Gage (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #16)

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

G age had been calling Jansen ever since they’d hit the interstate heading toward Dallas. So far all he’d managed to do was leave messages on the man’s voicemail. Bas had been trying to get hold of Ranger, with no luck. His gut told him they were walking into either a trap or a bloodbath. Since there hadn’t been anything on the news about the second option, he figured they were looking at option one.

“I don’t like this. My brother wouldn’t go radio silent. He sent that text, he knew something didn’t feel right. And he didn’t have any of the info you got from Sandoval. So help me, if Blackthorn has hurt him, he’s a dead man.”

“Stop, Bas. Donald doesn’t do his own dirty work. He’s not the type. You met him, the man’s tall, skinny, and I’d bet dollars to donuts he’s never been to a gym in his life. He couldn’t overpower somebody as big as Ranger.”

“Doesn’t matter how little he is, a bullet still gets the job done.”

Gage didn’t have a response to that, except to step down harder on the accelerator. Every mile seemed interminable, his hands clenched around the steering wheel until the knuckles turned white. The thought of Suzanna in the hands of Blackthorn made him want to punch something, preferably Blackthorn. He knew it was irrational, to care so much about somebody, but somehow, someway, Suzanna had gotten under his skin. Into his heart.

The attraction had been there from the first, though he’d fought it. He’d never allowed his heart to rule his head—not until this case—until Suzanna. Now she was in danger and he wasn’t there to protect her. All the cases he’d worked, all the dangerous situations he’d gone through, he’d never felt this overwhelming anxiety, all because he was in love.

There. He’d admitted it. He was in love with Suzanna Dawkins. If somebody told him he’d meet the woman of his dreams while investigating the murder of her husband, he’d have laughed them out of the room, saying it was too farfetched to even been one of those sappy movies women loved. Yet here is was, racing toward Dallas because he was head over heels crazy about her.

“She’ll be alright.” Bas turned in his seat to look at Gage. “She’s strong. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Whatever Blackthorn throws at her, she’ll fight him, because you belong together.”

“That obvious, huh?”

Bas chuckled. “I’ve seen that same look on all of my brothers, my sister, even my dad when he met Miss Willie. We don’t go looking for love, but somehow it finds us. Most of the time it’s when we least expect it, can’t afford for it to bonk us over the head with attraction, but in the end there’s no denying or running away from it. They say love conquers all. Well, sometimes it has to run an obstacle course before it can win the race.”

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to fall in love when my buddy asked me to help out his cousin. I thought I’d look into her statement, find out she really did it, and I’d be back home in less than twenty-four hours, forty-eight tops. Instead, I took one look into those beautiful brown eyes, heard her talk about her husband—her husband for cripes sake—and I knew I was in trouble.”

“Sounds like me and my Lexie. She’s definitely caused more trouble than a fire ant hill doused in gasoline, but every minute we’ve been together makes all the bad stuff worth it. I wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t off investigating a story. I tend to stick close to home when she’s there, because otherwise she gets into way too much trouble. But that’s one of the many things I love about her.”

Finally seeing the Dallas city limits sign gave Gage a sliver of hope. She had to be okay. Taking care of Blackthorn took a backseat to getting to Suzanna, making sure that she wasn’t hurt. He refused to think about the silent ‘or worse’ that popped into his head. Nope, there was no or worse part of this equation. She’d gone to lunch. Maybe Blackthorn didn’t know, hadn’t been there. After all, Elizabeth Blackthorn had wanted to talk to Suzanna about her husband cheating. She wouldn’t want him anywhere around when that conversation took place, right?

He jumped when his cellphone rang. “Newsome.”

“It’s Jansen. I’ve got a half a dozen voicemails from you. What’s up?”

“I’ve got your proof. Suzanna Dawkins did not kill her husband. Donald Blackthorn did.”

“What? How? Blackthorn has an alibi.”

“His wife, right? I guarantee that alibi is bogus. Blackthorn hired somebody to kill Steven Dawkins. Suzanna and Steven Dawkins were both given heavy sedatives, which is why Suzanna didn’t wake up when her husband was attacked. It’s why Steven didn’t wake up either. I’ve got all the information you need, but we don’t have time for that now. Blackthorn is planning to kill Suzanna. We think he’s got her now. We’re on our way to Dallas, just hit the city limits, so we’re still twenty minutes or so away. You need to head to Blackthorn’s place in Highland Park. If Blackthorn is there, arrest him for Dawkins murder.”

“I can’t arrest him just on your say so, Newsome. There’s nothing that points directly to Blackthorn. You say you’ve got evidence, and I’m supposed to just believe you? I checked with a buddy. You’re not really a fed.”

“Hold it together, man,” he heard Bas whisper next to him.

“That’s right, I don’t officially work for the FBI, though I have worked with them in the past. Jansen, I work for the Central Intelligence Agency, deep undercover, and have for years. You won’t find records of me anywhere, even if you called them. I’d give you my boss’ name and direct number, but we don’t have time for this. If you don’t get to Blackthorn’s now, Suzanna Dawkins and Ranger Boudreau are as good as dead.”

Jansen blew out a deep sigh. “I need my head examined. Fine, I’m on my way over there. If you’re sending me on a wild goose chase, Newsome, I swear you’ll regret it.”

“I’ll let you slap the cuffs on me without a fight. Just get there.”

Gage disconnected the call, his hand shaking. With any luck, Jansen would get there in time. Easing his car into the far right lane, he merged with the traffic exiting the interstate and headed toward Highland Park, praying that they’d be in time to save the woman he loved.

“Hey, buddy, you alright?”

Ranger felt hands patting over his chest before reaching down and digging through his pockets. All he could do was roll over to the side and heave up his guts, until he felt like he didn’t have anything on the inside anymore, it was all spilled across the dirty ground where he lay sprawled. An overwhelming stench coated the air, burning his nostrils, yet he couldn’t seem to open his eyes.

Something wasn’t right. The last thing he remembered was standing in the Blackthorn parlor, drinking ice tea.

The tea. It must have been drugged. Rolling to his side, he dry heaved again, and somehow ended up lying on his stomach. He didn’t have the strength to roll back over, so he simply lay there, wondering if he could crawl toward the light.

“Man, he’s in bad shape. Think he’s gonna die?”

A second voice joined the first. “Don’t know. Don’t care. Wallet’s got a couple hundred bucks and some credit cards.”

“Eh, don’t take the cards, too much trouble. Any ID?”

“Lemme see. There’s a driver’s license. Says he’s Gaston Boudreau. Lives in New Orleans. Ha! Welcome to Dallas, buddy.”

“Help me,” was all Ranger managed to utter, the world fading into blackness once again.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the next time he opened his eyes bright overhead lights and white sterile walls greeted his sight. Squinting against the brightness, he shifted, realizing he lay in a bed, covered with a white sheet. The sterile scent of disinfectant cleaner burned his nostrils, yet it was a welcome stench, because it meant he was still alive.

“Welcome back, Mr. Boudreau. I’m Doctor Kirk. Can you tell me what happened to you?”

“Drugged.”

“Yeah, we figured you’d overdosed. Honestly, you’re lucky to be alive. Somebody called nine one one and gave a location for you, otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Hate to think you might have died in that alley.”

“Didn’t overdose.” Ranger tried to sit up in the bed, but the doctor laid his hand on his shoulder. The doctor appeared to be in his mid-thirties and strong enough to keep him on the bed. Not that it took much, since a toddler would probably have more strength than Ranger had at the moment.

“There was a cocktail of drugs in your system. A less healthy man probably wouldn’t have made it.”

“I didn’t take drugs. I was drugged. Given spiked tea.” Ranger managed to shake off the doctor’s hand and sit up. “I need a phone.”

“What you need is to calm down. You had a massive amount of drugs in your system, as I stated. If you didn’t take them, then we need to contact the police, because you nearly died. We almost lost you twice.”

“Dr. Kirk was it? Look, I’m a professional bodyguard. Apparently I was roofied and my client is missing. I need to make a call, let the appropriate people know what’s going on. Now, please either give me a phone, or let me out of here.”

He watched Dr. Kirk digest his words before pulling out his cellphone. “Here, use mine.”

A wave of dizziness washed over Ranger, and he closed his eyes, breathing through his mouth until the feeling passed. Quickly inputting Bas’ number, he dialed, putting the phone on speaker, since he couldn’t quite hold it up to his ear. Man, he hated feeling this weak.

“Hello?”

“Bas, it’s Ranger.”

“Bro, thank goodness! Where are you? What happened?” Before Ranger could answer, Bas kept going. “We showed up at Blackthorn’s house and there’s nobody there. You were gone, Suzanna’s missing. Elizabeth Blackthorn’s gone too. And Dallas Police have a BOLO out for Donald Blackthorn.”

“Slow down. I haven’t seen Donald, but Elizabeth was there when we arrived at the house. She played the polite hostess and gave us some iced tea. And like a stupid rookie, I drank it. That’s the last thing I remember until waking up here in the emergency room.”

“Son of a—” Bas broke off his curse, and talked to somebody Ranger couldn’t quite hear. He had the feeling it was Gage. “Look, Gage got the evidence to clear Suzanna’s name of her husband’s murder. Blackthorn did it. Hired somebody to take out Steven Dawkins. He’s just been waiting for the will to finish probate, and then he was going to take out Suzanna too, giving him sole control of Dawkins, Inc. He sabotaged the microchips, delaying their launch. Steven found out about the sabotage, that’s why good old Donald had to have him killed. Well, that and once he launches the new technology, with full ownership of the company he stands to make billions of dollars.”

Ranger held his head with one hand, while holding the phone with the other. “Bro, slow down. We can talk about all that later. First, though, we need to find Suzanna. Think. If Elizabeth Blackthorn drugged us, she has to be in on everything with her husband.”

“Dang. You’re right. Gage, you heard that? It’s both Blackthorns.”

“I heard. I’ll call Jansen. Find out if the hospital is keeping Ranger, or do we need to arrange for somebody to pick him up.”

Ranger glanced up, noticing that Dr. Kirk not only hadn’t left the room, but he was listening intently to the conversation. He shook his head vehemently.

“You’re not going anywhere. We need to make sure all the drugs are out of your system, Mr. Boudreau. I told you, you’re lucky to be alive. There was enough ketamine and cocaine in your body to take down a rhino. Physically, I doubt you could stand up unassisted, much less leave the hospital.”

“That answers my question. You’re staying there. What hospital are you in?”

“Parkland,” Dr. Kirk answered. “He’ll be admitted overnight and we’ll monitor him, see how he does. With this high an amount in his body, there may be unexpected complications, which is why we need to monitor him.”

“Bro, do you want me to—”

“No, don’t you dare call Sarah. Or Carpenter. I’ll fill them in later, once I’ve wrapped my head around how I screwed up.”

“Not your fault. None of use suspected Elizabeth of being involved.”

“Stop wasting time with me. Go find Suzanna.”

“Will do. Ranger…” Bas’ voice dipped low. “Don’t scare me like this again. I don’t want to be the one to explain to Dad I let you get hurt on my watch.”

“Don’t tell him either. Better yet, don’t tell anybody in New Orleans anything, you hear me? I’m going to be fine, I got help in time.”

“Okay, gotta go. I’ll let you know when we find Suzanna.”

“Good.”

Disconnecting the call, Ranger handed the phone back to Dr. Kirk, who slid it into his white medical coat pocket.

“Thanks.”

“Sounds like there’s some excitement going on. That was your brother, I take it?”

“Yeah. We both work for Carpenter Security Services, hired to do bodyguard duties for a client who’s had credible threats. And I just screwed up and now our client is in trouble.” Ranger leaned back against the pillows, his head feeling like it had been used as the football in the latest Cowboys game. “I need you to keep everything you heard to yourself, doc. The whole doctor patient confidentiality thing needs to kick in right now. If word of what you overheard gets out, not only my client but others could be in danger.”

“My lips are sealed, on one condition.”

“Name it.”

Dr. Kirk grinned. “You’ve got to tell me what happens. I couldn’t help hearing the names you mentioned, and those folks are pretty big deals in Dallas. This is going to hit the news like an avalanche, and I want to hear all the things the reporters won’t know. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Excellent. Now get some rest. They’ll be in to move you to a room soon. If you need anything, push the button on the side of the bed, and somebody’ll come and help.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

Ranger settled against the pillows, fighting against his throbbing head and silently prayed they’d find Suzanna before it was too late.