Chapter 24
24
ALEC
T he drywall crumbled to dust beneath my fist. The echo of my rage-packed roar still vibrated around the room. I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t care. Rearing back, I slammed bloody knuckles into the wall again. And again.
Skin split, blood splattered along the faint yellow paint, I continued to release all the pain and undeniable fear building inside me through my fists and into the wall.
A hand gripped my shoulder. Without thinking, I whirled around, slamming the person who dared touch me against the crumbling drywall. My sweat-slick forearm pressed against Charlie’s throat.
The fucker glowered at me.
I could end his life right here, and the bastard dared to look at me like I was the dumbass.
“Not. Helping,” he rasped.
I slammed a palm to the wall inches from his face. Charlie didn’t even flinch. Like he knew I would never hurt him. Just like Rae.
Rae.
All the fight drained from my body, leaving a large gaping hole in my chest.
“Stop. Hulking. Find. Her.” His face had reddened; a vein pulsed along his forehead.
I stepped back until I hit the opposite wall and sank to the floor, resting my head in both hands.
“Hulk.” I didn’t acknowledge him. “Alec.” The muscles of my neck strained as I raised my head. “I need your help finding her. I can’t do this alone.” I nodded. “The clock is ticking.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. Pressure built between my pecs. I pressed the heel of my hand to the area, hoping to ease the hurt. A tattooed hand dangled in front of my face, a peace offering, or maybe a call to arms. I followed up the colorful artwork to his calm face.
“Let’s find your girl.”
My palm smacked into his. With a grunt and groan, he hauled me up to my feet.
“Damn, you’re a heavy fucker.” He shot me a wink, trying to ease the palpable tension in the air. “I’m running a trace on the call now. I should have the location shortly, but it’ll take longer than normal because the call was short.”
“Good.” Clearing my throat, I squared my shoulders. “Also request a comparison of the unknown sibling DNA to what we have on file for her parents. Whoever this person is, that has to be the connection for why he’s obsessed with her.”
He answered with a curt nod, motioning for me to follow him. We marched out of the tiny home to the front yard. Snagging his gear from his Suburban, Charlie set up a mobile command center on my truck’s tailgate. He continued to insert cords and wires while I verbally walked through a plan.
“Table anything we were working on with the missing women case. Finding Rae and this bastard is priority number one. Even if we do get a location on the phone, we have to assume it was discarded at the abduction scene or somewhere else. How do we find where Rae is right now or where he’s taking her?”
Interlacing my fingers behind my head, I let out a slow breath to calm my racing thoughts.
“The lead from the man I knocked out, about our killer being an enforcer of some kind. I’ll run with that.”
Nodding, I pressed the cell phone to my ear. Charlie paused what he was doing to shoot me a questioning glance.
“I’m calling in reinforcements.” Ted’s gruff voice grumbled on the other end of the line. “It’s Bronson. That case, it’s escalated. I need SWAT on standby, access to the DEA’s information on local dealers and those in their top ranks, and maybe a chopper at some point.” This was more of a formality considering I was listed as the second lead Ranger on the case.
With zero flair, Ted gave his blessing and ended the call.
“You know, I can hack into the DEA,” Charlie mused, his fingers flying over the keyboard, not missing a beat.
“This is faster. We have direct access to all agency files, we just have to request it.” Without glancing up from the screen, Charlie raised both brows. “Yeah, we’re badass. Maybe you should interview with us instead of the BSU.”
His long jet black hair shifted with the shake of his head as he huffed a shocked laugh.
“Once you get access, I want to know the top ten dealers in the area. I want all associates and their arrest records. And current locations, address listed during parole or release. We start from the top down. I’ll break down every fucking door in this city to find the dealer who can give us information or a location on this enforcer.”
“Sounds like a party.” Charlie leaned closer to his screen and smiled. “Got a location. A ten-minute drive from here.”
I helped him load everything into the back seat and then climbed into the driver seat. A screech of tires against asphalt and we were off, blazing down the street.
We would get her back.
Unharmed.
Even if I had to set this entire town ablaze to find her.
“You’re not helping,” Charlie grumbled from where he hunched over his laptop, gaze flicking between the three screens along the desk. “You staring over my shoulder will not make this go any faster. Want to help? Go get me some more of that sludge they claim as coffee.” Still furiously typing one-handed, he picked up the empty Styrofoam cup and wiggled it high in the air.
With a grumbled curse, I snatched it from his hand and stormed toward the coffee maker. I lifted the glass carafe. Empty. Of course it was. With more force than necessary, I ripped the damp filter full of used grounds out and chucked it into the nearest trash can.
While I worked on preparing a new pot, I couldn’t help my wandering thoughts. What is Rae going through while I’m making a fucking cup of coffee?
The metal can bent when I squeezed too tightly as a million different scenarios raced through my mind, each more gruesome than the last. The weight of those images pushed me forward, the coffee can slamming to the table as I gripped the edges and sucked in a harsh breath.
I had to get my shit together. I was no good to her panicking like some overemotional newbie. But that crime scene where we found the discarded phone showed signs of a struggle, and it had done something to me. She’d fought but no doubt was scared, and I wasn’t there to protect her. Even if she was the one who ran off, me not being there to keep her safe was my fault. I failed her.
Wrangling my emotions, I finished what I started and clicked the coffee maker on. It bubbled and groaned to life, the sounds of the black liquid beginning to fill the pot growing distant as I made my way through the sea of desks.
We commandeered two desks for Charlie’s workstation to handle all his equipment. Trying to respect his space, I stood back and watched him work. It was fascinating, Charlie in his element. And I knew he was working as fast as he could, but I wanted all the answers now. I wanted the list of dealers, associates, the DNA results?—
“Results are back,” he called over his shoulder. “You were right on your suspicions.” Turning in the chair, he pointed to the report pulled up on the largest screen. “Rae’s parents were not her biological parents.”
“What the fuck is going on?” I said in utter disbelief. Running a hand over my tired eyes, I tried to focus on the small font to read the details. “Okay, fuck, where does that leave us?”
Now what? was what I really wanted to say.
Charlie stared past me like he was shifting through files in his brain. “I saw her birth certificate at one point. There was nothing unusual, and I would’ve noticed if someone else was listed as the mother and father. Which means it was probably forged.”
“Forged.” The word felt strange to say.
“That’s my only guess. Even if she was adopted, it would’ve had her biological mother listed on the birth certificate.”
A thought blinked into existence. “The doctor, the one who signed the certificate, is he still alive?”
The click-clack of keys filled the tense silence as I waited for Charlie’s search results to pull through.
“Retired and still lives here in Sweetcreek.” Charlie pointed toward one of the screens while typing with his other hand. “And look at that. Rae’s mother and this doc both worked at the same clinic for three years.” More typing. “And both left the month after Rae was born.”
“We need to bring him in. This could be the break we’ve been looking for.” I gritted my teeth to squash the swell of hope. I couldn’t let that happen just yet. We needed answers first.
“Already on it. Here.” He enlarged a phone number. “I made it extra big for your old eyes.”
I smacked him across the back of his head with little force behind it. “Let’s call this Dr. Cartwright and tell him his presence is required at the police station, or else I’ll send SWAT out to bring him in, wherever he might be.”
“He’s nervous,” I said to Ted as I regarded the sweating older gentleman on the other side of the two-way mirror. I’d reached out to Ted for a third set of trusted hands, and he came eager to help. Charlie was busy working his magic on the documents, sorting through the DEA information, gathering local arrests of known dealers, and working the DNA evidence. Needless to say, I owed him big-time.
Ted nodded, agreeing with my assessment of the doctor. He was the quiet type, which I appreciated in this situation. No chitchat, straight to the point to bring Rae home.
“You interview, I’ll watch and take notes.”
With a grunt, Ted left the room. Half a second later, the door to the interrogation room swung open and my colleague stepped through.
Hands on my hips, I scrutinized the doctor’s every twitch and blink. The older man paled when Ted sat on the corner of the desk beside him and tipped his white Stetson up with a single finger to the brim.
“Know why you’re here, Doc?” Ted’s Texas accent drawled each of the words out in a slow cadence.
The doctor shook his head. Using a legit handkerchief, which he pulled from his pocket, he blotted the sweat collecting along the top of his bald head. “No. What can I do for the Texas Rangers?”
“Well, first,” Ted mused, rubbing at his gray scruff, “do you remember a previous coworker of yours, a nurse. Stephanie Chapin?”
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed with a slow swallow. “Yes, yes I remember Stephanie.”
Ted sighed and placed a hand on the doctor’s trembling thin shoulders. “Doc, I’ll be honest with you. I know you know.” The man flinched, but Ted held him in place. “Now, tell me what you know. It’ll be better for you in the long run if you do.”
I stepped closer to the glass, not wanting to miss a word.
The doctor’s chin dipped in agreement. His shoulders slumped, rounding forward.
“I always knew what we did that night would come back somehow.” He stared at the mirror, almost like he could see directly through it to me. “Then Stephanie and Chuck died, and no one came asking me why her DNA didn’t match the biological parents listed on the birth certificate, the birth certificate I signed off on….” He shook his head disbelievingly. “You have to know we did it to help. It was a victimless crime.”
Ted’s head tilted to the side as he motioned for the doctor to continue.
“We had just closed up the clinic. It was one of those places in the lower income part of town supported by a church to serve those who needed care but couldn’t afford it. It was late, and we were both tired when a woman beat against the front door. Not wanting to turn away anyone in need, Stephanie opened the door and the woman stumbled inside. The first thing I noticed was the blood and fluid that ran down her bare thin legs. Then I saw her pregnant belly. She was in labor. The woman crumbled to the lobby floor, sobbing in pain, and begged us to do something.
“We got her back into one of the already cleaned exam rooms, and the moment we got her on the padded table, she started to push. The first baby was delivered within five minutes of her entering the clinic.”
The first?
A rush of air filled the viewing room when the door swung open. I held up a hand as a silent order for Charlie to not say a word.
“While Stephanie got the healthy baby girl cleaned up, the woman began pushing again. Seconds later I held a baby boy in my arms, everyone in the room staring at it with disbelief. The mother didn’t know she was pregnant with twins.”
“Twins,” Charlie said in awe. “There’s no way this is real.”
“The mother was inconsolable at that point. She said she barely had enough for one baby, that there was no way she could afford two. And the way she looked at the little girl….” The doctor shook his head. “It was fear. She never asked to hold the girl, just the boy, who I wrapped up and placed in her arms. Any time Stephanie brought the little girl closer, the mother would shy away.
“After making sure the mother was stable, I left to call an ambulance. We were in no way equipped to take care of the mother’s aftercare and the babies. When I came back into the room, Stephanie was crying, completely infatuated with the little girl in her arms. And the mom was asleep with the baby boy clutched to her bare chest. Apparently when I was gone, the mother begged Stephanie to take the girl, to find her a good home. Stephanie said the way she said ‘A good home, where she wouldn’t get hurt’ spoke to the mother’s past abuse and fear for her daughter’s future if she were to take her home.”
“And you just let her take a baby?” Ted asked.
“Just before the ambulance arrived, the mother woke up and told me and Stephanie she didn’t want the girl. She could only handle one, and a boy had a better chance with her. Stephanie and Chuck had tried for years to get pregnant and couldn’t afford adoption. It seemed like a win-win for everyone.
“I know it wasn’t right what we did. We should’ve put the baby through the adoption process, but I knew without a doubt that little girl would have two loving parents if she were to go with Stephanie and Chuck. So we made a plan. The mother and the boy went in the ambulance to the county hospital, and Stephanie left with the baby. I later forged the birth certificate when I was at my other job at the hospital.” The doctor hung his head. “Before you ask, no, I had never done anything like that before or after.”
Ted hummed and stood. “Do you remember the woman’s name, the birth mother?” The doctor shook his head as a single tear slipped down his rosy cheeks. “If you covered this up with documents, how did Mrs. Chapin explain a baby to her family, their friends?”
“Stephanie and I cut ties after it was all settled. She quit her job, as did her husband, to move to a different area of town. Neither had surviving family, so that part was easy. Anyone else who questioned it, they said they hired a surrogate but didn’t tell anyone because it was a high-risk pregnancy.”
“They had it all figured out,” I mumbled. I placed a hot palm to the glass and bowed my head. “We need to find the identity of the other baby. Check for boys born in Sweetcreek on the same day as Rae at the county hospital. If we’re lucky, Dr. Cartwright signed the live birth certificate of that baby too, making the search easier for you.”
In my periphery, Charlie nodded. A paper smacked against my chest. “I’ll go run the records now, but I came to tell you we have a list of the known dealers in the area. I’ve already asked SWAT to await your orders. They’re waiting in the bullpen.”
“This the list?” I skimmed the lines of information. In the background, Ted continued to ask the doctor question after question, trying to learn new details.
“No. I already had a query running with the parameters of all the missing women and anything they had in common. Credit cards, favorite restaurants, gym memberships, purchase history, delinquent accounts—anything and everything I could track, I compared. That’s the list”
My hand fell to my side, the paper dismissed. It wouldn’t help me find Rae, so it was useless for now. Folding it in half and half again, I shoved it into the side pocked of my black tactical pants.
That information would have to wait. Right now I had some dealers to interrogate.
My hand paused over the door handle when something the doctor said caught my attention.
“—right. A few years later, I guess. Maybe ten or twelve. They called to say there was a break-in at the clinic. The file room was ransacked and drugs stolen. They called to let me know since some of my employment paperwork had my social security number on it and could potentially be in the wrong hands.”
I held a breath.
That had to be how this mystery sibling found Rae and her parents. And if my memory served me correctly, it didn’t take him long to find the Chapins and begin his reign of terror on Rae with his first victim.
Her dog.