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Alarm shot through his chest. “What do you mean, she’s not here?”
“There was some emergency down at one of the Paddocks’ garages. A guy pinned under a car or something.” She waved a hand, looking harried. “Mato came and got her about an hour ago. Not sure why they didn’t just call an ambulance. It’s not like we’re set up to handle that kind of stuff here at the?—”
Shep jogged back down the hallway, leaving the woman in mid-sentence. He dialed Adriel as he ran.
The sheriff picked up after the first ring. “Well?”
“Mato took her,” Shep panted. “It happened over an hour ago.” There was no way Prim had gone with him willingly. Her radio silence alone was proof of that. He quickly shared what little information the nurse had been able to pass on to him. Reaching his truck, he leaned a hand against the door, feeling like throwing up. “She could be anywhere by now.”
CHAPTER 10: DARK AS NIGHT
One hour earlier
“I’m sorry, Doc. It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.” Mato’s hand shook as he pointed the gun at her. It was resting on his knees, held down by bloody knuckles. The thumb he had resting against the trigger was swollen to twice its normal size. It looked broken.
She doubted he could fire the gun in his current condition. However, she didn’t plan to press her luck. “Apology accepted.” She held up her hands in surrender. “Just put away the gun and drive.” His other arm was still in a cast. He was driving with the curl of fingers sticking out from the plaster. The crazy light in his eyes worried her more than the cast.
“I need you to do a couple of things for me first.” He angled his head at her. “Roll down your window and throw out your cell phone.”
“Mato!” She already felt adrift at sea, and now he was about to cut off her lifeline. “Cell phones are expensive,” she pleaded, though she doubted he was capable of seeing reason at this point.
“Just do it, Doc,” he growled.
She bit her lower lip and rolled down the window. Gripping her cell phone, she debating throwing it at him instead.
He managed to cock the gun with his forefinger, eliciting a whimper of compliance from her. She dropped her phone outside the window and watched it longingly through the side-view mirror as it bounced off the edge of the road and disappeared in the grass.
Why, oh, why hadn’t she set her alarm earlier to leave enough time to go pick up Pink? Shep had been afraid something like this might happen, and he’d done everything in his power to prevent it. It was entirely her fault for letting down her guard. She had no one to blame but herself.
“Now reach inside the glove compartment,” Mato instructed tersely. “Pull out the handcuffs, and put them on.”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth, aghast that he was taking things so far. She’d set his broken hand in a cast for him, for crying out loud! She wasn’t his enemy.
“Just do it, Doc,” he repeated hoarsely.
“Prim,” she corrected in a shaky voice as she opened the glove compartment and fumbled with the silver cuffs she found there. “If we’re all gonna die today, you may as well call me by my name.” The cuffs made a metallic snapping sound as she put them on.
“Believe it or not, I’m trying to keep you alive.” Leaving his gun balanced precariously on his leg, he finally placed his busted up hand on the wheel. “You’re lucky I’m the one who got to you first.”
You’re right. I don’t believe you.“Who’sthey?” she quavered.
He ignored the question. “They took Alina,” he snarled, sounding close to weeping. “She’s been missing since yesterday.”
Missing?Prim’s lips parted in surprise. Apparently, he didn’t know his cousin was at the Heart Lake Medical Center withpneumonia. They’d left a voicemail at the clinic last night as a professional courtesy to inform her they’d admitted one of her patients. She’d listened to the message first thing this morning.
“Who exactly has her?” she asked carefully, trying to think of a way to set his misconceptions straight without violating HIPPA regulations.
“No more questions, Doc. The less you know, the better.”
“Prim,” she corrected again. According to the brief hostage training she’d undergone at the last hospital she’d worked at, establishing some modicum of rapport with her captor was crucial. Her very life might depend on it in the coming hours. Or days. If she lasted that long.
The gruesome direction of her thoughts made her shiver.
“Cold?” Mato reached for the thermostat.
“No.” She stopped him with her words. “Just a little in shock, I guess. I, um…I’ve never been in a situation like this before.” She decided on the spot that it might be bestnotto inform him that Alina was safe and sound at the hospital. As long as he thought he could use her as a bargaining chip to get his cousin back, it might keep her alive.
“Me, either.” Mato sounded close to weeping again. “On the bright side, at least you’ll be missed.”
