Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3) (11 page)

Zack was assailed by the knowledge that, just as he’d failed Gracie twelve years ago, so too had he failed her now. He hadn’t even considered the risk of him seeking her out, doing nothing to cover his tracks. Never had he imagined the lengths this fanatical group would go to in their effort to strike back at DSS.

This would kill Ari. She was so tenderhearted, and the idea that someone had been so grievously hurt because of her . . . Of course it wasn’t her fault. But she wouldn’t see it that way. All she would point out is that until she came into the picture there was no way for her past to touch DSS and those associated with it.

With a curse he reached for his phone again. Where was the goddamn ambulance?

He punched in Beau’s number, willing the other man to answer. He needed Beau to get the word out to the others. They weren’t safe. None of them were. Beau and Caleb would be pissed and they’d lock down their women so neither would be touched by violence ever again. They’d suffered far too much in their young lives. They’d seen more damage and hurt than any ten people would in their lifetimes.

“Beau, we’ve got a problem,” Zack said grimly when the other man answered.

“Talk,” Beau said, his tone immediately matching Zack’s.

“They got to Gracie,” he said, nearly choking on the words. “The goddamn sons of bitches beat her.”

“Whoa, back up. What the fuck?”

Zack closed his eyes in relief when he heard the distant wail of a siren.

“I’ve got to make this quick. The ambulance is almost here. The same people who beat Ari’s biological father to death, the ones who also tortured and killed her biological mother, got to Gracie. Same MO. I found her body outside my apartment. Tag attached to the toe with the same message.”

There was a horrified silence and then Beau’s explosion of curses.

“Is she alive?” Beau asked.

“For now,” Zack choked out, nearly beside himself with worry and grief. “It’s bad, Beau. I don’t know how bad. But she’s breathing. For now. Look, I have to go, but you need to let the others know. And Lizzie. God. Make sure she watches her back. I was with her all night last night. They’re obviously keeping close watch or else how the hell would they tag Gracie so soon after I saw her? Call Dane. Make sure Lizzie is safe. And make damn sure Caleb knows so he can protect Ramie.”

Zack hung up before Beau could respond. The ambulance was right outside his gate and he took his hand away from Gracie with a whispered plea. “Don’t give up, Gracie. Fight. You have to be all right. I can’t lose you again.”

He brushed his lips across her forehead and then surged to his feet so he could direct the medics to where Gracie lay.

TEN

ZACK
paced the floor just outside the exam room they’d taken Gracie to. He’d firmly dug his heels in, refusing to leave her side until one of the nurses gently pointed out that they could do their job much quicker and more efficiently if he wasn’t in the way.

Then she’d guided him to the door and told him he could return the minute the doctor finished his assessment and read the results of her lab tests and X-rays.

He couldn’t even see inside, had no clue what was going on, and that sucked. What if she stopped breathing? What if she died, alone, with no one by her side to tell her she was loved?

He leaned against the wall, rocking his head back to rest, and scrubbed his hands over his face for the third time. His eyes felt like sandpaper. There was a knot in his throat that refused to go away. He couldn’t speak more than a few words before his voice would break and then fall to an emotional, unintelligible tone.

“Zack.”

Zack looked up to see Beau and Caleb a few feet away in the hallway.

“How is she?” Beau asked grimly as he and his brother approached.

Zack threw up his hands in frustration. “I don’t know, damn it! They shoved me out of the room and told me to wait. That was fifteen fucking minutes ago.”

Beau muttered under his breath and Caleb’s face was strained, his expression intense.

Then realizing that the two men were here in front of him, alone, Zack yanked his head up. “Where are Ramie and Ari?” he demanded.

“Safe,” Caleb bit out.

“Ari wanted to come. She was horrified,” Beau said, anger etched on his face and in the twist of his lips. “She was crying when I left her. Jesus. I can’t believe those motherfuckers would beat an innocent woman to prove some goddamn point. And
what
point?”

Caleb shook his head in disgust.

“It’s not her fault,” Zack said fiercely. “It’s mine and mine alone.”

“Bullshit,” Beau said. “It’s not her fault and it’s certainly not yours.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Caleb said. “We have to move forward and we’re going to have to take a more aggressive stance with these fuckers. I—we—all thought they were no longer an issue. They haven’t reared their heads since everything that went down with Ari. I shouldn’t have let it go but I just wanted us all to be able to put it behind us. Especially Ari. But now we’re going to have to switch tactics and go on the aggressive.”

“Fuck yeah,” Beau said. “We need to hunt these assholes down and let them see what it feels like to be used as a punching bag. Jesus. It turns my stomach to think of at least two women they’ve beaten. One of them was killed!”

Zack shuddered, his hands shaking. He curled his fingers into tight balls to alleviate the twitch but he couldn’t prevent the image of Gracie’s bruised, battered body from hurling through his mind.

“I’ve already put Dane on it,” Caleb continued. “Every single man employed by DSS is being put on this job. This agency’s soul focus will be on locating and taking down every single person who had a hand in this. It is our
only
priority.”

“Thank you,” Zack said.

Beau hesitated, searching Zack’s expression for . . .? Zack wasn’t sure, but uncertainty shone in Beau’s solemn gaze.

“What?” Zack asked.

“Were you able to work things out. Before . . .” Beau broke off and lifted his hand toward the door to indicate Gracie.

“No,” Zack whispered. “I went out for a run. I don’t normally run as far. God, I wish I hadn’t. If I’d gotten home sooner maybe I would have caught the fuckers. And she wouldn’t have lain out there in the cold for God knows how long.”

“She was just lying there when you got back?” Caleb asked.

Zack nodded. “My gate’s security pad wasn’t working. But the gate was open. The outside motion-activated lights didn’t work either. When I got to the steps, I saw her on the ground out of the corner of my eye. They just left her there to die!”

“Does your apartment complex have security cameras?” Beau asked.

Zack nodded.

“I’ll get Dane over there to pull what he can. Maybe one of the cameras caught the assholes and we can get an image,” Caleb said.

“I bagged the tag,” Zack said. “I tried to touch it as little as possible. Maybe we can get a print.”

Beau nodded. “We’re reporting this, right?”

“Absolutely,” Zack said firmly. “I’ll take all the help we can get. I want these fuckers, Beau. I don’t care what we have to do in order to nail their asses to the wall, but I want their goddamn blood.”

“Don’t blame you,” Caleb said softly. “If it were Ramie . . .” He shook his head.

Beau’s expression tightened and rage glowed in his eyes. “It was Ari not too long ago and now it’s Gracie. Fuck this. I’m with you, Zack. I want their asses and I’ll do whatever the fuck it takes to take them out. But I think we go with Briggs and Ramirez. This may very well be out of their jurisdiction, but they’re the only two I trust on this and they know the history.”

Zack nodded his agreement. The two detectives had worked with them before and were familiar with the oddities that accompanied DSS’s many jobs. They wouldn’t be met with skepticism over some freakish story about a group of fanatics who targeted anyone they deemed as a threat to their “cause.” Some fucking cause.

The door to Gracie’s room opened and Zack surged forward, every muscle in his body coiled tight. He held his breath, barely able to speak through numb lips.

“How is she?” he demanded.

The nurse smiled at him. “The doctor will be out shortly to discuss her condition, but she’s going to be okay. Nothing life threatening.”

Zack closed his eyes. He staggered with relief and for a moment he weaved, unsteady on his feet. “Thank God,” he whispered.

“Easy there, man,” Beau murmured, grabbing Zack’s arm to steady him.

“Can I be with her now? I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes.

The nurse’s eyes softened. “Of course. After the doctor comes out and discusses her condition, you can go in. She’s woozy and confused though.”

“Why?” Zack instantly demanded.

The nurse held up a hand. “It’s to be expected. She awoke in awful pain so we administered IV medication to make her more comfortable.”

“So she doesn’t have a head injury?” Zack asked hesitantly.

“I’ll let the doctor bring you up to speed on that,” she said. “Oh look, here he is now.”

She stepped away from the door so the doctor had room to get through. Then she hurried away, saying she’d return shortly to check on Gracie.

All three men focused intently on the doctor and some of what they were feeling must have shown on their faces because the doctor hesitated and took a step back, his expression wary.

“How is she?” Zack asked anxiously.

“She’s undergone extensive trauma over ninety percent of her body.”

“Jesus,” Caleb muttered.

Beau swore and Zack clenched his fingers into fists at his sides.

“How bad is it?” Zack asked in a low voice.

The doctor grimaced. “She has a few broken ribs but fortunately she didn’t puncture a lung or another vital organ. As odd as this may sound, the beating appeared to be calculated. As though her attacker intended to do as much damage as possible without her sustaining any mortal injuries. Because as I said she sustained bruising to ninety percent of her body and yet apart from the cracked ribs she has no other broken bones. But some of the bruises are deep and will require careful attention while she’s recovering. She needs to be on strict bed rest for a few days and I can’t stress this enough. She needs to limit her movement to only what is necessary. Someone needs to be with her when she showers or bathes. And she has to take her recovery slowly. There’s no rushing this and no shortcuts. Her body needs time to heal. Period.”

“She won’t lift a finger,” Zack vowed.

The doctor cleared his throat. “I assume the authorities have been contacted? By law we have to report any crime, suspected or real.”

“They’re on their way,” Zack said. “My first priority was getting her to the hospital.”

The doctor nodded. “You did the right thing.”

“Can I see her now?” Zack asked anxiously.

The doctor nodded again. But as Zack started to pass him he stopped him momentarily.

“She must take her recuperation seriously. This isn’t something that will go away overnight. She’s going to hurt very badly for the first several days. It’s imperative that she not suffer any emotional or physical upset during this time. And if I were you, I’d seek out professional counseling for her. After an attack, a common reaction is denial or the victim just wanting to forget about it and make it go away. That’s not healthy and it won’t work. You may have to push her and she likely won’t thank you for it at first, but she needs to accept and work her way through what happened to her.”

“I understand,” Zack said quietly. “I appreciate your efforts, Doctor. And rest assured, she will not have to do anything other than rest and get to feeling better.”

“I’m glad to hear that. And I dearly hope whoever did this to her is arrested immediately.”

The doctor’s expression grew fierce as he said the last and anger blazed in his eyes.

“I’ve been a doctor for twenty years and no matter how many times you think you’ve seen it all and can’t possibly be shocked by what comes through the ER, there’s always another case that leaves me shaking my head and wondering what kind of scum gets his rocks off by beating an innocent woman. Especially in the manner that Miss Hill was. I have no doubt this was a well-measured attack meant to do as much harm as possible without killing her.”

“We know,” Beau said in a savage tone. “And the bastards who did this to her
will
pay. You can take that to the bank.”

“Good,” the doctor said emphatically. “Now I’ll let you see Miss Hill. I’d like to admit her for observation and keep her at least forty-eight hours before I release her. She’ll be moved up to the floor when her room is ready and she’s admitted. Do you happen to have her insurance information? The admitting nurse will need that and her other personal information as well.”

Zack hesitated because he didn’t know anything about Gracie. He knew everything and nothing, or at least what used to be. Who was Gracie
now
? The last forty-eight hours had shattered any illusions he’d had.

“It will be taken care of,” Beau interjected.

The doctor nodded and then stepped away from the door to let Zack pass.

Zack sucked in a deep breath, squared his shoulders and braced himself before walking into the room.

He let out a strangled cry when he saw Gracie lying on the bed, eyes closed but her forehead marred with pain, her features tight and her lips firm in a thin white line. Even at rest, she looked as though she were in horrible pain.

How scared she must have been. If the doctor was right—and Zack had no doubt that he was—she had endured a cold, methodical beating. It hadn’t been done in a rage. No, it had been administered impersonally. She’d been a job to someone. Nothing more.

But she hadn’t known that. How long had she endured the pain? Had she been scared to death they’d eventually get bored and then kill her? Had she prayed for death? God, he hoped not.

He approached the bed hesitantly, his gaze anxiously searching the monitors and instruments. She was being given oxygen but there was no heart monitor. That had to be a positive sign that they weren’t concerned she’d die. But then the doctor had said she’d be fine. Just in pain. That she needed to take it very easy. That was one vow he’d absolutely meant.