Ryker tosses his good arm over Norah’s shoulder, and she wraps her arm around his waist as Logan approaches them.
“I’m glad to see you’re up and moving. I’d like to take you over to the clinic so we can file this in your record and to see how everything is beginning to heal.”
Ryker grumbles and Norah squeezes his waist. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Not going to give you much of a choice really. I’ll have the guys drag you there,” Logan threatens.
“Fine.”
“Actually, it works out perfectly,” Jameson says as he uncrosses his arms from his chest. “I think we have the program synced up and I want to head to the office to shut down the scanner if Norah wants to join me.”
“Oh my gosh, really?” she exclaims as she pulls away from Ryker and heads toward Jameson in excitement.
“Yeah, it’s why I came down here. I was excited to tell you.”
Ryker watches their exchange, but he doesn’t feel the jealousy he had yesterday. Instead, he feels the same excitement that Norah must feel. They’ve made headway and may actually be able to stop this mess. With the program ended and Dylan sending the coordinates of Anthony Moretti’s whereabouts to the FBI he and Norah may be able to move forward. Or at least tackle the next issue in their relationship – his fans.
“Okay, well I can ride with you over to your office since its close to the clinic,” Ryker suggests since Logan and Avery have their car filled with the babies.
Dylan moves into the space and Ryker is not sure how the man is able to sneak up on them. “If you’re leaving the house I’d like us to go with you. Just in case. I’ll have Preston, Heath, and Alexis set up some lookout points. Better to be safe than sorry. Otherwise, I advise you to stay put and let Jameson handle it on his own.”
“No, I understand. I can deal with them being close by,” Norah concedes. “Are you okay with this too?” Norah asks Ryker, and his chest warms knowing that she is considering his feelings too.
“It’s fine. You do what you need to, princess.”
The group moves as one to the upper level of the house and disperse into vehicles all while keeping Norah centered between the group. Only until she is secured in the backseat of Ryker’s vehicle does Jameson pull out of the garage and head toward downtown Carson in the early morning light.
They pull up in front of the pediatric clinic in town which houses Jameson’s office on the third floor. Ryker watches as Logan and Avery arrive at the main clinic up the road and he makes his way out of the car. From the rooftop of Wake and Bake up the street, Ryker can see Heath set up his position while Alexis sits on the bench of the pediatric clinics front door. Dylan stakes his spot along the back of the clinic at the employee entrances. And Preston mosies up the road looking like the quintessential small-town sheriff.
“Hey,” Ryker begins as he assists Norah from the car. “Be careful, okay?”
“I will. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I know. I love you.”
Norah smiles up at him and returns his sentiment. “I love you too.”
Ryker leaves her side and begins his trek up to the family medicine clinic leaving Norah in Jameson’s hands. He makes it about halfway to the clinic before the feeling of being watched washes over him.
As he turns around to glance back at Jameson’s office, he’s surprised to find Norah and Alexis standing outside speaking with each other.
Norah waves in his direction, and he chalks up his feeling to her eyes watching him walk away. Ryker considers that she must have been waiting for him to get to the clinic before she heads inside.
He throws a hand in the air, waving in their direction and continues to move in the family clinic’s direction.
When he approaches the parking lot of the clinic, he notices a car careening around one of the corners of the winding road at a breakneck speed. Ryker turns in alarm as he tries to peer into the deeply tinted windows as the car passes. The vehicle isn’t familiar, and his heart settles in the pit of his stomach.
“Norah!” he shouts, but the distance is too great for her to hear him. He tries to run in her direction witnessing the car slowing as it approaches Norah and Alexis.
The tip of a gun pokes out of the sunroof and releases a shot, slamming Alexis against the brick and stone siding, her body sliding down the fascia. Ryker isn’t sure where she is shot, but he knows she’s wearing a vest to protect herself. Luckily she required Norah to do the same before they left.
But a shot isn’t what Ryker fears. As a man rushes out of the car and wraps his oversized body around Norah, his fear becomes a reality. The man tugs a kicking and screaming Norah from the sidewalk and into the car. Ryker watches in horror as Norah bites the man’s arm, but it doesn’t faze him at all. Instead, he lays a punch to the side of her head, the same side with the healing wound.
His gut clenches to the point he’s afraid he’s going to lose the little amount of food he was able to keep down this morning.
Ryker advances on the car just as the vehicle begins to pull away. He tries to reach for the door handle, but he’s too late. With his adrenaline rushing through his veins Ryker looks around helplessly until he sees the two guns hanging around the holsters on Alexis’ waist.
He runs toward her slouched body on the wall, a breath of air escaping him when he sees that she is still breathing. The shock of the gunfire and the banging of her head on the wall must have been strong enough to render her unconscious.
Ryker snags one of her guns and points it in the direction of the speeding car. Flipping the safety off Ryker steadies his shaking hand and aims - thankful for the years his father spent with them shooting at the lake.
With his aim at the back tire, Ryker lines up his shot until another three shots ring out one right after the other. Another quickly follows and the vehicle whirls around in an uncontrollable spin until it’s stopped by a tree along the side of the road.
Ryker runs as fast as he can toward the scene with his gun drawn, barely noticing how Heath careens down the side of the building and then raises both handguns in the direction of the vehicle.
Just as they approach the car, the back passenger side door swings open and a shocked Norah crawls away from the scene crab style. Ryker changes his direction and heads toward her taking in her wild and fearful eyes and her bloodstained face and shirt.
“Norah! Princess, are you okay?” Ryker asks but as their eyes meet his worst nightmare comes true, she scampers away from him too.
Chapter Ten
THE BEEPING NOISE IS doing nothing to quell the pounding in her head, and she wishes that it would stop. Norah tries to raise her hand to get someone’s attention, but the weight is too much – like trying to lift a fifty-pound bowling ball. Instead, she groans loudly as the beeping increases.
“I wondered how long you would sleep,” a familiar voice says as the noise stops and relief washes over her when she realizes that it’s Jameson.
Norah tries to open her eyes, the brightness of the room overwhelming her and she squeezes them tightly shut.
“Hey, Avery, can you cut the lights off?”
Suddenly the room seems darker behind her lids so she pries them open again and the darker hue of the room doesn’t burn her irises.
“What happened? Where am I?” Norah’s voice scratches.
Jameson’s kind eyes glance at her sympathetically and he hands her a small cup of water and advises her to sip it slowly.
“Mmm, that’s better. Now, where am I?”
“Asheville Medical. We needed to bring you here when the press began to arrive in Carson. It’s safer here.”
“Am I hurt?” she asks feeling around internally for any measures of pain but other than aches from non-use she doesn’t notice any injuries.
“No, you’re fine. You went into shock though and shut down. We haven’t been able to wake you up for twelve hours. They told us it was your mind’s way of blocking out everything that happened.”
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Avery comes to stand beside her bed and takes Norah’s hand in hers. “Do you remember anything?”
Norah begins to shake her head until suddenly visions flash in her mind, and she is transported back to the scene this morning.
Jameson had moved quickly inside the building, but Alexis had called her over, and they chatted. Norah hadn’t wanted to rub it in Jameson’s face that she wanted to make sure Ryker arrived at the clinic down the street safely. So Alexis had given her the perfect excuse to stay outside.
She had felt the warmth spread across her body as Ryker turned in her direction and winked just as he hit the parking lot. Alexis had said something under her breath, but Norah ignored her; she was too entrenched in Ryker to care.
Ryker’s attention began to waiver as a car came barreling around the turn just before the clinic and for some reason, Norah got a dreadful feeling in her stomach. The car was moving too fast, and she had thought they intended to run her over. But the car stopped suddenly and before Norah had a chance to grasp what was going on a shot rang out, and Alexis was sent flying back against the stone wall of the pediatric clinic.
“Alexis!” she had screamed at the same time her own name was shouted across the way by Ryker. Norah turned to look at him just as a hulking size of a man came toward her and wrapped his beefy arms around her body.
Norah screamed as loud as her lungs would allow and kicked at the man’s legs with everything she had but the man barely flinched. As he dragged her toward the other side of the car, she bit down on his arm hating the taste of his blood in her mouth but satisfied that she had caused some damage. Not that it did her any good. He slammed his stumpy fist right into the side of her head causing the pain from her burn to intensify a million times. Tears ran down her face as he dumped her into the car and he moved toward the front seat.
She was fearful that she would never see Ryker or Jameson again and that she was afraid what would happen to her after they were through with her,
What she never expected was for a man to occupy the seat next to her.
“Hello, dear daughter. What a pleasure it is to see you,” her father said and as she turned in her seat, the pounding in her head growing as the car begins to move quickly away from the town.
“How could you do this to me?”
“It’s not personal. You have something I want,” her father replies. “And this time I plan to get it from you myself.”
“I’m your own daughter! Don’t you love me?” she shouts, her anger beginning to get the best of her and her emotions are running freely.
Her father begins, “Don’t be silly,” but his statement is never finished as one shot rings out. The men in the car start to scramble for their weapons obviously underestimating the town.
Norah looks out the window to see Shirley and Temple Fitzgerald standing beside their brother Fred who has his gun drawn and his finger on the trigger. Whipping her head around she finds Ethel, the local waitress, with Preston the sheriff standing on the other side of the road, his finger on the trigger of his gun. And up ahead Cliff the town’s tattoo artist stands poised with his Military issued sniper rifle aimed at the speeding vehicle.
Four shots ring out. Sounds she’ll never be able to erase from her memory.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
As if it happened in slow motion one shot rings out breaking through the front glass. A second louder shot clangs and the massive man that tossed her around like a rag doll knocks his head back against his headrest and then slouches forward. The driver follows suit and slumps against the steering wheel as his blood splatters against the shattered windshield and car interior.
Though the car is moving Norah reaches for the door handle trying to escape, fearful for her life.
“Norah!” her father shouts, and for the first time, she notices the fear in his eyes as she turns to look at him.
“I . . .” he starts, but a single bullet collides into his face spewing skin and blood across the back seat.
“Daddy!” she shouts, her younger self-reaching out toward her father as she wishes for the love she craved as a child.
The car jerks wildly as it collides with a tree, the motion causing her father’s body to lean in her direction, blood oozing slowly from his mouth and onto her lap.
Something in her snaps at that moment and in alarm she finds the door handle and staggers back on all fours away from the car, away from her life. All she can see is the men. The men trying to take her. The men trying to hurt her. The men that can’t love her.
In her haze, she hears someone approach, her name but a whisper on his lips. She doesn’t see his face, can’t make out the form in the mist, but she feels fear. Fear for herself, fear for him. And as she continues to wobble away from the scene, her haze begins to filter away as the blackness looms.
A blackness that she welcomes because the blackness can do the one thing no one else has accomplished. To take her away.
Her body jerks as the visions crash into her. So bright. So clear. So vivid. And as she looks around her room, her heartbeat pounding wildly in her chest, the damn beeping starts up again.
“Where’s Ryker?”
Jameson and Avery exchange a glance and then Avery begins, “Well, he’s back at Carson. You see when the press began arriving, and by the way, we’re still trying to figure out who called them, Ryker needed to get away. And you sort of lashed out at him when he tried to approach you. We all felt it was best for him to stay in Carson and let Logan treat his wound there. Jameson and I traveled with you here.”
“I don’t understand. I lashed out?” Norah asks as a different fear begins to fester and grow in her stomach.
Jameson draws her attention as he says, “Ryker tried to get to you to help you get away from the car, but you kept backing away from him. He kept trying, and you smacked and kicked at him as he tried to help you from the ground.”
“Oh my gosh. I didn’t mean . . . it wasn’t intentional” Norah tries to explain through the wetness growing in her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Avery assures her with a gentle hand on Norah’s shoulder.
“It’s not okay.”
“He understands,” Jameson fills in. “He knows you were in shock and lashing out at the men, not necessarily at him.”
“But I hurt him. How can he forgive me for that?”
“You didn’t hurt him. At least not physically. And, well, he loves you. He’s probably pissing Logan off trying to find a way to get here.”
Avery glances down at her phone and smiles a small, secretive grin and then looks back at Norah. “Logan said Ryker threatened to give him a vasectomy if he didn’t bring him here, so it looks like you’ll have a visitor soon enough. You should probably get some rest.”
“Hey, Norah,” Jameson begins, and Norah turns to look at her friend who has a mix of intrigue and curiosity in his eyes. “Have you thought about how you and Ryker are going to do this dating thing? I mean, he has thousands of girls and women vying for his attention at all times. The fan mail he gets is ridiculous; he actually has to hire someone to take care of it all. It’s a lot to take in.”
“It works for Harlan and Cassidy,” Norah suggests as the realization that she’s dating an actual rock star begins to sink in.
“Harlan and Cassidy can both easily work the press. It’s different when you’ve never been exposed to it. And Norah, remember that they’re going to dig up everything they can about you to paint you in the worst light. Ryker’s fans will want him single, and they’ll stop at nothing to tear you apart.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she lashes out. “You’re supposed to be my best friend. What do you suggest? Do you think I should just end it now because I’m the daughter of the Moretti Mob king? It’s not like I signed up for it Jameson! I am not my father!”
“Hey now, don’t get all worked up. I just want you to think hard about this. I know my brother, and he’s going
to want to shout it from the rooftops that he’s in love with you and that you’re his girl. But are you ready for that? Are you ready to be followed everywhere you go? Are you ready to receive the hate mail and stalkers? I want you to make sure you’re prepared for the shit storm that is about to take over your life.”
“Why can’t I just love him and be happy?”
“You should know now that nothing is ever that easy,” Jameson says as he pats her thigh and hands over her phone. “On the plus side, I was able to deactivate the program just as you suggested. The coding worked perfectly. You did a really good job.”
“Thanks, Jameson,” Norah whispers still confused at whatever Jameson was suggesting moments ago. “I guess I need to contact the Commissioner and let him know that the program has been closed. Have they been able to locate Dr. Fields?”
“Yes, with the track I was able to gather this morning Dylan had Preston send it to the FBI, they were able to find Dr. Fields and the device.”
“How bad was it?”
“Unfortunately they believe Dr. Fields may have been working with your father all along. That’s why you were brought into the project. But Dr. Fields grew to care for you which is why he left the message on his computer. He hadn’t saved anything to retire and saw this as an opportunity to get some cash. He knew what he was doing. I’m sorry about that, Norah.”
“God, I don’t feel like I know anyone anymore. Dr. Fields was like the grandfather I never had. How can I trust my own instincts now?” she ponders as she considers her feelings for Ryker.
Are they real? Or are they a consequence of the situation she has been placed in?
Avery steps into Norah’s line of sight again. “Don’t over think it, Norah. I can see the wheels spinning. The heart knows what it wants; a bad situation can’t manipulate that.”
“I’m so confused now. I’m questioning everything.”
“Don’t. You’re going to waste a lot of energy worrying about something you can’t control. Instead, you should relax and watch some mindless television because once Ryker arrives, he’s not going to let you out of his sight for a very long time.”
Coming Unplugged (Welcome to Carson Book 6) Page 16