Page 55 of Breathless
“You are still in the system for then with Dr. Foley. We haven’t had any cancellations,” the manager said. “So, whatever this call was about it had nothing to do with our office.”
Rawlins nodded, mentally kicking himself for deciding to take the appointment. “I think you’re right. I was sent on a wild goose chase. Thank you for your time.”
He went out to his car and got in to make the forty-five-minute drive back across town hoping nothing bad hadhappened to Chaney, Justus, or his brother. As soon as he was back on the road, he tried calling Rafferty, but the call wouldn’t go through. He tried several times and when he stopped at a red light, he noticed that he didn’t have enough bars to warrant making a call.
“For crying out loud. This is a satellite phone, and I can’t even make a phone call?” Rawlins hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. Something wasn’t right here. Something definitely wasn’t right.
Fearing he’d have another attack, he tried to stay calm. He needed to be able to breath and drive and get to the others as soon as possible.
As horrible as he felt for making the decision to take the appointment, he had to remind himself that Rafferty had agreed with him on seeing the doctor today rather than waiting. He just hoped he would stand by his decision when he learned that the phone call had been a ruse.
What Rafferty couldn’t understand is why someone would do that, unless they knew he was Chaney’s protector and wanted to get him away from her. And if that was the case, then there was only one possible reason for it. Apprehension crept up his spine that they wanted to leave Rafferty vulnerable and stretched thin trying to protect two instead of one, so they could grab the girls. It made perfect sense now. And he’d played right into their hands.
Damn. What a fool he’d been.
How’d they known what kind of carrot to dangle in front him to get him to bite?
Rawlins looked at his cellphone and finally saw three bars turn into four and then five. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and punched call by Rafferty’s name, waiting for his brother to pick up. The call rang more times than he thought it should before it was answered.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and calling you.” Rafferty barked.
Rawlins winced at the anger in his brother’s voice, he knew he’d been out of pocket, but still, did Raff need to take that tone with him?
“Sorry, but I couldn’t get service for some reason. We’ve got a problem, bro.”
“What happened?” Rafferty asked. “We’re listening.”
“We’re?” Rawlins asked, confused for a second, but then he realized what his twin must have meant and why there had been a shift in sound. He’d been put on speaker. “Oh, hey, Justus, Chaney, sorry I couldn’t get back there sooner, but I was sent on a wild goose chase. We’ve been set up.” He fought to keep his voice from rising. “There was no appointment.”
“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.”
The connection sucked. That didn’t even sound like his brother talking. And why was Liberty Killion with him? Had she been called in for the pre-trial prep too?
“Wait, is that Asher Nolte I’m talking with?” Rawlins asked.
“Yea, man,” Asher said. “Three men ambushed Rafferty and took the girls. He’s in the hospital facing surgery on his knee.”
Holy Shit!
Could things get any worse?
They would if he couldn’t get Justus and Chaney back.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
He should have told Cagney Foster no way was he taking that appointment today.
Coming back to the present, Rawlins demanded, “Who’s out there looking for the girls? Why aren’t you 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.
