Dare to Trust (25 page)

“Then let me by your back-up, Howard. He was your partner, and you know how he thinks. But if you get backed into a corner, you and your girl will be in trouble. He doesn’t have to know I’m there unless things get really ugly.” Ross let Jason think over the proposition for a moment. “You know I’m right.” Ross told Jason. “Let me help.”

With a loud sigh, Jason nodded. He didn’t want to accept the help but knew he would need it. “Okay, but you stay completely out of view.” He heard his cell phone go off, indicating he had received a message. Jason grabbed the phone, a text with an attached photo from Grimes waiting for him. Mia was lying on an old, torn floral sofa, with her dark eyes closed, and her face bruised and bloody. Rage coursed through Jason as he stared at his phone. The message simply read ‘She’s alive for now. Will be in touch.’

“Son of a bitch,” Jason muttered under his breath.

Ross stole a glance at the text. “He doesn’t think we know where they are. We have the upper hand if we hurry.” He looked at Jason. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not yet,” Jason simply stated. He would figure it out as he went.

The drive out to the farmhouse was slow. The roads were slick with new fallen snow and slush underneath that made the roads slick and unpredictable. Although barely afternoon, the skies were dark and overcast. Once they had reached the property, they abandoned the car at the mouth of the long driveway, walking up the winding drive. There were no lights other than one in what Jason thought to be the living room of the home.

“I’m gonna try to get in from the back,” Jason whispered to Ross, his words barely audible as the wind whipped around them. “Stay out of sight.”

He trudged through the snow that had accumulated on the ground over the past day. He studied the building, his eye having adjusted to the dim light of the day, finally seeing a broken window along the back of the house. Efficiently, Jason reached through the hole in the window, found it unlocked and pushed it upwards. He climbed through it without a sound.

Once inside, Jason found himself in a laundry room. He heard Grimes’ voice; he was talking to Tyler, demanding he do whatever necessary to keep Mia quiet. Jason had to ignore the rush of anger that surged through him. He needed to keep an even keel to surprise his partner. There was no way Grimes was going to get the opportunity to carry out his plan. Jason was not going to let anything happen to Mia, and he certainly was not in the mood to die. There had been enough death.

Jason quietly moved into the laundry room doorway. He could see the kitchen in one direction, the living room beyond, and a bathroom in the other direction. The kitchen offered no hiding spots, once he entered it, Jason would be visible. He stood in the doorway for several minutes, mentally weighing options. And then he went into action.

Grimes stood near the bank of vast windows overlooking the front yard, his back to Jason. Jason efficiently moved through the kitchen and into the living room, rushing Grimes. Grimes groaned from the impact but couldn’t fight off Jason’s surprise attack. Jason tackled his partner to the floor, and before Grimes could react, had his weapon drawn and aimed at Grimes’ chest.

“Tempt me, you bastard,” Jason sputtered at his partner, sprawled out on the floor.

A smile formed on Grimes’ lips. “You are always so sure of yourself, eh, partner?” Before Jason was able to respond, Grimes quickly kicked up at Jason’s arm, connecting and sending the weapon flying through the air. Taking advantage of his attack, Grimes grabbed out at Jason’s lower legs. Jason was on the floor in an instant and Grimes launched a fist into Jason’s face. Jason’s head snapped back as Grimes’ fist connected with Jason’s upper jaw. Jason ignored the pain radiating through his skull and in his right hand, as he balled it into a fist and returned the punch. Grimes fell off him with a thud. Jason grabbed his partner’s shirt and punched him again. And again. Pure rage radiated off Jason’s body as he pummeled his partner. Ex-partner. Tyler watched from the corner of the room as the two men fought, unsure of what to do.

Jason barely had the self-control to stop. He wouldn’t give Grimes the satisfaction of dying. He kicked his partner lying on the floor. He was pretty sure Grimes was on the verge of unconsciousness. “Get up,” he ordered. “Now!” As he waited for Grimes to comply, Jason moved to the couch to Mia. She hadn’t moved.

Jason was momentarily distracted by assessing Mia mind trying to decipher her injuries. As he studied her, his eyes rested on the marks around her neck. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, just as he felt an instant pain in his side that brought him down to the floor.

Grimes had taken the brief opportunity of Jason’s distraction to crawl to the gun that had been knocked to the floor during the altercation. He picked it up and stayed lying on the carpet, squinted his eyes, ignoring the blurriness of his vision. The gun was aimed at Jason’s chest. As he started to pull the trigger, Tyler launched himself at Grimes, deciding he couldn’t be part of murder. Grimes’ finger pulled the trigger but the path of the bullet had been altered by Tyler’s interference. Tyler pushed Grimes flat to the floor, hitting him, and Grimes was finally knocked unconscious.

The bullet flew across the room and slammed into Jason. He felt pressure and burning in his arm, knowing he had been hit. Tyler had already dug his cell phone out of his pocket and tried to make a call. No signal. But he heard sirens in the distance as Lt. Ross broke through the front door.

“Forget about me,” Jason muttered as he pushed Tyler away, not wanting to give Daniels the chance to assess the bullet wound. The adrenaline was still flowing through him and Jason had yet to feel the full extent of his injury. He made his way to the couch to Mia. “Worry about Mia.”

 “We’ll get her to the ER,” Tyler told him. “You need to put some pressure on that. Stop the bleeding,” he ordered as he pointed at the leak in Jason’s upper arm. Jason shrugged as he started to feel the sting of the pain. He looked down and saw the blood, paling. He hated the sight of blood, especially his own. “Can’t you listen?” Tyler questioned as he used the palm of his hand to apply pressure.

XVI.

His arm throbbed and burned but Jason ignored it. As far as he was concerned, the ambulance couldn’t drive fast enough to get him to the hospital. Jason had to see Mia and see first-hand if she was okay.

The paramedic riding in the back of the rig glanced at the bloody dressing that covered the bullet wound in Jason’s arm. “Are you sure you don’t want anything for pain?” he asked for the third time, ready to administer a small dose of Morphine.

“Nah.” Jason shook his head, not wanting to have any medication mess with his ability to think. And the effects of the adrenaline hadn’t quite gone away yet. “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” the paramedic sighed. “Suit yourself.”

Once in the ED, Jason was wheeled into the trauma room, greeted by the doctor and a few nurses. In this small town, any patient with a bullet wound was greeted by a crowd. The paramedics parked the ambulance stretcher next to the one on the trauma room. As members of the staff crowded near to assist transferring their patient from one stretcher to another, Jason sighed as he informed them he could move over on his own. He slid over before they could object.

Before he could say anything else, one of the nurses had her trauma shears in her grasp, cutting the rest of his shirt off the paramedic at the scene had already torn to initially assess the wound. “We need to get to your arm,” she said with too much excitement for Jason’s liking. He glared at the physician, his face tight with anxiousness.

“Where is Mia? I need to see her.”

“I’m Dr. Kline. I know you’re worried about her. She’s having tests done in radiology, so while she’s there, let’s get you taken care of, okay?” His tone was empathetic.

“Is she okay?”

“So far, so good. We’ll know more once her tests are done.” Dr. Kline gently prodded Jason’s arm with a gloved hand. “The bullet is still in there,” he noted. “We’ll need to get an x-ray. Are you in a lot of pain?” Jason shook his head.

“Can we just get this over with? Please?”

Once the x-ray confirmed the bullet was lodged in soft tissue, Dr. Kline injected Lidocaine into the edges of the wound. Once the Lidocaine took effect, he worked to extract the bullet from Jason’s upper arm and then added a few sutures to close the wound. “You’ll be sore for a bit but no permanent damage. Lucky.”

Once the nurse finished dressing the wound, Jason was finally able to see Mia. She had just returned from radiology after x-rays and a CT-scan. He sat next to her, gently ran a finger down her cheek, the need to touch her overwhelming. “I’m here, baby. You’re safe.”

At the sound of Jason’s voice, Mia’s eyes fluttered open. It took a minute for her to focus on his face but then she smiled with recognition. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He leaned down and softly kissed her lips as he grasped her hand into his. “How do you feel?” Jason had seen her damaged car but still didn’t know if she had been injured from that wreck or if Grimes had hurt her. His eyes lingered on the darkening bruises forming on her neck where Grimes’ hands had been.

“Sore,” she answered, wincing as she tried to move into a more comfortable position on the stretcher. “I think I heard them say nothing’s broken.” Mia’s head throbbed and she had difficulty recalling the events that had landed her to be in the ED as a patient. “I don’t really remember much,” she admitted.

“The doc says you have a concussion. You’re gonna get a lot of rest the next few days,” Jason informed her.

When Mia awoke again, she recognized the bedroom of the cottage. She didn't recall leaving the hospital. Her memory about the entire prior day was pretty fuzzy.  

“How are you feeling?” Suddenly Jason was at his side. He smiled at her, his dark eyes full of concern.

“I’ll make it.” She slowly sat up and felt the room spin.

“They gave you meds in the ER. And your head---you were out of it when you were released.” As he explained, Mia noticed the bulky bandage on his upper arm.

“What happened to your arm?” Mia asked with alarm.

Jason offered a smile that usually melted through Mia. “Bullet, no big deal. Didn’t hit anything important.” He leaned down and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Nothing to worry about.” He sat on the bed next to her. “Do you need anything?”

“A bullet?!”

“I’m fine,” Jason re-iterated. “You can see for yourself later. But right now, you need to rest.”

Yawning, Mia settled back into the pillow. “I think I’ll sleep a little more.” She was asleep before Jason had finished tucking the blankets around her.

After a few more hours sleep and a light meal, Jason had recounted yesterday’s events. As a physician, Mia knew that patients with concussions sometimes couldn’t recall events that occurred just before and after the injury. But she was stunned as Jason told the tale, she felt as though she was listening to the plot of a movie. What she did recall was their argument over the photos.

“I shouldn’t have stormed out of here like I did,” Jason started. “I shouldn’t have left you.” If anything had happened to Mia, he would have never forgiven himself.

Mia closed her eyes and opened them again. She had known this conversation would happen but hadn’t looked forward to it. “I didn’t sleep with him, Jay,” she whispered. “I was just so confused…I know what it looked like from those photos.”

“I believe you.” Jason grimaced at the memory of what the photos had captured. “Are you still confused about us?” Jason asked. “Because I’m not. I love you.” His blue eyes seemed to pierce through her with emotion.

She shook her head, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. “I’m not confused, Jay. I love you. I should have never come here. I was running from you and I shouldn’t have.” Jason didn’t respond, just got up and hauled Mia up against his chest, encircling her waist with his arms.

“Come back to Boston with me, Mia. Quit the job here. We can figure out how to start over together.”

She smiled against his chest. “I got fired,” she told him.

“What?” Jason pulled her away from him so he could see her face.

“The job here didn’t work out. Tyler fired me.” Mia laughed. “I don’t care anymore.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll pay off the lease here and go home.” Jason sighed and grimaced again. “Of course, officially, I am still on administrative leave with the police department. I’m not sure I have a job to go back to.”

***

Two days later, Jason met Lt. Ross at the police station to give his official statement. It didn’t take long. It didn’t take long and once Jason finished speaking, Ross clicked off the tape recorder and put down his pen. He slid a piece of paper across the metal table to Jason. It was the paper work from the district attorney that stated all charges had been officially dropped against Jason.

“So, you’re free to go back to Boston,” Ross told him.

He paused, not getting up. “I want to see him,” Jason said.

“Grimes?” Ross asked. “Are you sure?” Jason nodded. “Five minutes,” Ross told him. “That’s it.”

***

Jason entered the cell, eyeing Grimes who sat on the bare mattress in the center of the cell. He gripped a Bible in his hands. Grimes gave no indication that he noticed Jason in the space with him. “You pled guilty,” Jason stated. “Why?” He stood, waiting to hear an answer to his question.