Chapter 30
Adrenaline pushed Taryn to keep moving despite the stabbing pain of her wound. And both had wiped out every drop of painkiller within her.
Getting out of her bed had been easy. Yanking the IV out of her arm had been a little more difficult. She pressed against the small wound the needle had left behind when she pulled it out so blood didn’t drip on the floor and give her away.
She’d thought the hardest part would be slipping away from her bed, but that had been the easy part.
Once she was in the hallway, looking for a place to hide, she realized that anyone could be after her.
Taryn hoped that she ran into Jace. Maybe then he could tell her if she was being rational or if she had completely lost her mind.
Her heart beat a quick rhythm as she slid against the wall and walked in an effort to stay upright. A few nurses gave her questioning looks, but she smiled at them. That was all it took to keep them at bay.
“Can I help you?”
Taryn jerked to a stop as she looked at the older nurse who stepped before her. So much for thinking she was fooling everyone. Taryn licked her lips and smiled. “I’m fine. Just walking around.”
“You’re bleeding,” the woman said and nodded to Taryn’s hand, her short, graying hair in its neatly styled fashion bobbing.
Taryn glanced down at her forearm to see that blood had oozed through her fingers and even now dripped onto the floor. Her mind blanked as she tried to come up with a reason for the blood.
“I’ll put a bandage on that,” the nurse said with a chuckle. “You aren’t the first patient to yank out an IV, and you won’t be the last, honey.”
Taryn couldn’t believe her luck. She slumped against the wall as the nurse hurried away, only to return a moment later with everything needed to dress a minor wound.
Even as the nurse tended to her, Taryn looked around.
She seriously doubted her sanity at the moment, but there was no denying the persistent and constant urging from her instincts, telling her that she was in danger.
When the nurse finished, she looked up at Taryn with kind, brown eyes that crinkled at the corners. “Now, why don’t you tell me what you’re really doing out of bed?”
“Walking,” Taryn replied.
The nurse clucked her tongue as she gave Taryn a stern look. “You’ve walked out of the recovery area, which tells me you’ve only recently come out of surgery.”
“No. I’m walking like I was told to do.”
“Why don’t I help you?” the nurse said as she pulled up the neckline of Taryn’s gown.
It hit Taryn then that the garment’s back was open, showing off her bare backside to everyone. She hadn’t thought about that when she had been running for her life.
“I need to find my husband,” Taryn said.
The nurse nodded and moved around behind her to tie off the back of the gown. “All right. I can help with that. Why don’t I take you back to your bed?”
“I need to find Jace.”
“Okay,” the nurse said as she came back around to Taryn’s front. “I can see that you don’t want to return to your bed. Come. Lean on me as we walk together. I’m sure your husband is in the waiting area.”
Taryn accepted the nurse’s arm to lean on as they began a slow walk down the hall. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Mona,” a doctor called out as he walked past.
Mona smiled at him. “How are you, Dr. Davis?”
“Couldn’t be better,” he replied with a grin.
A wash of emotion filled Taryn. She couldn’t believe that she had found someone who could not only help her but would also keep whoever might be after her at bay.
“Honey, you look plum wore out,” Mona said in a motherly tone. “Wait here. I’m going to get a wheelchair for you.”
Taryn nodded as tears filled her eyes and spilled over to fall down her cheeks. It had been so long since anyone had looked after her like her mother had. It felt good to be surrounded by that kind of protectiveness again.
“There, there. It’s going to be just fine. You’ll see. Things always have a way of working out like they should.” Mona smiled and patted her hand before hurrying away to get the chair.
When she returned, Taryn eagerly sank into it.
Her shoulder throbbed, and she wasn’t entirely sure how much longer her legs would’ve held her up.
As Mona wheeled her to an elevator, talking nonstop about nothing in particular, Taryn’s mind wondered.
Her decision to leave recovery had been reckless and idiotic.
She didn’t know this hospital or anyone in it.
Wanting to get out and actually doing it were two different things.
Her eyes grew heavy, and it became harder and harder to keep them open.
Taryn let them close. Mona’s words were like a song, lulling Taryn to sleep.
She knew she should stay awake, but it was hard.
Besides, she was safe with Mona. None of Boyd’s men could get to her with the nurse beside her—someone who knew everyone at the hospital.
Jace whirled around to Bobby. Fury consumed him, but terror dwarfed it. He feared for Taryn’s life. “Where is she?”
“I-I don’t know,” Bobby said as he stared stupidly at the empty bed.
Jace looked to the nurse. “Why wasn’t someone with her?”
The nurse took a step back. “Sir, I need you to calm down.”
“Calm down?” Jace asked in a cold tone. “A lunatic has held my wife prisoner for years. She was shot tonight and brought here. Now you have no idea where she is?”
“This is recovery,” the nurse said in a high-pitched voice.
An Indian woman with thick, black hair pulled back in a ponytail walked up as she put her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat. “What’s going on here?” she asked.
Jace glanced at her name sewn onto her coat. Dr. Anika Patel. “Doctor, my wife is missing.”
“The gunshot victim?” Dr. Patel asked.
“Taryn. Her name is Taryn.”
The doctor motioned for the nurse to leave, then looked at Jace. “I’m the one who performed the surgery. What do you mean she’s missing?”
Jace stepped aside and swung out his arm, indicating the empty bed. “She’s gone.”
Anika looked from Jace to Bobby and then back to Jace. “She can’t have gone far.”
“Is there any reason for a nurse to take her?” Bobby asked.
“None,” the doctor answered with a frown.
Jace ran his hand down his face, feeling frustrated and helpless at the same time. “She wouldn’t have left that bed unless something was wrong. Those who shot her tonight, they’re . . . a few got away.”
The moment those words were out of his mouth, Dr. Patel turned and stopped one of the nurses. After a few quick words, the floor suddenly became a flurry of activity.
“I can call for backup,” Bobby said.
Jace shook his head. “For all I know, one of your men is involved.”
“You can’t know that.”
“And you can’t say for certain they aren’t,” Jace spat.
Dr. Patel returned. “The floor is being searched. I have hospital security headed to every exit just in case. If they spot Taryn, they’ll stop whoever is with her.”
“I’ve got some friends checking those exits, as well,” Jace warned her. Then he turned in a circle, trying to imagine which way he would go if he were Taryn. “Where is the nearest exit?”
Dr. Patel pointed to the left. “There’s one on either side, but this one is the closest to her bed.”
“Where does it lead?” Bobby asked.
“To rooms,” the doctor answered.
Jace walked to the doors with her and Bobby following him. He pressed the button on the wall, and the large doors slowly slid open. “Any place for someone to hide?”
“Plenty,” Dr. Patel replied. “Like I said, the floor is being searched.”
Bobby blew out a breath as he glanced at Jace. “You better have the entire hospital searched.”
“All floors?” the doctor asked in surprise.
Bobby nodded. “All of them.”
She pulled out her cell phone and shot Bobby a disappointed look. “I think the FBI should’ve had someone guarding Taryn.”
Jace didn’t bother to agree. Bobby knew exactly what his thoughts were at the moment. With every second that passed without any sign of Taryn, Jace’s gut clenched in dread. The last thing he planned to do was stand around and wait for someone else to find his wife.
“Wait,” Dr. Patel said as she hurried after Jace.
He glanced at the doctor and Bobby, both of whom kept pace with him. “What?”
“We’re coming with you,” Bobby said. “Three sets of eyes are better than one. Then I can prove that I’m not in league with Boyd.”
The doctor halted, her face going slack. “Boyd Walters?”
“The very one,” Bobby said after he stopped and swiveled to look at her.
Jace turned and walked until he stood before Dr. Patel. “Why? Do you know him?”
“He’s a generous donor to the hospital. His mother has worked here for years,” Dr. Patel told them.
Jace fought for breath. It felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. “Who is this woman? Is she working tonight?”
“Mona. Her name is Mona,” Dr. Patel said in bewilderment.
Bobby’s brows lifted on his forehead. “Where does she usually work?”
The doctor’s forehead creased as she suddenly looked panicked. “Here. In recovery.”
“Shit,” Jace murmured.
Bobby blew out a breath and took a step closer to Dr. Patel. “Do you know if Mona was working tonight?”
“I saw her earlier,” she answered in a soft voice.
Jace looked around to make sure that no one was near. “We need to confirm if she’s still on duty and in the building.”
“This way,” the doctor said and took them down another hall to a nurses’ station.
Bobby stopped her before they got there and told her, “Go on your own. If Mona is near and sees either me or Jace, it might spook her.”
Dr. Patel nodded, swallowing nervously. “I’ll be right back.”
They watched as she made her way to the station and chatted with a few of the nurses for a moment.
Jace was able to make out when she asked for Mona.
The other nurses confirmed that Mona was still there, but they didn’t know where she was now.
Dr. Patel smiled her thanks and made her way back to Jace.
“She was seen just a little while ago,” she said.
Jace was about to reply when a tall black man in a lab coat looked their way after talking to a nurse. “Hang on. We might have company.”
“What?” Dr. Patel asked with a frown.
The man eyed Jace and Bobby as he walked up. “Excuse me. Anika?”
Dr. Patel turned around. When she saw who it was, she smiled, her relief evident. “Oh, hi, Chad.”
“Is everything all right?” he asked her in a low voice.
Dr. Patel glanced at Jace. “Yes. Everything is fine.”
“Judy said you were looking for Mona.”
“We are,” she said.
Chad’s nearly black eyes looked Bobby over before sliding to Jace. “Has she done something?”
The doctor let out a breath. “I can’t do this. I can’t lie to him.”
“Lie to me?” Chad asked, his frown deepening. “What are these two forcing you to do?”
“We aren’t forcing her to do anything,” Jace said. “She’s helping us search for my wife, who is missing.”
That didn’t appease Chad at all. “And that involves Mona how?”
“His wife was shot tonight,” Dr. Patel said and blew out a breath. “It happened at Boyd Walters’ warehouses.”
Chad blinked and stood tall. He stared at Jace for a long moment. “Where was your wife shot?”
“Her right shoulder.”
“I saw Mona about five minutes ago. She was with a young woman who had her right shoulder heavily bandaged,” he said.
Dr. Patel swung her head to Jace, her eyes wide. “Five minutes isn’t that long.”
“It is when someone wants to harm another,” Bobby replied. Then he looked at Chad. “Which way did they go?”
Chad motioned to the elevator. “I don’t know if they went up or down.”
“Down.” Dr. Patel nodded as she glanced at Chad. “They went down. Part of the basement is under construction.”
Jace pulled out his phone and texted Cooper as he and Bobby rushed to the elevator.