Chapter Four
Isla followed Garrett into the recovery room, her chest tight with every step.
The space was small, the air heavy with the sharp scent of antiseptic.
Machines hummed softly, their lights blinking in a steady rhythm, and the pale curtain along one wall shivered with the faint draft of the vent above.
Trudy lay in the bed, eyes closed, skin washed out against the stark white sheets. So pale. So fragile. The sight hit Isla hard, splintering something deep inside her. Trudy had never hurt a soul in her life. She had given and given, and now here she was, fighting to hold on.
They stopped at the bedside just as the doctor spoke from the doorway. “Five minutes,” he said, then stepped back and closed the door behind him.
As if on cue, Trudy’s eyelids fluttered open. She found them with her gaze, and the corner of her mouth lifted in the faintest attempt at a smile.
Isla reached for her hand, careful and gentle, her throat aching.
Trudy lifted her trembling hand from the blanket. Isla caught it gently, and Garrett reached for the other. Trudy gave both their hands a faint squeeze, her touch weak but full of meaning.
“It’s nice to see you together,” she murmured, her voice no more than a rasp. “I haven’t seen that…” Her breath caught, and she faltered before finishing, “…in a long time.”
Isla’s throat felt as if it were closing up. She didn’t argue. It was true. Since the night Harris disappeared, she and Garrett had done everything they could to keep their distance. At least physically.
But distance hadn’t done a damn thing to cut him out of her heart.
She had never gotten over him. Not then, not now. He wasn’t only the one who had gotten away. Garrett McCall was the love of her life.
Too bad being around her meant dragging him back into the worst night of both their lives. Just the sight of her was enough to bring Harris’s disappearance crashing back, raw and unhealed.
Garrett leaned closer, his voice low but steady. “Trudy, what happened? Who did this to you?”
Her eyelids fluttered, her gaze sliding past him for a moment before she pulled it back. “I saw someone,” she whispered. “Behind the sheds. Moving around back there.” Her breath caught, her words slurred with exhaustion. “Didn’t see a face. Just… a hoodie. Dark.”
Isla’s pulse quickened. The same shadow Garrett had chased.
“I called Isla,” Trudy went on, her voice fading in and out. “Then went to my room… got the bat.”
Isla nodded. She knew about the bat. Trudy kept it under her bed, a precaution she had explained years ago.
Just in case some irate parent ever came knocking, demanding their kid back.
To Isla’s knowledge, that had never happened, but she had never argued against the measure either.
Trudy had been right to protect herself, especially since she refused to keep a gun in the house.
And now… someone had still managed to put her here. Pale. Weak. Clinging to life.
Isla tightened her hold on Trudy’s hand, willing her to stay with them.
Trudy’s voice came in halting breaths. “When I came back to the kitchen with the bat… someone was kicking at the door.” Her hand trembled against Isla’s. “They were wearing a ski mask. Had a gun.”
Isla’s chest constricted, fury slicing through her. The image of Trudy standing there with nothing but a wooden bat against an armed intruder burned in her mind.
“I ran,” Trudy whispered. “Went for the stairs. Thought I could get away.” Her eyelids fluttered, and for a second Isla thought she would drift off, but then she pushed the words out again. “I was at the top when… when they shot me.”
Isla’s throat ached as she pictured it, the terror Trudy must have felt pressing down like a weight.
“I made it to the back bedroom,” Trudy went on, her voice weaker now. “Collapsed. Don’t… don’t remember anything else. Until I saw you.”
Her eyes shifted, locking onto Isla and Garrett both, filled with something fragile but fierce.
Isla squeezed her hand harder, rage and fear tangling in her chest. Someone had come into Trudy’s home, had hunted her there. And that someone was still out there.
Trudy’s lips parted, her voice no more than a whisper. “Did you… catch the one who shot me?”
Garrett’s jaw flexed hard, turning to iron. “No. They got away.” His tone dropped lower. “But they ransacked your office and took the laptop.”
He leaned in closer. “What were they looking for, Trudy?”
Her eyes slipped shut, her face pinched as if the pain was dragging her under. Isla’s pulse jumped. She thought they were about to lose her again. And their five minutes were running out.
At last, Trudy’s eyes opened just a sliver. “Maybe… anything I had on Harris.” Her breath shook. “I had the case files. I’ve been making some calls.”
“Calls to who?” Isla pressed, her voice quick and urgent.
Trudy’s gaze shifted weakly toward her. “The cops who worked his abduction. And his bio family.”
The words thudded through the quiet, leaving Isla’s heart pounding.
Trudy’s breath hitched, her eyes slipping closed for a moment before she forced them open again. “I think…” Her voice cracked, fragile as tissue. “I think the person who took Harris was his mother. Leah McCord.”
Isla’s stomach lurched. “Why?”
Trudy swallowed with effort, her hand trembling in Isla’s grip.
“Because Leah came to see me after she got out of rehab. The day before Harris was taken. She begged to have him back. Said she was clean, said she’d make it work.
I told her it wasn’t my call. That the court had placed him with me and only the state could decide.
She got angry. Said no one was going to keep her baby from her.
” Trudy’s voice thinned, her words dragging out. “And the next day… he was gone.”
The memory pressed heavy in Isla’s chest. She had been sixteen, too wrapped up in Garrett, too careless.
Trudy’s lashes fluttered again, her strength slipping. “I tried to believe Leah had nothing to do with it,” she whispered. “But now… after all this time, I can’t ignore it.”
The door creaked open and the doctor stepped back inside. “Time’s up,” he said gently.
Isla leaned in, pressed a kiss to Trudy’s forehead, and whispered, “We’ll be back soon.” Garrett bent low and did the same, his jaw rigid as he murmured a few words only Trudy could hear.
Reluctantly, they let go of her hands and stepped out into the hall.
Cal Granger waited just outside the door. He had a relaxed gait that masked the steel beneath. Tall, with a Texas Rangers ballcap pulled low, he wore an easy expression like it was part of his uniform.
“Noah asked me to stand guard until he can set up full security,” Cal said, voice even. “Around the clock detail’s coming, but until then, she’s got me.” His eyes hardened, the easy expression slipping just enough for them to see the steel beneath. “I’ll keep her safe.”
Relief washed through Isla. “Thank you, Cal.”
“Yeah,” Garrett added, his tone steady. “We appreciate it. I’ll be staying in the waiting room tonight, but it helps knowing you’re here too.”
Cal tipped his cap, already settling in beside the door. “She’s covered.”
“I’m staying, too,” Isla said quickly. She couldn’t bring herself to leave. Not yet. Not while Trudy was fighting to hold on.
With Cal standing guard and the decision made, she and Garrett turned toward the waiting room, both of them carrying the weight of what lay ahead.
Garrett and Isla slowed just before stepping into the waiting room. The harsh light overhead cast shadows under his eyes, making the sharp planes of his face look even harder.
“We need to talk to the bio-mom, Leah,” Isla said quietly. “But we can’t go around Sheriff Raines. We can’t step on his toes.”
Garrett gave a short nod. “We’ll tell him we want in. Active. Trudy’s family, that’s what we are. He’ll understand.”
The words steadied her, but only for a moment. Then the weight of the night pressed in, crushing. Trudy’s blood on her hands. The terror of finding her pale and broken. Isla tried to fight it back, but the emotions surged too high, and a groan slipped out of her chest.
Garrett shifted, his hand lifting as if he meant to pull her against him. For one breath, Isla thought he would.
He stopped. Their gazes caught instead, heat sparking between them, raw and undeniable.
Isla dragged in a shaky breath, desperate to push it aside before the ground opened under her feet. “Fa la la la la, la la la longhorn,” she muttered, her voice low.
Garrett blinked, and for the first time all night, his mouth curved the barest fraction upward.
When they stepped back into the waiting room, Sheriff Raines was still there. But he wasn’t alone.
A woman rose from one of the chairs, her coat draped over her arm. Late forties, dark brown hair, a few lines etching her face. Isla knew her instantly. Paula Benton. She had kept quiet tabs on the woman for years, unwilling to ever let her out of sight completely.
“I saw the news about Trudy’s attack and came as fast as I could,” Paula said, her voice steady though her fingers toyed with the strap of her purse.
Isla’s brows drew together. “So you stayed close to her? All this time?”
Paula nodded, her mouth tightening. “Yes. Trudy and I never lost touch.”
Isla studied Paula with suspicion, and she saw Garrett doing the same. For good reason. Paula had been one of the three persons of interest, and that had never changed.
Paula could have been the one to take Harris.
If she had, she had managed to keep him hidden for more than two decades.
The same went for his biological parents.
Isla had kept tabs, had dug through every digital corner she could reach, and never uncovered anything that pointed to them stashing Harris away.
And yet, the possibility still hovered in the room, unspoken but heavy.
Paula seemed to catch the distrust rolling off both Isla and Garrett. She huffed, her chin lifting. “Trudy didn’t think I was guilty of taking Harris.”
Isla’s stomach twisted. That wasn’t entirely true. Trudy had never come out and named Paula, but she had never ruled her out either.
“I’ve been helping her,” Paula went on quickly. “Trying to get to the truth about what happened to Harris. That’s all.”
Isla’s fingers curled around her phone. Helping? Or covering her tracks? She couldn’t stop the thought. She couldn’t stop wondering if she was staring straight at the person who had put Trudy in that hospital bed tonight.
She glanced at Sheriff Raines, who cleared his throat. “I already asked Paula where she was tonight.”
Paula huffed again, sharper this time. “And I told him that I was home. Alone. But I have no reason to want to hurt Trudy.”
Raines nodded once. “She’s also agreed to come in for a formal interview tomorrow morning.”
“Not because I’m guilty,” Paula rushed to add, her voice quick, almost defensive. “But because I might have something useful. Something that could help you find the person who really attacked Trudy.”
Isla held her gaze, searching for cracks, but Paula looked back without flinching.
Paula crossed her arms, her expression set. “I believe Leah is the one who took Harris.”
Isla’s pulse jumped, but Paula pressed on before she could respond. “A friend of mine worked at the bank back then. She told me not long ago that Leah withdrew a large amount of cash around the time Harris disappeared.”
“That never came up during the investigation,” Isla said sharply. “Her financials were checked. Nothing unusual was found.”
Paula shook her head. “Because it wasn’t a regular withdrawal. My friend said Leah took it out of a safe deposit box. There wouldn’t have been a record the police could trace.”
Garrett’s eyes narrowed, his voice edged with steel. “Why didn’t you take this to the cops back then?”
“Because I didn’t know back then.” Paula’s tone turned defensive.
“My friend only remembered about a month ago. We were having lunch, and when I brought up Harris’s abduction, she suddenly recalled.
She’d been in a car accident not long after Leah’s visit to the bank, hit her head.
She told me some of those memories didn’t come back until years later.
And she wouldn’t have remembered at all if I hadn’t pressed her. ”
Silence pressed down, the weight of her words sinking in. Isla could feel Garrett’s eyes on her, the same suspicion running through both of them.
Paula’s voice dropped. “My friend said she saw Leah leaving the bank that day with an envelope. Said it looked stuffed with cash.”
The image landed hard, chilling and vivid. An envelope full of money. And Leah McCord walking away with it on the very eve of Harris’s disappearance.