Doctor's Date with a Billionaire
Page 13
“How far do you think the drive is?”
Isabelle frowned. “To New York? More than 24 hours, I would say.”
“That won’t work,” said Kayla. “I think I’ll have to get the first flight out of Cody. Would you, and I’m sorry to spring this on you, but could you keep an eye on Oliver for me?”
“Of course! Anything you need, it’s no problem.”
Kayla thanked her and rushed onto her phone to buy a plane ticket. As she entered her credit card information, the thought dawned on her that this was a sure fire way to get in trouble with the Marshals. Also, she knew that Mitch would never forgive her.
It didn’t matter, though. Her mom needed her. That was what mattered. If there was some mobster lurking around her apartment, waiting to ambush her, then so be it. She would face it when she got there.
Isabelle wished her luck and Kayla packed her things. It didn’t take long, so then she sat on the couch, waiting anxiously. She was completely unable to sleep. In a weak moment, she used her Marshal issued cell phone to call both of her parents’ phone numbers. No answer. At least now the Marshals would see what she was up to – if they didn’t know already.
She got to the airport at 4 o’clock in the morning and got on a plane to Denver. From there, she took another plane to Albany and rented a car at the airport. Though she had hardly slept, she didn’t feel tired; she was wired and focused.
Before driving from the airport to the hospital where she suspected that her mother was staying, she used a payphone to call both of her parents’ cell phones again.
They didn’t pick up, and both calls went straight to voicemail. Clearly they forgot to charge their phones, wherever they were.
There was only one hospital in the area, so Kayla hoped that she’d find her mom there. She prayed that her mom was okay. It was hard to prevent her mind from wandering to the worst case scenario, though.
When she got to the hospital, she was in a bit of a predicament. She knew how the privacy laws worked, and at any other hospital, it would’ve been difficult for her to find out if her mom were staying there. But Kayla often visited her patients at this hospital, and sometimes even personally drove them to the emergency room when they were being stubborn.
They knew her here. That had to be worth something. She got to the information desk and was met with a friendly face.
“Dr. Small! So good to see you – your hair looks great!”
Kayla smiled. “Hey Cindy, thanks. It’s good to see you too. I just got news that my mom was in the hospital. Could you tell me where she is? Of course my dad never charges his cell phone and I haven’t been able to get in contact with him.”
Cindy’s jaw dropped. “Of course! Let me look.”
Kayla smiled. Even though it wasn’t technically right by policy, she was glad that she could bend the rules sometimes.
After searching in the computer, Cindy wrote down a room number on a sticky note. “That’s where she is, let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Kayla nodded. “Thanks Cindy.”
She got into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. It was a general internal medicine floor, so it didn’t give Kayla any clues as to what happened, but at least her mom wasn’t in the ICU.
Or, a morbid voice in her head chimed, in the morgue.
Kayla gritted her teeth. She moved back home so she could be near her parents, but she wasn’t there when they needed her most. She felt like a failure of a daughter.
The elevator doors opened to the third floor and Kayla stepped into the hallway. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to be pleasant and smile at everyone that she recognized on the floor. She made her way to room 303. Before walking in, she took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the open wooden door.
A voice called out, “Come in!”
Her heart leapt. It was her mom.
“Mom!” she said, her voice breaking.
There she was, sitting up in bed and picking at her lunch. “Honey! What are you doing here?”
Kayla threw her arms around her mom’s neck. “What are you doing here? What happened?”
Her mom held her tightly in a hug, patting her on the back. “Oh, it was nothing. A little heart attack. Look at your hair, I love it!”
Kayla pulled away. Why was everyone so interested in her hair at a time like this?
“You had a heart attack? That’s not nothing!”
She waved a hand. “I knew the signs of it right away thanks to my lovely daughter. You always told me that the signs would be different in a woman than in a man. And they were! I had a stomach ache, and then I threw up. I broke out in this cold sweat, and I had just a brief moment of chest pain. And then I realized what was going on. I knew that I had to get to the hospital.”
Kayla couldn’t help it – tears sprung from her eyes. She hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours and her nerves were fried. Seeing her mom alive flooded her with emotions that she couldn’t process.
“Oh honey, don’t cry. It’s okay,” her mom said.
Kayla struggled through a sob. “No, it’s not okay. I should have been here for you. What if…”
She held up a hand. “Don’t start with the ‘What if’s.’ Everything is fine. I’m fine! Your dad called 911, just like you taught us. They got me in here, they put two stents in my heart. I’m good as new!”
Something about imagining her mother in an ambulance made Kayla cry even harder. It was a full on ugly cry.
Her mother pulled her in for another hug. “It’s okay honey. You’re here now, and I’m going to be just fine.”
Kayla sobbed for the next five minutes. For some reason, she couldn’t stop. She understood what caused heart attacks. She knew about stents and how to treat a blockage. She could see that her mom was okay, but still somehow it was too overwhelming to deal with.
Her dad walked in the room to find her crying. “Look who it is! Our little criminal.”
Kayla turned to him, surprised. “What?”
He laughed. “Did you really think that the FBI and the Marshals would keep us in the dark? They were afraid that you would come back to see your mom.”
“Which you did,” interjected her mother sternly. “Even though you shouldn’t have.”
Kayla blew her nose so she could talk more clearly. “Did they tell you everything?”
“No,” her mom said. “Just that you saved some sort of a criminal and that you’re in danger.”
“I’m not sure how much danger I’m really in.”
Her mother frowned. “They warned us that if you came here, they wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
“Oh mom,” Kayla shook her head. “Please don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. I was much more worried about you.”
“And now I’m worried about you!”
Kayla’s dad cut in. “All right you two loons, we can’t all be worried all the time. Everyone is fine. Let’s enjoy the extra peach cobbler that the nice lady gave me while Kayla tells us about her witness protection adventure.”
Kayla felt like she was going to cry again for some reason. “I don’t know where to begin.”
Her mom took her hand. “Why don’t you start from where you saved that man?”
She looked at her parents and smiled. That part was easy to tell. It was everything that came afterwards that became progressively more complicated.
At least she had lots of pictures of Oliver to share.
Chapter 19
That night, Mitch couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t going to give in and do what Kayla wanted him to do, but he wanted to find a way to explain to her why he felt so strongly about rejecting his dad’s money.
Yes, he could donate it all to charity. He could use it to help people. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand that possibility – he felt like he had no right to the money in the first place. On top of that, there was something deeper. Darker. Something he didn’t want to admit even to himself.
It was hard to expla
in to Kayla the shameful pit in his heart that made him wonder what he would be like if he had access to that much money. Would it turn him into his father? Would he, too, grow greedy and immoral?
Mitch never spoke those fears out loud to anyone. He never even fully admitted it to himself – not until Kayla forced him to think about what he was doing. Or rather, what he wasn’t doing.
Though he didn’t feel ready to talk to her about that, he decided to go to the ranch and apologize as soon as he could. It was only a week before his testimony, and he didn’t want their friendship to end on bad terms. It hurt him enough to think that he could never speak to her again, but for her to leave angry with him on top of it? That was unbearable.
Early the next morning, he got dressed, drove over to the ranch, and knocked on her cabin door.
No answer.
He waited a minute before giving her a call. It went straight to voicemail. That was odd.
After popping his head into the stables, he checked the lodge to see if she stopped in to get breakfast. Isabelle stood at the front desk.
“Isabelle, have you seen Kayla around?”
“Oh,” Isabelle replied, her cheery expression fading. “I guess you didn’t hear. She left this morning.”
He leaned on the counter. “Left? Where? Like on a trail ride? Or a trip to Yellowstone?”
Isabelle shook her head. “No, she had to go back home. She got news that her mom was sick. She got the first flight this morning.”
Mitch felt a jolt of electricity run through his body. “That can’t be. She’s not safe on her own.”
“What?” Isabelle gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“I have to go,” he said. “Please let me know if you hear anything else, okay?”
Isabelle could tell that he wasn’t joking. “Okay, I will.”
Was this some sort of trap set by Colin? How did Isabelle even hear that her mom was sick? Why didn’t she just call her? Why didn’t she call him before running off like that? He would’ve done anything to help her.
Mitch got back into his truck and dialed Perez’s number.
She answered after two rings. “Hey Mitch, how’s it going?”
“Not so good, I just heard that Kayla left Cody? Did you know about this?”
“Yeah, I did,” Perez said with a sigh. “But not until after she was already gone. We knew that her mom was in the hospital, and we were afraid that she might try to go see her.”
“What can we do? To protect her?”
There was a pause on the other end. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do.”
Mitch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “She’s a sitting duck out there! It’s almost time for the testimony, I’m sure they’re getting desperate.”
“I’m sorry, but my hands are tied. We can’t make any exceptions. Once somebody leaves our protection, we can’t bring them back in, and we’re not going to expose our agents to danger because she made a bad decision.”
Mitch closed his eyes and tried to think.
“You still there?” asked Perez.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Don’t get any ideas. If you go after her, you’ll both be in trouble. And we will not be able to help you. Do you understand?”
Mitch gritted his teeth. “Yeah, I know. I gotta go.”
He hung up the phone. Mitch didn’t care about putting himself in danger. His first instinct was to book a flight and chase after her, but the more he thought that plan through, the dumber it seemed.
First off, he was more recognizable than Kayla was. There could be tons of people looking for him, and if they found him, he might lead them straight to her. If he did manage to find her before anyone found him, she probably wouldn’t agree to come back with him. She may still refuse to speak to him at all. And if they ran into trouble, Mitch wouldn’t be able to protect her.
An idea hit him. There was someone that he trusted, someone that he knew could protect Kayla. He pulled out his phone and dialed the phone number that his dad made him memorize years ago.
A woman picked up. “Duchess Dry Cleaner, how can I help you?”
Mitch had to make sure that he got this right. He cleared his throat. “I’m looking for a three-piece pinstripe suit, and I need it this Sunday.”
“You can expect it Sunday,” the woman responded before disconnecting the call.
Mitch waited anxiously. Was it a three-piece pinstripe suit? Or was it a three-piece pinstripe tux? He knew it was something ridiculous. Luckily, a minute later, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Marty! Is that you?”
“No,” Mitch said, lowering his voice. “It’s his son.”
There was silence for a moment. “Holy smokes kid, I haven’t talked to you in ages.”
“I know, Silver. I’ve been – well, living my own life.”
“I heard about that,” Silver replied, letting out a laugh. “Admire you for it, good for you for getting out.”
Mitch shifted uncomfortably. “Thanks. But I need to ask you a favor. I’ve got someone who needs 24 hour protection, starting immediately. She’s in Albany. Can you help?”
Silver let out a long sigh. “For how long?”
“At least a week. Maybe more.”
“Hm.” He was silent for a moment.
Mitch wanted to yell at him, but he knew he had to play it cool. Silver was retired CIA, and he was a good guy. If Silver was willing to take the job, he would do it well, no questions asked. If he wasn’t willing to, though, there was nothing that would convince him to accept it. He was not a guy who could be convinced of anything.
“All right, I’ll get a team together. Fifty thousand for the week.”
There was just over fifty five thousand dollars in Mitch’s savings – the downpayment for his future home. “Perfect. Let me get you the details.”
“You got it kid.”
Chapter 20
The excitement of telling her parents about Wyoming gave Kayla some energy to overcome her exhaustion from not sleeping. She told them all about the fundraiser, the ranch, Isabelle, how she learned to put a bridle on a horse, the first time she got stepped on by a horse, and square dancing.
They loved the pictures of Oliver and couldn’t wait to meet their new grand puppy. Kayla gave them a full overview of Buffalo Bill and the history of the area – her mom was delighted to hear that Wyoming was the first state in the union to allow women to vote.
The one thing that she didn’t give a lot of detail about was Mitch. And of course, her mom noticed.
“What about that guy? The one that you were there with?”
Kayla tried to keep her tone even. “What about him?”
“Well, what was he like?” Her mother casually straightened the blanket over her legs. “You spent a lot of time with him. Was he a nice guy?”
“Not that much time,” she said with a shrug. “But yeah, I guess he was nice.”
“Did you see him pretty often?”
“Well, I was supposed to see him at least two or three times a week, but I needed to use the internet on his computer for the fundraiser, so I saw him almost every day for a while. It turned out that I did have internet, I just didn’t know it until the night that I left.”
Her mom eyed her for a moment. “Oh, right. When will you see him again?”
Kayla paused. Why were moms so observant? How did she pick up on Kayla’s unwillingness to talk about Mitch?
And though she didn’t check, she knew that she was probably kicked out of the witness protection program. If she went back to the ranch now and told the truth about her stay, it could put Mitch in danger. She needed to go back to get Oliver of course, but she realized that she may never see Mitch again.
“I…don’t know,” she finally said. The realization sunk in her heart like a deflated balloon. “I think he has to, you know, stay in hiding.”
“Oh,” her father said. “He gets to be a cowboy forever.”
Her mother held up a finger in protest. “Now wait one minute. We can’t let you go home all by yourself if there are men looking for you.”
Kayla sighed. “Mom. No one tried to grab me the whole way here. I doubt that anyone is even looking for me anymore.”
“Nevertheless, I think you should go home with dad.”
Kayla groaned. “I really just wanted to sleep in my own bed tonight. And what’s dad going to do if someone attacks me? Jeopardy trivia them to death?”
Her dad made a face of mock outrage. “How do you know that wouldn’t work?”
“Please honey,” her mom said. “I’d feel much better if you were with your father.”
It wasn’t worth her mom staying up all night worrying. “Alright, if it’ll help you get some rest.”
They said their goodbyes and Kayla drove home, following closely behind her dad. She kept an eye out on the road for any suspicious vehicles following them. There was nothing. She laughed at herself – she was starting to feel like Mitch. He was always paranoid and worried something would happen. And all the worrying was all for naught.
When they got home, Kayla took a hot shower and went straight to bed; she fell asleep almost immediately even though her childhood twin bed was fairly lumpy.
The next morning, she woke up from a bad dream about Mitch. She wanted to avoid thinking about it, so she got up and made coffee for herself and her dad. She offered to make him breakfast as well, but he wanted to get to the hospital early because it was the day her mom was supposed to be discharged home.
“Okay dad, let me just throw on some clothes and I’ll go with you,” she said.
He gave her a kiss on the forehead. “No sweetie, I’m just going to run over, pick up your mom, and come right back home. You still look tired. Just wait here, it won’t take very long.”