God, please no. Please make it so she went out for air. Maybe she needed a walk. Maybe she needed a drink. He’d certainly driven her in that direction.
Jude thanked God at least Lori had good loyal people on her side. Hopefully Lori knew that too and wouldn’t do anything stupid.
Jude turned to Jason. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Jason led him to the guest room. “She was asleep in here. There isn’t much to tell. And then she was gone.”
Jude entered. He stepped to the bed. “Did you move anything?”
“No,” Jason said.
Jude fingered the blankets thrown haphazardly away like the person who’d slept there had been tossing and turning. Lori didn’t create such a mess when she slept, but this wasn’t an ordinary day. She could have been distraught even in rest.
Jude looked around on the floor. “What was she wearing?”
“The same thing you brought her in. I only removed her shoes.” Jason pointed at the floor. “They’re gone.”
Jude stepped over to the window. “You said you were in the kitchen and you never saw her go past?”
“That’s right. What are you thinking?”
Jude pointed toward the window. “Is this usually locked?”
Jason eased beside him. “God, I don’t know. Could have been. Maybe. Maybe not. You think she went out the window?”
Jude lifted the pane easily and stuck his head out to peer down at the ground. Only a few feet. Not far to jump. It was impossible to tell if the grass below was disturbed or not.
Jason reached for the window.
“Don’t.” Jude grabbed his hand.
Jason looked up at him as though he’d grown an extra head.
“Just in case.”
He swallowed and nodded. “So maybe she went out the window, but why? She wasn’t a hostage here. She could have told me she needed some air.”
Jude jumped out of his skin when Jason said hostage. Flashes of the similar redhead at the warehouse flooded his mind’s eye.
He squeezed his eyes closed against the images. And then tried to relax his features. What was important now was finding Lori. “Let’s say she went for a walk. Where to? She never came back.” He glanced at his watch. It was after nine o’clock. “She’s been gone at least eight hours.” He looked toward Jason. “No messages. No texts?”
Jason shook his head. “But there’s another thing.”
“What?” Jude asked.
“She didn’t take her purse. It’s in the bedroom. Her phone’s inside.”
Jude pulled out his cell and dialed nine one one. Fear spread through his veins. Had she been that distraught? Enough to wander away with nothing and not return?
His hands shook as he fed details to the officer and asked a unit to be sent over immediately. He put the phone back in his pocket and followed Jason back to the living room.
Jason broke the silence. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all this.”
Jude paced. “She was too calm. I should have realized…” He ran his fingers through his hair.
When the police showed up ten minutes later, Jude walked them through the entire scene. He answered all their questions, checking with Jason when he was unsure of any detail. Jason was falling apart.
Jude was too, but in his own way. He compartmentalized the fear, the pain and the guilt and took care of what needed to be done.
Jude wasn’t stupid. He knew there was very little the police could do at this point, but the file needed to be opened.
When the questions turned to personal things, Jude fielded those too. Had they fought? Was she upset? Had she ever run away? Did she have suicidal tendencies?
The man remained stoic and kept lengthy notes while Jude answered everything as directly and honestly as possible.
As soon as the police left, someone else came to the door.
Jude opened it again, even though it was Jason’s house.
Carlton stood there bigger than life. “What the fuck is going on and why are cops pulling away from the curb?” He plowed past Jude and headed for Jason.
Jude deserved everything he got and more. He was an asshole of the largest variety. He deserved their anger and their wrath. All he cared about was making sure Lori was okay. He’d trade everything that had happened in the last three weeks if it meant she was okay.
Jason brought Carlton up to date, and when the man had calmed down enough to stop screaming, he stomped toward the kitchen.
“What do we do now?” Jason asked.
Jude didn’t have the answers. “I guess we should comb the neighborhood and make sure she didn’t actually head out for a walk and twist an ankle or something.” He didn’t believe a word of that, but it would give them something to do.
Jason shook his head. “Unless she’s in a coma, there’s no way she wouldn’t have called by now.”
Everyone froze. Two seconds later, they all had their phones in their hands and were dialing the local hospitals. Ten minutes later, they’d exhausted every emergency room in a twenty-mile radius. No one had either a Lori Polluck or a Jane Doe.
Jason pulled out lunch meat and bread and proceeded to make sandwiches. He covered the kitchen table with the fixings, and it kept them all occupied for about a half an hour. They had to eat. Jude hadn’t eaten for so long his stomach was protesting. But his throat was so constricted it was hard to swallow.
Two hours later, they all sat around the living room in silence, only the light from the kitchen shining through the living space.
Jude grew antsy and paced often. He’d called his house many times and gotten no answer. It was too far to walk from here, but with no other idea in mind, he decided he should go home and check there again.
He left the other two, promising to call as soon as he arrived. Carlton was still growling at him, but he’d calmed. Of the two of them, he was the least informed about Lori’s relationship with Jude.
Jude sped down the highway, suddenly praying he’d find her at the house. Maybe she’d gotten a ride and decided she wanted to be in her own bed. Their bed. The one they’d made love in all night long. She could have done that. Somehow.
But his hopes were shattered when he arrived. No sign of Lori. No evidence she’d been there since this morning.
He went to their bedroom and flopped onto the bed. It smelled of her. Of the shampoo she used. It smelled like sex. As well it should.
Jude closed his eyes. His heart beat fast. There was no way he could sleep. He’d never sleep again until he located her. But he needed to think.
Minutes passed. Suddenly his cell rang and he bolted upright to extricate it from his jeans pocket. “Hello?”
“Cavanaugh?”
“Yes?” It was his commanding officer, Stanton.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, but we have a situation. I need you to come back.”
“What the fuck?” He shook his head, even though he knew Stanton couldn’t see him. “I can’t, man. There’s no way. I have a personal issue to attend to, and there’s no way in the world I can be of any more help to you tonight.”
“Cavanaugh.” His voice was deep and firm. “Now.” The man hung up.
Jude pulled the cell away from his ear and stared down at it. This couldn’t be happening. Jude dropped the cell on the mattress. He stared at it like it had the plague and he would catch the disease if he so much as touched the damn thing again.
He ran his hands through his hair and stood. He couldn’t comprehend that Stanton had just demanded he return to the base. It was so far-fetched he’d sooner expect a unicorn to fly into the room.
Jude had given up his life to hunt and kill a terrorist, not once but twice. The same damn, mother-fucking asshole both times. He’d seen the bastard with his own eyes today. Hell, he’d shot him in the skull two times. I
f anyone told him that son of a bitch had risen from the dead and escaped, he’d believe he’d slipped into the third circle of hell.
Jude stepped back, staring at the phone. What the fuck could possibly be happening at this hour of the night, after the day he’d had, to cause his commanding officer to demand he return to the base? Again.
Jude grabbed the phone on a whim and glanced through the recent calls. Fuck. It hadn’t been an illusion. It showed he’d indeed received a call from the base minutes ago.
Jude grabbed his jacket, not believing what he was about to do. As he left the house, this time through the front door, he dialed Jason. Jason picked up on the first ring. “Give me good news, man.”
“Sorry. No sign of her here either. I’m going to drive around a bit and check a few other places,” he lied.
“Okay. Call when you can.”
“I will.” No way was Jude going to admit to Jason he’d been called back to work. No, not called, commanded.
Jude drove down the highway faster than he should. Whatever the hell was happening at the army base, it had better be good and quick. If either Jason or Carlton found out about this, they’d bury him alive. They wouldn’t have to, actually, because Jude would put himself in the grave and pull the dirt on top.
Jude pulled up to security at one in the morning. The guard leaned in with his flashlight and then waved Jude through.
Like a déjà vu, Stanton was standing in front of the briefing building. He waited for Jude to exit his car and circle around before he went in this time.
No one else was inside. The main room was dark. The only lights were on in the foyer.
“Took you long enough, Cavanaugh. Were you thinking of ignoring me?”
“Yes, sir. Quite frankly, I was. And this had better be beyond fucking good, because if you knew the amount of trouble I’m in with my civilian life, you’d have a coronary.”
“Trust me. It’s important.” He led Jude down the hall and out a side door.
Jude followed, but what he wanted to do about now was punch Stanton in the jaw.
“Get in,” Stanton said as they reached his car.
“What the fuck?” Jude muttered under his breath. He climbed inside and shut the door. “How long is this going to take?”
“Not sure.” He glanced at Jude, but his look was worried.
A few minutes later, Stanton pulled up to the base hospital and got out without saying a word. Jude swallowed his tongue. His instant thought was that Sharik was in fact not dead again, but being kept alive by some piece of equipment, and Stanton would want… What? What would anything have to do with Jude?
Jude followed Stanton’s clipped pace down a long hall. They passed a nurses’ station and entered the emergency room before he turned to Jude and stopped. “I need to know if you recognize anyone in this room.”
“What? Why would I know the patients in this hospital?”
Stanton lifted a brow. “I hope you don’t, but I need you to check carefully and make sure no patient in this room is someone you’re close to.”
Now Jude swallowed. Bile rose in his throat as he finally understood the implication. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he shoved Stanton aside and stomped into the room. There were about a dozen patients, each one separated by curtains on both sides. Doctors and nurses were scurrying from one gurney to the next, checking vitals and listening to heartbeats.
Jude ignored them all, and every noise in the room combined to sound like a giant hollow tunnel. There were voices, but they were distant, as though spoken through water.
He raced frantically from bed to bed, searching each one for the distinguishing red hair he suddenly knew he would find.
And then he saw her. Fourth bed from the end of the row.
Jude ran to her side, his fingers shaking. He screamed when he saw the tubes coming out of her, the bruises covering her face.
Someone grabbed his arm and he jerked it free. He leaned over Lori and set his face on her chest, trying not to jar her or hurt her worse.
Questions scampered around in his brain, but they wouldn’t come out of his mouth. He knew he was groaning like a dying man, and people were shushing him, but he just rocked and stared into Lori’s beaten and battered face. Was she going to live?
He didn’t know how long he held himself above her, unwilling to blink or look away, but finally he was aware of Stanton beside him, pulling his arm and speaking. The first words he heard since he’d entered the room were from his commanding officer. “You have to pull yourself together, Jude. Now,” he insisted. “If you don’t, you will have to leave, and I don’t want that to happen.”
Jude looked at the man he’d known for twenty years and blinked. He tried to focus on his face. But all he could see was Lori’s.
He wanted to relax and do as the man said, but he couldn’t. He knew rationally he was exhausted and confused, but he couldn’t fully focus now, and he felt his knees buckling a moment before Stanton reached for him. That was the last thing he remembered before the nightmare ended.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Jude opened his eyes, he was confused. He blinked several times and turned his head to one side. He had the headache from hell and his mouth felt like it was full of cotton.
Jason stood looking out the window to his side.
Jude tried to swallow but only managed to croak.
Jason swiveled around quickly and rushed to Jude’s side. He smiled, but it was strained. Where the hell was he?
Jude looked around. A hospital. He must have been in an accident. He couldn’t remember the details.
He closed his eyes and searched his brain. He pulled in bits and pieces. Abdul Sharik. Jude had killed him. He’d had a hostage. Lori. No, it hadn’t been Lori. It had been someone who looked like Lori. And then Lori had been missing.
Jude bolted upright and Jason tried to calm him with both hands on his shoulders. “Relax. You’re in the emergency room. You hit your head hard. You have a nasty goose egg and a concussion.”
“Where is she?” Jude looked around.
“They moved her to a regular room.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Six hours. They gave you a shot to help you sleep.”
“Bastards.”
Jason chuckled. “Apparently you were out of your mind.” Jason released him slowly and reached for the cup of water on the side table. He handed it to Jude and swiveled the straw around.
Jude sucked the contents down in one long sip, his body thanking him for every swallow. When he finished, he turned and tried to stand. The room spun and he sat back, or fell rather, onto the mattress.
“Easy there, dude. You’re going to be dizzy for a while.”
“Take me to her, Jason. Now.”
“Okay. Okay. But you have to listen to me first. There are things you need to know before you go in there. And if you don’t lie back down and calm yourself, you’ll only delay the process.” Jason waited, his lips pursed.
Jude leaned back and lifted his legs onto the gurney again. One thing was for sure: he wasn’t ready to stand. Even if he insisted, he’d never make it ten feet out the door of his own accord. He needed help, and Jason seemed to be the man in charge here.
“Where is Stanton?”
“He’ll be here.”
“So you were elected my guardian?”
“Yes.” Jason shook his head and chuckled. “Not quite the face you like to wake up to?”
“Not even close, dickwad. What happened? Let me guess. Lori was so mad at me she decided to drive here, hunt me down and give me a piece of her mind. Only problem is she got into a terrible accident and they had to put her in the base hospital.”
Jason furrowed his brow and pinched his lips together before he spoke. “Where the hell did you get all that?”
“Made it up. It was the only thing my brain could process that made logical sense.”
Now Jason raised his brows and tipped his head to one side. “Two points for the glorified version, but I hate to tell you nothing as wonderful as all that happened to Lori.”
“Wonderful?” What part of what Jude described was the good part?
Jason pulled up a chair and sat close to Jude. “Apparently your terrorist did some research before he lured you out to the warehouse yesterday.”
Jude lifted up on one elbow as Stanton walked into the room. “Cavanaugh.” He nodded and stepped up beside Jason. “You’re awake.”
“What happened?” Nerves made Jude’s hands shake as he set his head back down. Every time he lifted it, he got nauseous.
Stanton leaned on the edge of the bed. “Sharik’s been following your movements for weeks, even before our intelligence told us he was alive. We found that damn cell phone that has been calling you. One of the dead men had it in his pocket. Must have been keeping tabs on you. Sharik had men on this end trailing you and Ms. Polluck.”
Jude cringed at the mention of Lori. Flashes of all the times his skin had crawled in the last few weeks made him squeeze his eyes shut. He hadn’t been crazy after all. People had been watching him. Why hadn’t he heeded the gut feeling and looked into it?
Jason picked up the story. “Yesterday when you left Lori with me, his men followed you. They must have grabbed her almost as soon as I left her sleeping. I never knew.” Jason’s brows were furrowed in pain. He shook his head and lowered his gaze. “I’m so sorry, man.”
“It’s my fault, not yours. I never should have tempted fate like I did after I found out Sharik was alive and coming after me. It was idiotic.”
“Let’s stop playing the blame game before the US Army has to take up a role,” Stanton said.
Jude turned his gaze to his commanding officer. “So who was the woman in the warehouse? I don’t get it.”
“Apparently Sharik took a liking to Lori. He had a file on her, which we confiscated.” Stanton paused. “He had nude photos of her.”
Jude cringed. The hot tub… “Fuck.”
“Yeah. He intended to use her as bait and kill you both, but changed his mind and told his men to keep her alive for him unless he was killed. He was one fucked-up bastard. The woman in the warehouse was one of his own. He’d put a wig on her and made her up to look like Lori to stage the entire thing. Probably with the intention of driving you crazy under the assumption she was Lori. But his plan didn’t pan out so well.
Bound to be Tested: Emergence, Book 3 Page 22