by Vella Day
“You sure?”
“No, but the way looks clearer.”
“I’ll need an undercarriage wash after this expedition. Should have brought my 4-wheel drive.”
“You don’t own one.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Dom appreciated Phil’s attempt to defuse the tension as they bumped down the uneven road.
“You see something white?” Phil shouted and pointed.
“Oh, shit. It’s Charley’s van.” His heart banged against his chest.
Phil stopped behind the van, and Dom raced out.
Tessa hopped backwards as Ralph advanced. “Think what you’re doing, Ralph. If you kill me, you’ll go back to jail.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Ralph said with a wicked smile and a knife flickering in his hands. “But first I want to enjoy you. It’s been a long time, Tess.”
The way he said her name sent shivers up her arms. “Please, Ralph.” Tessa despised the whine in her voice.
“Please, Ralph,” he mimicked as he lifted up her chin with the blade, nicking her neck.
Tessa took a deep breath. If she was going to die, she wanted to die with dignity. Ralph was an animal. She refused to make it easy for him.
Before she could attack, Ralph grabbed hold of her shirt and pulled it down, ripping it in half. She gasped. Her right arm couldn’t move to cover herself and her left arm was grasping the crutch for balance. He reached out a dirty hand and dragged down her bra strap. His mere touch revolted her, but she kept quiet. She understood Ralph’s quick temper.
With the slowness of a garden slug leaving a trail of slime through a flowerbed, Ralph dipped his fingers into her bra and pinched her nipple.
Tessa squashed a retort and hopped back on one leg, nearly toppling on the uneven ground. In a flash, he grabbed her waist and dragged her to him, sending the stick to the ground. She screamed as her weight shifted to her left leg. Lifting her ankle, she went limp, forcing Ralph closer to the ground.
“Stand up, bitch,” Ralph shouted inches from her face. He yanked up.
“Let go of me,” she yelled back as she pushed against his rock hard chest. He didn’t budge.
Ralph leaned forward and when he gave her a wet, nasty kiss, she tried to wriggle free, but he wouldn’t let go. He’d pinned her good arm to her side, rendering her defenseless.
With his other hand, Ralph pressed his body up against her and ground his erection against her pelvis. His foul breath washed over her.
“Let...me...go, you bastard.”
Ralph dropped his arms and stepped back in one movement. Before Tessa could regain her balance, Ralph hauled off and slapped her. Her head whipped to the side, and blood trickled down her chin from the cut lip. She stumbled back against a thorny bush.
A gun cocked behind her. “Let go of her or I’ll shoot and ask questions later,” her savior said in a wonderful threatening tone.
Tessa nearly collapsed from the joy. Her heart beat so fast in her chest, she was sure it would jump out.
Ralph tensed, closed the gap between them faster than she could swallow. He spun Tessa around, clasped a hand over her mouth and drew the knife to her throat.
She drank in the sight of Dominic—strong, wonderful, and powerful Dom. She loved him.
“Leave or I’ll kill her in front of you,” Ralph said.
“You’ll still die,” Dominic said with amazing calm.
Tears streamed down her cheeks from the joy mixing with pain. How had he found her? If she’d been able, she’d have thrown herself in his arms. Tessa wriggled in Ralph’s grasp, but he held on tight.
A crackling branch sounded behind them, and Ralph turned with Tessa still in his arms. On instinct, she kicked back her right leg forcing her to put pressure on her broken ankle. She screamed and collapsed to the ground. Ralph let go.
The second she smashed into the ground, a gun blast deafened her, and she held her breath.
Ralph’s foot contacted her back as he dropped to the ground behind her. As she turned to her tormentor, he yanked her head back by her hair, and a second shot rent through the air. Her head swam, her mind blurred, and all noise faded.
“Tessa, Tessa, are you okay?” Dominic asked.
When Dominic’s voice reached her brain, she opened her eyes. What a beautiful sight. “Hi.”
Dominic smiled. “Hi, yourself. What hurts the most?”
He gathered her in his arms and stood up. She held on tight, afraid that if she let go, the nightmare would return. “My ankle is broken.”
“My God, you’re bleeding.” He held out his hand from under her knees.
“Charley stabbed me.”
“Charley? Where is he?”
“He’s dead. Really dead, not like I thought Ralph was.”
“You can tell me all about it later. We need to get you to a hospital.”
Another man appeared from the other side of the swamp and nodded to Dominic. “Why don’t you put Tessa in the car and I’ll call this in.” He nodded at Ralph.
“Thanks, Phil.”
“Is he your partner?”
“Yes, now put your head on my chest and rest.”
“Tes...sa,” came a strangled cry.
She strained her head to the left. Ralph was gasping for breath, and the sight sickened her. She feared him, but she hadn’t wanted their relationship to end in a gunfight.
“I can’t move,” he said, his lips parched white.
Ralph wiggled his fingers and moved his arm an inch above the ground, and then dropped down. His body lay at an odd angle.
“Go. Take care of Tessa,” Dominic’s partner said.
Dom turned and carried her away from the horrible sight. Ralph yelled a piercing, shrill, screech, and Tessa buried her head in Dominic’s chest. He squeezed her tighter.
Once they were away from the scene of the attack, Tessa lifted her head. “How did you find me?”
“I guess you could say Eleanor gave us the first clue. Then Judd told us about this trailer in the Green Swamp, and from there we followed one lead after another.”
With every bounce and jostle, pain raced up her leg, stealing her breath. She took short puffs through her mouth to keep from screaming, but the overwhelming security of being in Dominic’s arms convinced her she wouldn’t want to be any place else.
Tessa had insisted Dominic bring her to Tampa General, instead of to a nearby Lakeland hospital which was an hour from home. She wanted to keep an eye on Judd as well as Chelsea—and she wanted to be closer to Dominic. Besides, being treated in a hospital anywhere near the Green Swamp made her shiver.
The emergency staff whisked her into the examination room as soon as Dominic wheeled her in. He insisted on being with her, hovering like an expectant father as the doctor checked her over.
“I’ll have the plastic surgeon close the knife wound and get an X-ray of your ankle, but I’d say you’re one lucky lady from what the detective told me you went through,” the much-too-young doctor announced.
“Thanks.” She didn't feel lucky. She was dirty, cold and ached from head to toe. Add in about ten thousand bug bites and scratches, and that might describe how she felt.
“We’ll give you something to ease the pain shortly.”
Only a general anesthetic would do the trick in her mind.
“I see you’re in good hands, Tessa,” Dominic said. “I need to get back to the crime scene. I want to make sure there are no other surprises. We don’t need Charley rising from the dead.”
“That won’t happen, I promise.” Tessa gritted her teeth as the two attendants lifted her onto a gurney. She grabbed his hand and absorbed his warmth and comfort. “How can I thank you?”
“It's all in a day’s work.” Dominic leaned over and kissed her full on the mouth.
Her heart hammered from his touch. She couldn’t believe he found her attractive all covered in dirt and blood.
When his words sunk in, her joy at being free faded. Dominic had saved her, not be
cause he loved her, but because his job demanded it.
She tried to push aside his rejection and concentrate on healing. The next two hours proved to be not only uncomfortable, but also lonely. By the time the doctors finished X-raying her foot and tending to her stab wound, it was past noon. They wanted to wait until the swelling went down in her ankle before putting on a permanent cast. Right now, her foot rested in an air cast.
“We’ll want to keep you overnight for observation,” a different doctor said after flipping through a chart. “We don’t want the wound to get infected.”
“That’s fine.” Even if her toiletries hadn’t been at Dominic’s, she wouldn’t have wanted to spend a night alone at her place, especially since using the bathroom required assistance. She also would need some help cooking in the next few days-some Thanksgiving this turned out to be.
A jaunty, full-figured woman entered her room. “Hello. My name’s Winnie, and I’m going to be one of your nurses.” She carried in a tray of food.
“Can I take a shower?” Tessa smelled so bad, she couldn’t believe everyone didn’t wrinkle her nose at her.
“I’ll ask the doctor, but first you have to eat. Looks like you could use a few pounds.”
Tessa had to smile. She glanced at her hands. “Can I wash my hands?”
“Just you wait.” Winnie scurried into the bathroom and brought back a wet washrag. “Here ya go.”
It was better than nothing. At least the nurses had cleaned her up superficially. If only she’d been able to stand on her own two feet, she’d have insisted on a shower.
Tessa forced down the food even though hunger wasn’t on her mind. Charley thrashing about in the lake tormented her, but what could she have done? Reaching out to him would have meant death for her too. Had Charley not died, he would have killed her. He’d been a sick man.
And Ralph? His strangled cry echoed in her head but guilt didn’t fill her. Jail had made him crack.
Wasn’t she batting a thousand? Here were two men she’d trusted at one time and both had gone bad. Both were crazy, vindictive, and decided they wanted her dead.
Some psychologist she was going to be. She obviously didn’t understand the human psyche at all.
A knock sounded on her door and Tessa looked up. Her heart sped at the thought of seeing Dominic.
“Come in,” she called.
Annie and Mandy bustled through the door, and joy spread through her like wildfire. “Mandy! Annie, you found her.”
“Oh, Tessa, I feel so guilty, especially with what happened. Ralph never took her.”
Relief and horror smashed together. “I don’t understand.”
“Ralph came into the house and held me at gunpoint. He made me call you. He said if I called the police or told you the truth, he’d kill my kids.”
“Oh, Annie. I’m so sorry for all the agony you’ve been through.”
Tessa held out her arm for the squirming wonder. Annie placed her on Tessa’s stomach where she gathered the precious bundle into her arms and rained kisses all over the baby’s face.
Annie pulled up a chair. “I feel terrible deceiving you like that, but I had no choice. You must have been beside yourself with worry.”
“It’s all in the past now.” Mandy reached up and grabbed a lock of Tessa’s hair.
A huge wave of need overcame her. She wanted a baby worse than anything—with Dominic. Her practical side surfaced the second that thought flew into her head. Hard headed and gun shy, Dominic would take lots of work. She’d get her degree, open her own practice and hope by then he’d come to see that being with her was right.
Annie and she chatted for close to an hour while Mandy slept on her lap.
Her friend finally stood. “I need to get going. I’ll stop by Judd’s room and bring him his adorable child. Hopefully, seeing her will cheer him up.”
Once her friend left, Tessa’s depression returned. She checked her watch every few minutes hoping Dominic would stop by. How long could it take to check out a crime scene?
Winnie stopped in around two. “Time for a snack. You didn’t eat much of your lunch.”
“Thank you. Do you know if Detective Rossi has stopped back?” Maybe he’d come by to check on Chelsea.
“You mean that tall, dark handsome man who brought you in?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.” A smile lit her face. “But I do know that someone with the last name of Redman just came out of surgery.”
“Judd had surgery?”
“Yes. One of my friends is his nurse. She says the transplant went very well.”
Tessa relaxed against the pillow and smiled, when a sharp pain caused her to gasp.
Winnie rushed to her side. “Do you need more pain medication?”
“Maybe a little.” She’d suffered enough.
“Well, you drink some water and rest. I’ll see what I can do.”
After Winnie disappeared, Tessa closed her eyes, and Dominic’s face appeared. Her savior. Even though he’d explained the series of events that led him to Charley’s trailer, she couldn’t believe his incredible timing. Nor did she understand how Ralph had found her in the first place, unless he’d followed either Charley to the swamp or Dominic to the trailer.
The nurse returned a long half hour later and gave her a pill to help with the pain. Tessa figured she’d take a short nap and wait for Dominic’s return.
“Tessa said an alligator killed Charley, or rather Morton Richter, at a lake,” Dom told Phil and Carl Cantori. “Let’s fan out and see if we can find a body of water that fits her description. She said there would be a wooden dock leading up from the path to the water, surrounded by dense trees on three sides. She couldn’t have gone too far with the knife wound.”
Dom planned to mark the spot where Charley fell in, and then call in divers to fish out his body. He doubted an alligator would eat a whole person, but he was no expert on man-eating reptiles. The image of dying under those circumstances gave him the willies—not that the sicko didn’t deserve to die.
Slopping through the cold mud and tangled branches did nothing for his already black mood. If he wasn’t so desperate to put this case to rest, he’d be at Tessa’s side making sure she was okay. However, in a couple of hours, he needed to get on the plane to see his brother, assuming the swamp bugs didn’t eat him alive first.
The first available flight didn’t take off until eight tonight. Given the three-hour time difference between Tampa and Los Angeles, he’d be lucky to get in by ten California time.
“Yo, over here,” Cantori yelled through the thickets.
Dom turned around and headed in the direction of Carl’s voice. He caught sight of the path covered by a fallen log and jogged to the lake. Charley Madsen was washed up on the bank, his body torn to shreds.
“He’s dead all right,” Phil chimed in.
“I’ll call it in,” Dom said.
“Good. Oh, I forgot to mention that after you took Tessa to the hospital, I called the Fish and Game station. They sent a man out to Craig Federer’s house. His throat was cut. Sound familiar?”
“Dear God. You figuring it was Tessa’s ex who did this?”
“Could be,” Phil said. “Though Madsen might have been the culprit.”
“I’ll put my money on Ralph. I guess we now know why we never heard back from Federer,” Dom said.
Dom glanced at his watch. “If you two can wait for the rest of the team, I’ve got a plane to catch.”
“No problem. Good luck. I hope Alex is...okay.”
“Thanks.” Dom started to leave, stopped and turned. “Any word on Ralph’s condition?”
“I didn’t bother to check. When the paramedics arrived, Ralph hadn’t moved a muscle. I’m guessing the bullet paralyzed him.”
Dom nodded. Tessa would be relieved to know her ex-husband would never be able to come after her again.
On the way to the airport, Dom called the number Watkins had given him and w
as able to speak with the nurse in charge of Alex’s care.
“You say you’re Alex’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“He’s lost a lot of blood from the accident and suffered from multiple fractures, but he’s holding his own. It’s quite a miracle, if you ask me.”
“I appreciate the update. I’m catching the next flight out.”
“Good, but don’t get your...never mind. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Just a little longer, brother. Don’t die on me yet.
Traveling on the day before Thanksgiving had been riddled with delays. It was, after all, the busiest traveling day of the year. He’d paid more than twice what first class cost, but it was worth it.
When Dom arrived in L.A., none of the rental car companies had any midsize or full sedans available, so he’d had to rent a luxury car at twice the cost. Dom didn’t care. He’d have bought the damn car if he’d had to.
After entering the address into the car's GPS, Dom headed to the hospital. Because Los Angeles was chillier than Tampa this time of year, he dialed up the car’s heater. Remembering how Tessa shivered when the air was below seventy made him smile. What she did to his soul.
He parked and raced inside. Decorated with pumpkins and cut out turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday, the lobby was quiet as a tomb.
“I’m here to see Alex Sheffield.” The name change still grated on Dom’s nerves. They were brothers, dammit, and should have the same last name.
The receptionist clicked away. Dom prayed Alex was still alive. “He’s in the I.C.U., room 235, but visiting hours are over. Are you a relative?”
“Yes, I’m his brother. I just flew in from Tampa.”
“Well, then, take the first bank of elevators to the second floor.”
“Happy Thanksgiving,” he threw out as he headed toward his brother.
Now that Tessa was safe, he could focus on connecting to his only living relative. Sure, his foster parents had loved him, but they’d divorced five years ago, and he rarely heard from them. Alex was all he had left.
Tessa’s face surfaced. Correction. He had Tessa, assuming she’d be willing to put up with the likes of him.
Dom punched the button for the second floor, his hands suddenly sweaty. Would he even recognize his brother? Would Alex know who he was? It didn’t matter. He needed to see Alex alive.