Forgotten Memories. Laura Scott
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humbled by the fact that these brave men had put their lives on the line to rescue her.
Especially Shane.
“I don’t know how you managed to find me,” she murmured to Shane as they approached the clearing. Now that they were walking back to the scene from where she’d managed to escape, she felt nervous, half expecting the men in black to come after her again. “I thought for sure those thugs would hurt or kill me.”
“I was supposed to be picking up evidence at the hospital, but when I saw you outside, I decided to head over to talk to you,” Shane said. “I just happened to be several yards behind when those two men grabbed you.”
“Did you follow the truck?” she asked.
“No, I managed to hitch a ride in the back,” he admitted gruffly. “There was no way I was going to let them get away with hurting you.”
The stark conviction in his tone sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. Gabby knew Shane was a cop and that protecting people like her was part of his job, but she couldn’t help thinking how attractive he was with his dark brown hair and blue eyes. But his big muscular frame was a bit intimidating, even though he didn’t give any indication that he’d use his strength against her.
Damon hadn’t given her that impression, either.
Trusting men wasn’t easy for many reasons. Damon had tried to sexually assault her. And she still resented her stepfather for sending her away at nine years old to live at the Einstein School of Brilliance. He hadn’t seemed to care how much he’d hurt her by tearing her away from her mother. And her mother certainly hadn’t stood up for Gabby, either.
She shook her head, reminding herself that all of that angst was in the past. She needed to stay focused on the present. Her career. The hospital, the one place she knew she belonged.
She walked alongside Shane and when they approached the clearing, he stopped and placed a restraining hand on her arm. “You shouldn’t come any closer, Gabby,” he advised. “This might give you nightmares. Stay here with Nate and I’ll return shortly.”
“No, I want to come,” she said, surprising herself with the need to see what had happened.
He frowned and shook his head. “There’s no reason for you to have to see this,” he insisted.
“Shane, I’m a trauma surgeon,” she reminded him. “I’ve probably seen more gunshot wounds than you.”
Shane and Nate exchanged a look of frustration. “I doubt it,” Shane said grimly. “Come along, if you insist, but stay close to me.”
She was still shaken by what had happened, so sticking close to Shane wasn’t a problem. There were several other cops in the clearing, but Gabby’s focus was on the dead gunmen.
The closest man lying on the ground was the guy she’d stabbed with her scalpel. Even though she was told they were dead, she found herself kneeling and reaching out to feel for a pulse.
“Don’t,” Shane said quickly, reaching down to take her hand. “I’m sorry...but I can’t risk you accidently contaminating the evidence.”
She hadn’t thought of this as a crime scene, but of course it was. “Sorry,” she murmured. “But you should know this is the one I stabbed with a scalpel.”
“A scalpel?” he repeated in surprise. “You normally carry one around with you?”
She flushed and shook her head. “No, but sometimes supplies end up in my pocket. This particular scalpel wasn’t the kind we use in the operating rooms but one of the disposable ones that we use to make small incisions as needed while providing patient care in the emergency department.”
“I’m really glad you had that with you,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “Using that as a weapon provided the perfect distraction to help me take out the other guy.”
She nodded, ridiculously touched by his praise.
“Nate, shine your flashlight on him. There, see? He has two gunshot wounds,” Shane said. “I shot at his chest, and can see the entry wound where I hit him. But there’s no way I gave him the gunshot wound in his forehead.”
“The other two guys have the same type of injury,” Nate added, leaning over Shane’s shoulder. “They were all taken out with a single gunshot wound to the head. You can see why we figured the shooter was long gone.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Gabby said, glancing between the two deputies.
“Dead men don’t talk,” Shane explained in a somber tone.
She shivered, knowing he was right. Dead men couldn’t talk, and she couldn’t help wondering if Creighton himself had done this.
And if so, what had he intended to do with her?
Shane scowled and glanced around the clearing, trying to piece together what exactly had taken place. “Don’t you think it’s odd that he didn’t come after us? Why give up so easily?”
Gabby shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Did you notice anyone following you before all this happened?” Nate asked her.
“No, but again, I wasn’t really paying attention to that kind of thing.” She shivered again, and Shane didn’t think it was from the cold. “I was focused on getting home.”
He wanted to put his arm around her for support, but reminded himself he was here to protect her. Nothing more. “Maybe Creighton heard the gunfire and knew that Gabby escaped with my help. Since he knew I was armed, Creighton decided to kill the guys who had let her get away and decided to wait for a better time to come after her.”
“Sounds plausible,” Nate agreed.
“But the real question here is why they’re after Gabby in the first place,” Shane said thoughtfully. “I still find it incredible that they dared to grab her from right outside the hospital.”
“I know, and that’s been bothering me,” she admitted. “Those guys had to be waiting there in the parking structure for a really long time. I ended up working over twenty-four hours straight, and frankly, the only routine thing about my schedule is that it’s not routine.”
“Is it possible they couldn’t find your home address?” Nate asked. “Did you move there recently?”
“Yes, I moved into my current place just three months ago,” Gabby replied. “But I only live a mile from the hospital and, considering how everything these days is on the internet, I can’t imagine that they couldn’t find the address if they really tried.”
“True, but maybe they hadn’t gotten that far,” Nate mused. “Could be that they knew you worked at the hospital so used that as their stake-out point.”
Shane knew that with resources, finding Gabriella’s address wouldn’t take long. “That settles it,” he said, taking Gabby’s arm and drawing her away from the corpse. “You’re not staying at your place alone until we figure out who’s after you and why.”
“Wait, maybe we’re overreacting,” she said, backpedaling. “The whole time they had me, I couldn’t help thinking they’d grabbed the wrong person. Maybe they mistook me for someone else?”
“You mean they would have kidnapped any beautiful woman with red hair?” Shane echoed drily. “No way, Gabby. This is definitely personal.” He gave her a pointed look. “It’s obvious they want something specific from you—otherwise, why would they tell you to cooperate with Creighton?”
“None of this makes sense,” she said with a scowl. “But I’m telling you, I don’t know Creighton and I think they grabbed me by