“I guess he would be involved because this botches his case if we don’t get them back,” Rawlins said. “Are you at UC Memorial?”
“Yes.”
“I should be there in ten minutes. We’ll talk about what to do then,” Rawlins said and hung up.
The door to his room opened and a nurse came in with a new bag of IV fluids. “How is my patient doing?” she asked.
“Okay, I guess,” Rafferty said. “Any word on when the surgeon will be by? They said he was going to look at my x-ray and then drop in to discuss my options.”
“He’s down the hall with another one of his patients now. It shouldn’t be too much longer,” she said, with a smile. “Can I get you anything more for pain?”
“I think I’m okay for now,” he said.
“Press the call button if you change your mind. I’ll check back later,” she said before leaving.
“Should we stick around until Rawlins shows up?” Asher asked.
“Yes,” Rafferty replied. “I’ll need you to go with him to hunt for Justus and Chaney.”
“Where do you think we should start?” Asher said. “Have you any idea where Warshafsky might be hiding out in town?”
Rafferty shook his head. “Not a clue, but he has to be close by or his men wouldn’t have kept coming after us since the deposition.”
“Have there been other attacks since the break-in where we were renting?” Liberty asked.
He looked in her direction. “Didn’t Justus tell you that someone tried to snatch For All away from the groomers?”
“No!” Liberty almost spilled her coffee at the news. “We haven’t spoken about it. Was For All hurt?”
“He’s fine,” Rafferty explained. “The man never touched him. He was with the groomer in the back the whole time.”
Liberty sighed. “What a relief. Maybe that is why Justus didn’t let me know. She felt it wasn’t important enough to bother me with, but I still would have wanted to have known.”
Rafferty nodded. “Maybe she didn’t call because she is trying to be more independent. Be more in control. I think that is something she said Dr. Saunders is stressing for her right now.”
Liberty looked down at her coffee. “There’s control and then there’s distancing herself from her family.”
“I’m sure she’ll find a happy medium,” Rafferty said. “Anyway, as far as we know that man may have been acting on behalf of Warshafsky in order to get close to Justus. All attacks have been made toward her, not Chaney,” Rafferty said. He massaged the back of his neck. “Did you know you shot an FBI undercover agent the night of the raid?”
“What?” Liberty exclaimed, jumping up out of her seat. “No way!”
He chuckled at her reaction. “Dan. He’s the one who nicked Asher in the arm to keep his cover from being blown. And you shot him in the chest. But don’t worry. He was wearing a Kevlar vest under his shirt. You didn’t kill him.”
“That’s a relief!” Liberty took a shaky drink of coffee.
Asher grinned. “So, the FBI is involved?”
“According to Dan, they’ve been trying to get Warshafsky for a long time,” Rafferty said.
“You’ve been in touch with him?” Liberty said.
“I have,” Rafferty said. “You know those texts you got from Justus while she was abducted, and screwed up images that were found giving clues as to where Warshafsky was located? That was all Dan’s doing. For All isn’t even a stray he found. He’s a pure breed dog with a tracking chip. As long as Justus keeps him with her, Dan would always know where she was.”
“Damn,” Liberty said, “speaking of For All. Someone needs to go let him out and feed him soon.”
Rafferty nodded. “My keys. They’re in my pants. Do you see a bag in the room?”
Asher went to a slender vertical cabinet, opened the door, and took out a plastic bag from a hook. He took out a pair of pants. “Here,” he said, tossing them to Rafferty.
