Hidden Fates (Hidden Heroes #4)

Chapter 8

Garrett breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor finally came out and informed everyone that Texas Ranger Harvey Black was in recovery. He’d been shot in the leg, and the bullet had just barely missed his femoral artery. The man was lucky to be alive. Thankfully paramedics got to him in time to control the bleeding, and Garrett had been on the scene to help track down the shooter. All in all, it was a good day. Long, but good.

There would be a mountain of paperwork to finish in the morning, but it could definitely wait until then. It had been almost two hours since he’d last heard from Reese, and while they didn’t usually text back and forth regularly, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how she’d made him a sandwich so he wouldn’t go to bed hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had gone out of their way to leave him food after a long day at work. And he didn’t think she realized how much her gesture meant to him. He’d thanked her and told her that he wanted her to stay, but there was so much more he needed to tell her that couldn’t be said in a text message. He just hoped she was still awake because the only thing he wanted right now was to see her beautiful face and hear that sweet laughter he couldn’t get enough of.

His work at the hospital done, he started to head out the door when a familiar voice called out to him. “Heading out?” Blake asked.

Local law enforcement and the FBI had been called in to help with the man hunt for the shooter, and after hearing that Garrett was on the scene, Blake and Luke both showed up, eager to lend a hand.

Garrett nodded. “I’ll finish the write up tomorrow.”

“Are you okay?” Blake asked. “I know you and Harvey are pretty tight.”

They weren’t exactly friends, but they had worked on quite a few cases together. “I’ll be fine now that I know he’s out of the woods.”

Blake nodded. “Need a ride home? I don’t mind dropping you off if you want. We could have a beer, shoot the shit if you feel like talking.”

“Thanks,” Garrett said. “I’ll be okay. Go on home to Skyla and take care of that baby of yours.”

Blake smiled. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be a dad.”

Garrett slapped him across the back. “You’ll be great. Remind me to take notes for when it’s my turn.”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “Something you want to share?”

“What’s going on?” Luke asked, coming up beside Blake.

“Nothing,” Garrett said a little too quickly. “I was just heading home.”

“Need a ride? Orly is working tonight so I could hang out for a bit, we could talk if you want.”

Garrett loved his friends. He didn’t doubt that any one of them would be there for him at the drop of a hat. But right now, he really did only crave the company of one person. “I appreciate it, but I’m good. We have the shooter in custody, and Harvey is alive and should make a full recovery. It’s all I could’ve hoped for.”

“She’s growing on you, isn’t she?” Luke asked with no heat.

Garrett knew exactly who he was talking about, but that protective instinct suddenly kicked into high gear. “Not tonight,” he warned.

Luke sighed, and Garrett prepared for the question he knew was coming. “Look, I get she’s innocent in all this, but has she said anything to you that we could use against Russell?”

“No.” The only thing she’d told him about was her ability. But he’d made a promise to keep that information to himself unless he absolutely had to tell his friends about it, and he intended on keeping his word. Besides, her being able to see the moment of someone’s death didn’t seem to have anything to do with their case against Russell.

It still boggled his mind how someone could actually do that. But he knew better than to doubt her. His friends’ women had proven just how incredible an ability could be many times in the past. So, giving Reese the benefit of the doubt was almost as easy as breathing for him at this point.

“I’m on your side,” Luke said, as if Garrett would ever think otherwise. “And hers. I just want this whole Russell Graham shit to be over already so my wife can breathe easy for the first time in over a year.”

“I know,” Garrett sighed. “We’ll get him. Just -” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he had to fight the silly grin from lifting the corners of his mouth because he suspected he knew exactly who was texting him. A quick glance at the screen showed it wasn’t a text message though, but an alert he didn’t recognize.

“What’s up?” Blake asked.

“Everything okay?” Luke asked.

He wasn’t surprised his friends could read his expression like an open book, but he was still unsure about what this alert was telling him. And worse, it was apparently twenty-eight minutes old. Then he hit the blue button labeled ‘track location’ that opened a map with a blinking cursor stalled on a rural road in a densely wooded area about twenty miles from the hospital.

His heart sank and pulse ratcheted as realization set in. “Reese is in trouble.” The words slipped out as ice coursed through his veins. He’d finally gotten to know her a bit. They’d connected on his dock. He’d promised to keep her safe and asked her to stay. How could he have failed her like this? She had just started to come out of her shell. She’d ventured out of his guest house, gone on a job interview, and was actually looking forward to a fresh start. Now all of that could be ripped away from her unless he found her. “I have to go.” His feet were already moving toward the exit, his thoughts racing with different routes he could take to get to her last known location faster.

“I’ll go with you,” Blake said.

“I’m going too,” Luke said.

Garrett raced to his truck and got in behind the wheel. Blake got into the passenger seat, and Luke took the backseat.

“Where is she?” Luke asked.

Garrett passed his phone back to him. “I must’ve not had reception for a while inside the hospital. The app shows her last location, but the cursor hasn’t moved since. I know how to get there, but I doubt she’s just sitting on the side of the road.”

“I’ll call for backup,” Luke said, passing Blake the phone.

“Not yet.” Garrett hit the gas and turned on his lights and sirens as soon as he pulled out of his parking spot. “We don’t know who took her. If I can keep her name out of law enforcement’s database, I think that would probably be best.”

He didn’t miss the momentary look Blake exchanged with Luke, but then Luke passed Blake the phone. “Hopefully she got away from her captors and ran into the woods,” Blake said, looking at the screen. “That’s her best bet until we get there.”

“Agreed. But the longer she’s missing -” Blake started to say.

“I know!” Garrett hadn’t meant to raise his voice on his friends, but he could barely contain the rage flowing through his veins. He should’ve taken greater precautions with Reese staying on his property. The woman had trusted him, not just with her physical safety, but with her secret, and now it looked like he might have to reveal what she’d told him after all. It wasn’t that he didn’t think they’d understand, he’d just hoped Reese would get to do it herself.

He was flying down the freeway, his mind racing almost as fast as his truck. He’d been thinking about Reese all day, especially after running into her at the school. He’d acted like such a jerk. It wasn’t like him, but he was just so surprised to see her there, away from the safety of the guest house and his property. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles grew white. So much for his home being safe. He had no idea what had transpired tonight, but Reese had definitely not left willingly.

“Shit, guys, I have cameras on my property,” he said, remembering the surveillance system he’d installed a few months earlier.

“I’ll call Caden,” Blake said.

Garrett nodded. He’d find Reese, but then he needed to find whoever took her, unless they were still with her. The thought chilled Garrett to the bone. Running through the woods alone at night was scary enough, but having someone chasing her in the dark - he didn’t even want to imagine what she was going through right now.

He nearly floored the gas pedal, willing his truck to go faster. Thinking the guys would say something, Garrett waited for Blake or Luke to tell him to slow down, but neither one did.

They knew exactly what he was going through.

***

Dropping out of the van was both scarier and harder than Reese thought it would be. The back of her head slammed on something just as the rest of her body hit the ground and skid in the opposite direction of the van. She had the sense not to keep her arms tightly at her sides so as not get them stuck or run over, but the pain that seared her entire backside was enough to make her see stars. Her mouth flew open in a silent scream, but she managed to stifle it just before making a sound. In a perfect world, she would be lifted or carried from this spot, preferably with an IV drip of very strong pain medication, but that wasn’t in the cards. She had to get up and move. Now .

The word reverberated in her mind like a silent command, once, twice, and then on the third time, she finally wiggled her toes to make sure she wasn’t paralyzed. She really did need to get moving before - the van came to a skidding stop just feet away from her.

Shit! It was now or never. If they got her back in the van, she’d never get away. She’d probably never see Garrett again or meet his friends, or go to her first day of teaching, or - she scrambled onto her hands and knees, ignoring the dizziness and nausea that threatened to take her down.

How she managed to stand, Reese had no idea, but somehow, she got her feet under her and ran. Even as her knees threatened to give out and one of her shoes nearly flew off her foot, she fought her unsteady gait and focused on the dense woods in front of her. Those trees were her best chance of escaping. The leather jacket was ripped to shreds, but there was no time to register just how much pain she was in, or how badly her back and ass hurt, or how horribly the backs of her legs had been scraped up by the dock and then again by the gravel road. The back of her head was throbbing, and she was sure there’d be a goose egg on it the size of Texas. But none of that actually mattered right now.

Keeping her feet moving as fast as she could, she reached into her pocket, and without pulling the gadget out, pressed the button over and over again in quick succession. Maybe it hadn’t worked when she was in the water. Or maybe it was out of range when she’d pressed it in the van. She knew Garrett would come, she just hoped he’d come before whoever was chasing her caught her.

A branch hit Reese across the face, making the skin on her cheek sting, but she didn’t make a sound except to push it out of the way and continue on. She had no idea where she was or what direction she was headed. She just had to keep moving, because despite hitting the back of her head and being seriously scraped up, she was still alive - and she was determined to stay that way until Garrett found her.

The small gadget pressing into the side of her thigh gave her all the comfort she was going to get in these dark woods that seemed to creak, squeak, and crack with every step she took. Try as she might to walk on soft feet, there was always a twig snapping, a bird chirping, leaves rustling. It was impossible to tell if she was the one making sounds, or if it was just nature being natural. The one thing that was unmistakable, was the set of quick footsteps following not too far behind her.

The men knew she’d escaped and were obviously determined to get her back. This was something she’d considered could happen, but there was not much she could do about it now besides keep moving.

No matter how much she hurt or how the backs of her legs burned from what was going to be a serious case of road rash, she just had to keep going. Keep breathing. Keep praying that the gadget Garrett gave her had worked. She’d pressed it over a dozen times by now, but the damn thing didn’t make a sound. Didn’t seem to light up or buzz, or give her any sort of feedback that it had registered her distress call. And it wasn’t like she had time to stop and study it.

Her breaths came out hard and fast in the cool night air, but she pressed on. One foot in front of the other. Eventually she’d either find help, or Garrett would find her. Her right foot caught on a root and she nearly face planted, but caught herself on the trunk of a tree, scraping the palm of her already raw and cut up hand even more. She winced, but held in the sound, still not allowing herself to slow down. Whatever injuries she got could be treated. Right now, the only thing she needed to focus on was surviving.

At least that’s what she kept telling herself. It was better than letting those other thoughts creep in. The ones that started calculating the odds of her finding help, or that the stupid gadget had been destroyed somehow, or had no signal out here in the middle of nowhere.

She briefly considered hiding in a ditch or crawling into the hollow of a big tree trunk, but she hadn’t spotted either one of those yet. There had to be a way to buy some time for Garrett to find her though, because even if she was determined to keep moving, she’d been at this for a while now and she honestly had no idea how much longer she could keep going before collapsing.

***

Garrett pulled the truck over at the spot where the gadget’s app had last tracked Reese, but there was no sign of her. He slammed the dashboard with his fist, anger and helplessness coursing through him. “Maybe it’s a good thing she’s not here,” Luke said.

Garrett glared at him in the rearview mirror.

“I think he means that she probably ran into the woods for cover,” Blake said.

Garrett sighed and swallowed hard. “She doesn’t have her phone with her, so she has no way to call for help or figure out where she is, and this damn cursor hasn’t moved the entire drive.”

“I don’t have any bars,” Blake said, staring at his phone.

“Me either,” Luke said from the backseat.

No one said a word for a long moment until Garrett’s radio came to life. “Garrett, it’s Caden, are you there?”

Garrett had never been happier to hear his friend’s voice than he was right now. He let out a breath and picked up the receiver. “Caden, what did you find on my cameras?”

“Absolutely nothing. However she was taken, it wasn’t from your property.”

Garrett bit out a curse word. “She was there, Caden. The last time I talked to her, she was at my house. Probably sitting on my dock watching the fireflies like she does almost every night.” His voice cracked at the thought of what might have happened to Reese, but he had to stay alert and focused. She needed the Texas Ranger in him right now, not the guy who was falling for her. “Listen, our phones have no reception out here. Let me give you our location. Tell me if there are any businesses, homes, or other roads nearby. This place looks like it’s literally in the middle of nowhere and these woods cover over a hundred square miles.”

“Go ahead,” Caden said.

Garrett gave him their coordinates, then waited impatiently, listening to the silence of the radio.

Luke put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

“Damn right we will,” Blake added. “We don’t lose our own.”

His friends’ reassurances felt good, but he needed to lay eyes on the woman who’d opened up to him and made him want more than just the status quo for the first time in a long time. “I wanted her to meet you guys. To meet the women. I’d finally convinced her to let me have a barbeque this weekend so y’all could meet her.”

“Good,” Luke said. “I’ve been craving your steaks for days now.”

“She’s a survivor,” Blake added. “Orly connected with her, remember?”

Garrett nodded. How could he forget? “I know. I just wish I could’ve done more to prevent this from ever happening.”

“Wait, you said she likes to sit on the dock almost every night?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, why?” And then it hit him. “You think she was taken from the dock? By water?”

“Makes sense,” Luke said.

“Hey, Caden, you there?” Garrett asked into the receiver.

“Still working on it,” Caden answered.

“We have a theory on how she might’ve been taken.”

“Go ahead.”

“By water. She likes to sit on the dock every night. If someone was watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to snatch her, they might have figured out that would be the perfect way, and they’d never have to step foot on my property. Wouldn’t make much noise either, and no one would see them, especially after dark.”

“Alright, I’ll go knock on doors and ask Garrett’s neighbors if they’ve seen anything. They had to surface eventually. I doubt they planned on swimming to their final destination. Now, based on the location you gave me, I have a road that’s about six miles to the east, and there’s a dive bar about two miles north of your location on that road. If Reese went into those woods, I’m guessing that’s where she’ll end up. Unless she’s moving west, in which case she’ll be in the woods for over twelve miles before she hits a road that doesn’t have much on it for over ten miles, and then it looks like there’s just a bunch of farmland and an old gas station.”

“Shit,” Garrett ground out. “Of all the places…”

“I say we split up,” Blake said. “You can wait for her at the dive bar, while Luke and I head west and see if she turns up there.”

“No,” Garrett said. “Split up, yes, but I’m going on foot. If she’s out there, I doubt she’s moving fast and she’s probably hurt. I’m not sitting around waiting for her to travel six miles or more with some asshole probably on her tail.” He killed the engine and tossed his keys to Blake. “Take my truck, see what you can find, but I’m going to get my woman.” He was well aware of how he’d just called Reese his , and somehow, it didn’t bother him in the least. They’d had a connection, and he’d more than felt the chemistry between them.

“You can’t go out there alone,” Luke said. “I’ll go with you.”

A black and white pulled up behind them. “We have company,” Blake said with a smirk.

Garrett glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see Tanner and Martin walking up to his truck. “Heard you could use some help,” Tanner said.

“And here I thought I was going to spend my night off with my feet up,” Martin teased.

“How did you -” Garrett started to say.

“Luke texted when you first left the hospital,” Tanner said. “Now, are we just going to sit around here counting stars, or what’s the plan?”

Garrett sighed. Of course, his friends came to help. “Thanks for coming, Guys.”

“Don’t mention it,” Martin said. “Now, what are we doing?”

“We’re splitting up,” Garrett said. “Three possible options. Going on foot, a dive bar about six miles up an adjacent road, or some farmland and a gas station ten miles out.”

“I’ll go on foot with you,” Tanner said.

“Me too,” Luke said.

“Guess I’ll hit the bar,” Martin said.

Blake held up his keys. “I finally get to drive the beast. Martin?”

Martin chuckled. “I’m ready when you are. Let’s do this.”

“I have a couple of radios and a case of water in my trunk,” Tanner said. “Grab some waters, and Garrett, you and Martin each take a radio so we can stay in touch. The third group can take Garrett’s truck and use the radio there. Let’s go to channel twelve, and we’ll check in every thirty minutes.”

“Got it,” Garrett said. He was glad Tanner was taking charge, and he was proud of his friend for being so prepared. He remembered when Tanner was Luke’s rookie a few years ago, and he’d definitely come a long way.

Garrett pulled a couple of flashlights out of a crate he kept in the back of his pick up and handed one to Tanner and Luke, keeping one for himself. He checked the batteries on them regularly so they’d hold up through the night if need be. Then he emptied all the supplies from his first aid kit into a bag and flung it over his shoulder, across his body. He had a feeling he’d need whatever was in there when he found Reese.

With water bottles, flashlights, a first aid kit, and a radio in hand, the three men headed into the woods. It was still pitch-black outside. Most people would wait for first light to start searching, but Garrett wasn’t about to sit on his ass while Reese was out there alone and possibly injured. He was grateful that his friends understood that.

“So, Garrett is having another barbeque this weekend to introduce us to Reese,” Luke said just loud enough to be heard as they made their way through the tree line.

“Really?” Tanner said. “How did you get her to agree?”

“She felt safe,” Garrett said, hoping he could give her that feeling again after he found her. “I gave her a place to stay where she felt safe, and she was finally coming out of her shell.”

“We’ll find her.” Tanner placed a hand on Garrett’s shoulder, giving him a light squeeze of reassurance. “And she’ll be safe again. We’ll all make sure of it. Especially when we find the asshole who took her, and arrest her brother for all the shit he’s pulled on her and Orly.”

Garrett had considered how this could all be related to Russell, and he didn’t put it past the man to kidnap his own stepsister considering how he’d taken Orly and nearly killed her. If Luke hadn’t busted through that vent when he had, Garrett had no idea if Orly would be with them today.

He picked up his pace, pushing away stray branches and unsettling thoughts. Orly was safe now, and they’d find Reese soon.

Garrett wouldn’t stop until she was safely back where she belonged. With him.