Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“He’s right,” Sam said. “We need our entire squad working the streets. Split up and fan out. They were cruising through downtown when I saw them earlier, which means they aren’t afraid of getting caught. Find them.”
Muttering “Yes, ma’am,” they filed out of the room.
“Do you feel better now?” Nick asked.
“No. I have an awful feeling that this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.”
Nick insisted on staying with her, and Sam slept fitfully in his arms, dreaming of a red SUV with a gun in the window, taking out innocent people.
Nurses came in to check on her, waking her each time they took her blood pressure or ran a thermometer over her forehead.
Closer to dawn, she woke to the sound of her cell phone ringing and was disoriented until she remembered where she was and why.
“I’ll grab it.” Nick got up to find her phone and brought it to her.
Freddie’s number lit up the caller ID. “What’s up?”
“We’ve had reports of a woman abducted by two men in a red SUV that matched the description of the one we’re looking for.”
“Where was she taken?”
“Coming out of the Metro station at Federal Triangle.”
“Right in the heart of the city. These guys are brazen, I’ll give them that.”
“They have been from the beginning.”
“What do we know about the woman?”
“Not much yet. We got a call from a passing motorist who saw it go down and thought something was wrong. Archie pulled film from the area, and it was an obvious abduction.”
“They’ve changed up their MO.”
“That’s how it seems.”
“What do we think the chances are that she’ll get through this alive?”
“Based on their past track record? Slim. We’ve got every officer in the city looking for them.”
“How can we find out who she is so we can track her phone?”
“We’re working on that and debating whether to release the film of the abduction to the media so we can get some help from the public.”
“Do it! Why the hell wouldn’t we?”
“We’re waiting for the approval from higher up.”
“You want me to call the chief?”
“No need. Malone is talking to him now.”
“Ugh, this case is making me crazy!”
“We all feel that way. We’re doing everything we can.”
“Okay. Thanks for calling and keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
Sam slapped the phone closed, her mind spinning with the implications of this latest development.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked.
“They snatched a woman right off the sidewalk outside the Federal Triangle station.”
“They’re sure it’s the same guys?”
“Yeah.”
Nick reached for her, and as she let him draw her into his embrace, she felt strange accepting comfort when another woman was stuck with monsters somewhere in her city. Imagining what she might be enduring had Sam trembling with impotence and outrage.
“Easy, baby,” he said softly. “Take a deep breath.”
“I can’t stand this. Why can’t we find them and stop them?”
“You will.” He stroked a hand over her hair. “You’ll find them, and you’ll make them pay for what they’ve done.”
“But how many more innocent people will they hurt before we catch them?”
“You’ve got every law enforcement officer in the area looking for them. Sooner or later, they’re going to screw up. My bet is on sooner. They’re getting even more brazen, and that’ll trip them up.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right, Samantha. You should know that by now.”
She smiled up at him, profoundly grateful for his steadying presence in a world gone mad. Her phone chimed with a text from Freddie.
Green light on releasing the video of the abduction. Hoping someone recognizes her. Fast.
Sam blew out a deep breath. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.”
“Get me the hell out of here. It’s doing me far more harm than good being stuck here when I’m needed out there. I’m totally fine. I promise.” When he didn’t reply for a long moment, she added, “Please, Nick.”
“Okay.” He kissed her forehead and got up from the bed. “Let me talk to the nurses.”
“If we ask, they’ll say no.” Sam pulled the pulse monitor off her finger and unwrapped the blood pressure cuff from her arm. “Where’re the clothes Tracy brought me?”
“In the closet.”
Before he could tell her it wasn’t a good idea, she found the clothes and got dressed, trying to ignore the throbbing pain coming from her head wounds.
Thankfully, Tracy had packed jeans and a lightweight top that would be perfect for working the streets on another scorching day.
Her sister had even thought of deodorant and face moisturizer as well as hair and toothbrushes.
After ten minutes in the bathroom, Sam felt ready to face whatever might transpire during the day ahead.
As she emerged from the bathroom, a nurse came in to check on her and stopped short at the sight of her dressed. “What’s going on?”
“I have to go back to work.”
“But you’re supposed to be resting and recovering from your injuries.”
“I’ve done that. Now I have to go back to work.”
“But—”
“I think it would be in her best interest to allow her to leave,” Nick said. “Being here is making her worse instead of better.”
The nurse, being only human, stared at him, and then blinked, seeming to snap out of her daze and remember what she was supposed to be doing.
Sam had to fight the urge to laugh. Her sexy husband had that effect on women.
“I’ll, um, get the discharge paperwork.”
“If it’s not here in five minutes, I’ll leave without signing it,” Sam said.
“I’ll be right back.”
After she left the room, Sam said, “Way to use your powers, Mr. Vice President.”
“What powers?”
“Your ability to render all women stupid in the head when you speak directly to them.”
“Shut up. That is not true.”
“Ah, yes, it is. Exhibit A, the nurse who was going to fight me leaving until she got caught up in your sexy web and was rendered speechless—and powerless to do anything other than what you asked of her.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes even as his face flushed with color, the way it always did when she commented on his supreme hotness. “I got you out of here. Isn’t that what matters?”
Sam went to him, resting her hand on his chest. “I appreciate you using your powers on my behalf, when I know you’d rather I stayed here.”
“Of course, I would. You’re leaving here to go chase down murderers. I hate that.”
“I know you do.” She leaned her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. “And it means everything to me that you never stand in the way of letting me do what I need to.”
“Just because I don’t get in the way of it doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”
“I know.” She looked up at him. “The fact that you don’t even though you want to makes you the perfect husband for me.”
“Even when I throw you under the bus in the ER?” he asked with a glint of humor in his gorgeous hazel eyes.
“Even then.”
He kissed her, and then rested his forehead against hers. They stayed that way, wrapped up in their own little world, until the nurse returned.
“Oh, pardon me,” she said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t.” Sam released her hold on Nick. “Where do I sign?”