“Yes,” Rafferty reached for his cellphone and scrolled through his contacts until he found McClain’s number and gave it to him.
“Thanks. This should make my case stronger,” McAdams said. “I’ll let you rest. Do you know when you’ll be getting out?”
“I’m facing surgery. Torn meniscus. That guy did a number on me,” Rafferty said, frowning. “But it’s complicated. I have shrapnel lodged in there, so the procedure isn’t so cut and dry.”
“It doesn’t sound like it. I hope it works out for you,” McAdams said before he left.
Rafferty dozed from the pain medicine and when he woke he found Liberty sitting beside his bed looking worried.
“How long have you been here?” he asked.
“Not too long,” she said. “Asher and I came as soon as I finished my shift at Gunny’s. Are you okay?”
“Torn meniscus.”
“Oh Raff,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am. Justus and Chaney are out there somewhere and here I am stuck in this bed.”
The door to his room opened and Asher came in with two Styrofoam cups. He handed one to Liberty. “Hey man, you have nothing to be ashamed of. We saw the footage from the parking garage of you crawling to get your phone. That was pretty impressive.”
“But you–”
“Forget what I said. I was upset and it was a knee jerk reaction to the news. I, of all people, should know how any assignment can swing without warning,” Asher said. “Like you said, you were ambushed. You saw the two men and were protecting the girls, but when that third guy came out of nowhere and attacked, it could have happened to the best of us.”
“It shouldn’t have happened to me,” Rafferty said. “I’ve been trained …”
“We’ve all be trained,” Asher cut him off, taking off the lid to his coffee and steam wafted over the rim. “But shit happens, and your knee slowed you down. Also, not your fault.”
“It has, and now it’s time to get my sister back,” Liberty broke in. “Rafferty is facing surgery, so he’s out for now. Right?”
“That is what they said in the ER before I was admitted,” Rafferty told them. “I’m waiting for the surgeon to visit me. The shrapnel from my previous injury is causing complications which could prevent me from having a successful repair.”
His cellphone rang and seeing the screen, sighed in relief. “It’s Rawlins.”
He answered. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and calling you.”
“Sorry, but I couldn’t get service for some reason. I don’t know if there was something wrong with my phone or if I was in a bad cell zone,” Rawlins said. “We’ve got a problem, bro.”
Rafferty put his phone on speaker. “What happened. We’re listening.”
“We’re? Oh, hey, Justus, Chaney, sorry I couldn’t get back there sooner, but I was sent on a wild goose chase. That appointment with the pulmonologist was a fake. I drove forty-minutes away to this his damn satellite office location only to find there was no appointment change.” The octave of his voice rising. “Then they made me wait around for half an hour while they tried to figure out who called me. Patients in the waiting room were staring at me. But I didn’t care because I showed their office number in my call log as proof I received a call from their office. Can you believe this. Today, of all days? The only good news is I’m still on the books for the original appointment date.”
“I knew it,” Rafferty said. “I had a feeling when I was crawling across that parking garage that that call was fake.”
“What? What do you mean?” Rawlins said.
“Justus and Chaney aren’t here but Liberty is,” Asher said. “This is Asher. Three men ambushed Rafferty and took the girls. He’s in the hospital facing surgery on his knee.”
“Who’s out there looking for the girls?” Rawlins demanded. “Why are you there if Rafferty isn’t able to search for them?”
“The Colorado Springs PD is searching and have been since it happened,” Asher added. “We’re lucky those guys didn’t kill Rafferty.”
“Until we found you…” Rafferty trailed off. “McAdams took lead on this after I called to inform him what happened.”
“Who’s he?” Rawlins asked.
“The US Assistant District Attorney,” Rafferty said.
