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"What was he going to do for money? Did he have a job lined up?"

"He said he would find something, maybe on a construction site or in a bar. Those were the only jobs he'd ever done outside the military. After I spoke to Gary, I tried calling Jack, but his number didn't connect."

"His phone is off. I also tried to reach him."

"I want to help. Is there anything I can do?"

"I'll let you know. When are you getting married?"

"Early July. I found a good guy. He's solid. He doesn't have moods. He doesn't have trauma. And I need someone in my life who will be there when I need him. That wasn't Jack. Even when the job didn't get in the way, he couldn't commit. And I couldn't keep waiting."

"I get it. I'm glad you're happy," he said, as he maneuvered his way through the busy streets of Manhattan.

"I am. One more thing. When Gary said that someone tried to kill Jack, I have to admit the first name that popped into my head was TJ. I know he holds Jack responsible for the loss of his leg. Have you talked to him? Do you think it's possible he's behind this?"

"I haven't spoken to TJ in several months. But he has never said anything to me about wanting to get revenge. Did he say something to you?"

"No. But Jack told me that TJ felt that way. I'm sure that's not what's going on, but I had to say it."

"It's good to look at all the possibilities." As he reached the police precinct, he said, "I need to go. I'll be in touch."

He ended the call, parked the car and then headed inside to speak to Detective Vincent Androtti to see what he'd learned about the bomb in Jack's apartment.

Rachel went into the hospital on Saturday morning, looking for a distraction from her thoughts. Plus, she still had work to do after taking yesterday afternoon off. But her office was too quiet, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Jack. Nor could she stop thinking about Tyler.

Being with him again, getting an apology that she had never thought would come, but also realizing that he wasn't that sorry, had filled her head with complicated thoughts and emotions. She needed to put them aside. She needed to get back to her work, to her life. But she didn't see how that could happen until Tyler found Jack.

She knew he would look for him. Despite his reservations, he wasn't a man to do nothing when a friend's life was at stake, and whatever had happened at the end of their relationship couldn't negate the years that had come before that. Tyler was a fiercely loyal man, and even though Jack might not deserve that loyalty, and Tyler might not want to give it, he wouldn't be able to look away. Especially now that they knew someone had wanted to kill Jack. That was far worse than him disappearing from the hospital. But she had a good idea that those two events were connected.

Forcing those thoughts out of her mind, she went over the latest batch of lab results that had come in for some of her patients, studying the numbers, and making notes on who needed to be called and what medications or follow-up should be done.

Thankfully, that work took her until noon. Then she got up from her desk and walked to the break room to get coffee. As she entered, her senses were assaulted by the spicy aromas coming from the microwave where Lily Chow was taking out the Chinese dumplings she'd brought from home, and also from the table where Andrew Lang was eating Korean barbecue from a popular café down the street from the hospital.

"It smells good in here," she said with a smile. "I was just coming for coffee, but now you're both making me hungry." Andrew was a nurse in the urology department on the third floor, and Lily was a nurse in their internal medicine department. Since the two of them had started dating, Andrew often brought his lunch up to the fifth floor. She thought they were a cute couple. Not that she knew them that well, but they always seemed to be laughing when they were in the break room, and it usually lightened her mood.

"I heard our former patient, Jack Barrone, disappeared the other night," Lily said. "My friend, Mikayla, told me he took off when the fire alarm went off, and no one knows where he went."

She poured herself a cup of coffee, not at all surprised that Lily had heard that story. Hospital staff liked to gossip. In some ways, it made her feel like she was part of a family, like they were all on the same team. "That's what happened," she murmured, not getting into details. She was always very conscious about patient privacy.

"It was chaos that night," Andrew said. "I was on three, and half my patients were freaking out. They wanted to get out of the building, and I had to calm them down, reassure them that we had a protocol that would keep them all safe. Maybe the guy you're talking about had the same panicked reaction."

"Quite possible."

"Are you worried about him?" Lily asked, a curious gleam in her brown eyes. "Mikayla said he was so groggy when she checked on him that she couldn't see how he'd gotten up and dressed, not to mention going down four flights of stairs."

"I am concerned. I tried to call him, but he didn't answer." She didn't mention the explosion, because she didn't want to get into that.

"That's too bad. I guess if he didn't make it home, someone would have found him and brought him back to the ER. Hopefully, he's okay."

"Maybe he just didn't want to be in the hospital anymore," Andrew put in. "A lot of these vets look at the hospital like it's a jail. They don't want to be confined or restricted, even if it's for their own health reasons."

"That's true," she said.

"Would you like to share my dumplings?" Lily asked. "My mother makes the best."

"I believe you, but I'll stick to coffee for now. Have a good lunch." As she walked back to her office, she saw Officer Davina Mishra coming down the hall toward her. She had actually gotten to know the officer when she'd treated Davina's grandfather, and she was hoping Davina might have news for her.

"I was just coming to see you, Dr. Thorne," Officer Mishra said. "Do you have a minute?"