Desert Rescue

by Lisa Phillips

  That just meant this man in front of her, Jennie’s son’s father, had the ultimate power over her. Him doubting her identification of that man showed he had the ability to hurt her.

  It had crushed her the day she had realized he’d completely cleared out and left her alone—and pregnant—still living in her father’s house. Even now, he had the ability to destroy her.

  And if she continued to let him into her life, and her heart, that would only get worse.

  Until the day he wrecked her all over again. When he inevitably fought her for custody of Nate. He was a cop, while her family was nothing but criminals. There was no way she would win.

  Patrick frowned. He looked about to say something when Eric broke in. “It’s Martin Wilson?”

  Patrick turned to his partner. Jennie exhaled, glad to be relieved from his scrutiny.

  “That’s what we believe.”

  Now he believed her? Jennie chose to just be grateful he no longer had that knowing stare aimed at her. The one she figured could see past what she was saying to her deeper feelings. Desperation. Fear.

  Both totally attractive things. Not.

  She wasn’t interested in attraction. She didn’t need any of that—especially not from a man who had hurt her so deeply in the past. Sure, he would no doubt be a good father to Nate. But that didn’t mean he would stick around for Jennie. Literally or figuratively.

  There was just too much pain in their history. Miscommunication or not, it would always be between them.

  “Let’s find out what we can from the army.”

  Eric nodded.

  “Once we have that, we’ll be a step closer to figuring out what’s going on here.”

  “Ms. Wilson?”

  She turned to find the doctor standing there. “When is Nate able to be released?”

  Ready to get back to her normal life, she wanted to take him somewhere they could both rest.

  “We’ll have to see how he’s doing when he wakes up, but it’s possible he can go home later today.”

  Jennie crossed her arms in front of her, trying not to be cynical about doctors or hospitals. She needed to let him do his job. Her fingers grazed across the bandage on her elbow and she winced. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  Patrick stepped around her and questioned the doctor about things to watch out for with Nate and when he might need to be brought back in.

  She turned away, trying to tamp down the frustration. He’s being a good dad, remember? Plus he was new at this, and cops tended to take charge of situations. She had to repeat the question in her mind four times.

  Jennie strode past Nate, glancing over to make sure he was all right. Still sleeping. Beth had her gaze on the other police officer—the one down the hallway. Eric paced, the phone clutched to his ear. She assumed he was asking the army about her brother or talking to his boss.

  “Hey.” Patrick touched her shoulder. “It’s good news that Nate might be released. Right? Are you okay?”

  Jennie didn’t have the mental energy for a deep conversation. “I’m going to stay by Nate. Please let me know when we’re leaving.” She went to sit with her son.

  She’d done everything she could to have a different life than the one she’d had growing up. Her father had never included her in his “business,” but she’d seen enough. That kind of stain spread, and she’d felt its cloying stickiness on her too many times.

  That life wasn’t something she wanted anywhere near Nate. Not when he’d been born, not now and not ever.

  No matter what her brother tried to do.

  * * *

  Fear for his son clouded out everything. Patrick knew exactly how Jennie had felt when she walked out of the bay where Nate slept. That need for space, emotional and physical. A much-needed second in the middle of all that was going on to just take a moment and process.

  He had a son.

  That son was in danger.

  Tucker whined, leaning his body against the side of Patrick’s leg. He reached down and patted the dog’s head.

  Now they knew it was Martin Wilson. But did they? Sure, Jennie’s brother might be the man who had come onto this hospital floor to see his nephew. A child he’d never met.

  That didn’t mean he was the person behind their kidnapping, or whatever was going on with the trespassers on her land.

  Patrick didn’t think it was a coincidence. The son of a man who’d been the local drug dealer—kingpin, maybe—for years, strong-arming locals out of their money.

  Preying on people. Ruining more lives than just Jennie’s and Patrick’s. Martin had learned how to be a man from his father. He’d run off to the army, but even that kind of structure didn’t change who a person was at their core.

  Was Martin his father’s son, or had he done what most people struggled to do and broken the cycle of how he’d been raised?

  Eric wandered over. Patrick met him halfway with Tucker so Jennie didn’t have to listen to whatever was said. He’d figure out how to tell her later. Though, from the look on her face, he imagined she knew a lot of it.

  “I spoke with an MP at the base where Martin Wilson is supposed to be.”

  Patrick stilled. “What?”

  “Fourteen months ago, he went AWOL. Came back from a deployment, went on leave. At the end of the two weeks, he never reported in. He’d left his phone—everything—behind on base, only had one bag of clothes. They haven’t been able to find him since.”

  “He’s here.”

  Eric grinned. “It was very satisfying to inform them of that fact. Even though it’s not like we were looking for the guy.” He folded his arms. “They’re sending over a couple of MPs. Boots on the ground.”

  “Assistance?”

  “They’re interested in Martin Wilson being put in cuffs. Evidently he needs to answer some questions about an incident that happened in Afghanistan.”

  But they weren’t going to help with whatever Martin had been up to for the fourteen months since anyone had last seen him.

  Eric nodded at the expression on Patrick’s face. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  He shook his head.

  “Don’t need their help anyway, right?” Eric said. “Only there’s really no way to actually say that without sounding whiny and then making people wonder if you think maybe you could use their help.”

  “We don’t need it.”

  Eric nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Did you figure out accommodations?”

  “You really should check your email. I got you a local short-term rental I booked under an alias I used for the last undercover job.”

  That had been over toward Arizona, and everyone involved was in jail now. There wouldn’t be any blowback or a risk of anyone showing up for revenge.

  Patrick let out a huge exhale. “Thanks.”

  “All the information is in your in-box. Address, door code. Everything.”

  “And you?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that.” Eric scratched at his chin. “If her brother was here, and he’s trying to make contact with Nate for whatever reason...” Before Patrick could argue with him, Eric continued, “Means he could be watching.”

  “Waiting for us to leave, so he can make an approach,” Patrick said. “What are you thinking?”

  “It involves you giving me your car keys.”

  “You think pretending to be me will fly?” Patrick grinned.

  At least Eric hadn’t offered to take Tucker, to complete the ruse. Eric and Tucker had a somewhat antagonistic relationship. They were like two kids, or siblings, each one intent on annoying the other until one or the other had the upper hand.

  Patrick said, “You want to pretend to be me, and draw him out. It’ll only work if there’s someone on the other end to catch him.”

  “Or it’ll be enough to draw him away, g
ive you guys time to get to the house.”

  “A distraction.”

  Eric shrugged one shoulder.

  His partner was willing to put himself in harm’s way so Patrick could get Jennie and Nate to a safe place?

  “I looked into the father.”

  Patrick said, “Yeah?”

  Eric nodded. “He used the land, and neighboring lands he...acquired, to transport drugs.”

  “Including the land he got from my mother.”

  “Never legally. It’s not like Jennie inherited everything he had and is now some kind of land mogul. She doesn’t own your old house. She got the house she grew up in and the land around it. That’s all in her name now, because it was left to her by her mother.”

  “So her father strong-armed the town into getting what he wanted, but never on paper. You think the sheriff was in his pocket?”

  “If he was,” Eric said, “Martin could be up to the same thing. Took over Dad’s business after he died. Kept it running through a middle man. When things got heated in the army, he split and came home to run it in person.”

  “Sounds like some mob boss still giving orders from prison.”

  “Only he was in the military.”

  “It’s a pretty good cover,” Patrick said. “No one would think he was behind it, given he’s either across the country or deployed.”

  Even Jennie hadn’t given her brother a second thought. Until he was brought up.

  “The MP I spoke to told me they tried to contact Jennie to find out if she’d seen him, but she totally ghosted them,” Eric said. “Never returned any calls. He said they spoke with the sheriff, who told them to leave her alone. That she was done with her family.”

  Patrick felt his eyebrows rise for about the hundredth time. Yet more surprises. “Maybe I was wrong to doubt him.”

  “Are you going to trust him with this now?”

  Patrick shook his head. “No way.”

  “Okay, good. I was worried for a second.”

  “If I thought we needed a task force, I’d make a call. But Jennie was right to contact the DEA. They’ll want the case if a Wilson is operating in this county again, transporting drugs.”

  Eric nodded. “We keep her and Nate safe. The army picks up Martin, and the DEA can mop up the rest of them. The sheriff will probably take credit for the whole thing, when we all know who the real hero is.” He tried to pet Tucker, but the dog only sniffed at his hand.

  “As long as Jennie and Nate are safe.”

  Eric glanced in their direction. “Mmm. I can see why you might feel that way.”

  Patrick nudged his partner’s shoulder. “Focus. You already let Martin get away once.”

  “But they are safe. Right?”

  Patrick nodded. “Yeah.”

  Eric pretended he didn’t care about the slight. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to keep them that way.”

  Patrick grabbed his phone. “Let me call Johns first. See if he has anything from the house and make sure it’s been secured.”

  He figured the men on dirt bikes had cleared out, but he called anyway. There was no answer. Patrick couldn’t go check on what was happening. He and Tucker needed to stay with Jennie and Nate.

  “Give me your keys.” Eric motioned with his fingers. “I’ll do double duty, lead Martin away and check on the sheriff.”

  Patrick dug his keys out. “Please be careful.”

  “You just don’t want to do the paperwork if something happens to me.”

  “I’m more worried about Tucker. You give him more treats than I do.”

  Eric laughed as he walked away. But Patrick couldn’t join in. Not when instinct told him even one second of a slipup might end in the worst way.

  Right now, distraction could cost someone their life.

  TWELVE

  Patrick shoved the curtain aside and stepped in. Tucker padded to Nate’s side and set his chin on the bed.

  “Look who it is.” The words died on her lips as she realized Patrick was wearing Eric’s jacket, holding a ball cap with the word Police across the front.

  All his attention was on Nate.

  Jennie said, “He woke up a couple of minutes ago. He’s still pretty groggy.”

  Patrick approached the bed. “Hey, buddy.”

  “Hi.” Nate moved his hand and stroked Tucker’s head.

  She figured her son didn’t know what to call him. Patrick or Dad. She squeezed Nate’s arm, wanting to tell him that they were all new at this. Still figuring it out. This was going to be a whole lot of trial and error.

  She said, “The doctor signed off. They’re releasing Nate as soon as the nurse comes back with the paperwork and they get a wheelchair up here.”

  “I can walk.”

  “You don’t think it might be cool to ride in one?” she asked him. “Because that’s the only way you’re getting out of here.”

  Nate made a face, his lips mushed together.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Jennie grinned. If he was giving her that expression, then he felt pretty good. The lasting effects of being kidnapped would show themselves, and likely wouldn’t be physical. But that was a worry for tomorrow. Right now she was concerned about where they would go.

  Before she could ask, Patrick eased down onto the side of the bed. “How are you feeling, Nate?”

  “Pretty good.” His little boy face crinkled into upset.

  “What?” Patrick leaned forward. “Tell me what, buddy.”

  “I—” He glanced at her. Why the guilty look on his face?

  “Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Jennie said.

  “I don’t wanna go home.” He sounded like the little boy he had been, using phrasing he’d grown out of lately.

  Jennie pushed away the rush of...grief. And the sheen of tears. He’d lost the feeling of comfort and safety in his own home. That was definitely a reason to grieve.

  Patrick answered before she could reply. “My partner found us a place to go. A short-term rental, where we’ll be safe.”

  “Is Tucker going to be there?”

  Hearing his voice, the dog jumped up to set both front paws on the side of the bed. Nate laughed.

  Patrick said, “Tucker. Off.”

  The dog hopped down just as the nurse and an orderly came in. The nurse handed Jennie the discharge papers and the orderly helped Nate into the wheelchair. Her son seemed more tired than anything else. Jennie’s injuries stung, but she didn’t care about that when Nate had a bigger knot on the back of his head than she did. No concussion. She had to remember that.

  Thank You, God. Keep us safe. Please.

  Jennie accepted the paperwork, stuffing the pages in her purse without even reading them. Patrick took the bag she’d packed for herself and Nate and slung it over his shoulder even though he had Tucker’s leash, as well.

  She walked by Nate’s shoulder as they made their way out. “Are you going to tell me what the plan is?”

  Patrick glanced over. She wondered if he was even going to answer her whispered question.

  “Or why you’re wearing Eric’s jacket.”

  “I drew the line at swapping pants,” he said. “Especially since he’s four inches shorter than me.”

  She grinned. “And that?” She motioned to the ball cap.

  “Oh.” He looked down at the hat in his hand. “I almost forgot.” He shifted the duffel on his shoulder, and they were off again. The hospital orderly wheeled them in the direction of the elevator.

  “Nate.”

  Her son turned, the hope in his eyes almost too much for her to handle. At just his father’s mention of his name.

  “Do you wanna wear this?” Patrick asked.

  She didn’t know if he was aware he’d used the same words as Nate. Stress, fear and anxiety changed how a person spoke and beha
ved. She wanted her son to meet his father under normal, calm and carefree circumstances. But this was what God had given them.

  “It’s for me?”

  “Yeah, buddy.” He settled the ball cap on Nate’s head.

  “Cool!”

  Jennie chuckled then covered her mouth with her hand. It was probably a disguise. A way to claim his son and keep Nate’s identity under wraps as they left the hospital and headed for what amounted to a safe house.

  “Mom! Look at it!”

  “It’s very cool.”

  Patrick glanced at her, an expression on his face she hadn’t seen in a long time. Behind Nate and the orderly, she reached over and took his free hand. She gave it a squeeze, then loosened her grip. Patrick didn’t.

  He kept hold of her hand all the way to the elevator, and only let go to push the button so they could go down.

  “So you and Eric traded jackets?”

  “And he took my car.”

  She knew there was more he wasn’t saying. Patrick wanted to keep them protected, so he was having his partner drive his car. If someone wanted to get to them, they would follow “Patrick.”

  Or the person might stick around, thinking he’d gone. They would look for Jennie and Nate, who were the real targets.

  There was a lot about police work she would never understand. But Patrick had managed to find her and Nate on the worst night of their lives. Now Nate looked at him like his father could do anything. Certain that Patrick could make a plan to keep them safe. The expression looked a whole lot like hero worship.

  Jennie would know, because she felt the same way. She always had. And it was clear now that maybe she always would.

  That was the deep-down truth. But the wall between that and what she allowed herself to feel was the pain she’d endured for years, thinking he’d abandoned her.

  Despite the fact it had been her father’s doing, she just couldn’t get past the pain. The loneliness she had suffered, raising her son by herself.

  Right now was about him getting to know Nate—alongside protecting him. He loved Nate and would be part of his life—and hers because of it. But he’d moved on with his life. Jennie didn’t know if she would ever be able to move on with hers.