Fifteen
Cole
Now
* * *
My nerves were racing. The hospital’s alarm for the training lockdown could be heard from where I was tucked and hidden in the blacked-out van that had somehow been fitted to look like an ambulance. Plan set, it included me trusting Kip to get my truck back to my place and to keep Jonathan exactly where he was supposed to be.
I focused on calming my nerves. They were rioting worse than they did on a call-out or an investigation, but then again, the cost was much higher.
“Come on,”
I whispered into the void.
The driver was already in his seat. Kip introduced us and then headed into the office. That meant I’d had a whole thirty seconds to grill Jim Bower on his intention and motive. Considering the man was larger than me, bald, and looked like he could kill a lion with his bare hands, I decided to trust him. Also, because he looked at me and in a voice that came close to scaring me, grumbled, “Men like him should be staked and then plastered on a pole for all to see.”
I figured he wouldn’t get that colorful if he was lying, so I nodded, climbed into the back of the van, and began my waiting period.
One that was lasting far too long.
I twisted my neck and asked Jim, “You know what’s taking so long?”
“Subterfuge takes time.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and then went back to staring straight out the windshield. We’d pulled up to a private entrance to the hospital, one far less scrutinized and one where security personnel had been routed away from.
It felt like forever. Hours went by as I stewed inside the back of the van and considered every possible scenario that could go wrong. Ten minutes ago, Kip called Jonathan in for an emergency meeting, using the ruse of someone embezzling from the Gators’ franchise as the excuse. He’d assured me Jonathan would be so furious at the thought of being stolen from, it’d take his entire focus away from Trina. It’d give us the time to get out of there. But if Jonathan didn’t believe the reports Kip was going to show him, or if he decided his wife needed constant vigilance…or if she woke up and refused to leave, things could go sideways in a millisecond. Fortunately, Jonathan was thirty minutes away so even if it didn’t go perfectly, we’d still hopefully be able to get to the air.
The doors opened and I cursed, relieved to finally see a woman with her back to me, hair piled on her head, bending down.
“I’ll help.”
I moved from my seat to the other side of the bed as the woman and another man at the other end of Trina’s hospital bed went to lift it.
“On three,”
the woman said, her attention on the man across from her. Neither acknowledged me so I stepped back, balling my hands into fists so I didn’t reach out to Trina, and run my fingers down her bruised and mottled cheeks. She looked worse in the daylight than she had under the harsh hospital lighting.
“You’re good,”
the man said. “Be safe.”
With a dip of his chin and no introduction, not that it was necessary, the doors slammed closed behind him.
“You must be Cole,”
the woman said to me. She still hadn’t glanced at me, but that was fine. Both of our focus was on Trina, anyway.
“I am. And you are?”
“Heather. She’s doing really well today.”
Her eyes were working on hooking up clear bags filled with a clear liquid to a pole at the side of the van.
I glanced at her and then back to Trina. Her lips were swollen, and there were multiple cuts on her cheeks. Her leg was still braced. The cut at her forehead that had left smeared blood in her hair had been cleaned, and the stitches were now visible.
Fury rose like a rushing tide I choked down. “Has she been awake?”
“Some. Overnight and very early this morning, but she was disoriented. The pain meds should keep her sedated for most of the flight.”
That’d be good. I didn’t want her feeling any pain at all, but mostly I didn’t want her asking questions until we were safe and secure.
“Any word from Mr. Wolf?”
“He’s called and been told all is well.”
There’d be a fight on the hospital’s hands for this. He’d hold someone accountable, I had no doubt. I still held out hope that given her injuries and his fragile story, he wouldn’t push it too far.
A wave of relief washed over me, and my shoulders relaxed as the van pulled away from the hospital and onto the main roads and then the interstate beyond.
Thirty minutes later, we were aboard the plane, taxiing down the runway, and Trina was safe and secured in her hospital bed, locked in place to give her the smoothest flight possible.
“Thank you,”
I told the nurse again. It must have been my twentieth time I’d thanked her.
“No woman should live like this.”
She swiped her hands down her dark blue scrubs. “If only we could save more.”
I couldn’t agree more. But for now, I’d give my gratitude for being blessed to save one.
I still couldn’t believe it. Too afraid if I blinked, she’d disappear, which was why I still couldn’t take my eyes off Trina. She’d been carefully moved and was now resting in my guest bedroom downstairs.
In my home.
Thank God for Sheila who’d not only come over and set up the room with everything she thought Trina would need, but she’d also met us at the plane and then ridden with us in one of the Sheldon County ambulances back to my house.
Now she was here, in my bed, strapped to monitors like in the van and on the plane, still wearing the same brace and hospital gown and yet I swore she already looked better.
Twenty-four hours after getting the phone call from Valerie, I now had Trina back exactly where she belonged.
And if she didn’t see it that way, at least she was safe.
“Thanks again,”
I muttered to Sheila, helplessly watching while she rechecked vitals and triple-checked to make sure her IVs were set.
“You say that every thirty seconds.”
“Yeah, well I mean it.”
I rocked backed on my heels, and shook the tension out of my balled-up fists.
Like Heather had predicted, Trina slept the entire plane ride. She was still out, and while I wanted to stay in this room until she opened her eyes and woke up, my mom was also upstairs, probably pacing a worn path in my living room carpet, and I needed to call Marie. Check in with Valerie and Kip.
“Go,”
Sheila said, glancing at me like she heard my racing thoughts. “I’ve got this. Ten minutes away from her isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“No.”
She grinned at me. “And if I did, I’m fully capable of taking care of myself. Now go. I can hear you fretting from there.”
“Right. If you change your mind…”
She scoffed and went back to reading the files the nurses had gotten copies of and brought with us.
Good news out of this was that Sheila didn’t think her cheekbone was broken. Her knee was swollen, and she believed it’d been stepped on, but at least not hard enough to do any serious damage. It was swollen and there’d be pain as it healed. She wouldn’t know until the swelling went down if there was ligament or tendon damage, but for now, she was okay. It brought no amount of joy to learn Jonathan hadn’t broken anything in her body, just bruised her from head to toe.
Something told me that wasn’t luck, but years of experience of an abuser knowing exactly how hard he could hit to bruise and damage but not break, and that part made my blood boil.
Jonathan Wolf deserved to be treated exactly like he’d treated Trina, and possibly every woman he’d known before.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I yanked it out.
Kip’s name flashed on the screen, and I answered the call. “This is Cole.”
“How’s everything going? I heard your delivery arrived safely.”
“It did. And my truck.”
The man chuckled through the phone. “Good. That’s good. How is she?”
“Still sleeping. Our doctor here expects her to wake up soon, though. And there?”
“Good news is nothing pisses Jonathan off more than the idea of someone getting one over on him, so he hasn’t left his office, nor has he checked his phone.”
“Sounds like a man really concerned about his wife’s injuries.”
There was a slight chuckle that held no humor. “Good for us. He’ll be in the office for a while, and I’m hopeful the rabbit chase I’ve put him on keeps him focused for days. In the meantime, Valerie and I are headed out tonight for some dinner and dancing and drinks in town. I’ve been assured he’ll get a call later, and if he answers, he’ll finally learn she’s gone, but strangely enough, no one will know when she vanished.”
“And you’ll be in public after being in the office all day with him, so there’s nothing to suspect.”
“Let’s hope it continues that way. I should go, just wanted to check in. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do. Keep me posted on your end.”
“As soon as I hear if anything’s changed, you’ll be the first I call. Stay sharp, Mr. Paxton. He might be distracted today, but tomorrow could birth an entirely different kind of animal.”
“Of course. Thanks again for the call.”
I slipped my phone back in my pocket. He was right. Today was a distraction, and it worked in our favor, but our luck wouldn’t hold forever. I just needed to keep hoping that Kip did everything he needed to in order to make Jonathan’s search for her as difficult as possible.
That call down, I blew out a breath. “Shout if you need me,”
I muttered to Sheila and left my room.
Left Trina.
But this time, at least she wasn’t alone.
I’d make sure she never felt that way ever again.