A Billionaire's Redemption(35)

A sound came from nearby. Deep. Braying. Like someone laughing. A laughing hyena. Except those lived in Africa, right? Why was her brain so muddy? Oddly, the sound seemed to be coming from above her. How was that possible? Did birds laugh? Where was she?

Her car. Except it was tilted all crazily on its side. Toward the passenger door. A mat of leaves covered the windows. A big tree branch was sticking into the car like it had grown through the glass. Strange dream.

Her weight hung in the too-tight seat belt and shoulder harness. Hurt. And there was a floppy white bag draped all over her front. She shoved at it, shocked at how feebly her hands moved. Sticky. Her hands were sticky. Curious, she examined her palms. Something black and wet was smeared all over them.

What happened?

Gabe would know. He knew everything. Her mouth tried to form his name. To say it aloud. If she could just say his name, he would appear and rescue her. He always did. But no sound came out of her mouth, and her chest hurt from the exertion. Instead, she wished hard for him to come for her, to take care of her. He always looked out for her. He was so good to her.

Something warm leaked out of her eye and trickled down her cheek. She missed him so much when he wasn’t with her. As if a piece of her was missing. Was this what love felt like? It was sweetness and pain, joy and sorrow all rolled into one. It would be lovely if only it didn’t hurt so much. The pain was starting to come in waves now, each one a little worse than the one before.

That crazy laughter echoed from above her again as she drifted away on a cloud of peaceful darkness that carried away all the pain. All the confusion. Everything.

* * *

Chaos reigned as Gabe parked in the hospital’s car lot. News trucks were jockeying for position by the emergency-room entrance. Deputy Green was doing his best—and failing—to force the vans back from the hospital doors. A crowd of bystanders had gathered, but for the moment, the Vengeance fire department seemed to have them contained behind wooden sawhorse barriers.

When he hopped out of his SUV, a chorus of shouts went up. The reporters had spotted him. They sounded like a flock of geese. He ignored them as he shoved through the crowd, and Deputy Green waved him through the barricades.

The emergency room was relatively quiet after outside. He spotted the FBI analyst who’d watched Melinda’s videotape and who’d called him.

Any news?” he asked her tersely.

Ambulance brought her in a few minutes ago. None of her injuries appear serious.”

How is she emotionally?” Now there was a question he’d never thought to hear himself ask about Melinda Grayson.

Agent Delaney shrugged. “Haven’t had a chance to speak with her yet. Medics said she was lucid but upset.”

He winced. Melinda upset equated in his mind to her having a screaming hissy fit. Surely, the FBI analyst didn’t mean the word that way. “Can I see her?”

As soon as the doctors are done treating her.” She added a shade too innocently, “Dr. Grayson asked that you be with her during her debriefing.”

She did?” Gabe blurted.

You sound surprised,” Delaney commented mildly.

She’s usually so strong and independent. It’s not like her to want support from anyone. Being kidnapped must have been a hell of an ordeal for her to ask for me like that.”

He waited impatiently; glad he was here for Melinda, but fretting over Willa. He called the security company and was frustrated that they’d heard nothing from Willa. Problem was the security team was Dallas based. They didn’t know the local area and weren’t being the slightest bit efficient in searching the western part of the county for her. He’d do a much better job of it if he could just get out of here.

But then guilt at the notion of abandoning Melinda, who’d been through an obviously terrible experience, assailed him, and the cycle of relief, fretting, worry and guilt repeated itself. He felt like he was being torn in two, and it sucked.

The weird part was that he didn’t even particularly like Melinda. She was charismatic, though, and once she had her claws in someone’s head, she didn’t let go. It had taken Willa coming along for him to realize how psychologically tied he still was to Melinda.

An urge to turn around and walk out of the emergency room came over him. To hell with Melinda. She was a grown woman and could take care of herself. Lord knew she’d never needed him or anyone else over the years. Willa, on the other hand, could use a friend. Her life had gone to hell in a handbasket, and not one bit of it had been her doing.

He stood up, determined to follow his heart and go find Willa when a male voice said from behind him, “Mr. Dawson?”

He turned to face a physician in a white lab coat. Spatters of blood on the coat sent a hot wave of guilt through Gabe’s gut. “How is she?” he asked quickly.

Come with me.”

Agent Delaney fell in beside the two men as they strode through a pair of swinging doors. A brightly lit hallway with all the usual medical clutter lining it stretched away from them. The doctor led Gabe to the first door on the left.

Gabe stepped inside, his heart in his throat.

Melinda was sitting up in bed, her arms speckled by Band-Aids, a small piece of tape across her right cheekbone and a bandage around her right knuckles. She had a fading black eye and a little puffiness along her jaw. But all in all, she didn’t look half-bad. She did, however, look royally pissed off. He knew that narrow-eyed glare she was firing at the nurse all too well.

She looked up at the visitors, spotted Gabe and burst into tears. Honest-to-God wetness issuing from her eyes and running down her cheeks. Never, ever had he seen Melinda Grayson shed a tear before. The woman had sat stony-faced through her own father’s funeral, for God’s sake. Yet here she was, bawling theatrically.

She held both hands out to him in a gesture reminiscent of a toddler, and he lurched forward, shaken. Melinda Grayson wanted to be held? The end of the world must be upon them!

He perched on the edge of the high bed and gathered her into his arms. She stiffened against him, but her arms still went jerkily around him. Frankly, after the way Willa cuddled against him all soft and sweet, this was like hugging a cold, wet fish.

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he banished it. Melinda was hurt and scared and probably exhausted, and she surely deserved better from him.

Dr. Grayson, what can you tell me about your kidnapper?” Agent Delaney asked.

Gabe looked up sharply. “You didn’t catch the bastard?”

Please don’t interrupt, sir, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Melinda’s arms tightened hard around him. Damn, that woman was strong for someone who’d been tied to a chair for the past few weeks. “I never saw him. He kept me blindfolded all the time.”

What about when that video of you was filmed? Did you see him then? Or even a silhouette? How tall was he? What kind of build did he have? Race? Coloring? Anything?” the agent persisted.

Melinda shook her head. “There was just the camera on a tripod. He told me what to say from another room.”

Agent Delaney pounced on that. “So he did script that video for you.”

Melinda’s gaze narrowed fractionally. Had Gabe not been inches away from her and not been so very familiar with her, he probably wouldn’t have seen it. Now why did the agent’s statement irritate Melinda like that?

No, no. He just told me when to talk.”

Did he ever say anything about Senator John Merris, Sheriff Burris or a young man named David Reed?”

No. Why?”

All three men were murdered at about the same time you were kidnapped, ma’am.”

Melinda did the strangest thing then. She burst into tears. No kidding. Wet stuff on her cheeks, sobbing hysterically, tears. Gabe was flabbergasted. The Iron Maiden knew how to cry? Wow. She must be a whole lot more messed up than she’d been showing initially.

The questioning paused until she could collect herself, but then continued onward, albeit more gently after Melinda’s breakdown. And so it went. Agent Delaney pressed for details, and Melinda steadfastly denied knowing anything significant about the kidnapper. No matter what questions the FBI agent asked, no useful information was forthcoming from his ex-wife.

Although, every now and then, Melinda would tense slightly or give away some tiny facial expression of anger. But all the while, she clung to him like a pitifully scared child. When the agent suggested a polygraph test, Melinda burst into loud tears once more and buried her face against his chest. He’d never seen her act even remotely like this before. She was definitely a lot more rattled than he’d expected.

When Melinda’s crying bout refused to wind down, Agent Delaney gave up with a visible sigh, and retreated from the room. The moment she left, Melinda’s tantrum eased.

It’s okay, Mel,” he soothed her. “No one’s going to make you take a polygraph. You’re the victim here. They’re just trying to catch your kidnapper and were hoping you could help.”