Chapter 13
Bailey hit the snowbank hard, falling face first when the wheels of the chair came to an abrupt halt.
She tried to break her fall with her arms, protecting her abdomen, but her forehead still hit the snow hard enough to make tears spring to her eyes.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then pushed herself up and over onto her back.
Archie bounded next to her, licking her cheek.
“Bailey! Are you all right?” Trevor’s familiar face popped into her line of vision.
She looked up at him, a flash of memory hitting hard. “You helped me when I fell off your horse. Archie licked me, just like he did now.”
Shock registered in his eyes, and he nodded. “Yeah, I did. Archie reached you before I did, then, too. I’m glad you remember that. Are you hurt?”
“My hand.” She lifted her right hand. Her fingers were red and swollen from where she’d tried to stop the stranger from wheeling her outside. They’d gotten caught in the spokes of the wheel. “I don’t think they’re broken, just bruised.”
“I’m so sorry.” His gaze filled with self-recrimination. “I never expected anyone to pretend to be a hospital staff member to get close to you.”
“It’s not your fault.” She sat up on the snow, eyeing the wheelchair.
She would have preferred to walk, but she was concerned that this little escapade had already caused her blood pressure to rise.
Something she couldn’t afford if she wanted her baby to grow bigger before being born.
With a sigh, she stood. Trevor tucked her prescription pill bottle into her purse, then wrapped his arm around her waist, guiding her back into the chair.
“What happened?” Trevor asked.
“At first, I thought the guy was legit. He muttered something about a test that the staff had forgotten to do. I didn’t try to stop him until I realized we were headed outside.
I grabbed the wheels, but he had gained momentum.
” She looked down at her red and swollen fingers.
“I should have realized he wasn’t a real staff member. ”
“I’m so sorry.” He looked miserable as he turned her chair around to push her back inside. “We need to get out of here.”
“Trevor, how did he find me here at the hospital?” She frowned as the event replayed in her mind.
“Not only did he find me, but he also had time to dress in scrubs to fool me. He knew I’d been seen in the emergency department.
He claimed I needed another test, so that’s why I went along for a few minutes. ”
“That’s my fault. I ran outside the emergency department entrance to get the license plate of the black truck. He must have seen me in his rearview mirror and knew then we were there.” He sounded grim. “If I’d just stayed inside, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I doubt that mattered. Besides, it was important to try to get his license plate, right?” She turned to look up at him. “We should probably call the police to report this.”
“Yeah.” Trevor’s features appeared carved in stone. “I’ll call Sergeant Howell. I know from back when Doug Bridge’s sister, Emily, was taken from here, there are two hospital security cameras, one overlooking the emergency department parking lot and the other overlooking this front entrance.”
“Will they share the video with us?” The thought of getting a glimpse of this guy’s face or his black truck filled her with hope. They needed something, anything, to go on. Clearly, she wasn’t safe there at the hospital.
Would that hold true for the ranch as well? Would this guy track them down no matter where they went?
“They’d better share the video.” Trevor’s tone was clipped. “This guy pretended to be a staff member, that should make them eager to find him.”
She nodded. “I hope so.”
Trevor pushed her through the lobby until he reached the main desk. “I want to talk to someone in hospital administration or in security.”
The woman behind the desk frowned. “I don’t think Stan is here yet.”
“Then give me whoever is in charge.” Trevor’s tone was lined with steel. “Someone dressed as a staff member just tried to kidnap Bailey.”
The woman’s gaze bounced from Trevor to her and back to Trevor. Then she noticed Archie and recognition dawned. “Oh, you’re one of the Sullivans?”
“Yes. Trevor Sullivan.”
“Your brother helped my nephew Colton when he got lost. I’ll find Stan or someone else right away.” She lifted the phone, more than anxious to help.
“Guess it pays to be a Sullivan,” she murmured.
“It shouldn’t be that way,” Trevor agreed. “But right now, I’ll take what we can get.”
A moment later, a short round man walked toward them. “You’re Trevor Sullivan? Related to Maya and Doug Bridges? I’m Stan Beck. I’m in charge of security.”
“Yes. This is Bailey Adams. Some guy dressed in scrubs and wearing a paper face mask tried to kidnap her. I need to see your video for the camera outside the front lobby. We know he’s driving a black truck, but we don’t have a license plate.”
“Of course. This way.” Surprisingly, Stan gestured for them to follow him. “I normally would ask for a warrant, but hearing this guy was pretending to work here and was dressed in scrubs is concerning. We’d want to tell the police about this ourselves.”
Bailey felt a little foolish being pushed in the wheelchair down a narrow hallway toward a small office.
There was barely enough room for Trevor and Stan to fit in the cramped space, much less her wheelchair.
Trevor slipped into the room, leaving her wheelchair blocking the doorway.
Archie squeezed into the room, then stood in front of her, his dark eyes seeming to watch Trevor.
“Hang on a minute while I pull up the video.” Stan manipulated the computer screen on his laptop.
“After Doug Bridge’s sister was kidnapped, we got approval for two more cameras to be added to the perimeter of the building.
One in the ambulance bay, since that’s where Emily was taken, and a second one outside the emergency department. ”
“That’s good to know. We’ll need to look at the video from the emergency department too.
” Trevor’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“I saw the black truck outside the ED entrance earlier, maybe around six in the morning? I couldn’t get the license plate because he had a temporary license taped to the back window. ”
“That should be easy to spot. Let’s start with the lobby camera first.” Stan tapped the keys, then turned his screen so that she could see. “This is our guy, right?”
“Yes.” Her voice was strained as she watched the image of her being pushed outside in the wheelchair by a tall man in scrubs.
“He looks to be about six feet tall with dark hair.” Trevor tapped the screen. “Can you back up so we can get an image of him walking into the hospital?”
“Yep.” Stan did so, then made a face. “It’s not helpful. He’s wearing that face mask when he comes inside too. He doesn’t have a hospital ID badge on either.”
“That’s a bummer.” Trevor sounded annoyed. “Okay, then I need you to zoom in to get a better image of that black truck parked off to the side.”
“Okay.” Stan turned the computer screen back and worked the keyboard. After another long moment, he shook his head. “Unfortunately, there’s no front license plate. I can say it’s a black GMC. Does that mesh with what you saw earlier?”
“A GMC? Yeah, I’m sure that’s the same truck I saw earlier.” Trevor waved at the computer. “Pull up the emergency department video. Specifically around the six o’clock time frame.”
Stan didn’t argue. He went back to work, taking what felt to Bailey as an inordinately long time, before he said, “Okay, I think I found that truck.”
“Let me see.” Trevor leaned forward, bracing his hand on the desktop. Stan obliged by turning the screen again so they could both watch the video. It was hard for her to see beyond the two men.
“There, freeze the video. That’s the truck.” Trevor stepped back so she could see it too. “Do you recognize it?”
She stared at the image. Those square headlights looked familiar. Because she’d seen them prior to her crash? She sighed. “Maybe. It’s hard to say for sure.”
“That’s okay. I know what I saw.” Trevor turned his attention back to Stan. “I need you to zoom in on that temporary license number.”
“Sure thing.” Stan did so, bringing the image into focus. “Interesting that the temporary license number doesn’t start with the same two digits all other Wyoming plates to,” Stan said with a frown. “Shouldn’t it reflect the county it was purchased in?”
“Yeah, it should.” Trevor’s expression hardened. “I’m pretty sure it’s fake, and not even a good fake. Anyone who lives in Wyoming would know enough to use the two-digit county code.”
Bailey shivered. She wasn’t cold; it was the knowledge that this stranger wasn’t from the area. She thought about how Trevor had mentioned the owners of Sweet Water were incorporated in New Jersey. “He’s from out of town?”
“I’m leaning that way, but we’ll see what Tom Howell thinks.” Trevor looked at Stan. “I need copies of these videos. I’ll share them with the Cody police and my brother-in-law Griff with the FBI.”
Stan nodded solemnly. “You got it.”
She gently flexed the red, swollen fingers on her right hand, her thoughts whirling. Why had the guy wheeled her toward the truck rather than simply killing her? It was a change in tactic that didn’t make sense.
Then she opened her purse and rummaged inside for the keys.
Pulling the ring out, she stared at the key that didn’t look like either her house or garage key.
A flash of Clark asking for her keys flashed in her mind.
She’d been annoyed with him for some reason and vaguely remembered throwing the keys at him with more force than she should have.
Instead of getting mad at her, he’d taken them and left.
He must have added the key to the ring containing her other keys at that time. But if that was the case, why hadn’t she noticed? Why had she been upset with him?
Why was someone trying to kill her?