Jace nodded and Andy remained next to Wes as they left the lot. Jace handed Wes the rolled up blanket and Wes instantly felt that there was something in side of it.
“I think it’s her phone man.” Jace said.
They got into the truck and Wes tore into the blanket pulling out Jo’s cell that was in a plastic bag that was inside of a paper bag. Wes scrolled through her pictures and found the video from Thursday night. Wes played it for the men.
“So they were stealing the new material and substituting inferior, less expensive stuff in its place.”
“Lots of money to be made there.”
“Oh Jo what happened?” Wes said quietly.
On the way back to T.U.F.’s to examine the tape better they drove past Jo’s townhouse.
Jo’s car was there and lights were on in her living room. For a second Wes thought maybe she’d come home, but he knew Jo would be too smart to take her car anywhere near the site.
Andy pulled up and Wes and Jace went to her door. Wes could hear someone inside and when the door opened Wes almost fell to his knees. Jo was standing just inside the kitchen area. There were three other people inside the townhouse, Auggie, Nick, and another man.
Wes took two steps towards Jo when Auggie grabbed his arm.
“That’s Lou Wes, Lou.”
Wes felt like he’d done a loop de loop on a roller coaster. He froze in his place and Jace stepped to his side.
“Holy Shit they're identical.” Jace whispered.
Lou had been crying and she looked so much like Jo that Wes was having trouble reigning in his own emotions.
“I’m Lou, are you Wes?”
“Yes.”
“This is my husband Pete and I know you’ve met Nick.”
Wes looked at the men and shook Pete’s hand. When he looked at Nick he noticed that he wouldn’t look directly at him. Wes thought it odd, but since Jo’s little chat with him when they’d been in the car, he just figured he was still sore.
“Someone tore this place up.” Auggie said to Wes.
Wes looked around and saw how everything was ripped or pulled out. Someone was looking for something.
“Is her computer here?” Wes asked.
“No her purse is but I can’t find her phone.”
Neither Wes nor Jace offered up the fact that they had it.
“Are you looking for her Wes?” Lou asked.
“I am; we are.”
“Find her Wes she’s been gone too long.” Auggie was broken up as well.
“I’ll keep you posted. You’ve called the police?”
“Yes we filed a report a few days ago.”
“Okay if you hear from her…”
“Don’t worry I’ll let you know.” Auggie said as he walked them outside the door.
“Wes.” Auggie placed a hand on his arm. “I can’t believe you would think she would ever leave you. She loves you.”
“We were arguing Auggie. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“You flew home from Italy?”
“Today.”
“Thank you.”
Wes nodded and he and Jace returned to Andy’s truck.
Back at T.U.F.’s Jace pulled up the plates of the car immediately. They belonged to a town council member name Marty Mann. Because they now knew it was a kidnapping Andy called an FBI contact and told him everything they knew. Wes was on his computer running Mann through his system.
Andy told Wes that the FBI was going to go question Mann and that they would need the old man to repeat his story. Wes was looking for properties Mann owned that he may have taken Jo to, but he was coming up empty. He owned an estate in town, but the only other thing that he owned was a boat that he kept in Toms River. Wes knew there was no way Mann would keep a hostage at his residence; the man had a wife and children. The boat however, worried Wes. He could have easily dumped Jo out in the ocean. The thought sickened him and he fought down the bile that threatened to come up. Wes told Andy about the boat and Andy called his FBI contact again and asked them to check out the slip where the boat was kept. Wes was beside himself. Jo had been missing for six almost seven days now. The realization that she might be gone had him unglued. She couldn't be dead, he couldn't think negatively. He needed to concentrate.
Wes shut his eyes trying to clear his mind. This was what he was best at, but he had to think without emotion. He thought back to how much Lou and Jo looked alike and how he had almost run to her. Auggie had been smart enough to realize the effects of seeing Jo's identical twin Lou, had done to him. Pete hadn’t said much. Wes could tell he was really concerned and that he was trying it keep it together for his wife. Then Wes thought of Nick. He’d been a pain in the ass since he’d first met him. Wes thought about how uncomfortable he had acted in Jo's home.
On a whim or maybe it was luck, maybe the hand of God, Wes would never know, but Wes entered Nick's name into Google, along with Mann's and was rewarded with a hit. A picture from a newspaper taken four years ago showed a ribbon cutting ceremony. In the picture was a man tagged as Mann, Jo’s old boss Henry, the current mayor of Magis, and standing in the background, looking younger, but as pompous as ever was Nick.
Wes called the boys in and told them to pull up everything they could on Nick. The three sat in Wes’ office searching.
Jace ticked off Nick’s basic, education, residence, and net worth. He had no siblings and his mother was his only living relative. Andy interjected that he didn’t own anything except the townhouse he lived in. Wes discovered a home in Toms River that was in his mother's name. The room was quiet for all of five seconds, and then Jace told the guys in a deadly voice. “His mother has been in a nursing home for the last four years.”
Wes hacked into JCP&L records and found that the power was still connected, and according to JCP&L, the house had been using more than usual amounts of power for the past week. The men looked at each other and jumped up.
“Porsche.” Wes said moving quickly.
“We don’t know for sure that she’s there Wes. He could be renting it.” Andy tried to keep the big man calm.
“I saw the bastard today guys. He was acting hinky. My gut is telling me she’s there.”
His two friends stood immediately. When Wes had a gut feeling you could bank on it.
“Gun, Wes.” Jace said urgently.
Wes pulled out his automatic from his top drawer, made sure it was loaded, and then he and Andy ran for the car.
Jace followed them in his Cadillac. Andy connected with Jace on their phones as Wes flew down the Parkway. He was pushing 110. Andy had called the FBI about the house, but his friend said they didn’t have enough proof to hit it. He told Andy he would alert the agents in that area about it though. They hesitated to call the local police department and risk a hostage situation. Jace did his part by calling in a favor with his State Trooper friend to find out where the speed traps were.
There were none and the two cars reached Toms River in thirty minutes. Jace told Andy to get Wes to ease up going through the little neighborhoods, and he heard Andy say something and saw that Wes slowed down a little, but he was still going at a crazy high speed.
“Wes, listen to me.” Jace said through the speakers. “Use your head man. We have to go in black.”
Wes looked at the GPS and saw they were a block away from their destination. He swung his car to the side of the road and jumped out. Andy followed and Jace pulled in a few minutes later. Andy had given Wes an earpiece and small mic then he put in his earpiece and told Jace that they were at the house and it looked deserted.
Wes' heart was thudding. It was so quiet; there was no way someone was inside the house. His gut was never wrong, and he feared that he was too emotionally invested. He felt sweat drip down his spine at what they'd find inside. Andy carefully stepped up the back steps and peered inside.
“Anything?” Wes whispered.
“Nothing. We have to break in.”
Wes nodded. “Jace we’re going in.”
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“Copy that.” Jace answered.
Andy used his elbow to break the small pane of glass closest to the handle and reached in to unlock the door. He opened the door and he and Wes entered into the kitchen of the small ranch.
Wes motioned that he was heading down one hall while Andy went around the other way. When they circled back around to the kitchen they heard Jace, through their earpieces, whispering that he was coming in the kitchen door. The men met in the kitchen and looked at each other baffled. Wes was becoming unhinged. He had been certain that Nick was a part of this. There was a door in the kitchen and Jace opened it revealing steps leading down to a cellar.
Andy took out his cell and used the flashlight app as they cautiously moved down the steps. The stairway was narrow and it smelt musty, but the further they descended other smells hit them. They were pungent odors that they’d smelled before when they had been in Afghanistan, a mixture of blood, decay, and piss assaulted their nostrils. Andy shot Jace a look. If they found Jo here, Wes was going to lose it. At the bottom the steps Andy swung his light around the small room.
There, tied to a cot lay Jo. She was naked with blood and fecal stained newspapers underneath her small unmoving body. There was dried blood clinging to her skin from varying cuts that had been left to fester. Bruises marred her swollen face. Her lips were so dry that they were brown with old skin and cracked open, and her eyes were closed, but worst of all was how still she was.
A cry of anguish left Wes' lips as he fell to his knees. Jace remained next to him. Andy walked to Jo. She was a mess. He could see that her shoulder was separated and there were burns where she’d been tasered. The smell was awful but he needed to check her pulse. As he approached her he prayed to see her chest rise and fall, but he didn’t. He reached down to her neck and to his surprise he felt that she had a pulse, a very weak pulse but it was a pulse.
He yelled. “Call an ambulance!”
Wes’ head shot up and Jace helped him to his feet. Jace was already calling an ambulance. Wes reached Jo and it was then that he saw how badly beaten she was. Once again he went to his knees.
“Jo baby. Can you hear me? Baby please hang on. Help's on the way.”
Andy had untied her ankles and when he untied her wrists a small moan came out from Jo’s mouth as she moved her one arm.
Andy took off his button down shirt and placed it on top of Jo knowing the EMT workers would be arriving soon. Jace had gone upstairs to direct them to her. Andy called his FBI friend and told them what they’d found.
“No, we heard her scream that's why we went inside.” Wes heard Andy tell the Agent on the phone.
A clattering sound came from the stairs and three EMT persons rambled down. Wes could see that they were small town volunteers. When they reached Jo one of them turned to the side and vomited the smell was so horrific.
“Call for a chopper.” Wes said to the woman who seemed to be in charge.
“We’re here we can…”
“Call for a fucking chopper. “ His voice was shaking.
“Wes by the time it's airborne and they land she could be at the hospital, be reasonable.”
The woman nodded a thank you to Andy.
“The gurney won’t fit down the steps. Let me check her spine…”
Wes was through waiting, he picked Jo up being careful to tuck her dislocated arm down by her side.” She moaned and Wes sprinted with her in his arms up the steps.
The EMT’s strapped her on the gurney and Wes listened as they gave her vitals to a doctor who was waiting for them at the hospital. Wes wanted to ride in the ambulance but they wouldn’t allow it. Andy drove the Porsche and they followed the ambulance to the local hospital.
The entire ride to the hospital Wes prayed thanking God for letting them find her and then asking for her to live. He couldn't believe how badly she had been hurt.
Andy left Wes off at the door as the medics wheeled Jo through the sliding door.
They had her hooked to an IV bag and they took her immediately into the back rooms. A burly guard prevented him from following and Wes came close to laying him out but luckily Andy showed up and pulled him back.
“Let them work man.” He told Wes in as calm a voice as he could muster. Truth was; Andy was rattled. He had really thought Jo was dead. He was actually shocked she wasn’t. There had been so much blood and her poor little body had endured a lot of pain. He had seen that she’d been tasered and he knew she’d been tortured. He couldn’t believe what she must have suffered. He didn’t tell that to Wes though, he was already hanging by a thread.
Jace came in to the room. “Anything?”
“She’s in the back.” Andy told him.
“They won’t let me back there.” Wes said quietly.
Jace put his hand on Wes shoulder. “She’s a strong girl Wes. She’s made it this far.”
Wes could only nod. Tears had blurred his vision.
A half hour later Jace was talking to the local police department and Andy was doing the same with the FBI. A nurse entered the waiting room and walked up to Wes. “Are you family?”
Wes thought she was about to deliver bad news and she could only divulge it to family members.
“Yes, I'm her husband.” He lied smoothly.
She gave him a skeptical look.
“Well I will be as soon as she walks out of here.” He added forcing the nurse to smile.
“Come on then she’s waking up.”
Wes jumped up and for the first time in twenty-four hours felt some hope.
The nurse led Wes to a small curtained room and when he stepped inside he saw that Jo lay on her back with her arm in a sling. Her wounds had been cleaned but the smell of death was still clinging to her.
Wes leaned down to her face.
“Baby it’s me.” He said so softly. Tears tumbled from his eyes. “Come on my Jo wake up for me.”
Jo’s eyes fluttered open, closed again and then reopened. He could tell she was trying to focus.
"Am I dead?"
Wes grimaced. “You’re in a hospital Sweetheart. You’re going to be okay.” He looked back at the nurse who had remained with him. “She is going to be okay right?”
“She should be just fine.”
Wes looked back to Jo who was still staring at him.
“Baby?”
“Water” She croaked out.
The nurse gave Wes ice chips. “She can have these right now.”
Wes started sliding ice chips over her parched lips and into her tiny mouth. Jo kept her eyes on Wes. She was thinking maybe she was hallucinating again or maybe this was heaven, after all Wes was standing over feeding her delicious ice chips.
Wes fed her the chilled slivers of ice until her eyes closed. He looked at the nurse alarmed.
“She’s asleep Hon. Her body endured a lot. It’s good that’s she sleeps.”
Wes nodded as tears once again clouded his vision. “Can I clean her?” Wes asked quietly. He didn’t want her to regain consciousness and be reminded of her ordeal with the smell clinging to her. Wes was well aware that the olfactory sense was a major trigger when dealing with PTSD and he wanted to do everything in his power to ease her recovery.
“She’ll be cleaned up when we move her to a room. The doctor has already requested a room and a bath.”
“Can I stay with her?” Wes couldn’t breathe the mere thought of letting her out of sight, for even a moment sent a constricting feeling to his chest.
“Once we have her settled in her room the nurse will come get you.”
“I… don’t want her to wake up and not know anyone?”
“She’s going be given a sedative once the tox screens come back. She’ll be out for a while once she gets that.”
A young nursing assist bearing the tag ‘Transport’ appeared; Wes realized he was there to move Jo. Wes saw him wrinkle his nose as the smell hit him but the young man remained professional and did not comment.
“You can follow me to her
floor and then you’ll be asked to wait in the waiting room until a nurse has her settled in. Then someone will come get you.” The Transport aide explained.
“I have to get my friends.” Wes said quickly. He ducked out of the room and saw Jace and Andy still dealing with the authorities. When he appeared they left their respective groups to close ranks around him. A man in a suit wanted to talk to Wes and Andy put up his hand signaling for him to stay back.
“How is she?” Andy asked.
“I don’t really know. They’re moving her to a room.”
“These guys want to talk to her.”
“Not gonna happen.” Wes said seriously.
“Yeah, we said that.” Jace chuckled. “At some point she will have to talk Wes.”
He nodded. “Not until she’s ready.” Wes surveyed the room.
“Andy get a private ambulance ready. I want to take her home as soon as possible.
Andy nodded. “Will do.”
“A nurse too.”
“Got it.”
“I’m going with Jo to her room. I’ll text you where her room is as soon as I know.”
The men went back to inform the police and FBI what Wes had told them which nothing was except she was being moved. Jace secured a police officer to be positioned outside of her door. Mann had been picked up but Nick had fled the country. There were others involved and until all the principle players were exposed and rounded up Jo was still in danger.
Wes followed Jo’s mobile bed to the third floor and was asked to wait in a family waiting room. He paced the small room for what seemed liked forever before a young pretty nurse asked him to follow her.
“I’m Janet; I’ll be Ms. Ross’ nurse today.”
Janet led Wes to a room that was down the hall from the nurses' station. The first thing that Wes noticed was that the awful smell was not as strong.
“You bathed her?”
“Yes, she never woke up. We gave her a good cleaning, everything but her hair.”
“Thank you.”
One Tough Love Page 25