. Bacon and eggs?”
“Even better.”
That was what Eli liked—a woman with a good appetite who wasn’t shy about eating in front of a man. He spooned a full ladle of batter onto the grill, cracked a couple of eggs and put the already cooked bacon in the microwave to heat up.
“Ben stopped by a few hours ago.”
“I figured,” Julia said, pulling on the front of her shirt. “I have to give him marks for putting together clothing ensembles better than you can.”
Eli laughed. “True, but he didn’t wash, dry and fold them like I did.” It was also good to see she could maintain a sense of humor in the middle of a crisis. “We each have our gifts.”
“Do you like Ben?” Julia asked.
Eli flipped the pancakes over. Why would she ask such a question? Was she picking up on some of Eli’s suspicions about his team? “We haven’t worked together very long. It’s a unique partnership. After your case is wrapped up, we’ll go our separate ways.”
“So you’ve said. It’s partly why I’m asking.”
“What do you think of him?”
Julia shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I doubt that.” Eli plopped the pancakes and an egg onto her plate adding a couple of pieces of warmed bacon from the microwave. “You’re a woman and a nurse. Your intuition must be off the charts.” He placed butter and syrup on the table before setting their plates down in front of them.
As he grabbed his fork, Julia put her hand over his to still it. “Do you mind if I pray? I just—”
Eli set his utensils down. “No, I’d like that.” Folding his hands he lowered his head even though what he wanted to do was keep his eyes on her. Something so foreign to him strangely felt right in her presence.
“Father, I thank You for keeping me, Ben and Jace safe last night. I pray for Deanna and Levi—that You would bring them to a full recovery. I thank You for Eli. For his keeping me safe and for...”
Her voice trailed, and Eli snuck one eye open. What was she censoring herself from saying?
“Amen.”
Eli clenched his eye closed so she wouldn’t catch him stealing a glance. “Amen.”
Julia tore into her pancakes with a vengeance. “I’ll take your statement about women as a compliment. As far as Ben is concerned, I just have the feeling he’s not totally on the level.”
“In what way?” Eli asked.
“I feel like he’s hiding something.”
“Everyone has their secrets.”
Julia set her fork down and grabbed her cup of tea. “I’m starting to wonder if those secrets have any bearing on my case.”
* * *
Dr. Kathleen Powell’s home was a master’s-style bungalow eerily similar to the one Julia had been attacked in. Her color choices were vastly different from Julia’s taste, which made it easier to be
there.
Eli stayed a protective two feet behind her. After he put his suit on, earpiece in and wrist mic on, it was as if his persona changed to the überprofessional agent. All he needed was the reflective sunglasses, and he’d fit the stereotype of the government law enforcement officer on TV.
Kathleen’s gray hair was cut short in a smart pixie style. Her blue eyes, a shade darker than Eli’s ice blue, portrayed warmth that immediately put Julia at ease. After giving Eli a grandmotherly hug, she took Julia by the hand and escorted her into a cozy room with two overstuffed chairs and a small love seat.
“Julia, please make yourself comfortable.”
She sat on the love seat, and Dr. Powell took a seat across from her on a chair.
“I’m just going to do a quick house and perimeter check. I’ll be right back,” Eli said.
Julia watched him until she couldn’t see him anymore. It unnerved her to not have him in her line of sight.
Kathleen cleared her throat to pull Julia’s attention her way. “Julia, I understand from Eli you had a very rough night.”
Julia folded her hands tightly in her lap. “You know, under normal circumstances it would probably be more than I could take, but in light of recent incidents...”
“Like crashing into a river and saving two people?”
Julia smiled. “It’s all about your perspective. I’ve lost a lot of things in this past week—mostly physical things that can be replaced, but I’m alive, my grandfather is alive and that’s what matters most.”
“You said mostly physical things.”
“Yes.”
“That would leave room for something you’ve lost that doesn’t match that criteria. I’m just wondering what that is.”
Julia bit her lower lip. Now I know why Eli likes Kathleen so much—she can delve deep without really seeming to. “I lost my Bible in the river. And a journal I kept for years, I’m presuming, was destroyed by water damage last night. Since I have amnesia, it’s painful to lose things that can replace the memories I lost—especially of my parents.”
Kathleen grabbed a piece of paper. “That must be very hard.”
Fractured Memory Page 13