Chapter 4 #2
It’s not just that, though. It’s where my mind wanders. Not to Texas, to visit with my old friend and his teammates, but to New York, instead.
What if I went back to see my parents again? And while I’m there, I could make a detour to Northville. See how Melissa is doing. Meet her dog.
“That’s a good idea,” Ace comments. “It would be nice to see those guys.”
“If Noelle and I go out to New York City,” Webb adds, “I think we’ll drive up to visit the New York team. I haven’t seen the new addition they put on. And—” He smiles. “Can you believe Nora and Jackson are expecting? How crazy is that?”
“Yeah.” I close my laptop, since it’s pretty obvious we’ve ended the business part of our weekly meeting. “I talked to Nora last week. She’s over the moon—”
From beside my laptop, my phone vibrates with an incoming call.
Normally, I wouldn’t answer it during a meeting, but since everyone is just shooting the shit and talking about travel plans, I don’t think it’s a problem.
“Sorry,” I say. “I’m just going to check this. It might be something about the case.”
But when I lift the phone to look at the screen, it’s nothing close to what I was expecting.
The caller ID says, Amsterdam Memorial Hospital.
My heart stumbles.
That’s in New York.
Where my parents live.
My parents, who are both pretty healthy, but also in their seventies.
Time seems to slow as I punch the answer button and lift the phone to my ear.
Fearful questions jumble in my head.
What if it’s one of my parents? They don’t live near Amsterdam, a city northwest of Albany, but they like to take day trips for shopping and visiting friends. What if they got into an accident? What if one of them got sick? Had a heart attack?
I can’t lose my parents, I think desperately. Not yet.
It’s hard to speak with my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. But I swallow hard against it and try to keep my voice steady as I answer the phone. “Hello?”
For a second, there’s nothing on the other end of the line. Then a woman asks tentatively, “Tyler?”
It takes me a second to reconcile the voice with what I was expecting. But the instant I realize who it is, I jolt straight up in my seat. “Melissa?”
She takes a shaky breath. “I… I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have called.”
Her tone tells me this isn’t a just checking in sort of call. She sounds nervous. Uncertain. Even scared. “It’s fine,” I tell her. “Is something wrong?”
Around the conference table, my teammates lean forward. Relaxed postures tense. Just from my few words, they’re immediately on alert.
“You said… if I ever needed anything… to call you.”
My fingers tighten around the phone. “You’re right. I did say that, Mel. What’s going on?”
Across the table, Rafe raises his eyebrows in question.
I shake my head slightly and shrug. But I have a sinking feeling it isn’t. Not from the way Melissa sounds on the phone.
“Um…” Melissa hesitates. She sniffles. “Something happened. Last night. And I’m not sure… I think I need help, but I—” A small sob slips out. “I don’t know what to do.”
Concern transforms into full-on worry. “What happened? Can you tell me?”
“Last night… A man broke in. To my house. And he—” Another broken sob sounds in my ear. “He hurt me. And Oscar…”
“What?” My voice rises. “Someone broke in? Who? What did he do? How badly are you hurt?”
“I don’t know,” she replies. “He broke in through the kitchen. And he hit me. My wrist…”
She starts crying. “Oscar. I haven’t seen him. I don’t know… if he’s really okay. The police, they said he was, but they won’t bring him here. And I’m so scared. What if he’s hurt and they’re not telling me?”
Fuck.
I stand up, too anxious to sit still. “Mel,” I say, trying hard to keep my voice calm. “How badly are you hurt? Is there anyone with you?”
“No,” she replies, answering my second question, but not my first. “I can’t tell my parents. They’re so far away. And I can’t put them in danger. If the man—” Her voice breaks. “I just want to know if Oscar is okay. And… I’m scared.”
Before I can respond, she starts crying again.
My heart gives a painful wrench.
A sense of urgency sweeps through me, more intense than anything I’ve felt in years.
Go to her, it says. She’s in trouble, and she needs you.
“Hello?” Suddenly, a new voice comes onto the call. “Who am I speaking to?”
Even though the caller ID says Melissa’s at the hospital, I’m immediately suspicious. What if the number is spoofed, and Melissa’s actually been abducted? What if I’m actually speaking to her captor, about to receive some sort of ransom demand?
I’d figure out a way to pay it, of course. Not just because it would be the right thing to do, but shit, it’s Melissa. I like her. A lot.
“I’m Tyler McNamara,” I shoot back. “And who are you?”
Despite the bite to my tone, the woman sounds completely unfazed as she replies, “I’m Elizabeth. A nurse at Amsterdam Hospital. I’m helping take care of Melissa. She’s a bit worked up right now, and it’s not good for her. So I’m going to talk to you, instead.”
I drop back into my chair and flip my laptop back open.
One-handed, I start searching for information on employees at Amsterdam Memorial Hospital named Elizabeth.
“Okay,” I say as I type. “What can you tell me about Melissa’s condition?
How badly is she hurt? If she was attacked, is there a police guard on her room? ”
“Hang on,” Elizabeth says. There’s a low murmur of voices in the background. “Okay. Melissa gave me permission to tell you. She has a broken wrist, a moderate concussion, and she’s suffered significant bruising.”
“A concussion? A broken wrist?”
“What’s going on?” Indy hisses from the chair beside me. “Who’s hurt?”
I ignore his question in favor of firing more at the nurse.
Who, my hasty search reveals, is most likely Elizabeth Hastings, a registered nurse typically assigned to the third floor at Amsterdam Hospital, where I’m assuming Melissa is.
“Is she stable? When was she brought in? What about the police guard?”
“I don’t know the details,” the nurse replies. “I just started my shift two hours ago, and Melissa was already here. But there’s no police guard that I know of.” She pauses before adding stiffly, “I can assure you, security at the hospital is excellent.”
Maybe in her opinion, it is. But seeing as how I helped my teammates break into a hospital to rescue Bea not that long ago, I’m not reassured. “And her dog? Do you know about him?”
Elizabeth’s voice softens. “I don’t. I’m sorry. But I can try to look into it.”
“Is there anyone there with her?” I ask. “Family? Friends?”
She hesitates before answering. “No. No one.”
Shit.
Melissa is hurt. In the hospital. Scared. Crying. Alone. She doesn’t even have her dog with her for comfort. And I’m three-damn-thousand miles away from her.
My mind immediately starts working through possibilities.
I can be at the Portland airport in an hour, maybe less if I really push it.
I’ll have to pull some strings, but I’m sure I can get on the next direct flight to New York.
Albany would be best, but if it needs to be LaGuardia or JFK, I can make that work, too.
I’ll need a rental car, but that shouldn’t be a problem.
Melissa being alone at the hospital is, though.
It’ll take me most of the day to get there, and I refuse to leave her unprotected.
“Do you have any other questions?” Elizabeth asks. “We’re open for visiting hours until eight PM. So if you’d like to come—”
“I’ll be there,” I interrupt. “But I’m coming from the West Coast. I’ll have someone come—” I stop myself. She’s not the one who needs to hear this. Melissa does. “Can you put Melissa back on the phone? Please?”
The nurse hesitates. “It’s not good for her to get upset like that.”
“I know. But I’m not upsetting her. The situation is. A situation I’m planning on helping her with.” Blowing out a calming breath, I continue, “I just want to tell her I’m on my way. I think it might help.”
After a drawn-out moment, there’s a sigh. “Okay. But keep it short. She really does need to rest.”
“I will—”
“Tyler?” Melissa’s wobbly voice comes back on the line. “I’m sorry. She took the phone. With my concussion, I’m supposed to stay calm.” She huffs. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to do that, considering.”
I’m relieved to hear a spark of the fire she showed me on the road in Long Lake. “I just wanted to tell you I’m on my way. Hopefully, I’ll be there by this evening. And—”
“You’re coming here?”
I frown. “Yes. You said you need help.”
“But… it’s so far away. I thought you might know someone out here...”
“I do,” I reply. “And I’m going to have one of my friends stay with you until I get there.
” Either one of the New York Blade and Arrow guys, or Enzo could head over there from Vermont, or, shit.
Griffin. He’s in Syracuse, working for the K9 unit out there.
Maybe he could take the day off to stay with her.
“Tyler.” Melissa’s voice drops to a near-whisper. “I didn’t mean for you to drop everything to come to New York.”
“I know you didn’t. But I’m coming. And I’m going to look into what’s going on with Oscar, too. As soon as I find out anything, I’ll call you.”
Opening a new browser tab on my laptop, I pull up the schedule for flights from Portland to New York. “There’s a flight to Albany leaving in two hours. I’ll be on it. That should put me in Amsterdam by… six PM, give or take. If you need anything in the meantime, Mel, call me. Okay?”
She sucks in a shaky breath. “Okay.”