Healing Her Spirit (Serenity Springs Book 2) (8 page)

The next morning found Clint on the couch and Lacey in bed with Ethan.  She had refused to leave her son’s side the night before, and Clint refused to leave either of them.  Sitting up, Clint groaned in pain at his stiff and sore muscles.  Lacey’s couch was not the most comfortable, but he had not felt right sleeping in her bed without her.

Rising, he went to use the restroom and then made his way into Ethan’s room.  Staring down at mother and son fast asleep, Ethan’s head lying on Lacey’s shoulder, Clint felt his heart clench in fear.  He was not losing either of them.  He moved forward quietly and placed his palm on Ethan’s forehead, sighing in relief at the coolness he felt.  Leaning over, he kissed both of them softly on the head and then turned to leave.  “Where are you going?” Lacey asked groggily.  “What time is it?”

Turning back, he smiled gently, “It’s only 6:30, love.  Get some more sleep.  I have a couple errands I need to run, but I will be back to check on you both at lunchtime.”

Smiling sleepily, Lacey nodded in agreement and slid back into sleep, a small smile on her face.  After one last look at the two people who he hoped to call family soon, Clint left the house and headed home.  He took a quick shower and got dressed, then was back in his truck and on his way to the Caldwell ranch.  There were a few things that needed to happen before he could give the woman he loved the ring he had hidden in the back of his top dresser drawer, and one of them he was going to take care of right now.

As he pulled into the driveway, Clint saw the man he was looking for walk down the stairs from the apartment above the garage and head toward the barn.  Justice entered the building just as Clint parked his truck.  Getting out, Clint followed Justice and found him talking to his brothers, Caiden and Ryder, in the middle of the barn.  They turned in unison toward him, but Clint only came to see Justice.  Ignoring the others, he stopped in front of Justice and placed his hands on his hips.  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he growled lowly.

Justice raised his eyebrows and copied Clint’s stance.  “Wrong with me?” he questioned darkly.  “What’s wrong with you?”

Clint took another step in Justice’s direction letting his hands fall loosely to his sides.  “Lacey came to my house in tears yesterday morning because her brother, a brother she loves and hasn’t forgotten in all these years, a brother she has spent a hell of a lot of money trying to find, a brother she needs now more than anything in this world, turned her away.  Then she gets called into work because a serial killer has cut a woman to pieces, and her face gets splashed all over the state.  This means she could be his next victim if he gets worried she will find something on him.  Then, to top it off, last night her son starts running a fever.  You want to know why that’s a fucking problem, Justice?”  When Justice didn’t respond, Clint got in his face and spat, “That’s a fucking problem because Ethan is in remission right now.  He has been in remission for the past year.  But every single time that child gets sick, every time he gets a fever, Lacey has to worry that he is going to get cancer again and possibly die.  She needs your support, Justice.  She needs family, and unfortunately for her, you are all she has.”

His eyes darkening, Justice snarled, “She hunted me down hoping I could do what?  We all have issues, Clint.  I don’t know what that woman needs, but it isn’t me.”

Clint’s fist shot out and connected with Justice’s face knocking him to the ground.  Ignoring the twinge in his chest, Clint yanked Justice back to his feet, swung him around and slammed him into a stall door.  “You bastard,” he hissed.  “Did you not hear what I said?  That woman has never forgotten about you.  She’s been looking for you since way before she had Ethan.  Lacey moved here just to meet you and your family.  She cares about you, although right now I have no idea why.  You’ve been home for weeks.  She just came out yesterday to talk to you because she was worried about you after everything you’ve been through.  Think about it, Justice.  Get your head out of your ass.  Your sister needs you right now.  Your nephew needs you.”  Clint swallowed hard as his eyes misted over.  Letting his hands drop, he turned to walk away.  Stopping, without looking back, he said, “Lacey and Ethan are my life, Justice.  They mean everything to me.” Lowering his head, he rasped, “The woman I love is in so much turmoil and emotional pain right now.  And there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.”

“Holy shit,” Caiden muttered from where he stood.  “I had no idea Ethan was sick.  Lacey’s been going through all of this by herself?  Doesn’t she have any family or friends to help her?”

Glancing back at him, Clint said, “Ethan’s father refuses to have anything to do with him.  Lacey’s mother is dead.  She never knew her father.  Her brother turned out to be a piece of shit.”  Shaking his head in frustration, Clint growled, “The only person she has is me, but trust me, that’s enough.”  Pointing a finger in Justice’s direction he ordered, “You get your shit together, Justice Caldwell.  Be the man I used to know, instead of the sorry excuse of one standing in front of me now.”

Without waiting for a response, Clint left the barn and got in his truck.  He couldn’t stay there any longer without going after Justice again.  That mean, bitter man was not the friend he used to know.  The old Justice would have welcomed Lacey and Ethan with open arms.  What had happened to him to make him the person he had become?

Lacey hung up the phone with Dr. Adams’s office and slipped an arm around Ethan’s shoulders to cuddle him closer.  “I’m okay, Mom,” he said for the third time.  “I’m just kind of tired.”

“I know, Sweetheart,” Lacey murmured as she held him close.  “I just want to get some tests run just to make sure.” 

Ethan sighed, “I don’t like tests, Mom.  Some of them hurt.”

“I know, baby,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”  She hated hurting him, but she needed to make sure the cancer wasn’t back.  “I need to make another phone call real quick, alright Ethan?”  When he nodded, but kept his eyes trained on the television, Lacey gave him one more quick hug before rising and walking into the kitchen. 

Dialing the number to Ethan’s old doctor’s office, she waited for the receptionist to answer.  When someone finally did, Lacey asked, “Can I please speak to Dr. Forbes?  This is Lacey Donovan.”  Despite the doctor’s request, Lacey had only called him a handful of times after they first moved to Serenity Springs.  There was never anything new to report so she did not feel the need to call constantly.  She did regret not keeping in touch with Miriam.  She missed their weekly chats.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Donovan, but Dr. Forbes is out of the office right now.  Can someone else help you?”

“No, I need to talk to him,” Lacey replied.  “Can you please have him call me when he returns?”

“I’m not sure when that will be,” the nurse responded as another line started ringing in the background.  “He took an extended leave of absence to spend time with his wife.  I believe they were going out of the country on vacation.”  The phone started ringing again and the receptionist said “I’m sorry, Ma’am, I need to get that.  Was there anything else you needed?”

“No, no that’s it,” Lacey murmured in confusion.  Why would Michael and Miriam go on vacation for an extended period of time without telling her?  Granted, she had not checked in with them for a couple of months, but Michael was still Ethan’s cancer specialist and he had been the one to insist she keep in contact.  It just did not make sense.

Thanking the nurse, Lacey ended the call and quickly dialed the Forbes’s home number.  After several rings, their answering machine picked up, but when she tried to leave a message, it said the message box was full.  Worried something was wrong, Lacey dialed Miriam’s cell, but it went straight to voice mail.  Her brows furrowing, she tried Michael’s cell, but it also went straight to voice mail.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, Lacey set her cell phone down and contemplated what to do next.  None of it made sense.  She was sure they would not have gone on that long of a vacation out of the country without contacting her first.  Tapping a finger on the table, she finally came to a decision.  Dialing the police station in her old city, she waited several moments before someone answered.  “Can I speak with Detective Flannigan, please?” she asked.  “Let him know it is Lacey Donovan.”  Lacey did not have many friends back home, but she considered Chance Flannigan one of them.  She had worked with the detective on a few things in the past and their business relationship had turned to friendship quickly.  She both liked and respected Chance, and she knew she could trust him.

“Flannigan here,” she heard through the line.  The rough, familiar voice brought a smile to her face.. 

Finally, Lacey thought, someone who could help her.  “Hey, Chance,” she said as she squeezed the phone tighter, “it’s Lacey.  I need a favor.”

“Anything for you, beautiful,” he quipped, and she could hear the grin in his voice.  Chance was a flirt, but that was it.  He never took it any further.  He was focused on his career and did not want a relationship to get in the way of his goals.  Lacey also suspected he’d had his heart broken in the past, but she had never asked. 

“I’m trying to get a hold of some friends of mine, but I can’t seem to track them down,” she said.  After explaining the situation to him, she asked, “Is there any way you can help me?  I’m really worried about them.”

“I wouldn’t do this for anyone else, Lacey,” Chance responded, “but I was just heading out to get some lunch and their address isn’t too far from here.  I’ll go see what I can find out.”

“Thank you so much, Chance,” Lacey said.  “I really appreciate it.  I can’t do anything from this far away.”

“No problem, Lacey.  I’ll call you back when I find out something.”

Looking at the clock, Lacey saw that she still had a couple of hours before lunchtime, so she decided to rest with Ethan on the couch.  As she rose from the table, there was a knock on her front door.  Smiling brightly at the thought of seeing Clint again, Lacey checked on Ethan before going to answer the door.  Opening it, the smile froze on her face.  Frowning, she asked, “What are you doing here?  I’ve been…” before she could get anymore out, she felt a sharp prick in her neck and she gasped.  Staring at him in betrayal, she breathed, “It was you.  You killed those women,” just before she fell to the floor.

Clint knocked on the door for a third time, but again there was no answer.  Where the hell was Lacey?  She was supposed to be there waiting for him.  Trying the doorknob, he was surprised when it turned easily and he opened the door.  “Lacey,” he called out before stepping inside and shutting the door behind him.  “Lacey, are you ready for lunch?”  Still no answer.

Stepping forward, Clint stiffened when his foot connected with Lacey’s cell phone and sent it skidding across the hardwood floor.  Closing the distance between himself and the phone quickly, he bent to pick it up.  Glancing into the living room, his heart sped up when he saw the overturned coffee table.  Running through the house, he called for Lacey and Ethan, but there was no response.  Clutching Lacey’s cell phone tightly in his hand, he pulled his own phone out and dialed Creed’s cell.  The minute Creed picked up, Clint was talking.  “I’m at Lacey’s house, Creed.  You need to get over here now.  Someone took both Lacey and Ethan.  They’re gone!”

“Slow down, Clint,” Creed told him.  “How do you know they didn’t just go to lunch or something?”

Looking around the house and spotting Lacey’s purse on the counter where she had placed it the night before, he whispered, “Trust me, Creed, someone has them.”

“I’m on my way,” Creed promised.  Clint could hear him yelling at someone in the background and then he came back on the line.  “Jace and Cody are in the area.  They will be there in five minutes.  Katy and I will be there within ten.”

Clint disconnected the call and went to wait impatiently on the front porch.  He wasn’t a cop, but he knew enough to know that he should not mess with anything inside the house, because somewhere there could be some kind of evidence leading them to whoever had taken Lacey.  A cop car pulled into the driveway in just under five minutes.  No sooner had the deputies gotten out of their car and made their way to where Clint stood, then Creed and Katy pulled in the driveway.  Clint waited for them all to make their way to him before opening the front door and gesturing inside.  “The house was silent when I got here.  I knocked three times.  Lacey was supposed to be waiting for me so we could decide what to do for lunch,” he explained.  “I know she would not have gone anywhere without me because Ethan was sick last night and she wanted to keep him inside today.  Not only that, but her purse is still on the kitchen counter.”  Handing Lacey’s phone to Katy, he continued, “I accidentally kicked this when I let myself into her house.  It was on the floor just inside the doorway.  Also, the coffee table in the living room has been knocked over.  That’s all I can find here.  I’ve looked all over the house.”

Clint heard a car door slam and glanced hopefully out the front door.  Ryder, Justice, and Caiden were coming toward them. “What are they doing here?” he growled.

“I called Ryder,” Katy told him.  “He’s a deputy now, and we need him.”  Looking at her other brothers, she shrugged, “I have no idea why the other two are here.”

“We are here because Lacey is family,” Caiden said as he took the porch steps two at a time.  “Fill us in.”

Clint didn’t give a shit who was there or why, he just wanted Lacey and Ethan back.  He had just finished explaining everything again when Lacey’s cell phone rang.  Raising an eyebrow, Katy answered it on speaker phone, “Hello.”

“Lacey?” a male voice questioned gruffly.  “Is that you?  We got a problem here, girl.”

“No, this is not Lacey,” Katy replied tersely.  “This is Deputy Katy Caldwell with the Serenity Springs Police Department.”  There was a brief silence and then the voice on the other line started cussing a blue streak. 

“Who the hell is this?” Creed demanded loudly, interrupting the man.  “I have an investigation going on here, and if you know anything about it, you better talk.”

“Fuck,” the man growled.  “This is Detective Chance Flannigan.  I’m a friend of Lacey’s.  She called me a couple of hours ago and asked me to look in on some friends of hers here in Nebraska because she couldn’t get a hold of them.  A Dr. Michael Forbes and his wife, Miriam.  I took an early lunch and stopped by their house.  No one answered the door, but I had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right.  Long story short, we found probable cause and were able to get in the house.  Miriam Forbes was tied up on the floor in the basement and looked like she’d been there for a while.  The poor woman was tortured and killed.  We found no sign of Michael Forbes.”

Looking up at them, Creed snarled, “I know where the son of a bitch is.  He’s terrorizing my town, and now he has Lacey and her son.  Do you have any idea how we can find this bastard?”

“I don’t,” Chance responded, and they could hear yelling in the background.  “Look, I have to go take care of this mess here. I’ll call you back if I come up with anything.”  There was a pause and then, “Please keep me informed.  Lacey is a friend of mine.  I would be on my way there to help if I didn’t have this to deal with.” 

Ending the call, Creed looked around the room.  “Jace, get the forensic kits out and go over this place with a fine-tooth comb,” he ordered roughly.  “Katy and Ryder, he has to have somewhere he is staying while he is stalking our town.  We didn’t know who we were looking for before, now we do.  Get a picture of the guy.  He’s a doctor.  He will be on the Internet.  Find him.  Go to all the hotels, bed and breakfasts, any place you can think of within a fifty mile radius, and see if anyone has seen him.  Justice and Caiden, start walking the streets in town with a picture.  Find out if he’s been seen around here.  I don’t give a fuck who knows what we are doing.  Find him,” Creed ordered.  “Cody, you are with me. We will check all of the abandoned areas we can think of. He had to have taken them somewhere.”

“What about me?” Clint asked hoarsely.  “I have to do something, Creed.”

“I need you here,” Creed told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.  “I know you hate that, but someone needs to be here just in case she makes contact on the home phone.”

“Jace is here for that,” Clint protested.  He knew he was being unreasonable, but he could not help it.  He needed to be doing something.  Anything.

“I can’t have you out there, Clint,” Creed said quietly.  “Stay here.”

Swallowing hard, Clint nodded in agreement and left them to wander into Ethan’s room.  Sitting on the child’s bed, Clint lowered his head and began to pray.  Ethan may not be his son by blood, but he had loved that little boy for months.  In his heart, Ethan was his.  Finally raising his head, Clint reached out and picked up Ethan’s light blue blanket that Lacey said he insisted on sleeping with.  Holding it close to him, Clint froze when he heard a soft whimper.  Clint waited impatiently as he strained to hear it again. 
There!
  Jumping up, Clint ran to Ethan’s closet and yanked open the door.  Dropping to his knees, he pulled the little boy hiding all of the way in the back of the closet out and into his arms.  Rocking him back and forth, Clint let the tears fall unchecked down his cheeks.  “I’ve got you, little man,” he whispered as he held Ethan close.  “You’re safe now.  I’m here.”

Ethan sobbed loudly as his little arms encircled Clint’s neck.  “Mommy,” he cried, “Dr. Forbes took her and he’s going to hurt her.”

Rubbing a hand soothingly up and down Ethan’s back, Clint told him, “We are going to find her, Ethan.  I promise.”

“Thank God,” Katy said from the doorway.  Clint glanced in her direction and was not surprised to see her brothers crowded behind her.  As they filled Ethan’s bedroom, Clint lifted the boy up and carried him over to the rocking chair by his bed.  Sitting down, he cuddled Ethan close as he asked softly, “Do you have any idea where Dr. Forbes took your mommy, Ethan?  Did you hear anything?”

Ethan scrubbed at his tears with his little fists before answering haltingly, “I don’t know.  I got scared when I saw Mommy fall down.  I ran and hid behind the couch. He was yelling for me and was mad, but I stayed really quiet.  When he picked Mommy up and carried her out the door, I watched him take her into the woods, but I was afraid he would come back.  I hid in my closet like Mommy said I should if a bad person ever came to our house.”

Clint’s gaze flew to Creed’s.  The bastard had taken Lacey into the woods, which meant they had gone out the back door.  Lacey’s property backed up against the tree line.  Clint wasn’t very familiar with the neighborhood Lacey lived in, so he had no idea where the man could be headed. 

“Get out back,” Creed ordered immediately, as he scanned the wooded area from the window in Ethan’s room. “Find me something to go off of.  Now!”