by Hope White
He must have seen the body, as well.
She redirected her attention from the vanishing ambulance to the body, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. Maybe it was someone from the fire who’d wandered out and collapsed.
Maybe it wasn’t Spence.
She dropped to the ground and realized it wasn’t Spence, but a paramedic. A gasp-choke escaped her lips.
The young paramedic sat up, rubbing his head.
“What happened?” Ryan said.
“We found an unconscious male by the south exit. Secured him in the back of the ambulance but when I opened the driver’s door someone clobbered me.”
Maddie snapped her attention into the fog, where the ambulance had vanished. “They took him, Ryan. They took Spence.”
* * *
Spence opened his eyes, cataloging his surroundings. How had he ended up in an ambulance? He didn’t think he’d inhaled that much smoke, but must have because he felt nauseous and disoriented. With the oxygen mask firmly over his face, Spence struggled to communicate with the male paramedic.
“Just relax,” the young man said. “I’m Tyler, and my partner Eddie is driving.”
Spence didn’t know Tyler, which didn’t help ease the tension in his chest. If only Maddie had been on duty and called to the scene.
Maddie. The sound of her shouting his name echoed in his mind. She had been there.
The ambulance jerked left and Tyler flew out of sight.
“Eddie, slow down!” Tyler shouted. He shifted back to the bench beside Spence and knocked on the window between them and the driver. “What’s wrong with you?” Tyler shook his head and glanced at Spence. “Sorry about that. Eddie just broke up with his girlfriend.”
Spence knew the pain of heartbreak; the memory of finding Andrea in the arms of another man still cut him to the quick. He surely must have inhaled too much smoke to be thinking about that disaster. He’d put that painful memory behind him, buried it deep where it could no longer hurt him.
The siren clicked on and the ambulance sped up.
“Eddie! It’s mild smoke inhalation!” Tyler shook his head. “He’s a good driver, don’t worry.” Tyler took Spence’s blood pressure.
Spence removed his mask. “I don’t know you.”
“I’m Tyler, remember?”
“I’ve never seen you at the hospital. I’m...a doctor.”
“I usually work in Skagit County, but they called us in on the resort fire.” He adjusted the oxygen mask over Spence’s mouth. “Please keep this on.”
“Ambulance 112, this is base. Over.” A voice said through Tyler’s shoulder radio.
“This is Ambulance 112. Over,” he responded.
“What’s your twenty? Over.”
Tyler knocked on the divider. “Eddie! They want our twenty!”
No response.
He knocked again. “Eddie!”
The ambulance swerved. Tyler jerked back, slamming into a cabinet. Gripping his head, he shouted, “That’s enough! I’m driving!”
He pounded on the divider with his fist.
In Spence’s eyes it seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. Had he inhaled more smoke than he thought?
Breathe, he coached himself. Keep breathing.
The ambulance pulled over.
“Hang tight,” Tyler said, and disappeared from view.
Spence wasn’t sure how long Tyler was gone. In his condition he didn’t have a clear sense of time.
“Kyle,” a voice said. “Your brother needs you.”
His brother?
“Bobby?” Spence croaked.
“Yes, Bobby needs you. Let’s go.” A man’s face came into view, but he wore a surgical mask and thick, tinted glasses.
“Bobby’s here?” Spence said as the doctor led him out of the ambulance.
“Yes. I tried to help, but he’s asking for you.”
“Bobby,” Spence hushed.
The ground tilted beneath his feet, but the doctor with the tinted glasses kept him upright, guiding him into the woods.
“What happened?” Spence said.
“He fell, remember?”
Spence nodded. Yes, he remembered. They were playing superheroes and Spence dared Bobby to jump across a ravine like Batman.
The doctor led Spence up a trail, his legs weak and unsteady.
“You’re the only one who can help him.”
Spence forced himself to be strong, to make it to his brother.
To save him this time.
They approached an overlook. The doctor let go of Spence’s arm and retreated into the forest.
“Where is he?” Spence said.
“Down there. Can’t you see him?”
Spence peered down into the mass of nothingness. “I can’t...”
“Kyle,” a voice echoed. “Kyle, help me.”
Spence squinted to see below, to see his brother, but was blinded by darkness.
“Bobby?” Spence called back.
“Don’t let me die!”
“I’m coming, Bobby!” Spence dropped to his stomach to lower himself to the ledge where his brother lay injured.
This time would be different. He’d help Bobby.
He’d save him.
“I’m coming, Bobby!”
“Spence!” a woman shouted.
Was Maddie down there with his brother? Together, Spence and Maddie would save Bobby for sure.
He grabbed on to a tree root and let his feet dangle, just like before, only he knew what to do this time. He was a doctor.
He was about to let go when firm hands gripped his wrists.
“Pull!” a man ordered.
In a swift movement, Spence was up on the trail lying on his back. “No, I have to get to Bobby.”
He struggled to get up, but someone restrained him.
“Shh, it’s okay.” A pair of brilliant green eyes looked down at him.
Maddie.
“Take it easy, Spence,” she said.
“Bobby, Bobby needs me.”
She shone a bright light in his eyes. “He’s been drugged,” she said to someone.
Spence realized Nate was holding him down. “You’re okay, buddy. Just relax,” Nate said.
“Not okay. Bobby’s hurt.”
“Who’s Bobby?” Maddie asked Nate. He shook his head.
“My little brother,” Spence said, fighting the restraint of strong hands pressed against his shoulders.
“We’ve gotta get him to the hospital,” Maddie said.
And he was up, being led away from the ledge, away from his brother.
“No, Bobby, no!” The pain and grief of his brother’s death rushed though him. “It’s my fault. He’s dead because of me.”
* * *
Maddie and Nate didn’t want the Echo Mountain Hospital staff to witness Spence in such a disoriented state, so they took him to Cedar River, a hospital one county over. Nate had a friend there and made a call, asking if they could treat Spence quietly, without drawing unnecessary attention.
They loaded Spence into the county ambulance. Maddie stayed in the back with him and Ryan drove the ambulance to the hospital. The other paramedic, Tyler, had sustained a head injury and rode in front.
“It’s my fault. Bobby... I killed my little brother,” Spence whispered.
“No, you didn’t kill anyone,” Maddie said.
His eyes popped open. “Didn’t you hear him? He was calling my name.”
“Shh,” Maddie said, stroking his soft, ash-blond hair. “Spence, look at me.”
He blinked and looked into her eyes. “My brother...”
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay
.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“Bobby...” Spence closed his eyes.
This situation was growing worse instead of better. The perpetrator had assaulted not one, but two paramedics, kidnapped the doctor and tried to make him climb down a mountain. And how had he done that? By messing with Spence’s mind. Which meant the attacker knew details about Spence’s life. It was time Maddie knew the same details.
They pulled up to the hospital and Maddie opened the ambulance doors.
“Maddie,” Spence said.
“I’m here.”
Nate walked up to her. “They’re letting us come in through the side entrance.”
“Thanks. It would help if we knew what happened to Spence’s brother.”
“Detective Vaughn is working on it.”
An ER doctor and nurse came out of the building. “I’m Dr. Reece. We’ll take it from here.”
“I need to stay with him,” Maddie said. “He’s disoriented and argumentative. My presence will keep him calm.”
“This way.”
Maddie and Nate followed them into the hospital, Maddie even more determined than ever to stay close to Spence.
* * *
A few hours later Maddie sat beside Spence’s bed in the ER, waiting for results from a drug test. He’d been drugged, no question in her mind. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been so out of it, and he surely wouldn’t have tried to rappel down a mountainside at night with no equipment.
To get to Bobby, his little brother, who wasn’t even there.
Her phone rang and she recognized her aunt’s number. “Hey, Aunt Margaret.”
“I heard about the fire at the resort. Is Dr. Spencer okay?”
“He will be.”
“I had tea with Iris Price and she told me Anthony and Theresa are doing just fine. Set a wedding date for September.”
“That’s good news.”
“Tell Dr. Spencer I’m making two more casseroles and a fruit plate for him.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“How about you? Are you okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m good.”
“Keep in touch, okay? Even if it’s an email, but not text, I haven’t figured out the texting thing yet.”
“Sounds good. Love you.”
The curtain pulled back and Nate motioned her to join him, away from Spence.
“I can’t leave him,” she said.
“I’ve got you covered.” Nate motioned to a man standing a few feet away. “This is bodyguard Adam Swift. He owns a personal security firm and is going to keep an eye on Spence for us.”
“Ma’am,” Adam said in greeting.
In his thirties, he had short brown hair, a square jaw and wore a serious expression.
“How do we know we can trust him, Nate?” she asked. “No offense, Adam, but we’ve had a couple of crazy days.”
“We served in the military together,” Nate said. “He’s solid and his is one of the top-rated agencies in the Seattle area.”
With a nod, she followed Nate out of the ER into the lobby, leaving Adam to keep watch over Spence.
Nate led her to a secluded corner. “Spence had a brother named Robert who passed away at eight years old. Spence was thirteen. The report indicates that Spence and his brother were playing in a forest and Bobby fell. He sustained life-threatening injuries and died.”
She glanced toward the ER examining area. “That’s horrible.”
“It sounds like Spence blames himself.”
“But he was just a kid.”
“You don’t have to convince me. All that guilt must have come rushing back tonight.”
“Because the kidnapper who assaulted the paramedics and drugged Spence shoved his failures in his face.”
“Which means the kidnapper knows about his past.”
“Yes, I figured that out, too.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why is all this happening now? What triggered the attempts on his life?”
“Perhaps the answer is in your list of suspects.”
“You got my email, right?”
“I did.”
“Did you check out Dr. Danner’s whereabouts during the time Gwen went searching for her phone?”
“Still working on that. Hard to believe professional jealousy could be behind this.”
“You don’t know Danner,” she said wryly.
He glanced across the lobby. “I thought I knew Spence.”
“Grief isn’t something easily shared, especially when guilt is attached.”
“True. Do you need a lift back to Echo Mountain Resort or will you be staying here?”
“I’m staying.”
“Adam is a good man. He can protect him.”
“Yes, but Adam a stranger. Spence needs to see a familiar face when he wakes up.”
“Sounds good. I’d better get back. Adam can drive you and Spence to the resort when he’s released. Keep me posted on his condition.”
“Of course.”
As Maddie headed to the ER examining area, she decided to find someone to cover her shift starting tomorrow at three. She didn’t want to be away from Spence for a full twenty-four hours.
She called Vivian, but it went into voice mail so she left a message. “Hey, Vivian, it’s Maddie. I’m in a pinch and need to get my shift covered, or at least part of it. It starts at three tomorrow afternoon. Let me know either way, okay? Thanks.”
Maddie considered calling Wiggy Wunderman but knew Rocky would not be happy with her if he got stuck with the guy’s nonstop chatter for a twenty-four-hour shift.
Suddenly a code blue echoed across the hospital PA system. Dr. Reece and a nurse rushed past Maddie into the ER exam area.
Where she’d left Spence.
Her heart slammed against her chest as she raced to the door and pushed it open.
“What’s going on?” she said.
Adam blocked her.
“Get me the crash cart!” Dr. Reece shouted.
The words sent a chill down Maddie’s spine.
EIGHT
The room seemed to close in. They needed a crash cart for Spence?
“Come on,” Adam said, escorting Maddie out of the examining area.
Once in the lobby, she turned to him. “But I need to...you need to...someone needs to stay with him in case...in case...”
“Let the doctors do their job.”
She snapped her attention to him. “I’m worried about someone coming after him again. Guard the door, don’t let anyone in without an ID badge.”
“You’ll stay here?”
She nodded but couldn’t speak, a knot of fear tangling her vocal cords. Adam crossed the lobby and stood guard beside the door.
Nate rushed up to Maddie. “I was almost outside and heard the code. It isn’t—”
“Spence.” She glanced at him, but didn’t really focus.
Nate led her to the waiting area. “I don’t understand.”
“It must be the drugs.” She glanced at Nate. “The only way this could happen is if the attacker gave him a drug that slowed down his heart or affected his breathing.” She fisted her hands to stop the trembling. “Which means the perp has medical knowledge.”
“That narrows things down,” Nate said.
Silence vibrated around them like a low-frequency hum of an air-conditioning unit. Her gaze drifted to the door to the examining area. She’d treated her share of trauma patients with heart issues, but Spence was a healthy, active man in his thirties. What drug had he been given that affected his breathing or made his blood pressure drop dangerously low? “We brought him here thinking he’d be safe, yet he’s in there fighting for his life,” Maddie said. “Thi
s has got to end, Chief.”
She stood and paced the waiting area. Nervous energy, frustration and even rage were tearing her up inside.
“Detective Vaughn is investigating the names you sent over. So far, no word on Lucas Winfield’s whereabouts, and Roger Grimes is still under investigation about the abuse allegations. Detective Vaughn contacted a detective friend in Portland to look into the Tomlin family.”
“Well, apparently Anthony Price and Theresa are back together, so we can scratch him off the list of revenge seekers. It mystifies me that Spence would have an enemy angry enough to want him dead.”
“Or punished for a perceived wrong.” Nate glanced at his phone. “I’ve got to take this.” Nate went outside.
Maddie willed the ER examining area doors to open, wanting the doctor to come out and tell her Spence was okay.
Spence had to be okay because she would not accept any other outcome. She took a deep breath and said a silent prayer.
Nate returned wearing a frown. How could this night get any worse?
“What?” she said.
“Dr. Danner didn’t show up for his shift today.”
* * *
Spence squinted against the bright sun shining through the window. He realized he was in a hospital, but it wasn’t Echo Mountain Hospital. Panic gripped his chest. Had the brain injury caused him to pass out?
“There you are,” Maddie said, approaching his bed.
“Where am I?”
“Cedar River Hospital.”
He nodded, but didn’t ask the next question burning in his mind. How did I get here?
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Maddie said.
“A kitchen fire at the resort. I went inside to find a young woman and then, then I was in an ambulance. Why was I in an ambulance?”
“Some creep-O knocked out the driver and drove off with you in the back. He drugged you, assaulted the other paramedic and tried convincing you to throw yourself off the mountainside. Do you remember that last part?”
Spence closed his eyes. Bobby’s voice, he’d heard Bobby’s voice.
“My brother,” was all he could say.
“Your kidnapper was messing with your head, big-time. We think the drug caused hallucinations and worse, your BP dropped so low they almost lost you last night.”