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She didn’t look back. What was the point? He seemed to think he had a right to be mad, but she’d told him the truth. There was nothing more to say about it.
Clare pulled open the door to the room the doctor had gone in.
He was on the phone, bent slightly forward with a look of anguish on his face. “I did what you asked. Now let her go.”
“What’s—”
She elbowed Gage. Just a reflex.
The doctor spun to see them in the doorway. “Let her go.”
Gage shifted past her and said, “Hang up the phone.”
The doctor lowered it. “He’s already gone.”
TWENTY-TWO
Gage stared at the doctor. “You harmed your patient intentionally?”
He couldn’t believe Selena’s assertion was correct, but only because everyone knew doctors took an oath to do no harm. They were supposed to protect the people under their care. Not be the ones targeted as the one that could be used to get to the patient.
To kill them.
The guy’s ID badge saidPreston Mares. He had styled blond hair and looked like he ran regularly. Gold watch, nicer than the one Jasper wore when he left the PD at the end of shift. “They took my wife. They said they’d kill her if I didn’t follow their instructions perfectly.” He sniffed, fear in his brown eyes. “I didn’t hurt that young man. I just put him in a coma.”
“Right.” Gage pulled out his phone and sent a specific SOS text to Sargent O’Connell. “Give me your phone. I want to see all communication between you and them.”
His phone buzzed. Jasper and Blake were on their way. Liam would hang back at the office with Dakota and wait for whatever he needed that was on the computer. If the time came that they all needed to roll, each one of them would be ready.
He lifted his gaze to Mares. “Who is it? Do you know their name?”
The doctor shook his head. “His voice is disguised. I don’t even know if it’s a guy.”
“When did they take your wife?” Gage remained vaguely aware of Clare still in the room, but so frustrated about that whole thing—and her mom’s appearance—he needed to block her out in order to focus. What was important right now was an innocent victim. Two, if he included Alex and the condition their witness was in right now.
Would he survive?
He’d worry about Ms. Juarez and their history later. Gage intended to clear it up, but right now there was a case to work. The past had waited long enough to get resolved, so it could wait another few days.
Kind of like everything else personal swirling around him.
Gage stuffed it down, trying to give it over to the Lord like he was supposed to do. All so he could do his job and not get dragged under by everything Clare’s appearance in his life had brought back to the surface.
He was supposed to trust in the Lord rather than lean on his own understanding.
Maybe it worked. Maybe he focused enough it only seemed like it did. Either way, he was able to say, “Doctor Mares. When did they take your wife?”
“I don’t know.” Mares gasped. “I got this text earlier. I tried to call her, but her office said Katrina never came back from lunch.”
“So this all went down fast, then.” Clare moved closer to his side.
Gagealmostmanaged to keep it from affecting him. Mares handed over the phone with the image full screen. The wife—presumably—tied up, fear in her eyes. Hair disheveled. “Did they give any instructions?”
The photo itself didn’t give him much as far as background to work with. Dark and blurry, he couldn’t make much of anything out. He tapped out of the photo and back to the message thread. Noted down the number in a text to Liam.
“I thought it was a prank. Or some kind of spam, phishing so they could hack my accounts.” Mares sniffed back tears.
The text read,
