Taken by Tuesday

Chapter Twelve



He took it back . . . the first fifteen minutes in the lobby held nothing on the last forty-five. Rick had barely made it into the crowded waiting room to talk with Zach and Karen before the nurse followed him out to retrieve Karen. In hushed tones, Kim told them Judy agreed to a sexual assault exam because of the time she had been unconscious.

By the time Neil arrived in the ER, Zach and Rick were doing their best caged-animal impressions. They finally moved to the outside where they couldn’t scare the small children.

“I don’t think the media has wind of this yet,” Neil told them. “The garage is swarming with police. Once word got to them about whose sister Judy was, the team doubled.”

“Are there any cameras in the garage?”

“Only by the exit and the elevators.”

“Will we be able to view the tapes?”

Neil stood taller. “Remember Dean Brown? He worked on Eliza’s case.” Dean was a detective and connected to Gwen, Eliza, and Samantha. If strings could be pulled, he’d be the one to do it. “Dean’s working with the locals. Being a pseudo-father to the first lady of the state had its advantages. We should have something to look at in the next few hours.”

Zach reached for his phone. “I should call Mike and my parents.”

“Hey.”

They all turned around and found Karen, ghost white and stoic, standing in the automatic doors of the emergency room lobby.

Rick approached her first.

Karen shook her head. “She wasn’t. He didn’t.”

Rick held on to the wall beside him to stay standing. Thank God.

Zach slid a hand around his wife’s waist to hold her up. “Can we go in?”

“Yeah, but just for a few minutes. The stitches took longer than the doctor thought they would. This bastard carved into her arm.”

Rick remembered the bandage on her arm, but assumed it was scrapes from the garage floor.

“What?”

Karen turned her wrist up and made an X over the underside of her arm. “Could be a letter or just slash marks. One cut rather deep and it started to bleed a lot when the doctor started cleaning it.”

Rick turned to Neil. “I want this bastard.”

Neil clasped his shoulder. “We’ll get him.”

It was a promise, one Rick would hold his friend to.



Nightmares plagued her sleep. Memories, images, and the feeling of a stranger’s hands on her body threatened to rob her sanity. The first time she woke, Karen was at her side, the next her mother was there holding back her hair when the food they’d given her the night before emptied into a basin.

Much later, the pasty film in her mouth had her lips sticking together when she uttered the word water. Somewhere in the night, she’d been transferred into a larger room with more monitors and more IVs going into her.

Meg scrambled to her feet when Judy woke.

“Hey . . . here.” Her best friend looked like she’d slept in a chair. Meg offered her a pale orange cup with a straw. “Just a sip.”

It only took a sip to make her stomach reject the fluid. The passing of time was evident, yet she didn’t remember any of it.

“You’re not in New York.”

Meg tilted her head. “You know who I am?”

Judy’s swollen right eye made her wince when she smiled. “Of course. That’s a stupid question.”

“You didn’t yesterday. Oh, Judy. We’ve been so worried.”

“What? I remember leaving the ER, then I fell asleep.”

Meg held one of Judy’s hands in both of hers. “You fell asleep and didn’t want to wake up. They did a second CAT scan and found a little swelling.” She patted the side of her head. “The doctors brought you up here and said we just needed to wait.”

“Up here?” She looked around the room.

“ICU.”

That explained the amount of medical equipment, the glass doors. “Is my mom here? I remember her being here.”

“She is. Everyone is.” Meg choked up. “I called your cell on Saturday. When Rick answered, I was all laughing . . . happy that you two hooked up. Then he told me what happened. God, Judy. I’m so sorry.”

Though her friend cried, Judy couldn’t feel the tears. She knew if she started to shed them, she’d never stop. “I’m OK, Meg.”

Meg swiped at the tears under her eyes, a pathetic smile followed. “I told the nurse I’d let her know when you woke.”

Judy stopped her before she left the room. “Meg. What day is it?”

“Monday. Almost four in the afternoon.”

The bastard took more than twenty minutes. He took two days of my life.

A slow, steady stream of people visited her once the nurse managed a few tasks. Her parents were first, both had swollen eyes and heaps of remorse. She assured them she was going to be fine. Her dad never wanted her to go to LA, wanted her home in nowhere, Utah, where she could find the right man, settle down, and raise a few kids. She couldn’t offer her dad anything other than a repeated statement of, “I’m fine.” The lie came to her lips freely.

When Mike walked in the door, she met him with a frown. “What? Aren’t you supposed to be making all the women happy in another country?”
     



Mike offered a smile, even though his eyes told her he didn’t feel it. “You’re the only woman I’m thinking about right now.”

She accepted his hug. “I’m OK, Mike.”

“Really? Yesterday you were doing an Exorcist remake. I’d have made a YouTube video if I needed the money.” His eyes were smiling a little now.

When Judy laughed, her skin stretched over the swelling on her face. “It hurts to laugh. Stop.”

“I was born to entertain, sis. Can’t help it.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I needed that.”

“What, the snarky Exorcist comment? I’m serious. You kept telling me to put the toilet seat down. Scared the crap out of me. To which the toilet seat was down.”

She laughed and pain rattled her entire body. “Stop.”

“How are you feeling?”

The lie was there. “I’m fine. Only hurts when I laugh.”

Zach and Karen made their way in with her younger sister, Hannah, at their heels. There were equal parts happiness to see her awake and to find her comprehending their words and concern.

At some point, the doctor made an appearance and asked that everyone leave. Her lack of appetite told him she still wasn’t ready to leave the observation of the ICU. She might be making sense but they wanted to keep her another night at a higher intensity of care until they saw a clear CAT scan and a return of her desire to eat.

Karen and Meg returned to the room after the doctor left. “You don’t need to stay,” she told them.

Meg snuggled into her chair and flipped on the TV. “I told Rick I was going to be here until he returned.”

“And I’m Meg’s ride,” Karen offered.

“Where is Rick?”

Karen and Meg exchanged glances. “He and Neil are investigating the guy who did this to you.”

No one had even mentioned the assault since she woke. It was as if an act of God had placed her in the hospital.

“Do they have anyone yet?”

Karen shook her head. “No. The videos didn’t show anything.”

“Videos of what?”

“The garage had some surveillance videos. Not a lot, but some. The man who found you didn’t see anyone running away,” Meg said.

“They’ll find him,” Karen told her. “Gwen told me they’ve mobilized a small task force. They’ll find him.”

She couldn’t think about any of that right now. Her body hurt too much, her head was ready to explode with every brain cell used on the man who did this to her.

“I assume someone told my boss where I am.”

“Are you kidding? The police have talked with just about everyone in your building who might have been there Friday night,” Meg told her.

“No one was in the office when I left.”

“Well, the police closed the parking lot all weekend and have questioned everyone from the security guards in the lobby to your boss.”

“I’m not complaining,” Judy said, “but I’d imagine women are abused in a city this size every day. Why are they working so hard on this for me?”

Karen twisted the blinds to curb the direct light of the setting sun. “There is the Neil and Rick factor.”

“What factor is that?”

“Marines. Those two aren’t going to rest until the man who did this is behind bars.”

Even in pain, Judy felt her insides warm to know Rick cared enough to work hard to find the man behind her pain.

“Then there is the Eliza factor.”

“I hardly know Eliza.” They’d met a couple of times. Yeah, it was impressive to meet the governor and his wife. To know that Karen and Eliza were good friends was a nice perk.

“But I do know Eliza. She and Carter take it personally when someone in their circle is hurt.”

“I’m not in their circle.”

Karen offered a small smile. “You are, hon. Sometimes family isn’t about the people you’re born to, but those who care enough about you to support you . . . or pull a few favors to help right a wrong for someone you know. What happened to you was beyond wrong. Getting this dirtbag off the street is a public safety concern for everyone. The fact that the governor has a direct line to you makes this a priority.”

“Don’t question it,” Meg told her. “You just need to get better so we can both move back into Michael’s house.”

“Wait . . . you’re not there? Where are you staying?”

Meg bit her bottom lip. “Oh, well . . . either with Karen and Zach or at the Tarzana house. Everyone thought it was best.”

“Why?”

“They never found your purse. We changed the key codes and locks, but we thought it was best that no one was there alone until after this guy is caught. There are two extra rooms at the Tarzana house.”

“Not that you need to think about that,” Karen said. “You’ll stay with us when they let you out of here.”

“That’s crazy. The commute to work would take hours.”

Karen and Meg just stared at her.

“What?”

“You’re thinking about work?”

She wiggled up in the bed and frowned. “Well, maybe not today.”

Karen waved her off. “No need to think about that now.”

Meg changed the subject. Told her that Lucas and Dan stopped by the night before only to be stopped in the lobby. The media had gotten wind of the assault. Now that Mike roamed the halls of the hospital, they were camped out to gather a statement or two.



Rick was exhausted. The sleep he managed in the past three days rivaled that of some of his missions overseas. It didn’t stop him from turning over the active investigation for a few hours to sleep in an uncomfortable chair by Judy’s bedside, a task he only relinquished to Judy’s mom for a few hours on the second night.

Word had come via Zach that Judy was awake and making sense. Rick had seen his share of enlisted men with their bells rung to know about concussions. The swelling was minimal, so he knew it was only a matter of time for Judy to come back to them. Not that he was ever more than an hour away at any time.

The investigation was an exercise in frustration. They had little to go on. No eyewitnesses and not one camera that captured even a shadow.

As Rick parked in the now-familiar lot, he shoved his keys in his pocket and looked around. Even the hospital lot had cameras. It helped that there was a hefty fee for parking, which often gave the driver a false sense of security. But in the case of the hospital lot, there was actual uniformed security riding around in golf carts. Not armed security, but at least someone with a uniform and an ability to call for help.

Rick parked on the third level, the lower two were filled with doctor parking and spaces reserved for special guests. Most of the upper levels cleared out after five. It was nearly seven and the lot was quiet. Much like when Rick roamed the lot where Judy had been attacked, he looked for the cameras and made a point of walking down the stairwell where no cameras were found. Just like that in the garage at Benson & Miller’s.

At some point the day before, one of the investigators from the local police suggested this was a random act or even a simple purse snatching.

Both Neil and Rick caught wind of the conversation and dismissed it. Whoever did this cased the parking lot, knew how to get in and out without detection, and targeted Judy. They roughed her up, but didn’t kill her.

Why?

That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

Why?

The nurse buzzed him in to the ICU, where he walked by the long bank of desks that housed the staff.
     



Before walking in the room, he noticed Judy sleeping in the bed with Karen and Meg watching the TV quietly. He waved them out to talk to them without waking the patient.

“How’s she doing?”

“Better,” Karen offered. “She’s not even stuttering today.”

“She eating yet?” he asked.

“Not much. The doctor thinks by tomorrow her appetite should come back.”

“Good. That’s good. I’ll be here all night. You should both go home and sleep.”

Karen rested a hand on his arm. “You need to sleep sometime, too.”

“I will. That chair in there folds out.”

Meg huffed out a breath. “Hardly enough to fit me. You’re a tad bigger.”

Rick looked down on Judy’s petite friend and winked. “I’ll be fine.”

The girls were too tired to argue.

He slowly moved into the room, sat beside Judy, and just stared at her. The bruising on her face was turning purple and the edges were yellow. Thankfully, the fingerprints of the man who’d held her down were no longer visible.

There was one less IV bag hanging from her bed, but the monitor kept constant surveillance on her vital signs.

She would heal. The body was good that way, but her head . . . that might take a little longer to feel right in the world. He knew from experience the many things that could f*ck with your head and make the world an unsafe place.

He couldn’t imagine how a woman as small and innocent as Judy was going to cope with the aftermath of the past few days.

Rick kicked back in the reclining chair and gently placed his hand under hers. She moved on the bed but didn’t wake. There wasn’t a concern he’d be told to leave. The staff had been told from the moment Judy was admitted that if it wasn’t Rick or Judy’s family at her bedside it would be the local police. The doctors agreed a familiar face was better for the patient.

Rick closed his eyes and willed his own personal demons away. At another time in his life, he sat beside someone he loved and held her hand.

But that was a long time ago, and better off buried.