book

by Chosen [Decadent] (mobi)

  “Trying to solve this all on your own?”

  “I wish.”

  Hedley could almost hear Dan smile.

  “The detectives figured Beranson was looking for someone, but they didn’t know who. They’ve been trying to contact him.”

  “And all three of them are here. Good work, Dan. Send me the details.” Hedley broke the connection and rang McAllister. “Bob, this is Hedley.”

  “How the hell did you know?”

  And Hedley guessed what had happened. “She’s gone?”

  “I’ve just had a phone call. They went in to check her IV and there was a pillow in the bed.”

  Hedley’s hopes of a quick return to his family crumbled to nothing. Shit. “I take it Jack Thompson is still there. He’s not to leave the hospital. I’m heading over there now.”

  ***

  When Hedley arrived, two squad cars sat outside, officers still inside and he swore. He rapped on the window of the nearest vehicle. The cop jumped out.

  “Why aren’t you looking for her?” Hedley demanded.

  “We’ve checked the building and the immediate vicinity. No sign.”

  “Look again.”

  Hedley turned when he heard another vehicle pull up. McAllister stepped out and the uniformed cop hesitated. “We can’t find her,” he told his boss.

  “They aren’t going to find her sitting inside a squad car,” Hedley snapped.

  McAllister glared at his men. “Keep looking until I tell you to stop.” Two officers stood in the hospital corridor on the first floor. Hedley guessed the white-faced one owned the book lying on the chair. McAllister grabbed the paperback and shook it in the man’s face as he laid into him. Hedley found it difficult to understand how a sick woman could have walked out in the middle of the night without being challenged by a member of the staff. He pushed open the door to Kate’s room, looked at the bed, and saw how she’d made it appear she still lay there. It shouldn’t have fooled a cop. Hedley came back out to find McAllister still scowling at his young officer.

  “Cameras?” Hedley asked.

  “Not generally. There’s one over the ER doors,” someone told him.

  Thirty minutes later, Hedley had his answer. He turned to McAllister, “Kate left three hours ago. She walked out through the ER entrance. Alone.”

  “Does her husband know?” McAllister asked.

  “He’s still asleep,” the pale cop said. “I checked.”

  “Sure it wasn’t a pillow?” Hedley said.

  He went to Jack’s room. At least the officer there was alert and not reading.

  Hedley switched on the light and Jack opened his eyes.

  “Your wife’s disappeared.”

  Jack reared up in the bed. “What the fuck are you talking about? Disappeared?

  How can she have disappeared? Where could she fucking go?” He jumped out of the bed and stomped around the room like a petulant child. “She’ll be with Nathan. That fucker has taken her.” He turned on Hedley. “Find her. She can’t leave me. I need her.”

  “Calm down,” Hedley said, fascinated by Jack’s reaction. “For a guy who’s supposed to be injured, you’re doing a good imitation of one who isn’t.”

  “Does my father know? What are you going to do?” Jack stood right in front of Hedley. “Find Nathan. He’s taken her.”

  “She left here on her own accord,” Hedley said. “Looks like she got up in the middle of the night and walked out. I’ve got people searching. But…it’s cold out there. She wasn’t even wearing a coat.”

  “She’s not dead. She can’t be dead.” Jack clutched his burned arm to his chest and slumped on the bed.

  “Want me to call a doctor?”

  Jack put his head in his hands. “I need Kate. I want her here with me. Where the fuck is she? She’s ruining everything.” He jumped up and started pacing again.

  “We’re doing everything we can.” Hedley pressed Jack’s call button. “Kate’s neighbor in San Antonio reported her missing. Like to explain that?”

  “Jeannie? Nosey old bag. She wouldn’t leave Kate alone. She was always round there pestering her, interfering, telling her I wasn’t good enough for her. She’s trying to cause trouble.”

  Jack turned to stare at the wall, his breathing loud and ragged.

  “Did you kidnap Kate Evans?” Hedley asked.

  Jack spun round. “She was my fiancée. Why the fuck would I kidnap her? I went to her place with a bouquet of flowers and asked her to marry me. She was so excited, she jumped into my arms and the flowers went everywhere. She packed and we drove to Vegas to get married and find our son. Where is she?” His voice rose again. “You have to find her.”

  ***

  Hedley was waiting for Don Thompson when he arrived. Jack’s father had been told nothing other than he was needed at the hospital, and his son was in no danger. Though Hedley wasn’t too sure about that. Jack’s mind seemed to be dropping into a black hole. When he’d insisted on dressing to go and look for Kate, he’d had to be restrained and given a sedative.

  “What’s the problem?” Don asked.

  The guy looked immaculate. There’d been no rushing his morning routine to get there. Smart suit, combed hair, clean shaven. Hedley became aware of his own stubble and rumpled clothes.

  “Kate’s disappeared.” Hedley watched the guy’s eyes when he told him. The shock looked genuine, but he’d asked McAllister to have the man’s hotel room checked. Maybe Jack’s father was trying to lay all the blame on Kate and then have her neatly vanish.

  “Disappeared? What are you doing to find her?”

  “Everything that we can.”

  Don’s jaw tensed. “She’s pregnant with my grandchild and she’s sick. I want her found. She should never have been allowed to leave the hospital. I thought you had a policeman watching.”

  “She slipped out without him seeing.”

  Hedley watched Don’s face grow puce. Spittle flew from the edges of his mouth. “She was entrusted to your care and the care of this hospital. If she’s found lying dead out there, you’ll all wish you’d never been born. You couldn’t look after a fucking cat.”

  Hedley let him vent. How alike they were, father and son. No thought from the father about how Jack was taking it. The woman was all that mattered. Hedley hadn’t known she was pregnant. He wondered if Kate knew. Was that why she’d run?

  “I haven’t even met the woman yet. Let’s hope for your sake that I get the chance,” Don snapped.

  ***

  The case was slipping though Hedley’s fingers like slime. Jack Thompson’s lawyer had arrived. A big shot, who looked like his voice, wearing a smart suit and expensive leather shoes. He complained vociferously about incompetent police and negligent hospital staff who’d allowed a mentally unstable woman to walk out in the middle of the night, in freezing temperatures. The statements Jack had given were now of limited use because of the state the guy had been in when he gave them, either in pain or on painkillers and sedatives. The doctors at the medical center wanted him transferred to a psychiatric facility and Hedley had agreed Ashlands in San Antonio was acceptable. At least he’d know where Jack was, and his father would be picking up the bill.

  When Hedley went to speak to the Howes, they’d gone. He suspected Don Thompson had paid for their flight back to Vegas.

  This wasn’t one of Hedley’s better days.

  A phone call a few hours later went some way to improving his mood.

  “Is she with you?” Hedley asked.

  “Yes,” said Beranson.

  Hedley let out a shaky breath. He’d kept picturing her dead, lying in a snow drift. “Is she okay?”

  “Fast asleep. I was on my way out of the hospital last night and I saw her. I didn’t plan this, but she wasn’t safe in there.”

  “Where are you?”

  There was a pause before Nathan answered. “On the way to Las Vegas, the one in New Mexico.”

  “We know Jack abducted her. She’s on our m
issing persons’ list. We need to speak to her.” Hedley waited but the PI didn’t say anything. “Look, take her back to San Antonio. Get her to talk to you. Then go to the police. Jack’s been transferred to Ashlands. I don’t have anything like the whole story on this.”

  “You’re not going to have patrol cars looking for us?” Nathan asked.

  Now Hedley paused. “Don’t let me down.”

  ***

  Nathan had stopped driving when his brain tried to convince his eyes he was in bed and not behind a wheel. A few too many long blinks and he was more dangerous than the situation he’d left behind. He glanced at Kate. Except he’d brought the problem with him.

  After four hundred miles in eight hours, including one hour with his eyes closed in a truck stop, they’d reached Las Vegas, New Mexico. Nathan had a feeling the only thing the two places had in common was the perfect blue sky. He looked at the mountains and the cute, but damaged woman by his side and all he wanted to do was sleep. He’d only been able to get one room at the motel. Check in was 2:00 p.m., but the girl had taken pity on him.

  Once inside Kate had kicked off her shoes, dropped on the nearest bed and passed out. Nathan put his bag on a chair, draped the cover over Kate and took off his own shoes. He was asleep on the other bed before his head hit the pillow.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Kate sat waiting for Nathan to finish in the shower. He’d given her one of his T-shirts to wear, with “You Can’t Make Me” written across the front, and a gray sweater to cover it. The irony of the message on the T-shirt wasn’t lost on either of them but it was the only clean one he had. Her jeans were filthy, but she’d have to manage. She stood and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face wasn’t too bad.

  Just the scratch made by Sammy’s mother and a couple of dark smudges courtesy of Jack. He doesn’t know where I am. Kate allowed herself a tiny smile. He can’t touch me anymore. A bigger smile.

  Nathan emerged from the bathroom in a swirl of steam and gave her a grin.

  Kate wanted to hug him. He kept coming back for her.

  “Human again,” he said with a sigh.

  “I thought you were a super-hero.”

  He looked at her in astonishment. “Kate, was that a joke?” She felt her face flush. He chuckled.

  “I spotted a steakhouse across the street. You up to eating?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  As they reached the curb, he took hold of her hand to cross the road. With his warm fingers wrapped around hers, Kate was filled with a surge of relief that she felt no desperate need to pull away. He limped across and after they reached the other side, he kept hold of her hand. When he continued to hold it as they walked into the restaurant, Kate’s heart pounded.

  A waitress with spiky, bright pink hair stepped forward to greet them. “How y’all doing this evening?”

  “We’re doing great,” Nathan said. “Just great.” A bubble of laughter erupted from Kate’s throat. Nathan glanced at her and smiled. Kate bit her lip and he started to laugh.

  The woman smiled. “Table for two?”

  Nathan nodded. “Yeah, quiet spot if you have one.”

  “We’re quiet tonight, anyway. Well, we were till you two came in.” Kate put her hand over her mouth and tried to calm down. Nathan clutched her fingers more tightly as they followed the waitress to a booth in the far corner.

  She put two menus on the table.

  “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Water, please,” Kate said.

  “Do you have Corona?” Nathan asked.

  “Sure do, I’ll be right back.”

  Nathan finally released her hand.

  “I don’t know why I laughed like that. I’m sorry.” The words began tumbling out, an avalanche she couldn’t stop. “Do you think anyone ever tells the truth?

  Maybe they get people walking in who have just been given the worst news in the world and they say, ‘yeah I’m great, thanks,’ and they’re not and—”

  “Kate, calm down.”

  She took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

  “Anyway, we are great now,” Nathan said. “The snow’s all gone and I don’t have to struggle with those damn chains. What do you want to eat?”

  “Caesar salad, well-done steak and fries.” Nathan looked at her over his open menu.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “I’ve never been out for a meal with anyone who decided that quickly. It isn’t because you always have the same, is it?”

  “It might be. You’ll have to ask me out again.” She slammed her hand to her mouth. “I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I shouldn’t have said that. I could—” She gasped.

  “Kate, don’t.” Nathan reached for her hand, pulling it from her face, pressing it on the table and covering it with his. “It’s okay. Take a couple of deep breaths.” She fought to bring herself under control. She heard him talking, but not what he said. Kate concentrated and the words began to make sense. Nathan had been a cop. Been injured. Now worked as a PI, but didn’t like it. He hated his father and had a sister who was pregnant. He wanted a dog and would name her Mollie.

  Kate slowly let herself relax.

  “I need to call Elisa. She’ll have had the baby by now. I’m going to be in big trouble.”

  “What’s your sister like?”

  Nathan smiled at her. “I wasn’t sure if you were listening.” Kate gave a shy smile.

  “She’s great. I’ve spent my life picking on her and she’s spent hers teasing me.

  She looks like her mother—dark hair, big smile, huge eyes.”

  “What’s your dad like?”

  “Do you want to know what other people think or what I think?” Kate heard the tension in his voice. “I’m talking to you. I want to know what you think.”

  Nathan sighed. “We don’t get along. He’s a lawyer—difficult, critical, domineering, short-tempered. How much more do you need?” His voice rose as he spoke.

  “Oh,” Kate whispered. “How about what he looks like?”

  “Yeah, that’s safer. He’s tall, slim, fit, he jogs, still has his hair, gray now. He’d probably say that was my fault. He’s the sort of person you’d want to vote for. You know the type? Mr. Sincere and Concerned who shakes your hand like he means it?” His jaw tightened.

  “Do you two argue all the time?”

  “More than have normal conversations.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “He winds me up.” He slammed his fork down.

  Kate flinched and concentrated on her salad.

  “I’m a disappointment,” Nathan muttered.

  “That you’re not a lawyer like him?”

  “Partly that and partly because he thinks I’m bitter and twisted.”

  “It doesn’t sound like you.”

  “You don’t know me.” He swigged his beer.

  She took a deep breath. “I know you have a kind heart. You’re brave and honest and you don’t give up.”

  He grinned. “Keep going. I could do with my ego massaging.”

  “I like your smile. It makes your eyes light up.” Even with his busted knee, he had a lanky grace when he moved, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “But you have terrible taste in T-shirts.”

  “Better stop while you’re ahead.”

  “I should maybe mention I wear glasses.”

  “Not when you’ve complimented me on my smile. What happened to your glasses?”

  “Jack smashed them.”

  Nathan paused with his fork part-way to his mouth. “Oh God, I’m sorry, I’ve tried not to let you—”

  “I know what you’ve been doing, Nathan. Talking about things you don’t want to talk about, so I didn’t have to. Thank you.” He smiled and they passed the rest of the meal in easy conversation. Kate liked him more and more.

  “You all finished here? Can I get y
’all some dessert?” asked the waitress.

  Nathan looked at Kate, but she shook her head. “No, the check please,” he said.

  After the waitress walked away he reached out for Kate’s hand and squeezed it gently. “You can talk to me, Kate. I think you need to talk.” She pulled back. If she talked, she’d spoil things.

  ***

  Back in the room, Nathan slumped on the bed.

  “Going to phone your sister?” Kate asked.

  “To please you.”

  He smiled when Kate’s face went red.

  His father answered. For the first minute, Nathan had to hold it away from his ear. He kept saying “sorry” at regular intervals, and in the end, his dad went quiet.

  “Elisa really wanted you here, Nathan.”

  “I got embroiled in something in Colorado. I’m on my way back.”

  “You let her down.”

  Nathan’s hand clenched around the receiver. “I’ve said I’m sorry. We’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”

  “We?”

  Nathan looked at Kate. “Yes, we.”

  “Did the police get in touch with you?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Good, well you better come bearing gifts. I’ll tell Elisa you’re on your way.” It was only after Nathan had put the phone down that he realized something didn’t make sense. How did his father know about the police? He wasn’t going to call him back to ask. He turned to look at Kate lying on the other bed. “Want to watch TV?”

  “No.”

  “Can I get you a coffee, tea or a miniature carton of revolting milk?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Are you all right, Kate?” He leaned up on one elbow. She was twisting that damn ring on her finger. “You’re safe now.”

  “Yeah.”

  Nathan wondered how to get her to open up. “I watched Jack for months. Not every day, but I did it for too long, and yet not long enough.” Kate turned to look at him.

  “One day, I saw him buy a bouquet of flowers and then he disappeared.” He had her attention now.