“Shelby, would you like something to drink or eat?” Kenneth asked her as he approached.
She shook her head.
“I don’t need anything, and if I did, I would get it myself,” she said to him. Her friends heard her, and she knew that maybe some of the others did as well. Kenneth was angry and maybe even shocked at her hurtful words. She felt bad but it had to be this way. All she could worry about now was Caroline and C.J. That they would both come through this alive, and that Cameron would be caught before he hurt Caroline worse. Skip was capable of murder. Skip held her hostage, assaulted her, and scarred her body. She knew without a doubt that if she ever saw him again, she wouldn’t live to see another day.
Dr. Anders walked into the room along with two doctors. One of them was the surgeon. They gave soft smiles. “He’s going to be just fine,” the one docto
r said and everyone seemed to exhale in relief. Shelby felt the tears roll down her cheeks.
She barely heard what he said. Something about the bullet lodged under his shoulder bone and that he would have a long recovery and plenty of physical therapy. That he was resting but they could see him.
Through blurry eyes she saw his mother being hugged by her husbands, she saw the relief on everyone’s faces, but then she saw Kenneth talking with four men she didn’t recognize but noticed them watching Eliza Grace . They definitely liked her, but she ignored them like Shelby was ignoring Kenneth.
Shelby stood up and hugged C.J.’s mom and then his dads.
“It’s going to be okay, Shelby. Caroline is tough and this town has everyone working on finding her. My boys Hunter and York won’t let anything happen to their woman. You’ll see,” she said with confidence Shelby just couldn’t understand.
“I’m so sorry that C.J. was caught in the middle of this. I know Caroline must be distraught and thinking he’s dead. She would never want your sons to get hurt or killed because of her.”
“Shelby, they love her, and they would do anything for her, just like Caroline would do for them. That’s what true love is. I’m not angry with Shelby for what this man has done. I’m angry with him. Men like that don’t deserve to live. They don’t deserve kind beautiful women to abuse and hurt like he did to Caroline. We’ll get through this and Caroline will be found alive. You’ll see,” she said and hugged Shelby again. Shelby opened her eyes as Martha released her and her eyes locked gazes with Kenneth. She felt guilty and scared, and wondered how Martha could be so brave, so understanding. Shelby couldn’t be that way, and no matter what, she wasn’t going to put Kenneth and his brothers into the line of fire. Never.
* * * *
“What do you have, Sam?” Hunter asked him as they sat in the truck and spoke with Sam over the phone.
“Okay, good news. Just got off the phone with someone who works in Cameron’s department. He’s been written up numerous times for some disciplinary action. Apparently, he has a bit of a drinking problem, too, but it’s been covered up. He asked for a two-week vacation five days ago. He rented a hotel in Scarlet County but only for two nights.”
“Scarlet County is just a few miles from here,” Hunter said and put the phone on speaker so York could listen, too. The others were around the trooper car. Max, Mike, and the other deputies plus even Bender, too.
“I did a little searching and got his credit card charges.”
“How the hell did you do that so quickly?” Mike asked.
“No questions. Okay, here it is. Bingo. I got it. There’s a charge for renting a house, on a lake deep in Scarlet for nine days. It’s in the woods. I’ve got an address,” he said and they wrote it down.
“He must have her there. He probably planned on taking her there to win her back, if what his friends in the department in New York say. They believe that he thinks she loves him and is just mad at him for breaking her arm, but when they found out he shot a cop, her current boyfriend, and abducted her. They were all talking about how he abused her, was a drunk, and had a short temper. We need to get to her fast,” Max said and they all agreed.
“We can’t go running in there. This guy, if what his friends and coworkers say is true and what his plan was, he won’t expect us to find him or to raid the place. His goal was to get Caroline and try to convince her to come back to him,” Bender said to them.
“Yes, but he shot C.J. and he called her a whore. He knows that she’s been with us and moved on. That made the game change, and if it’s control he wants, then he’ll hurt her until she gives in,” York stated.
“We can’t waste more time. Let’s make a plan to slowly get in there. Hunter has the most experience along with Tazer and Lynch. The three of you can take the lead and get in there quietly. We come in as backup on your signal,” Sam said to them.
York and Hunter looked at Tazer and Lynch. Hunter knew them from the service and from childhood. They were good men, soldiers and secret operatives for the government. Their two brothers, Burk and Harper, were computer analysts and aerial assault specialists for the Army. Very impressive.
“Let’s go get our woman and put an end to this violence and fear once and for all,” Hunter said and they began to gather their guns and make a plan. Hunter prayed that Caroline was still alive, otherwise, Cameron was going to die today, too.
* * * *
Caroline felt the hand caressing her thigh. Back and forth she sensed the skin-to-skin contact but then realized it felt different. She popped her eyes opened and found Cameron there, sitting on the bed beside her. Everything hurt. Her mouth, her head, her ribs. It all hurt. She tried to swallow and not move as his hand slid under the tennis skirt and toward her ass. She was lying on her side and her top was ripped open. She covered herself with her arms and lifted her legs higher, making his hands stop.
“You’re in a lot of trouble, Caroline. A lot of trouble,” he told her, towering over her, sitting on the side of the bed, his thigh against her knees now.
She thought about C.J. and feared he was dead. She felt so angry at him for hurting C.J. and for coming here and ruining everything. Her eye felt swollen and her jaw really hurt. She opened her mouth and coughed. He sat up.
“Here, take a sip of this,” he said to her and brought his hand to her head, cupping it and helping her to sit up as he brought the water bottle to her lips. Her head spun as if she were hungover. He smiled at her.
He placed the bottle down and then pressed a hand over her chest. “Lay back down. We have some things to talk about.”