He didn’t say anything, as if he was considering if he really wanted to tell her more about his past. He blew out a breath. “I liked it all right, but my dad was a big-time champion. He put a lot of pressure on me. It was all about winning for him. I just liked the thrill. When he got too involved, I quit and found the same thrill as a Night Stalker and then in fugitive apprehension.”
“And now?”
“Now.” He furrowed his forehead. “Now, the PTSD keeps me pretty grounded. Sure, the arrests we make can be thrilling, but I find that can be a trigger if I don’t remain calm. This jobmeans too much to me to mess up, so I make sure to stay calm. It’s the dreams I can’t control, yet.”
He pressed his lips together and rested his chin on his hands.
“What is it?” She leaned forward, desperate now to hear what he had to say.
He looked up, and that pain she’d seen all along was deeper and penetrating. “I don’t suppose you remember the Montgomery Three Investigation.”
“Yeah, it was all over the news.” She kept her gaze trained on him. “Was that a RED team investigation?”
He nodded, but it was in sad resignation.
“But the girls were never found and the case closed, right?”
He sat up and stiffened his back as if needing to protect himself. “Officially closed, but we never let it go. Kept after it until we had a solid lead. That’s where I was when I got the call about your accident. We were raiding the house of the guy who stole the van the girls were abducted in. He’s admitted to stealing the van but won’t say what he used it for.”
“I’m so sorry. It’s got to be hard not to be able to resolve something as important as finding missing girls.” She wanted to reach out to him, but instead clasped her hands on her blanket. “I’m starting to feel frustrated about this Razo guy. I assume I was very passionate about bringing him in.”
Mack placed his hands on the chair back and looked at them. “If you called me for help, you had to be desperate.”
She leaned down to get him to look at her again. “Were we on bad terms?”
“Bad? No. We just didn’t communicate at all. Hurt too much when we did.”
She tried to remember the pain, but nothing came other than sympathy for the anguish in Mack’s expression.
“And speaking of the investigation,” he said, “I met with the team to hand out assignments.”
She listened carefully as he reviewed them in detail, impressed with how thorough the team had been. “Sounds like you have things covered. So does Harris, and this investigation is well under way even if I’m trapped here.”
He beamed under her praise. “We were wondering if you can think of anyone other than Razo who might want to hurt you.”
She shook her head, the pain receding some. “I spent some time thinking about that but couldn’t up with anyone. I suppose I could be forgetting someone else, yet my gut really says it’s Razo or one of his guys.”
Mack took a long breath and let it out slowly, his frustration nearly palpable. “Are there any places near the accident scene that you’re familiar with?”
She’d given this very question hours of thought today, even consulted a map. “I know the area, but as to a place I would normally visit? Nothing comes to mind.”
“Did you follow the road in both directions on a map to see if anything became clearer?”
She nodded. “I have a college buddy who works at an IT start-up about ten miles out, but otherwise nothing.”
“Would you have gone to see him or her during a workday?”
“Him. Rob, but I don’t see why. He’s helped me with IT info in the past, but gunrunning isn’t likely something an IT guy could help me with.”
“Still wouldn’t hurt to give him a call tomorrow.”
“I was already planning on it.”
He gave a firm nod. “About tomorrow. I’ve already met with the hospital administrator to arrange your transport.”
She appreciated his concern and help. He might be her husband, but they were separated and she didn’t want him to decide things for her. “What if I want to go to the office instead?”
“If there’s something you need from there, we could get it for you.”
