by Blythe, Jane
“Hi, Paigey,” Mark announced as he burst through the door.
“Hi, Mark, and don’t call me Paigey. What are you doing here?” Paige eyed him suspiciously.
“Checking you out,” he replied mildly, pulling up a chair beside her.
“I'm fine; I wasn't hurt,” Paige protested.
“And we want to make sure of that. Sometimes adrenalin can mask pain for a while. You know, tending all of you guys and your partners is like a full-time job,” Mark observed dryly as he picked up Paige’s wrist to check her pulse.
“How is she?” Ryan asked after his brother had taken Paige’s blood pressure.
“Considering someone just tried to kill her, she’s doing okay,” Mark replied. “When Ryan tackled you, did you hit your head?” he asked Paige, running his fingers through her hair in search of any bumps.
“I don’t think so,” she told him.
“I can't feel anything,” Mark confirmed. “What did you land on?”
“My hands,” Paige answered.
“Let me see them.”
Paige held them out, and it was immediately apparent that one of her hands had been injured—the thumb of her left hand pointed out at an awkward angle.
Brown eyes wide with baffled surprise, Paige said, “I didn’t even notice that.”
“That’s why it was a good idea to check you out,” Mark reminded her. Gently, he took hold of her wrist and examined her hand. “It’s dislocated. I can probably put it back in for you, or if you want, you can go and get someone in the ER to X-ray it and then relocate it.”
Looking dazed and exhausted as she experienced the crash that came following an adrenalin overload, Paige shook her head. “I don’t want to go through the ER. You can do it.”
“It’s going to hurt,” Mark warned.
“Here, hold my hand and squeeze as hard as you need to.” Ryan held out one of his hands.
Obediently, and without protest, Paige grasped his hand with her good one. That didn’t make him feel better. Paige hated to be told what to do.
“Ready?” Mark asked, one hand circling Paige’s wrist, the other held the end of her thumb.
Paige nodded, and Mark gave one quick yank. For a second Paige crushed his hand so tightly that Ryan almost yelled out at the pain.
“You okay?” Mark glanced at Paige.
“Yeah,” she replied, a little shakily.
Mark raised a skeptical brow. “How does it feel when I move it?”
She winced as Mark rotated her thumb in a circle and bent it at both joints. “It hurts, but it feels like it’s moving okay.”
“Okay, I’ll go get some tape and stabilize that for you. I’ll also bring some painkillers. Then I’ll go and check on Laura since I'm down here, anyway. I’ll be right back.” Mark paused at the door. “Let’s all please try not to hurt ourselves while I'm gone.”
When his brother was gone, Ryan took the seat beside Paige and waited until his partner was looking at him. “You do not go anywhere on your own from now on,” he told her firmly.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Even if that was the stalker who tried to run me down, he waited four years before trying to kill me again. What if he waits another four years before he makes another attempt? One of you cannot shadow me every second of the day for years.”
“We can, and we will,” Ryan told her adamantly. Whatever it took to keep Paige safe, he would gladly do so, and he was already trying to figure out how to make it logistically possible.
She rolled her eyes again—more dramatically this time. “You guys have wives, girlfriends, kids; you can't be babysitting me all the time.”
“You and Elias can come and stay with us,” Ryan ventured, knowing she’d refuse and wondering how to persuade her.
“No.” Paige shook her head at him. “And no,” she turned to tell Jack before he had a chance to make the same offer.
“Annabelle moved out, so I could come and stay at your place,” Xavier offered. “That way you'd be with Ryan when you're at work, and I'd have your back when you're at home.”
To Ryan that sounded like the perfect solution. Apparently, it did not to Paige. “No way. Annabelle isn’t really going to move out, and you should be working on fixing things with her, not babysitting me.”
“Annabelle already moved out, and she’s the one who sees problems in our relationship, not me,” Xavier countered.
“Paige, do you really think we’re going to leave you alone and unprotected while someone wants to kill you? You can agree to let Xavier stay with you or he, Jack, and I will take turns spending the night outside your house,” Ryan threatened.
She was wavering, he could tell. Her pride wanted to say that she was a cop, could take care of herself, and didn’t need anyone to look after her. But her common sense was obviously reminding her that she’d be safer with them looking out for her.
“I’ll think about it,” she finally admitted. Which was as good as a yes as far as Ryan was concerned. “I have to call Elias and tell him what happened.”
“All right, we’ll give you some privacy.” Ryan squeezed her shoulder and stood.
“Hey, guys,” Paige stopped them at the door. “Thanks for all your offers, you guys are really great friends, and it really means a lot to me. But let’s just find this guy so we can all get on with our lives.”
* * * * *
12:30 A.M.
“So, you pass Mark’s tests?” Jack appeared at the door.
Laura smiled at her husband. Neither she nor Sofia had been able to get any sleep, but they’d both kept the promises they’d made to their husbands and remained in bed. Her brother-in-law had been a welcome distraction when he’d appeared in their room a few minutes ago.
“Mark?” She turned to him, unsure whether or not she had passed.
“Barely,” Mark replied. “I'd prefer she remained right where she is, but I get why you want to use her.”
“Use me?” Laura turned confused eyes on Jack. “Did something happen? Is Maegan okay?”
“I’ll explain everything to you in a minute,” Jack assured her, coming to perch on the bed beside her and kiss her lightly on the lips.
Something was wrong, Laura could feel it, but Jack was refusing to meet her gaze, so she couldn’t search his eyes for answers.
“Mark, Paige is just calling Elias and then you can go see her,” Jack told his brother.
“Paige?” Laura felt a rush of fear flash through her.
“Paige?” Sofia exclaimed almost simultaneously, sitting bolt upright in her bed. “What happened to her? Is she okay? Did the stalker try something with her? I knew something bad was going to happen.”
“Sofia, relax,” Jack ordered. “Paige is okay. Ryan’s going to explain what happened, but I need to grab Laura.” He turned to her. “If you think you're up to talking to Maegan. I don’t want you to push yourself.”
“I'm up to it,” she replied immediately, already climbing from the bed.
“I’ll go check on Paige,” Mark announced, ducking out the door.
“Ryan will be right in. You stay in bed until he gets here,” Jack told Sofia.
Laura found herself pausing at the door. The last time she’d stepped outside into the busy ER she’d had a panic attack. It had caught her completely by surprise. She hadn’t had one in over a year. But as she’d opened that door, she’d felt it coming on and had been powerless to stop it. Her heart had begun to pound, her pulse raced, and she couldn’t breathe. She had sunk to the floor, her legs unable to support her—so overwhelmed, she couldn’t move. That’s where Mark’s nurse friend had found her and quickly bundled her back into the quiet room.
“You okay?” Jack’s voice rumbled behind her.
Managing a nod, Laura slid her hand into Jack’s. His squeezed tightly, and then before she could contemplate the horror that she might have another panic attack when she left the room, she opened the door and stepped through it.
“I'm right here.” Jack was so cl
ose behind her that his body was pressed right up against hers.
“Why do you need me to talk to Maegan?” Laura asked, needing the distraction.
Knowing that without her needing to tell him, Jack made his voice brisk and businesslike. “Malachi ran. Eliza woke up and we tried talking to her, but Maegan was right, Malachi has messed with her head. She freaked out when I asked her about the baby, so we left her with Dr. Roma and went to find Ryan and Paige. We found them coming in from outside. Malachi had created a distraction and ran. He fired a shot at Ryan, and Paige fired one back at him. Then he got away. We need to find him ASAP. And right now, with Eliza brainwashed, Maegan is our best chance at finding him.”
Jack had been walking her toward a small office while he talked, but now Laura stopped and tilted her head back to look up at him. “What happened with Paige? Is she really okay?”
“Paige is okay,” Jack assured her. “But someone tried to run her down with a car, right after she shot at Malachi. Ryan pushed her out of the way. She dislocated her thumb, but other than that, she’s fine—just shaken up.”
“The stalker is back. Jack, she can't be alone anymore …”
“Shh,” Jack soothed. “We already told her that. Xavier is going to go and stay with her for a while. Try not to worry about Paige; we won't let the stalker get to her again.”
Laura knew there was no way they could guarantee that. She and Paige had been friends for a few years now and Laura thought she had a reasonable idea of how Paige’s mind worked. And right now, she was worried that Paige was going to want to act as bait to draw the stalker out. When she’d been used as bait to draw out her tormentor, Rose had wound up dead. She didn’t want anything like that to happen again.
“Laura.” Jack moved so he was in front of her and took her face in his hands. “I know you're worried about Paige—we all are—but right now, I need you one hundred percent focused on Maegan. If we don’t find Malachi quickly, he could run, try this again with some other girls. I need you to put everything else aside for now and just work your magic on Maegan. Can you do that for me?”
Setting her concerns about Paige aside, and her concerns about Sofia who was going to blame herself, Laura focused. Maegan needed her, and she wanted to help. She was worried about messing things up, but she was even more worried about doing nothing. “Okay, I'm ready.”
Jack held her gaze, searching her eyes to see if he felt she really was ready. Apparently, he decided she was and he nodded. “She’s in there. I won't come in. She’s not all that pleased with me and Xavier since we wouldn’t let her go and see Eliza.”
“What do you need me to get from her?” Laura asked.
“Everything you can.”
“Okay,” Laura hoped she could get Maegan to talk to her. “Can I tell her Malachi ran?”
“Yes, maybe it’ll motivate her to talk. And Ryan and Paige IDed Maegan and Eliza; their names are Maegan Masters and Eliza Donnan. Hey,” Jack grabbed her wrist when she went to open the door. “I love you, and I don’t care if you never get over your agoraphobia. Laura, I love you and our kids more than anything. I don’t want you to ever doubt that again.”
Laura didn’t want to doubt that ever again. But the problem was, sometimes she didn’t have any control over what she felt. “Mark said he thought I should still be seeing my therapist.” She watched her husband to gauge his reaction.
“And …?” Jack prompted.
“And, maybe he’s right,” she finished, feeling her cheeks flush.
“Good, I think he’s right, too. And stop looking embarrassed that you need help. Being a psychiatrist doesn’t give you magical powers to fix your problems,” he admonished.
She knew that was true, but it had still been an issue for her. She’d been a psychology student when she’d been abducted. She’d finished her degree from her apartment after she’d disappeared and locked herself away. Since then, she’d also gotten degrees in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.
“I know,” she smiled up at him. “I’ll try really hard to not feel like a burden,” she promised, hoping she could do it.
“You’ll do better than try. We’ll get you to the point where you believe it.”
Laura both loved and hated that Jack always made them a team, facing everything together. She loved it because it made her feel safer and stronger to know he was always right by her side, but she hated that he had to constantly be dealing with her issues.
Jack’s unwavering support meant a lot to her, and she wished that she had let him be there for her from the beginning. She knew it had been a mistake not to tell him about her assault and an even bigger mistake to run and hide from her family. She often wondered how her life would have turned out if she had called Jack after she’d been rescued. Still, she knew that what was, was. She had him now, and that’s what was important. The best she could do was work on rebuilding the shattered pieces of her life.
“Okay, I better go see Maegan,” she said at last, getting herself in the zone where she was completely focused on the task at hand and not distracted by anything else.
“I’ll be right out here if you need me.”
Inside the small office, Maegan was sitting in a corner, her head on her knees. “Maegan?”
Her head darted up, and Maegan’s red-rimmed eyes immediately brightened. “Laura! Jack said you had a panic attack and I couldn’t see you.” She bounced to her feet and rushed over, throwing her arms around Laura.
Laura didn’t really like people to touch her, but she didn’t protest and returned the teenager’s hug. “Maegan, it’s time. You need to tell me everything you can about Malachi.”
Pulling back, panic filled her blue eyes. “Did something happen?”
“Malachi disappeared,” she told her gently, leading Maegan over to the chairs.
She paled. “Disappeared?” Maegan repeated.
“Yes, he ran. That means that for the moment you are all safe, but we need to act quickly, because Malachi might try to grab some other girls and recreate what he had with his family again. Or he might decide to try and come back for you and your sisters.” Laura didn’t want to scare the girl, but she also wanted her to realize just how serious things were.
“You really think he might come back?” Maegan’s eyes went wide with fear.
“I think it’s a possibility,” Laura replied honestly. If she were profiling Malachi, she would certainly put it at the top of his list. He didn’t like change. He thought of the girls as his property. Particularly the baby who was the only one who was biologically related to him. “Maegan, I know how horrifying it is to be grabbed by a stranger and locked away someplace where you can't get away. And I know how sick it makes you feel to have to tell someone what happened, especially when the person who hurt you is still out there. But everyone who was responsible for my abduction was found, and we’ll find Malachi, too, but only with the information you can give me. My friends found your case. They know your name is Maegan Masters; they know Eliza’s name, too. That means your family will be on their way here.”
Maegan digested this, her eyes growing teary. “My parents are coming?”
“Yes. Eliza’s family, too. And as soon as you tell us the other girls’ names, we can call their families, too. Your mom and dad will be so happy to see you. Getting that call will have been the best moment of their lives.” Laura knew how much her family had suffered while she had been missing and when she had locked herself away from the world. Now, because of her choice to run and hide, things were still strained between them. She felt so uncomfortable with them. She knew that she’d broken their hearts when she’d disappeared without a word, and she couldn’t seem to let go of that guilt. She wished she knew how to fix their relationships. She loved her family so much, and she knew their love for her was unconditional.
“They’re really coming?” Maegan couldn’t seem to wrap her head around that.
“They’re really coming, honey.”
“Eliza’s famil
y, too?”
“Eliza’s family, too,” she nodded. Sensing Maegan was almost ready to spill everything, Laura gave her a little push. “You said Arianna is Eliza and Malachi’s daughter, that he forced himself on her, did he force himself on you, too?” she asked gently.
Tears began to trickle down Maegan’s cheeks. “He started on my thirteenth birthday.”
“You were scared he’d start with the others. That’s why it was so important for you to make sure this worked out, because you knew if you went back, he’d start on the other girls in a few years.”
“Uh-huh,” Maegan nodded.
“I understand why you want to protect them. You love them. So, give me their names so we can send them home, too.”
Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, the last of the fight drained from her eyes. “I don’t know their last names, but Angela’s real name is Bethany, and Abigail’s name is Hayley. I assume they were taken on the same day as Eliza and me.”
“Okay, I’ll give those names to Jack.”
“What’s going to happen to Arianna?” Maegan asked. “Malachi can't get her, can he? He is her father.”
“No, honey. Malachi raped Eliza, and even if he wasn't charged with your kidnappings, which he will be once we find him, he wouldn’t be able to get custody of her. Arianna can go with Eliza.”
“Eliza’s messed up,” Maegan wailed. “Malachi did something to her. He somehow convinced her that she really is his daughter Ariyel.”
“Then Arianna can go with Eliza’s family while she gets help or she can go into foster care or Eliza can choose to put her up for adoption. But I promise you that she will be safe, just like the rest of you will be safe.”
“Okay,” Maegan brushed at her wet cheeks.
“Where are the girls hiding? With Malachi on the run, they aren’t safe alone. We can’t make sure they’re protected until we find him, but they need to be with us.”
Maegan began to cry again. “I don’t know. I told Angela to just take them and hide. I didn’t want Malachi to ever get his hands on them, so even if it didn’t work and you didn’t believe me, and Malachi took me and Eliza home with him, he’d never get the girls. When someone found them, I told Angela to tell them who they were and what happened to them. I thought if I knew where they were, Malachi would be able to force me somehow to tell him. I thought it was safer for them if I didn’t know. I'm sorry.”