He was not his father.
Drennan had told him that, but he’d never really believed it. Until now. Every single decision he’d made to this point had been based on the opposite of what his dad would’ve done, but Harvey had never given himself that much credit. If his mother had dared to defend herself as Drennan had, his father would’ve ensured she wouldn’t have been able to talk for a week. But he’d never let himself put his hands on the mother of his child. On anyone unless it was self-defense. And that… Recognizing that shed a weight from his shoulders he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying for so long. Made him hope there was a chance to fix this. He wasn’t his father. He never would be. Not with Drennan. Not with this baby.
“The woman who was in that room with me.” Harvey clenched the edges of the upper level of the desk. He’d been anidiot to let her walk out of the exam room without him. She’d been abducted by an unknown suspect twenty-four hours ago. Hell, he’d given her his word he’d watch out for her, and only hours later, he’d broken that promise. “Do you know where she went?”
“She’s not here.” One of the nurses filed a folder in one of the cabinets. “She walked out the front doors after…” She cleared her throat. “I haven’t seen her since.”
“Where did she go?” Why did it suddenly feel like he couldn’t take a full breath? “Which direction?”
Shaking her head, the nurse went back to her filing. “I’m sorry. I don’t know.”
Drennan was smart. She knew there was still a chance the man who’d abducted her wasn’t finished with whatever plan he wanted to use her for. She’d go to someone she knew. Her doctor friend. What was her name? “Is Cassidy here? She’s a doctor in the ER.”
“Dr. Duffy?” Another nurse rounded into the station. “No. She’s not on call today.”
Hell. Then where would Drennan have gone? His skin prickled with unease. He’d driven her to the clinic. Without a ride, she would’ve requested a rideshare. But not home. Drennan was an expert in locking down her emotions and feelings to the point they might as well not exist. It was how she’d survived so many years under her mother’s thumb, and as a former trauma physician, she would want to distract herself from sinking into that void. Which meant she’d most likely gone back to work. Alone.
Damn it. There was no guarantee she hadn’t gone home to get as much distance from him as possible. He extracted his phone, scrolling through his received calls list as he headed for the front of the clinic. There was a chance he could catch up to her. That he could fix this. Harvey tapped Dr. Yarrow’s information. It wasafter five. The medical examiner was most likely already home, but this couldn’t wait. The line connected.
“Ranger Knight.” Annoyance bled through the line. “I hope this is important.”
Harvey didn’t have time for small talk. “Have you heard from Drennan?”
Silence took a beat. “No. I assumed she was with you.”
“She was.” He shoved through the clinic’s front doors and out into the parking lot. She wasn’t here. “The autopsy for Ellender Garza. Have you issued your report?”
“I’m still waiting for the toxicology results.” Dr. Yarrow didn’t give him a chance to respond. “What is this about? Where is Drennan?”
Harvey scrubbed a hand down his face as failure ruptured from his insides. The same kind of failure he’d barely recovered from after hearing about his mother’s death. He hadn’t been able to protect her, but he couldn’t fail Drennan. Or the baby. Desperation had him scanning the sidewalks and parked cars. Coming up empty. “I lost her.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rough hands shoved her through the doors.
Drennan barely caught her balance as she was thrust into the exam room. Temperatures dropped on the other side of the doors, sinking through her slacks and T-shirt. All at once, she was aware of the presence at her back, the gun aimed at her head and the fact he’d blocked her from the only exit from the medical examiner’s office. “You.”
Her throat struggled with that single word.
“You’re a hard one to pin down, Dr. Hawes.” He moved into her line of vision, all too familiar and overbearing despite him being around the same height as Harvey. Except the man who’d knocked her unconscious and followed her into the backcountry had aged in a matter of days. The lines around his eyes and mouth had deepened, his cheekbones somehow more sunken. He’d shifted away from the doors, but there was no doubt he would catch her if she made a move he didn’t want. “But I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away.”
“What do you want?” Cold worked down into her lungs. While she’d become accustomed to working in the basement, this was different. Like a warning that forced tremors into her hands.
“I told you before.” Only half of his mouth lifted into a smile. “I need your help. Which one of these refrigerators is holding Ellender Garza?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.” And she didn’t. Dr. Yarrow had been the one to store her remains after the autopsy while sherecovered from the abduction. Now that they had a positive ID for the victim, Dr. Yarrow would’ve ensured her family had been notified of her death. Once the autopsy was complete, they could take custody of the remains. She didn’t even know if Ellender Garza was still here, but Drennan had a feeling his wanting to get to the body wasn’t solely to say goodbye. “I would have to look at the paperwork, but why—”
“She has something I need.” Her abductor collected a scalpel from a selection of tools laid out on one of the rolling carts Drennan spent her time as an assistant sterilizing and organizing for the ME. He seemed to study his reflection in the stainless steel.
Drennan’s fingers ached for something—anything—she might be able to use as a weapon, but he’d positioned her between himself and Dr. Yarrow’s desk. A stapler probably wouldn’t come in handy right now. “We’ve done X-rays and collected her personal items. There isn’t—”
Dread pooled at the base of her spine. There was something Ellender Garza’s killer might want after her death, but the possibility was too much to consider.
His laugh punctured through the haze threatening to disconnect her from her body. He’d moved closer without her realizing, and Drennan took a step back. “You understand now, don’t you?”
“The baby.” Her mouth dried, and it took everything she had not to lift her hand to her own budding baby bump to assure her of the life she and Harvey had created. That nothing could hurt their baby. Giving away that kind of information—exposing her vulnerability—could put her more at risk than the scalpel in his hand. “You want her baby.”
“Well, aren’t you clever?” Pointing the scalpel in her direction, the killer took another step forward. “That baby is thelast link between me and Ellender, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure it can’t lead back to me.”
