Chapter 6
Worley
Oh, for crying out loud. Tell me this doctor is not this stupid. You don’t wait nearly three hours to contact someone’s family. If this were an in-person meeting, at least five Vikings would already have this man on the floor. That is, if our club Queen doesn’t get to him first.
“Doctor McCain was leading the crew at the community center. He motions to the woman standing behind him. “She contacted me right away and called the local police department.”
Nanny tosses her hands up. “That’s it?” She doesn’t give the doctor time to speak. “Our daughter, whom we entrusted to your care, just walked away? She’s out there alone with no money, no phone, no transportation, and you only contacted your local police department?”
“Aspen Parks police force is outstanding. They started searching right away. I’m sure they’ll call in more agencies if they need them,” Doctor Spears assures Nanny.
“No.” Nanny shakes her head and steps closer to the camera. She jabs her finger at him. “You lost our daughter. That’s not good enough.”
“Love.” Mack wraps an arm around his wife’s waist from behind. She doesn’t hear him.
“I want my daughter!” Nanny’s entire body visibly shakes.
“Nanny.” Nick bravely, but calmly, lays a hand on her arm. She looks up at him. “I have a team on the way there now.”
“And our lawyer will be here in thirty minutes,” I add after checking the text I just got.
“That’s not necessary,” Doctor Spears says quickly. “Neither is needed.”
“Oh, I assure you, both are needed.” Mack turns with Nanny in his arms. “Lil Mama?” He nods to the little woman.
Nanny’s best friend leads her back to the chair. “Come on, lil buddy. Let ‘em get all the info. You can flog that doctor when y’all get there.”
“What?” Doctor Spears’ eyes widen. “You don’t need to come or send a team. I’m sure we’ll have Harley back soon.”
“We’re bringing our baby home!” Nanny yells.
A loud bang comes on the Church doors. I rush to open it. Before I can stop her, Ciara Hollis ducks under my arm and rushes past me. Geez. These women are out of hand tonight.
“Harley still has time here,” Doctor Spears says.
“Oh, that’s being retracked as we speak.” Ciara opens her briefcase on Nick’s table. She pulls out a folder and flips through it. “Your center will be held accountable for allowing Miss McLeod to leave on her own with no means of providing for her care or safety.”
“It’s not our fault she left without permission,” the young male doctor protests.
“Now, now, Doctor Hanson.” Ciara holds up a finger and smiles.
Oh, don’t let her smile fool you. She’s about to wipe the floor with all three of these doctors.
“Your center was indeed responsible for Miss McLeod’s well-being and her whereabouts.
” She turns her attention to the woman in the back.
“Doctor McCain, you were personally responsible for watching Miss McLeod tonight. We’ll handle that when we get there.
Just know, there are legal consequences for your failure. ”
Doctor Mc Cain sucks in a breath. “But.”
Ciara ignores her. “In fact, the plane is almost ready. We need to end this meeting so the McLeod family can quickly pack and meet the pilot.” She narrows her eyes at Doctor Spears.
Her smile vanishes. “I suggest you push your outstanding police department to contact the FBI and as many security teams as you can find. Miss McLeod best be found with the hour, or I have a whole list of charges for you.”
Doctor Spears holds up his hands. “I swear, we’re doing all we can.”
Nanny once again pushes to the front. “Well, do more. Our daughter is out there alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Doctor Hanson snaps.
Mack wraps his arms around his wife again. Everyone in the room moves forward. Doctor Spears and Doctor McCain glare at their colleague. Now I’m pissed. They weren’t going to tell us Harley was with someone.
“You lost two patients tonight?” Jack asks.
Nick grabs his tablet. “What’s her name? I’ll get my team searching for her, too.”
Doctor Spears lifts his chin. Oh, the last thing he wants to do right now is to get brave. “I can’t give you another resident’s information.”
Yep. He’s an idiot.
I turn to our computer geek. “Nick, you got it?”
Nick steadily taps away on his tablet. He pauses and literally growls before looking at me. “She’s with a man.”
“What?” Nanny barely gets the word out.
“You can’t hack our records! That’s illegal, and we’ll sue!” Doctor Spears yells at Nick.
“Oh, let’s do that. It’ll be fun.” Ciara grins at the doctor.
Nick gives Ciara a slight grin before glancing at the doctor. “I didn’t.” He turns to Mack and me. “Aspen Park’s Police Department has an APB out on a male and female from the town’s Valentine’s party. Both are residents of Aspen Health Resort.”
“You need to come clean and tell us everything,” Mack demands.
Neither doctor answers. This is going to be a long night.
“Just how close is Harley with this man?” Jack asks.
The three doctors look at each other. They’re getting dumber by the minute.
“My client asked you a question.” Ciara crosses her arms.
Doctor McCain answers, “They talk in the cafeteria and during downtime in the common room.”
“Are they intimate?” Jack pushes.
Nanny covers her mouth with her hand and closes her eyes. That’s the last thing Harley needs. Harley has been spiraling for a long time. Her choices in men haven’t been the best. I don’t have any room to talk in that department. My choices in women have been less than ideal.
Harley’s drinking and partying get worse when our brothers from Texas visit.
Her emotional state crumbles to dust. She has her sights set on one of the guys from Texas, but he never really notices her.
He spends most of his time talking to the guys.
If he wants female attention, he goes for one of the bunnies.
Doctor Spears knows Harley’s story. Surely they don’t encourage intimate relationships between their patients.
“We don’t allow that,” Doctor Spears finally replies.
“I want a name,” Mack demands.
The doctor shakes his head. “We have privacy laws. I can’t give you that.”
We all turn to Nick. He's still typing away on his tablet. He pauses and smiles. Feeling eyes on him, he looks up.
“Their outstanding police department just listed a missing persons report for Harley McLeod and Josiah Edwards.”
Doctor Spears groans and drops his head into his hands. Privacy laws don’t mean a thing when your own police department gives out information. A name is all Nick needed. He goes back to searching.
“Doctor Spears, the McLeods and I will be there tonight. I suggest you personally be there to greet us.” Ciara taps Nick’s arm.
Without looking up, Nick taps a button, and the monitor goes black. His phone dings. He glances at the message and quickly sends a reply.
“Please tell me you have something on this man,” Mack says.
Nick nods and looks up again. “He’s from a small town in Montana.”
“You know the place?” He’s grinning too big for me to believe he doesn’t.
“Nope, but my brother works about an hour from there.” Nick’s expression turns serious when he faces Nanny and Mack. “My brother’s company sent four men to Colorado. They’ll get there before we do.”
“You’re coming, too?” That’s shocking. I’ve never seen him leave Tennessee.
“Yeah, man. I gotta help find her. I can monitor things here from my computer.” He closes the tablet. “I’m going to throw a bag together.” He’s the first one to leave the room.
“I suggest everyone who’s going do the same.” Mack motions toward the doors.
“Who do we leave in charge?” Jack asks his dad as he pulls Lily close.
“Ross, Hendrix, Big Papa, and Bankz,” I suggest.
Mack sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah. Let’s just hope we still have a clubhouse when we get back.”
I follow him to the door and pause next to Jay. He’s hugging his mother and aunt. “You coming with us?” I figured he was. It’s the only reason I didn’t suggest leaving him in charge.
“Yeah.” Jay turns back to the ladies. “You two call if you need anything. I’ll hurry back if you need me.”
“We’re not leaving club property.” Lauren pats his cheek. “Go find your cousin.”
I take a piece of paper from the table at the back of the room and quickly scribble my number on it. I should have already done this, but I didn’t want to make things weird. After Jay walks away, I press it into Nina’s hand. “Keep an eye on things and call me if anything happens here.”
“I will, Darin. Promise.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. For some reason, that doesn’t sit right with me.
I nod to both women and rush out the back door and practically run to my house. We’re going to find my Goddaughter. It’s a good thing our lawyer is going with us. With the way that doctor was acting, a few of us may need bail money.