Chapter 23
Matti sat straight up in bed, her heart pounding. At first, she thought she’d dreamed hearing Sam scream until he did it again. Oh, God, not a dream. She turned to wake up Ryan, but he wasn’t in the bed. What was going on?
“Police.” She gave them her address. “Someone broke in. They’re here now. Please hurry. And call my brother, Detective Wyatt Colton.”
“Police are on the way. Stay on the line with me.”
“Call my brother.”
“We’re doing that now.”
More grunts and thumps sounded, and Sam was screaming. She couldn’t leave Ryan to fight alone, especially if there was more than one man. She was surrounded by cop brothers, and they’d taught her to shoot even though she hated guns and refused to have one in her house. She regretted that now.
What could she use as a weapon? The only thing within reach was the brass lamp on her nightstand, the base heavy enough to knock someone out.
She dropped her phone on the stand, grabbed the lamp, and pulled the cord out of the socket.
After yanking the shade off, she wrapped her hands around the top end and went to find some mean men she could hurt.
The commotion came from Sam’s room and, wanting to ensure she wouldn’t accidentally hit Ryan instead of the intruders, she switched on the hall light as she passed.
At the room’s entrance, she paused. Ryan and a skinny man were tangled on the floor.
Swinging the lamp was risky, as she might hit Ryan by mistake.
“Matti,” Sam screamed.
She shifted her gaze to Sam, who was cowering in a corner of the room. “Come to me, Sam.” When he reached her, she said, “Go in my room and lock the door.”
He darted a look at the men wrestling on the floor, then took off running. Her bedroom door slammed shut, and with Sam safe now, she turned her attention back to Ryan and the man, relieved to see Ryan had pinned the man face down with a knee on his back.
“The police are on the way,” she said.
As if those words gave the man newfound strength, he somehow broke free from Ryan and launched another attack.
He got Ryan in a headlock, his arm squeezing Ryan’s neck.
Her heart pounded with fear and adrenaline as she stepped into the room, gripping the brass lamp tightly in her hands.
Without hesitating, she swung the base of the lamp down with all her strength, aiming for the back of the man’s head.
The impact made a sickening thud as the man released Ryan and crumpled to the ground. Ryan gasped for breath, rubbing his neck as he scrambled away from his attacker and stumbled back to her.
“Are you okay?” she asked. That was a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t. Her gaze roamed over him, noting the black eye that was swelling closed and his cut lip. When he brought his left hand up and cradled it in his other hand, she winced at seeing it already swelling.
“Where’s Sam?” he said.
“Locked up in my room.” She glanced at the man on the floor. “Is he the only one?” There’d been two men in the motel room and the park. Where was his partner?
“As far as I know, but I need to check the rest of the house.”
“What you need is a doctor.”
“Here’s a secret, Matti. I am a doctor. I’ll live.” He stepped around her. “Go in the room with Sam while I make sure no one else is in the house.”
“No. You’re hurt and in no shape to fight again. The police will be here any minute. They can clear the house.” She tilted her head to listen. “I hear sirens now.” She grasped his arm, realizing he was more injured than he admitted when he allowed her to lead him to her bedroom.
As soon as they were inside, she slammed the door closed and locked it. “Sit.” She pushed him down on the bed, then grabbed her phone from the nightstand and called her brother.
“Tell me you’re on the way to my house,” she said when Wyatt answered.
“I’ll be there in two minutes. What’s going on?”
“A man came for Sam and Ryan fought with him. The man’s knocked out in Sam’s room. We’re locked in my bedroom. Ryan needs an ambulance.” Her heart was still pounding and she was breathing hard.
“I don’t need an ambulance,” Ryan said.
She ignored him. “The front door’s locked, but I don’t want to go unlock it in case there’s anyone else in the house.”
“Do not leave the room. I’m a minute away now, and I’ll let patrol in to clear your house.”
“Okay.”
“Are you and Sam all right?”
Sam! How could she forget about him? “Just hurry and get here.” She disconnected, then dropped her phone back on the nightstand. Where was he? Her bathroom door was closed and she went to it, finding it locked. “Sam, it’s Matti. Let me in.”
“Is the mean man still here?”
Ryan stood and came to the door. “You’re safe, buddy. Come out, okay?”
The door opened a crack and Sam peeked out. “Is he gone?”
She exchanged a glance with Ryan, not sure how to answer, because no, the man was laid out on the floor in Sam’s room.
“Matti, open up.”
At hearing Wyatt’s voice, she breathed a sigh of relief. They really were safe now. “Sam, the police are here and they’re taking the mean man away.” She walked to her bedroom door and opened it.
Wyatt’s gaze swept over her, then over Ryan, who was now balancing Sam on his hip while holding his hurt hand against his chest. “The house is clear. There’s no one here.” He glanced at Sam before looking at her and saying, “No one.”
She frowned. What was he trying to say? Then it hit her. “He’s gone?”
He nodded. “Why don’t you guys stay in here for a little while. I want to get my CSI team out here, see if they can lift some fingerprints.”
“All right.” The man was gone, which meant he was out there somewhere, free to try to get Sam again. Would this ever be over?
“We’ll need to get statements from all three of you, but let’s let our boy here have some quiet time first.” He pointed at Ryan’s wrist. “EMTs will be here in a few to take a look at that and your eye.”
“I’m fine,” Ryan said.
“Maybe, but they’re still going to check it out.” He left, closing the door behind him.
“Can you even see out of that eye?” she asked. It was almost swollen shut.
“He was gonna take me,” Sam said, his lips trembling. He buried his face against Ryan’s neck.
Ryan carried Sam to the bed. When he tried to set Sam on the mattress, Sam squeezed his arms around Ryan’s neck, refusing to let go.
“Hey, now,” Ryan said. “It’s okay. You’re safe, buddy.” Sam still didn’t let go, so Ryan stretched out on the bed with Sam.
“You come, too, Matti,” Sam said at the same time there was a knock on the door.
“Is it the mean man?” Sam let go of Ryan and scrambled under the covers.
“Ryan, the EMTs are here,” Wyatt called through the closed door, then opened it. A man and a woman in uniforms followed him in.
“Dr. Palmer, fancy seeing you here,” the woman said.
The male EMT’s gaze fell on Ryan, and his eyes widened. “Ouch. Hope this is where you say, ‘You should see the other guy.’”
“You should see the other guy,” Ryan parroted. “Seriously.” He stood from the bed. “Hello, Janie, Manny. As you can see, I’m fine.”
Manny snorted. “Yeah, you look fine…not.” He glanced at Sam when he peeked his head out of the covers. “Why don’t we check you out in the living room?”
“Good idea,” Matti said. “Sam and I’ll be right here when you’re done.” She sat on the edge of the bed.
Ryan huffed. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”
“I’ve always heard doctors make the worst patients,” Janie stage-whispered to Manny. “Guess it’s true.”
“Ha, ha,” Ryan said as he followed them out.
“Don’t leave, Doc.” Sam grabbed Matti’s hand. “Don’t let him go. The mean man will get him.”
She put her hand over his. “He’ll be right back.”
Wyatt moved around the bed and sat on the other side. “The mean man’s gone, Sam. And there are police officers here. They won’t let the mean man come back.”
“Can the police officers live here, too?”
Matti chuckled. “No, they have their own homes and families. Why don’t we watch a movie?
” She reached for the remote on the nightstand.
She’d subscribed to the Disney Channel after Sam came to stay with her, and she tuned to that.
It only took a few minutes for Sam to become engrossed, and when he was, she motioned to Wyatt.
He followed her to her bathroom. “Did I understand you right? The man was gone when you got here?”
Wyatt leaned back against the counter. “Yes. He broke in through your back door, and no doubt left that way. You’ll need to get the lock fixed. Sam’s room’s a bit of a mess from the fight, so you need to clean it up before he sees it.”
“Yeah, he’s already scared, and that would just add to his fear. Please, catch these people. I’m so over being afraid.”
“Believe me, we’re trying. Working around the clock with every departmental officer and other agency officers we can get.
There is one thing we’ve learned. The toxicology reports came back on Sam’s parents.
The same meth laced with fentanyl was in their bodies that was in John Harper’s, the man we found dead on the Enchanted Highway. ”
“So the drugs came from the same source?”
“Yes, and we’re working on finding that source. When we do, we’ll be able to identify the person or persons behind all this. Again, that’s confidential information. You can tell Ryan, but make sure you stress he can’t talk about it with anyone.”
“We won’t.”
“I know. That’s why I’m willing to share the information. This is bigger than anything in my career up to this point, and it’s like these people are always two steps ahead of us.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Frankly, I’m getting damn tired of being behind.”
“Now I’m going to add you to my list of people to worry about.”
“Don’t. I can take care of myself. Just worry about yourself and your boys. Stay alert.”
Her boys. She liked the sound of that.
“I need to head out.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Call me if anything seems off. I don’t care how small. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. You stay safe.”
“Always.”
Alone in her bathroom, she sucked in a deep breath. What if they’d managed to take Sam?
“No!” She slammed her hand on the counter. “We’re not going to let that happen.”