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TWO

The call from Kent had Collin dressed and heading toward Rebecca’s house in mere moments. He saw her when he pulled up and parked. She was sitting in the ambulance as a forensics team cleaned beneath her nails. As he neared her, the ugly bruises around her neck were just starting to form, to go along with the ones on her face. She looked pale and weak, but he knew she wasn’t. She’d survived this attack by fighting back and that took courage and strength. She’d always been strong—the strongest woman he’d ever known. She’d defied her father to be with him and that had taken real courage.

She glanced up and saw him and tears sprang to her eyes. His own rush of emotion nearly toppled him and an anger flashed through him that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Then the guilt washed over him. He should have stayed, offered to sleep on the couch, and if she’d refused his offer, he should have slept in his car outside. He would have been there to protect her, to see when some nutjob broke in and tried to harm her.

Kent approached him and Collin shook his hand. “Thanks for calling me.”

“I figured you would want to know. She’s okay, not seriously hurt. She put up a good fight, even got us some possible DNA by scratching his face.”

“Do you know who did this?”

“No, he wore a mask and was gone when the first car responded. We’re canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything suspicious and Forensics is back inside processing the house. We’ll find something.”

He spotted them closing the ambulance doors and after a moment the vehicle drove away with her inside. Collin walked into the house and followed Kent into the bedroom, where a team was already working. There was clear evidence of a struggle—the lamp broken on the floor and blood on the carpet, blankets in disarray. She’d fought for her life in this room. Three attacks in less than twelve hours. He shuddered at the thought.

He’d seen evil before, more times than he could count, but this was personal. This was his Rebecca who had been attacked. He turned and walked from the scene, his stomach roiling with anger and guilt.

Kent followed him. “You okay, Collin?”

He wasn’t, but he would be once he tracked down whoever was after her. “I’m going to the hospital to make certain Rebecca is okay.”

He couldn’t even allow himself to think about what could have happened here tonight. He’d failed her years ago when she’d needed him most. He’d promised to provide for her and for the baby, but he hadn’t been able to. He’d struggled as a young man fresh out of high school to find work that would support a wife and a child. He still recalled the feeling of helplessness knowing that he couldn’t even keep the lights on regularly. And when she’d lost the baby, he’d lost her. She’d closed up and he was certain she knew the mistake she’d made in marrying him.

He could never recover from those failures of his youth, but he couldn’t just walk away knowing she was in danger. She was in trouble and he now had the skills to keep her safe.

He turned back to Kent. “Can you place a deputy at the hospital for her safety?”

“We’re short-staffed,” Kent told him. “I’ll never get the sheriff to authorize around-the-clock protection, especially when he knows her father has the money to hire someone.”

Her father. Collin hadn’t considered that. He was surprised Bob Mason hadn’t already hired someone to protect her if he knew she was in danger. But as he looked at Rebecca’s house, he had to wonder what he knew. It was a modest home, a surprise to him. She’d grown up in opulence, living in one of the biggest homes in town. Her parents had always had money and she’d been denied very little in her life. He was one of only a few things they’d tried to deny her. He’d expected her to at least live in a fashionable condo or a higher-class neighborhood. Even the car he’d seen her getting into, a simple Toyota Camry, seemed modest. It was a far cry from the BMW convertible she’d gotten for her sixteenth birthday. Was it possible she was estranged from her dad? Had he cut her off? Because of him and the six months they’d spent together after running off to get married? No, from what he gathered from Rebecca today, if she and her father were no longer close, it was because she was the one who’d done it.

All he knew was that it couldn’t be a coincidence he was in town at the same time Rebecca was in trouble. Collin hadn’t always put much faith in God, but He had to be the reason for this reconnection with Rebecca. Collin couldn’t leave town until he knew she was safe.

He followed the ambulance to the ER and sat in the waiting room while the doctors examined her. A nurse approached him. “Sir, are you here with Rebecca Mason?”

He stood. “I am. How is she?”

“She has a mild concussion and some bruising but she’s fortunate there were no greater injuries. You can go back to see her for a few minutes.”

He followed the nurse to a room, then pushed open the door. Rebecca was sitting up in a hospital bed, but her skin was pale and dark circles had formed around her eyes. It pained him to see how small and frail she looked and his first instinct was to pull her into his arms and hold on to her. He shoved away that thought and slid a chair to her bedside.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her, unable to stop the impulse to reach for her hand.

She didn’t pull it away. In fact, she clasped his, her long fingers cool to the touch. “I’m okay. Just shaken up.”

“That’s twice today someone has tried to hurt you, Rebecca. Three, if you count the threatening message. I’m sorry. I should have stayed with you.”

“This is not your fault, Collin. You had no idea this would happen.”

“I should have suspected something.”

“You can’t blame yourself for everything, Collin. Not everything in life is your fault.”

He looked up at her and they both seemed to realize how easily they’d slipped into matters of the past. She knew him so well, but this time, he was certainly at fault for not protecting her.

Suddenly, he felt awkward being there with her. She needed rest and time to recover from the attacks. “I’ll go now and let you get some sleep.” He stood but she didn’t release his hand. He glanced back at her.

Tears filled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here,” she told him.

He was confused. Should he leave or stay? His heart urged him to remain by her side, but he wasn’t sure that was for the best. She was injured and concussed, wasn’t thinking properly, and he didn’t want to take advantage of that. And she’d been clear earlier at the house that she didn’t want him around.

Thankfully he didn’t have to choose. The door to her room opened and a nurse walked in. “That’s long enough. The patient needs her rest.”

Their moment was broken and their time together over. “I should go. I hope you feel better soon, Rebecca,” he said as he headed for the door.

He shouldn’t have remained so long and he never should have gone back there to see how she was. He should have gotten into his car and gone about his business once the ambulance had taken her away. Only, she was his business—at least she had been—and even though he knew they could never be together again, he didn’t want to live in a world without Rebecca Mason in it.

* * *

Rebecca pushed back the blanket and got up, intending to get her clothes and get out of here. She wasn’t safe and she had to let Missy know what was happening, but she had to be smart. She couldn’t lead these people to Missy or they would both be in danger.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the nurse asked.

“I’m leaving. I’ll sign whatever papers I need to sign, but I have to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

She was about to yank out the IV when the nurse clamped her hand down on Rebecca’s arm, her fingers digging into her skin. Rebecca looked up and saw nothing but contempt in the woman’s face. “I said you’re not going anywhere,” the nurse insisted again. This time, her words had a bite to them—more bite than Rebecca would have expected from a nurse trying to stop a patient from leaving against medical orders. The woman stood like a brick wall between her and the door, and the determination in her face was evident. “Get back in that bed.”

But she wasn’t going to be pushed around. She had to get to Missy. “I’m leaving,” she said again.

Only this time, the woman grabbed her arm and twisted it, causing Rebecca to cry out and fall to her knees. The nurse leaned over her and warned, “You’re not going anywhere, Rebecca. You’re never going anywhere again.”

The hatred in her face frightened her and Rebecca knew something was very wrong. This couldn’t just be about her leaving. The nurse grabbed her other arm and shoved her to the bed, then grabbed her feet and slung her into it, pinning her down with her body. Rebecca struggled to get free but the woman was too big and strong for her to get loose. The nurse pulled restraints from her pocket and managed to get Rebecca’s hands clamped down, then moved to her feet. Rebecca frantically pulled at them, trying to get loose. She screamed for help and kicked and dodged, but this woman wasn’t fazed. She must have done this a hundred times before.

“What are you doing?” Rebecca asked as the woman pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected it into Rebecca’s IV. “What is that?”

She leaned over her and sneered. “Just a little something to shut you up. You should have listened to the warnings we sent you in those notes,” she said. “Now, you’ll go to sleep and never wake up. It’ll look like you suffered a heart attack from your previous injuries.”

Rebecca jerked, realizing what this was. Murder! Was this woman even a nurse here, or was she posing as one to kill her?

“Someone help me!” she cried, aiming her voice toward the doorway.

The nurse laughed. “No one is coming to save you, Rebecca. As far as the nurses are concerned, you’re just another out-of-control patient that had to be restrained. By the time anyone checks on you, it’ll be too late.”

She turned on the television, adjusting the volume so that it was loud, then pulled the cord that ran from the nurse’s call button to the bed out of the wall and dropped it to the floor out of reach. She turned and walked out, switching off the lights as she left.

When the door swung shut and the room went dark, terror rushed through Rebecca. The first effects of the drug the nurse had injected into her began to appear. The room started spinning and her legs and arms lost their will to fight. But she couldn’t give up. If she fell asleep, she was dead. She had to keep struggling until someone heard her.

She pulled at the restraints, forcing herself to keep going. Her life began to flash through her mind, specifically her life with Collin and the image of what could have been if only she’d been stronger and more committed. If only she hadn’t lost the baby.

Nausea rolled through her. Her body wanted to give in to the drug, but her mind continued to fight. She didn’t want to die. Her right hand at last slipped through one of the restraints and she was able to sit up a bit to loosen the other. But the call button on the floor was unplugged and useless. She loosened the restraints on her feet and forced her legs to move. They did, slipping over the side of the bed, but when she tried to stand, they wouldn’t support her and she fell, hitting the floor with a thud. Pain shot through her. She cried out but even she knew her cries were weak and would never reach past the closed doorway.

She was going to die right here in this room and no one would know.

God, where are You? Why had He left her and allowed so many terrible things to happen to her?

And where was Collin when she needed him?

She couldn’t even voice those questions as the darkness pulled her away.

* * *

Leaving Rebecca’s side had been difficult, but the decision to remain at the hospital was a no-brainer. Collin planted himself in the waiting room. He had a direct view of her room and he wasn’t leaving the hospital until he knew she was safe. His cell phone rang and he answered it and heard Kent’s voice.

“Are you at the hospital? How is Rebecca?”

“Aside from a concussion, the nurse said she would be fine. I’m going to hang around for a while to make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s definitely crossed some dangerous people and if today’s attacks prove anything, it’s that they mean business. I’ll swing by there as soon as I’m finished at her house.”

“I’ll be here,” Collin told him.

Deciding to check on Rebecca again, he pushed open the door to her room and poked his head inside but didn’t see her. She was supposed to be resting, but the bed was empty. He was about to go find the nurse when he spotted something on the floor by the bed. He stepped back inside. It was a foot poking out from beneath the bed.

His heart dropped and he ran around the bed. Rebecca was on the floor unconscious. The nurse’s call button was on the floor beside her, useless. He ran to the door and swung it open. “I need help in here!” he hollered toward the nurses’ station then ran back to Rebecca.

He kneeled beside her and felt for a pulse, his heart hammering against his chest. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

A nurse hurried into the room and felt for a pulse, then reached over the bed and pressed an emergency button. Moments later, a team of people rushed in.

Collin was pushed aside as they lifted her to the bed and began working on her. Panic filled him. She looked so still and lifeless. He’d seen death, been around it, even caused it before, but seeing Rebecca this way staggered him.

“I need you to go wait in the family waiting area,” the nurse who’d arrived first instructed him. “We’ll find you when we know what’s happening.”

He didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave her, but the nurse nudged him from the room and closed the door. He stood there a few moments then stumbled to the waiting area and fell into a chair. He put his head in his hands.

His instinct was to pray, but he didn’t even remember how. All he could do was cry out in his heart to God not to allow death to take her. It wasn’t fair that he’d bumped into Rebecca today, gotten to see her again, only to have her snatched away.

After what seemed like an eternity, the nurse appeared in the doorway. Two security guards followed her.

“How is she?” Collin asked.

“She’s stable for now but I need you to remain here. These guards will stay with you. The police will be coming to question you soon.”

“The police? Why?” He could see her hesitancy to tell him anything. “Please, what’s happening?” He mentally kicked himself. Why had he left her tonight?

“Miss Mason regained consciousness long enough to tell us a woman was in her room and injected something into her IV. We’re treating her and the police have been contacted. They’re on their way.”

Collin shuddered. Another attack? That made three in one day. She should have been safe here in the hospital, just as she should have been safe at her home, but someone was determined to keep her silent about whatever it was she knew about the missing girl.

Only minutes later, Kent arrived looking as tired and rattled as Collin felt. “What happened here?” he asked. “I was on my way when I got the call about a possible poisoning?”

“I don’t know the details. All I know is I entered her room to see her and she was on the floor unconscious. The nurse said she’d been injected with something. Rebecca told her a woman was in her room.”

“These people aren’t messing around. I’m having those threatening notes sent to the lab for prints. Hopefully we can pull some off them.”

The same nurse that had given him the brush-off approached Kent and relayed what had happened. “She was apparently injected with some kind of drug but it’s not charted and no one is admitting to going into her room or giving her anything. In fact, the doctor had ordered a CT scan and we were waiting for them to come take her. She shouldn’t have been receiving any medication until that was complete. We gave her a drug that counteracts most narcotics and she’s stable now.” She glanced at Collin. “If you hadn’t found her when you did, she probably would have died.”

Earlier, this nurse had treated him like a suspect. He felt vindicated but couldn’t dwell on that. She didn’t know him and had been right to be suspicious of everyone, yet saving Rebecca’s life seemed to have garnered him less suspicion by this nurse. Plus, Rebecca had said a woman attacked her. Collin turned to Kent. “Three attempts on her life in one day. Are you sure your boss can’t authorize a guard by her door?”

Kent rubbed his face. “I’ll check into it.”

The nurse continued. “In the meantime, hospital security will be placed at her door. No one will go in or out of that room without permission from me and that includes any service personnel or housekeeping.”

“Thank you,” Collin stated, grateful for her diligence. “May I see her now?”

She nodded. “Sure. She’s out of danger but she’s sleeping. I’d say she’s just plain worn out from the day’s events.”

As Collin headed for Rebecca’s hospital room, he heard Kent tell the nurse he wanted to see all her records and wanted a list of all people who’d been in and out of her room. Good. He hoped Kent’s investigation would lead to something concrete, something that would identify the person or people trying to hurt Rebecca.

He stepped inside her room and his heart broke as he saw her lying so frail on the bed. He shuddered, remembering those letters and the way he’d found her sprawled on the floor. But at least she was breathing okay now. He slid into a chair and watched her, listening to her steady breathing. He wasn’t leaving her side again, at least not until he knew what was going on and why someone was trying to kill her.

* * *

Rebecca awoke in a panic and tried to sit up. Pain ripped through her back and she gasped, causing Collin, who was sitting beside her bed, to jump up.

She grabbed his arm. “That woman! She held me down! She—she—”

“I know, I know. She’s gone now.”

Sobs racked her and she fell into his embrace. As he held her, she noticed the bruises darkening on her wrists and recalled the horror of being restrained by that monster who’d attacked her.

“You captured her?”

She saw by the grim expression on his face that they hadn’t. “Kent is reviewing camera footage with hospital security, but there’s no camera with an angle on this room. No one saw anyone coming or going.”

The contempt she’d seen in the woman’s face flashed through her mind and anger bristled through her. “So she gets away with nearly killing me?”

“She won’t, Rebecca. Do you remember what she looked like? What she was wearing?”

Rebecca could never forget her face. “She was wearing scrubs. Her name tag said Mary. She was here when you left. You don’t remember seeing her?”

He shook his head. “I guess I wasn’t paying that much attention to the staff. I’m sorry. I should have been. I mistakenly thought you would be safe here.”

“It’s not your fault, Collin. She was a tall, heavyset woman. I tried to fight her, but she pinned me down. I couldn’t move. She injected me with something and said by the time anyone found me, it would be too late.”

He squeezed her hand. “It wasn’t. I found you in time.”

She stared up into his green eyes and felt a rush of gratitude for this man. “You came back for me? I thought I was going to die, really going to die this time.” She wiped away several tears that rushed down her face. She didn’t want Collin to see her cry, but she wasn’t sure she could stop it.

“Kent is sending those threatening letters to the lab. I wish you’d given them to him when you first started receiving them.”

She should have gone to the police with the letters, but they hadn’t been particularly helpful when Missy had disappeared. She’d assumed they wouldn’t be any more helpful about anonymous notes. And she hadn’t been able to convince herself, truly convince herself, that her suspicions were anything more than suspicion and speculation.

Until now.

Until Missy had shown up at her door two days ago.