In the Shadow of Vengeance
Nancy C. Weeks
Avon, Massachusetts
Copyright © 2014 by Nancy Crisp Weeks.
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by
Crimson Romance
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
10151 Carver Road, Suite 200
Blue Ash, OH 45242. U.S.A.
www.crimsonromance.com
ISBN 10: 1-4405-8034-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8034-5
eISBN 10: 1-4405-8035-9
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8035-2
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
Cover art © iStockphoto.com/sswartz and 123RF/Gui Junpeng
This book is dedicated to my sisters, both in family and in life. You encouraged my dreams and have never allowed me to forget who I am or what I’m made of. I’m so blessed to have such amazing women in my life, and I thank God for you daily.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
More from This Author
Also Available
Chapter One
This can’t be happening again. It’s too soon.
Elizabeth Williams caressed her lower abdomen. Of course it could happen this quickly; it was a simple fact of life. Women could get pregnant within weeks of giving birth.
On the upside, at least she didn’t have to worry about stomach crunches for another nine months. But even that positive thought didn’t erase the anxiety churning through her. The demands of the coveted nursing program weren’t going to ease because she juggled the care of two infants. And then there was her dream to travel the globe with Spencer, providing medical aid to areas that needed it most. They could have managed with one child, but two would place that opportunity on the back burner for years.
She shifted her position in the driver seat and glanced at the entrance to the hospital as she dug the plastic pregnancy stick from her back pocket. All she had to do was get out of the car, walk across the parking lot, and find her husband. They would talk it out together and find a way to enjoy their growing family while keeping their dreams alive. At this hour, he was most likely in his office. He didn’t have any surgeries scheduled on Saturday, but he did go in to make his rounds. That afternoon, they planned to drive to her parents’ farm three hours east of Omaha for her father’s birthday. Once her husband learned about the baby and they both had time to process it, this time away from the hospital would be refreshing.
Erin wasn’t planned, but she brought such joy into their life. And although Elizabeth’s and Spencer’s relationship seemed a little strained lately, that was stress. Every couple went through low periods. He spent long hours making a name for himself as a surgical resident. Elizabeth’s sister thought he was selfish with his attention, but she didn’t understand him. Spencer dedicated himself completely to his patients, and they loved him for the time he gave to them. There wasn’t a more compassionate surgeon than Elizabeth’s husband.
Easing her grip on the steering wheel, she smiled at her beautiful daughter in the infant mirror above her dashboard. Erin was so tiny, only fourteen pounds, but right at her target weight for a four-month-old. “Your daddy loves you, sweet girl, and he’s going to love your brother or sister, too. This is going to be a good thing.”
Opening the door, she released her seatbelt and got out. The warmth of the midday sun brushed over her face, and a sense of calm settled her nerves. It would all work out because it had to. They were a family. Her parents must have had rough patches in their thirty years of marriage. That was all this was, a rough patch.
Lifting the sleeping infant out of the car carrier, she cradled her against her heart. The soft baby scent drove away any apprehension. “Well, Erin, my girl,” Elizabeth whispered, glancing at her wrist watch, “Let’s find your father and tell him the good news together. Seeing your sweet face will make it all okay.”
At that moment, the automatic doors to the hospital entrance whooshed open and her husband raced out. She called out to him, but he must have not heard her. He didn’t even pause at the crosswalk between the entrance and the parking lot. A stunning, dark-skinned woman Elizabeth had never seen before met him at his car only two rows away. He unlocked the passenger door of his Jaguar and moved aside so she could drop into the seat. He then ran around and got in. The familiar sound of the engine roared to life and he drove out of the lot, never once looking back.
Numbness settled deep into Elizabeth’s bones. She knew what she had witnessed, but her heart hadn’t caught up to her mind. A huge part of her wanted to ignore what she had seen and take her daughter home.
As she secured Erin back in the infant carrier, she kept an eye on Spencer’s red Jaguar. Instead of turning right toward home or the clinic at the stop sign, he took a left. Elizabeth quickly got back behind the wheel of her Mazda and followed him, keeping several cars back. Midday traffic was heavy, making it easier to keep up with him.
As her mind came up with one excuse after another why he left the hospital with that woman, one stood out, taking on a life of its own.
Spencer was having an affair.
The sentence repeated itself over again as her heartbeats bounced against her ribcage. That was the reason he was so distant with her. Except for a brief moment of passion when they’d conceived the baby, it had been weeks since they made love.
When she caught up to him, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant reunion. She believed every person had a nasty side, and hers was in high gear. If Spencer was cheating on her, she had to know the truth. If he wasn’t, she would owe him a hell of an apology. At least it would open up communication between them.
A quick glance at Erin, and Elizabeth said a silent prayer that her daughter slept through what was slowly turning from a moment of madness into a full-blown bat-crazy. As much as she wanted to turn around and leave well enough alone, a gut feeling propelled her to continue.
Of course this was sheer madness. They had been in love for three years, almost inseparable—until she got pregnant with Erin. They’d met during her first week of nursing school at the University of Nebraska. After a whirlwind romance that lasted half the year, he asked her to move in with him. Since her parents would have had a conniption fit at the thought of their daughter living with a boyfriend, they married. And for the most part, they were very happy together. What made her jump down this rabbit hole?
Spencer’s schedule.
H
e never left the surgical unit in the middle of the day. Everything in his life was planned out in advance and no one messed with that plan. He should be in his office, checking on lab results, going through the mountain of paperwork. You could set your clock by Spencer’s schedule. So where the heck was he going?
After several blocks, Spencer zigzagged through an unfamiliar area of the city. This was the stupidest thing she’d ever done, and she needed to turn around. She hit her turn signal at the next light when the Jaguar shifted lanes and turned into an office complex. Elizabeth eased off the accelerator and followed him through several turns until he parked in front of a two-story building.
Shady Grove Outpatient Surgery Center. And to think she had expected a hotel.
Elizabeth pulled into the spot where she could see the entrance of the center and Spencer’s Jaguar. He opened the car door for the woman and she placed a hand at his elbow as if he was hers to claim.
“The bitch,” she whispered through clenched teeth.
They rushed up the sidewalk. Spencer drew her against him and kissed her neck as she tried to unlock the door. Elizabeth shut her eyes tightly and took in a shaky breath.
“Bastard! That low-life, cheating bastard.” When she opened her eyes, they were gone. She choked back a sob and slammed her fist into the steering wheel.
What seemed like hours on her nerves were only a few minutes. She unclipped her belt and got out of the car. Gently unlatching Erin from the car seat, she hugged her to her chest. Bringing your daughter to confront your cheating husband had to be the lowest on any list. But she couldn’t very well knock on the babysitter’s door and ask her to keep an eye on her daughter while she followed her rat-bastard husband either.
Elizabeth wanted to stomp her foot and cuss up a storm. Instead, she placed one foot in front of the other until she reached the double glass entrance door to the facility. A thick heaviness settled over her. The large oak tree at the corner of the lot that separated parking between the Outpatient Surgery Center and the Shady Grove Imaging Center next door stood completely still. She searched the sky and spotted thick storm clouds south of the city. It was if her mood were affecting the weather.
With a shaky hand, she grabbed the door handle and it turned. Easing across the foyer into the plush, cool reception area, she moved around the nurse’s station. A deep maternal instinct made her hold Erin close to her as she silently made her way toward the back of the building. The fact that her sweet baby could sleep through one of the worst moments in Elizabeth’s life was a true blessing.
She struggled with how to handle this moment. Did she call out to the cheating pair before they had a chance to get naked and personal, or did she sneak around like an idiot and catch them in the act? How was this game played? There should be a rulebook on how to discover your spouse in the act of committing adultery. He was breaking every damn promise he’d ever made her.
A hum of voices caught her attention and she moved to the end of the long hallway. The doors to what looked like examination rooms were open except for the last one on the left. The voices grew angry, especially her husband’s.
“Why did you bring him here? I told you I couldn’t do this today.”
“Even with a rush transport, we may still not make it in time. I didn’t have a choice.”
“There are always choices, Victor. One of them is to follow my orders to the letter.”
She had never heard that tone of voice from Spencer, nor did she recognize the other man speaking. One thing was clear: the chill that sliced down her spine wasn’t caused by seeing her husband with another woman. He might be having an affair, but that wasn’t all that was going on here.
Well, crap, now what? Standing right outside the door, Elizabeth had two choices: walk away or make herself known. Her mother’s famous saying slid across her mind. If you’re going to step in cow manure, better make it worth your while.
Placing her hand on the door, she pushed it open midway. It took a moment for her mind to focus.
God, oh God.
She couldn’t pull away from the gruesome scene in front of her. She had seen surgery performed before. This wasn’t it. This was—
Blood. The migrant worker they treated at the clinic, unconscious. The ventilator. Spencer’s surgical assistant with his hands covered in blood. The kicker, the one thing that slammed Elizabeth’s heart into her gut, was the familiar white container with the international symbol for live organ donor plastered on all sides.
Spencer was harvesting organs.
Her arms went around Erin as she backed out of the room. Spencer’s muffled angry voice called out to the others in the room, but all she could hear was her heart drumming between her ears.
Nothing in Elizabeth’s world made sense. All she knew was she had to get out of there. If Spencer was capable of—whatever the hell this was, she had to protect Erin and the new baby.
Keeping an arm over Erin, she sprinted out the door and around the side of the building to her car. In record time, she had the infant in her car seat and was backing out of the space as Spencer, still in his surgical garb, raced out of the building. The man with him pulled out a handgun and aimed it at her car. Spencer shoved his elbow into the man’s gut before running to his own Jaguar.
Elizabeth didn’t wait around for introductions but sped out of the lot onto the service road. Erin began to squirm. Any minute, she would let loose how she felt about being jarred awake from her nap, making this nightmare even more difficult. Since there was too much traffic coming toward her to return the way Elizabeth came, she turned south, pressed down hard on the accelerator, and drove.
Humming a tune that usually helped relax her daughter, she glared into the rearview mirror as Spencer’s Jaguar pulled behind her. Not waiting for the light to change to green, she spun right again onto a four-lane road. She had no idea where she was going. Her strategy was to place as much distance between her and her husband as possible until she could figure out a better plan.
The car movement must have rocked Erin back to sleep. Thank God for small miracles. The four-lane road turned into two lanes on the outskirts of town and headed out of Omaha. Elizabeth couldn’t decide if she should take the next turnoff and return the way she came, or keep driving.
Did she really see what she thought she saw? The man on the table had been seen at the clinic a couple of times for a sprained wrist. She remembered taking his vital signs and hearing about his wife and son. He worked the farms in the area, saving money to send back to his family. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five years old.
She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, clearing away the moisture so she could see. Shit, what was Spencer involved in? There had to be an explanation for the white organ donor case and the man with the gun.
She couldn’t even remember the young immigrant worker’s name. If they were harvesting his organs, that meant Spencer—the man she fell in love with, had two children with—was a monster.
She choked back a sob as she searched Erin’s diaper bag in the seat next to her for her cell phone. Her father would know what to do. He and her mom were probably sitting down for lunch.
The last couple of cars turned off and Spencer pulled right behind her again. Bone-deep fear raced through her as she searched out the front window. Any hope of losing him failed. All signs of the city disappeared as the landscape turned to rolling hills and farmland. Neat rows of corn that seem to go on for miles grew on both sides of the road. While their stalk height obstructed her view from seeing any signs of a town in the distance, she couldn’t miss the low threatening storm clouds right in front of her.
Spencer increased his speed until he was right on her back bumper. He signaled with his hand for her to pull over. When she ignored him, he tapped her bumper with his car, jerking her forward.
She shot him a glare and shook her head. “Not just no, you sick bastard, but no way in hell am I going to get stuck out here in the boonies alone with you and your hit man.”
The expression on the face of the man who sat next to Spencer wasn’t hard to read, even at the speed she was driving. If he had his way, she would have never left the parking lot of the outpatient surgery center.
She dug deeper into the bag but still couldn’t feel her phone. A vivid list of cuss words slid across her tongue. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed down on the accelerator and hugged the middle of the road. If she couldn’t hide from him or outrun him, she could keep him from passing and cutting her off.
As she searched above the corn stalks for signs of another town, the sky turned a grayish black, casting deep shadows over the landscape as a hard gust of wind whipped around her, making it difficult to control her car. She clutched the steering wheel with both hands. The jagged lightning bolts that seemed to strike the road ahead jolted her. When bulky stalks of corn hit her window, Elizabeth almost jumped out of her seat.
“Crap! Now what?” She screamed as more debris slammed into her car. An instant later, the sky ripped open and hail pounded down onto her roof.
Spencer blasted his horn at her several times. Her eyes scanned the horizon for the funnel cloud. Living in Tornado Alley all her life, she didn’t ignore the signs.
The wind became so unyielding, she slowed her car and pulled over to the side of the road. With a possible madman behind her and a funnel cloud somewhere above, she had no place to run. But the one thing her father had drilled into his children was to never try to outrun a tornado nor find shelter in a car. Both options were death traps.
She swung Erin’s diaper bag over her shoulder and got out of the car. Spencer pulled behind her. Covering her head with one arm to protect against the golf ball-sized hail, she opened the back door and reached for the infant Snugli, putting it on like a backpack with the pouch in front.
Spencer stepped out of his car. “Elizabeth, what the hell are you—”
The roar of the wind took the rest of the sentence. He ducked down as stalks of corn struck him. She settled Erin in the front pouch and removed the thickest blanket from her bag. Wrapping it around Erin’s head, she raced toward a low-lying ditch across the road.
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