GoodKnight

The door to her clinic was standing wide open and there were blood smears all over the door and along the floor. Oh, God. My heart thundered in my chest as I ran for the door. I pulled my weapon and crashed through the door, just barely hearing Pappy in my ear, begging me to wait. But I couldn’t wait. Kate could be back there. She was my life, the only good in me that kept me pushing through this crappy life. If she was gone, I would have no one. Not even our kids could keep me from burning down this world. They meant everything to me, but Kate…she was my salvation.

I ran through the clinic, checking every room until I got to her office. The blood on the floor was thicker here, pooling out of the door in such a way that I knew that whoever was back there was most definitely dead. I was stalled, unable to move and see who was there. I felt Pappy grip my shoulder tightly, anchoring me in this moment.

“I’ll go first,” he said.

“No.” I needed to do this. If she was…if it was her, that was on me. I had to be the one that witnessed the wreckage of what I had brought down on us. When was I going to learn? How many times did I have to put my family at risk because of my own need for justice?

I moved forward, each step my heart thundered in my ears and the world moved in slow motion. I made it to the doorway, but it was a man’s shoe that I saw on the floor. Hoping against hope, I moved quickly inside. She wasn’t there. There was a dead man on the floor, but she wasn’t there. My shoulders sagged in relief and my body started to shake. I felt like I was going to collapse at any second. Pappy gripped my arm like he knew I was about to go down.

“She’s not here,” I croaked out.

“Which means she’s probably still alive. We need to get back to Reed Security and check the footage. From there, we’ll be able to find her.”

I nodded, but the blood smears on the floor brought back memories I would rather forget.

A broken wine bottle. Droplets of blood on the bedroom floor.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I was assaulted with the images that still haunted my dreams.

I moved silently through the basement with Ice, Jules, and Chris on my heels. We had to clear the whole fucking warehouse, but my only objective was finding Kate. I moved into a dark room with Chris, both of us clearing it when we saw movement in the corner. Kate and Vanessa were on the ground, chained to the fucking wall. I ran over to Kate, pulling out cutters to remove the chains from around her wrists. She stared up at me with wide eyes, her body trembling in fear. I handed off the cutters as she threw her arms around me and held me tight.

“Shhh,” I whispered in her ear. We needed to be silent, so as much as I wanted to talk to her, I couldn’t put everyone else in danger. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. I could kick my own ass for the terror I had put her through. It didn’t matter that this had nothing to do with me. She was in danger because of the company I kept. They were all good people, but my life continued to put her in the path of bad men. When would it stop?

I heard more feet shuffling behind me, and then Cole was yanking Kate out of my arms, holding her like he had full rights to her. I didn’t care that he was her cousin. She was mine, and she belonged in my arms. I shoved that aside though. I had to get her out of here and have her looked at. Hunter had entered at some point and was looking over Vanessa. She was unconscious on the floor and needed medical attention more than Kate. Taking Kate’s hand, I led her out of the warehouse and up to the waiting vehicles.

When we were safely tucked inside, she curled into my body, seeking comfort and protection. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“I was so scared. I tried to run, but I wasn’t fast enough.”

“You held on. That’s all that matters.”

Cazzo flung the back door open and gently set Vanessa inside the vehicle with us. “We need to get her to the hospital.” He climbed in beside her as Cole climbed in the other side. I didn’t want to let Kate go, but we needed to leave. I held her hand in mine the entire way to the hospital, grateful that she didn’t seem to be hurt. When we got to the hospital, I insisted on following her back to the exam room. I wasn’t letting her out of my sight again. I had let down my guard once, and look where that got me.

“Hey,” Hunter said, gripping my shoulder. “We should move.”

The sound of a whimper broke through the silence. I glanced around the room, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. The closet. I ran over there and yanked the door open, hoping I would find Kate inside, but it wasn’t her. Carrie, I thought her name was. Hunter shoved past me and pulled her to her feet. I stepped back out of the way, disappointment rushing through me. A normal person would be happy that Carrie was alive. I was pissed that she wasn’t my wife.

“It’s okay. This is Kate’s husband, remember? And I work with him. Can you tell us what happened?” Hunter asked gently.

“I was leaving for the night,” she said with a wobbly voice. Tears ran down her face and she was visibly pale. She must have been terrified. Was Kate terrified? “I had just walked out the door and I had locked it behind me. These two men came up to me and told me to let them in or they’d kill me. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay,” Hunter soothed. “What else happened?”

“They led me back here and they wanted Kate. She told them to put me in the closet. I didn’t want her to, but she demanded it. She was protecting me.”

Of course she was. Kate would do anything for anyone, even sacrifice her life if it meant that someone else survived.

“They shoved me in here and locked the door. I tried to get out. I yelled and hit the door, but they wouldn’t open it. And then I heard the gunshot.” Her eyes went wide and distant, like she was remembering that moment. “I panicked and just sat down, covering my ears. I didn’t want to hear what was happening.”

A few tears slid down her face as she glanced at me. Her eyes were begging me for forgiveness, but I had none to give for anyone. Kate was all that mattered. This woman meant nothing to me, and if she didn’t have any information for me, I didn’t have the time to sit around and coddle her.

“Alright, we’ll make sure you get home safely.” Hunter wrapped an arm around her and guided her over to where Derek stood. He helped her out of the room as Hunter turned back to me.

I glanced down at the blood on the floor one last time and ran through what Carrie had just said. It could have ended so much differently. If Carrie had never opened that door, Kate might still be alive. She might have had a chance to get out the back door and run. But instead, Carrie led them right to her. 

I turned to go, but a flash of gold on the floor caught my eye. Under her desk was the gold locket that I had gotten her after Raven was born. Inside was a picture of each of our kids. I slowly bent over and snatched it off the floor. The clasp was broken, probably during her struggles to get away. I closed my fist around it, the chains dangling between my fingers. I held my fist to my mouth, kissing the locket. I would not let her down again. I would get her back and keep her safe.

I stared down at the blood on the floor one last time, wondering how much of that was hers. I was usually so in command, so ready to push forward through anything, but that had been too close. My life had almost been ripped away. 

“Hey,” Pappy said, snapping me out of the haze I was in. “Kate is gone. Let’s go get her back. Don’t just stare at the fucking floor.”

That snapped me out of it. I nodded and stormed past him, ready to get back to work and bring the woman I loved back to me. Racing out to my motorcycle, I threw on my helmet and immediately dialed Reed Security as I drove back to the property.

“Sebastian Reed.”

“Cap, I need Becky to get footage of the clinic. It’s been broken into. One man dead, and Kate’s missing.”

“On it.”

He hung up and I sped through town to get back to work. An angry energy that I hadn’t felt in a long time started buzzing through me. Whoever took her had fucked with my family, with me, and they weren’t going to get away with it. The gate opened for me and I quickly parked, rushing over to the elevator to get to the IT room. I just need a trail, any trail to go on, and I would find her.

“What do you have for me?” I barked as I walked into the room.

“She was taken by one man out of the clinic. They got in a black Ford SUV, but I could only track it as far as a parking garage in town. They switched vehicles inside. I’m working on tracking every vehicle that left the garage around that time, but it’s going to take time. Everyone was leaving work, so it was busy.”

“Then we go talk to every fucking person there. Someone must have seen something.”

“I’m working on it,” Rob said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “I’m working on getting phone numbers now, but it’s going to take a while to go through all these.”

“I don’t give a fuck. Get five more guys working on it. I need that information now! I’m going to the parking garage to see if I can find anything.”

I turned to leave, but Pappy caught up to me, grabbing onto my arm. “Hold up, I’ll go with you.”

“Do whatever you want,” I snarled. 

“Hey, just remember who’s on your side.”

I stepped onto the elevator and ran a hand over my face. “Fuck, I know, but…”

“I know, man. We’ll get her back.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

“Maybe not, but I can guarantee that we’ll do whatever the fuck we have to so that she’s back here. We all care about Kate, man. We’ll do whatever we can for her.”

I nodded and stepped out, but Hunter motioned for his truck. “You’re just a little too hyped up to drive right now. I’ll take you anywhere you need to go.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Cap already put everyone on lockdown.”

“Too fucking late,” I muttered. “I should have fucking known. I thought we had time.”

“We didn’t have all the information, Hud. There’s no way you could have known the extent of what was going on.”

“But I should have suspected it. I’ve gotten too fucking soft.”

“Are you kidding me? Hud, it’s because of you that we train as hard as we do. I mean, we were in shape and doing good when you came along, but you took us to another level. Half of us might be dead right now if it wasn’t for you. Me included.”

“I just need to get her back,” I said quietly. I couldn’t imagine my life without Kate. I thought back to that year that I had been away from her. It had been fucking torture to not hold her in my arms. At least then I knew she was alive, but that year apart had reminded me how precious life really was. And then when she was taken from me and held prisoner…If it hadn’t been for Maggie stepping up and taking her place when those gangs went after her, she would have broken. My woman was strong, but she wasn’t Maggie. She wasn’t built for my life. She had too much good in her. 

Hunter pulled into the parking garage and drove around slowly, giving us a chance to look for any clues. “Top level,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“That’s where I would do it.”

He drove to the top and pulled to a stop on the nearly deserted level. I got out and walked toward the northeast corner, furthest from the ramp. I walked along the perimeter until I spotted it. There was blood. Not a lot, but enough, and it was recent. 

“Over here!”

Pappy came running over and knelt down next to the blood. He had a pack slung over his shoulder and pulled it out to get a sample of the blood. “We can test it back at Reed Security, make sure it’s her.”

“It is.” I knew it deep in my soul. I didn’t need anyone else to tell me. I glanced around, trying to find anything that would tell us where she had gone, but it was pointless. There were no cameras up here, and no other buildings close by were tall enough that anyone would have seen anything.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Becky. “I need satellite footage from the top level of the parking garage. That’s where the transfer took place.”

“I’m checking now,” she said. I could hear her fingers running over the keyboard, but it didn’t make me feel better. I needed a lead, not just a search. “I’m sorry, Knight. There were no satellites moving over that area. There’s nothing to go on. We’ll keep searching.”

I hung up, not knowing where to go from here. I was stuck until Becky or Rob came up with something for me to go on. 

“Let’s go back to Reed Security. We can start going through the video footage with Rob and Becky. Maybe you’ll see something they won’t.”

I nodded, but I was fucking pissed, mostly at myself. I could find other people in five minutes or less, but when it came to my own fucking wife, she had vanished and I had no clue where she was.

We headed back to Reed Security and back to the IT room. Becky spun around in her chair and handed me a piece of paper.

“These are all the people I’ve already knocked out of the running. All these people went home after they left the parking garage. I ran backgrounds on all of them, and I didn’t come up with anything that would link them in any way to the government or anything that we’re dealing with.”

“How many more do you have to go through?”

“Another fifty,” she said defeatedly. “We’re working as hard as we can.”

“I know you are, Becky.”

My phone rang and I pulled it out. Jim Caldwell. Maybe he could help me.

“Jim. Tell me you’re close.”

“Not even in the area,” he whispered. “Listen, something big is going down right now. I can’t get away.”

“That probably has to do with me.”

Dead silence and then a long sigh. “I should have known.”

“Look, I stepped in some shit, and I’m not even sure what’s going on yet, but somebody took my wife.”

“Are you sure?”

“The dead body and the blood trail out the door would certainly suggest it. Besides, I found where they switched cars. I need satellite feed, but there was nothing in that direction.”

“Shit. Alright, give me some time. I’ll see what I can find out. It may take me a few days to get away. You should see the chaos around here.”

A few days. That wasn’t good enough. “You’ll get your ass out here now or I’ll come for you. This is my wife we’re talking about,” I shouted into the phone.

“I know that, but everyone’s being watched. Do you want me to lead them right to you? I’ll get there as fast as I can, but you need to lay low.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. I needed all the resources I could get right now, but if the FBI showed up again, it wasn’t just me I had to worry about. It would blow my cover and put everyone that helped me in a horrible spot.

“Just hurry up.”

“Knight, you gotta see this,” Cap said, jerking his thumb for the lobby. I followed him out there where a guy no older than twenty stood. “Tell us why you’re here.”

“Uh, I was just asked to deliver this letter. Made a hundred bucks,” he grinned.

“Who was it from?” I asked.

He shrugged. “No idea, man. The guy just handed it off and asked if I could get this to his friend.”

“His friend?” 

“Yeah, some guy named Garrick Knight.”

My blood ran cold as I stared at the envelope in front of me. Without another thought, I snatched it out of his hands while I heard Cap and Hunter trying to figure out what the guy looked like. I stared at it, my hands shaking slightly as I turned it over and opened it. Pulling out the photograph, I saw Kate being shoved into the back of a blacked out SUV. It was taken outside her clinic. This didn’t mean jack shit anymore. It gave me no information, since I knew they had switched vehicles. 

“We could trace the SUV they were in,” Hunter suggested. “Maybe we’ll find somebody that matches the profile.”

I shook my head slightly. “It’ll be a junker or stolen. It’s not going to tell us anything. Besides, when they switched vehicles, they would have wiped it down.”

“You’re going off the assumption that these are professionals.”

I flipped the envelope over and showed it to him. “It’s addressed to Garrick Knight. A person with enough power to know who I am isn’t going to be sloppy. The only thing this tells us is that Kate was actually kidnapped.”

“What do you want to do?”

“We wait. They’re showing this to us in the hopes that we’ll back off. They’ll call to negotiate.”

“What are you going to do?” Cap asked.

It wasn’t in me to sit back and wait for something to happen, but I didn’t have much of a choice right now. I had no leads and nothing to do. I was drifting.

“We wait.”