Stealing Joy Read online

  She lay a hand on my arm and I winced as she touched my IV port. I still had tubes and everything taped to my arm.

  “Why do you still have all of this? What’s going on?” she asked a lot of questions.

  “I wasn’t exactly released. There’s been a situation.”

  9

  Mom stood up and faced Gage as he approached us. Mom wasn’t a tiny woman. She’s five foot seven, packing some middle-aged weight, and can be a domineering mama bear when it needs to happen. She rounded on him like a luchador heading in for the final round. Gage made her look tiny. I mean, I thought he had a presence in my hospital room, but that’s one not so big room. Here, he still dominated the space, and this time, the space was cavernous. Mom still didn’t back down, no matter how big Gage was in comparison.

  “Sheriff Masterson, I think you need to tell me exactly what is going on here. Why has my daughter been taken from the hospital? Why wouldn’t that young man, Mark, let us leave?” Without letting him answer, she turned and finally noticed my friends. “Girls, what are you doing here?” She pulled Yuki out of her chair for a hug. Everyone hugged Yuki.

  Gage cleared his throat. “The FBI will explain matters when they get here.”

  “The FBI? Those men asked very personal questions, and I don’t think they really knew what they were doing,” Mom complained.

  “Different FBI, Mom. The Smiths were the scouts checking out my story. They sent in the guys who are in charge of the case.” Holy flaming crap. I clued in that there was a case against Gordon.

  “Mom, you didn’t check-in when you got here did you?” I asked.

  “What do you mean check-in? No, they gave us a room. There was no check-in. Are they going to charge us now after insisting we stay here?”

  “Not that kind of check-in, Mrs. Hastings. But internet check-in, you know like how you did at the hospital?” Jade asked.

  “Now that you mentioned it, I don’t think I did.” Mom reached to pull her phone out of her pocket.

  I think everyone in the room reached out for her and shouted “No!” at the same time.

  She fumbled and dropped her phone. “What the hell was that all about?”

  Gage scooped Mom’s phone up and handed it back to her. “Please don’t. We don’t want anyone knowing you’re here. More importantly, we don’t want Gordon to find out Bailey might be here.”

  “How would he know that?”

  “It’s how we knew Bailey was in trouble. You checked in at the Wet Waterfalls Hospital and Bailey hadn’t come back or called. So we came out to see her,” Yuki explained.

  “And if they figured it out, there is a good chance Gordon, who lost Bailey a day’s hike from here, might also figure it out,” Gage said.

  Mom stood there looking grim. She wasn’t shocked holding her mouth in a big O or covering her mouth with her fingertips in shock. She nodded.

  “I should have thought. But at that point, I really hadn’t made those connections. Oh shit, Bailey. I’m so sorry. I’d never put you in danger on purpose.”

  She sat at the end of the couch, careful not to touch my feet. She reached for them, and then pulled her hand away, knowing that touch would hurt.

  The door swung open and we all directed our attention to the newcomers. Nurse Tracey with a cart and a big bag of supplies clattered through followed by Officer Kelley.

  The darker of the wolves around Yuki got up and pressed against Tracey, blocking her movement. She hip bumped the wolf. “Hi babe, get out of my way, I have a job to do. Bailey, you’re getting more and more exciting as a patient,” Tracey laughed.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. I really didn’t want to cause trouble, but it certainly was following me around this week.

  “Don’t be. None of this is your doing. We need to adjust a little in our care routine. Zeke, why don’t you show me where I need to set up?” She headed toward the stairs. Zeke jumped ahead of her and they went upstairs.

  Officer Kelley stopped in front of Gage. “The FBI wanted to do a little recon on the hospital first. See if maybe this guy might have been staking out the parking lot or something. I gave them your number. They’ll call when they’re ready.” She continued up the stairs after Tracey.

  I yawned. All of this excitement was the most activity I had since before the surgery. The adrenaline eased off and I became acutely aware of all the pain in my body, from my missing toe to the IV in my arm.

  I wanted to talk to Yuki and Jade, but I also wanted to sleep. I must have whimpered or something because Gage was by my side in an instant.

  “I need some pain meds, and I’m cold. Can I get more blankets?”

  He did better than that, he wrapped me in his arms again and lifted me. If I hadn’t mentioned it before, I love that he can carry me. I’m a little bit on the tall side at five-foot-eight. I come with some curves, and I’m densely packed with muscles. I’m about average on a size scale, but I weigh more than I look because of the weight training I do. I know, right, me a weight lifter. Don’t judge, it’s fun.

  Gage carried me up those stairs as if I were a small child.

  I imagined the blankets trailing behind us were a long wedding dress train, and that this was a romantic carrying off of the bride, instead of what it really was, carrying the invalid with her ass hanging out upstairs into a make-shift hospital room.

  However, the room he carried me into wasn’t being set up with IVs. The large bed in the middle was unmade. The top of the dresser was messy with personal stuff—a watch, something that looked like a gun holster without a gun, change scattered everywhere.

  Gage lowered me into the bed and grabbed a few pillows to tuck under my left leg. He disappeared into another room and returned with a few pills and a glass of water. He sat on the side of the bed as I tossed the pills down and gulped the water.

  “Rest here while they are getting your room set up. It’s too busy downstairs. You need to sleep.”

  He got up to leave.

  “Gage.”

  He turned those emerald green eyes on me and I melted. “This claiming thing, do I get a say in it? Cause I’d like to call dibs on you.”

  I was in a different room with different smells, in a different bed, when I woke up. Travis was snuggled against my side. He now occupied the side where Doggo had been during my hospital stay. He was pretty to look at and comfy to cuddle with, but I had made a declaration for Gage.

  I didn’t think it was very copacetic to be snuggled up to a different hot guy.

  I tried to move my arm and felt the familiar restraining tug of a hooked up IV. I heard and then felt the familiar hum and soft squeeze of the leg compressors. Since I couldn’t get up and move around much, I had to have them in the hospital along with heparin shots to help make sure I didn’t develop clots.

  I may not have been in the hospital, but I was restricted to bed as if I were, with all the bells and whistles and gadgets.

  “You woke up.” Travis had a great groggy morning voice.

  I needed to focus and not swoon. Long messy blonde hair, square chin, infectious grin, oh yeah, he was one hell of a cutie.

  “Hey dude, you’re cozy and all, but why are you in my bed?”

  He reached up and brushed back a strand of hair. “You were having some pain issues and were clearly uncomfortable. Since Max wasn’t around, as usual, I crawled in with you. It helped last week, so I figured it would help again.”

  “Ah…” I started.

  “You sleep better when someone is in bed with you.”

  I closed my mouth. He was right. And it hadn’t been the first time I woke up with him, without Doggo around, it seemed scarily intimate in a way it hadn’t before.

  “What if Gage finds you in here?”

  He shrugged. “We are pack. You are ours.”

  “Excuse you? I’m not yours.”

  “He means, we are pack. We are yours.” Gage stood in the door. He had a soft smile on his face. I expected him to get mad, or at least mildly put out
that Travis was in bed with me.

  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that Gage wasn’t getting territorial.

  He gave his head a sharp nod to the side, and Travis was up and out of bed. So much for the feeling of intimacy, I didn’t even get a hug upon his departure. Okay, so there were no sparks between us, but he was still hot.

  Gage, on the other hand, walked into the room and sparks were flying off him like ferrous metals on a grinding wheel. He wore his uniform. Sigh.

  “You do sleep better when someone is curled up with you. You do best with Max, Travis, or myself.”

  “I haven’t slept with you.” I would know if I had slept with him.

  “You were hurting pretty bad on those nights. I doubt you remember much of it right around your surgery. But yes, I have been in bed with you. There is more room in this one, it will make nights much more comfortable. Especially since Max isn’t crowding you out.”

  “So, where is that traitor?”

  “Your friend Yuki has bespelled the wolves. Even Brooks isn’t paying as much attention to Tracey as usual.”

  “I have lots and lots and lots of questions, and you are looking all sexy and official.” I tried to sit up; it wasn’t as easy in a regular bed. I already missed the ability to push a button and change my position.

  Gage was by my side and helping me up. Pillows magically appeared behind me. Turned out there was a stash of them on the floor for that purpose.

  He rumbled against my neck. “You really shouldn’t call me sexy. That makes things difficult to focus, and yes”—he cleared his throat and stood up—“official. FBI is downstairs waiting for you to wake up. Your friends are eager to spend some time with you. At least the witch is. Yuki seems content to be surrounded by our furries.”

  I snorted. It wasn’t a ladylike noise.

  Gage laughed at me and winked.

  “Did you really call those wolves furries?” I shook my head.

  “It’s a bit more than a lifestyle around here. But keep that on the down-low when you’re talking to Jones and Smith.”

  Gage moved as if he were going to leave me. I didn’t want him to go. I said so.

  “You chased my cuddle buddy off; can I get a few minutes alone with you?” I asked.

  “What was this?”

  Okay, so we had just spent some time alone together, but that’s not what I meant and he knew it. I didn’t consider myself to be bold, but maybe I was because I had no qualms telling Gage I wanted to curl up against him for a few minutes before I had to face the FBI.

  “Not a good idea, Bailey.”

  “Why? Because you’re on duty?”

  “Because I won’t want to get out of that bed. Because Max claimed you first and it’s a new moon in a few days. I’ll send Travis back so you don’t have to be alone.”

  He left. My room was silent except for the whir of the leg compressors inflating.

  He came back in with a smile and a wink, and two men dressed in black suits and skinny black ties. Did they actually try to perpetuate the stereotype, or were they really that boring?

  10

  Curled up next to me with his back against my hip, Travis’s presence was a comfort I hadn’t realized I needed until he was back in the bed. Gage sat at the end of the bed but on the opposite side. He rested a hand on my knee.

  Travis, I could reach, so I pet his back. He really had replaced Doggo for me right now. Gage, I couldn’t reach or touch. At least he touched me.

  The FBI sat in chairs Travis had brought in for them.

  “Miss Hastings, we know you already told our colleagues everything,” the one I think was Jones began. “But we need to hear your story again, in your own words. Can you do that for us?”

  I sighed.

  “Before I do, can you maybe tell me a little bit more about what happened this afternoon? I was distracted by my friends when you came barreling in.”

  Smith shifted in his seat and nodded. “You didn’t cancel your credit card.”

  “The one I thought I lost?”

  “We don’t know about that, but the one you paid for a night at The Sugar Plum Bed and Breakfast, and then you made a sizable purchase at a Target in Nebraska,” Jones pointed out details I already knew.

  “Was that Nebraska? I thought we were still in Missouri.” I shrugged. “And I paid for the cabin too.”

  The two FBI agents nodded.

  “We have been working on getting a trace on your phone, and watching your credit card. It was last used in Nebraska, which fits your story. And then a few days ago, activity was recorded in the Boise area. We tracked it and the suspect was staying in the area, but slowly moving west. At some point in the past forty-eight hours, he backed tracked and we received notification that he was back on the western edge of this county. Used the card at a truck stop,” Jones continued telling me what they knew.

  Smith cut in. “We think he was buying gas. Thing is, we don’t know if that is a coincidence or not. We camped out at the hospital with the help of the Sheriff’s Office and kept an eye out on anyone who met your description, or the description of who we think we’re looking for.”

  “So far, nothing. And no one came to the hospital to visit you after your two young lady friends.” Jones looked at me with a steady even gaze.

  Okay, they didn’t know anything for sure. That meant I didn’t need to panic. Gage was sitting on my bed, there were three fucking wolves in this house and one of them could talk into my head, and he had already threatened to kill Gordon. I had nothing to worry about.

  I swallowed. “Okay, so how far back do you want me to go? When I met Gordon or just the trip?” I asked. I really wasn’t ready to go over all of this again. I wanted it to go away. The more I talked about it, the less it actually went away.

  Smith looked around the room. “Miss Hastings, would you be more comfortable with another woman in the room while you told us your experience? Should one of us go get your mother?”

  I froze, that was not a good idea. Mom was already having a hard time with what she did know of my ordeal. I didn’t want her to have to know the details.

  “Not Mom, I don’t want her to know some of that. It will break her.”

  “You want me to get Yuki?” Travis sounded chipper. I guess he liked Yuki too.

  “Not Yuki,” Gage cut him off.

  I had to agree, not Yuki, she was too sweet to have the gritty reality of the world put on her shoulders.

  “Tracey or Jade would be nice. Tracey already knows the sordid details, and Jade is strong and reassuring.”

  Gage nodded. “Get the wi—” He stopped himself from saying witch, I could tell. “One with the dark rainbow colors in her hair.”

  Jade’s hair looked like a black opal. It was colorful like a rainbow on an oil-slick. She did my hair, so I half expected her to have said something about the brown right away. But if she was a witch, then maybe she had some other senses and knew how sensitive I was about the whole thing.

  We waited in awkward silence while Travis went and got Jade.

  “You wanted me?” she asked as she came into the room.

  Travis didn’t come back.

  Jones explained why they asked her to be there for me, and asked if it was okay with her. No one wanted to force my story on anyone who didn’t want that burden.

  Jade agreed and excused herself for a moment to prepare.

  Travis returned with a nice chair for her. He also brought me a couple of pain pills and a bottle of water. I’d be talking a lot.

  When Jade returned, she handed me a small bag filled with rocks—three of them from the feel of it. She sat in the chair. Travis had positioned it close enough that she could reach up and touch my shoulder, or I could put my hand on her knee. Smart boy, he knew I’d need to draw on the strength of those around me to get through this one again.

  I rotated the stones in the bag as I spoke. When I got to the hair, I swear Jade growled. When I got to the rest of it, Travis and Gage gr
owled. I fisted my hand into the shirt at Travis’s back, and Gage had my blankets clenched in a tight fist. And when I described my foggy rescue, I swear they were both purring, happy to be my rescuers, happy I was safe.

  It was easier to tell the story this time. I was able to relax, and remember little details that had no meaning, like the truck that whooshed passed me as I made my escape was red; and how I couldn’t find a trace of even my shimmery hair extensions that were ubiquitous like glitter after I pulled them from my hair.

  It sucked, it sucked hard. By the end of it, Jade sat in the bed behind me. She stroked my back. Her touch grounded me, kept me from getting sick to my stomach.

  “How many more times am I going to have to tell this in my own words?” I was exhausted. It wasn’t fair how much energy telling all of that stole from me.

  “If we catch him, we’ll need you as a witness. At least once for a deposition, and again when it goes to trial.”

  I let out a shaky sigh. “I want to be done with this, so I can start forgetting it sooner than later. You know?”

  “We’re sorry to have to put you through that again, Miss Hastings. Bailey, he fits the MO perfectly, but you’re the only victim to have gotten away from him. We need you to be willing to tell your story as many times as it takes.”

  Gage growled and surged to his feet.

  “I get it, and I will. I want that bastard to pay.”

  “And if, say an accident were to happen to Gordon where he got dead, how many more times would she have to endure this?” Jade asked.

  “Are you threatening the life of this Gordon in front of FBI agents and law officers?”

  She scoffed. “I’m not that stupid, Agent Smith. Did you hear me actually threaten him? I mean it’s totally logical; he hurt my friend, and as far as everyone can tell, planned on murdering her. So sure, why wouldn’t I want him dead? But I didn’t threaten him. You didn’t hear a threat on his life, as much as I would be interested in making one. Now, when he is dead, how many more times are you going to make Bailey go over this?”