Page 3 of Deception and New Direction (Ranger Shield Security #3)

JACK

I stared down at the gift my secret Santa , Axel , had gotten me—a naughty Swedish dictionary filled only with curse words and inappropriate phrases.

There were also a few bags of Dala horse gummy candies, which were a traditional Swedish holiday gift.

The man didn’t talk much, but he had a great sense of humor.

Pop. Pop .

The hell was that?

“Were those gunshots?” Ellie asked from across the room.

Three more pops filled the air, and I knew those were, indeed, gunshots.

I was on my feet, gun in hand, before the third shot sounded. Vince , Archer , Axel , and I all raced to the door.

The first sound I heard outside was a car racing down the street. A black van that sped way too fast for a residential area.

Vince yelled, “ Cat ! Ruthie !”

It was strained, but Ruthie’s voice called out, “ Oh my god, they took her! They took her…and just…threw her in the car!”

I saw her crouched down by the rear driver’s side door of her car. I raced toward her and noticed the blood on her hands and leg as I neared.

“Were you shot?” I asked, squatting down next to her, trying to move her hands and assess the rest of her body for any injuries just as Archer came up on my side.

“I think so,” she said, breathing hard through the pain. “ My foot hurts so bad.”

Despite my concern for Ruthie on a personal level, my Army training kicked in and I began a quick scan of her possible injuries. It looked like a bullet may have nicked her foot, but there was too much blood to get an accurate assessment.

“Let’s carry her inside. We need to stem the blood flow,” Archer told me.

A surge of protectiveness came over me. I did not want Archer touching her.

I lifted her up myself, bridal-style, then directed him to call an ambulance.

As much as I wanted to run toward the house to get her to safety quicker, I also didn’t want to jostle her too much and risk worsening her injury, so I chose to walk briskly instead.

Archer, however, did race inside, so that by the time I got to the door, he was there with Vince’s mom, Susan , and some towels and a first aid kit. Susan directed us to the living room.

“Here, put her on the couch so she can lie back,” Susan said to me.

“No, I’ll get blood all over your couch,” Ruthie protested. “ Just put me on the floor, Jack .”

“Honey, it’s not the first time I’ve had blood on this couch, and it likely won’t be the last, so shut it,” Susan replied, directing me to put Ruthie there.

Dash tried to jump onto the couch with her, but Susan swiftly grabbed him and re-directed him.

I wasn’t a medic by any means, but my Army Ranger training included the Ranger First Responder program, so I knew basic medical care and some essential life-saving techniques to treat injuries and casualties on the battlefield.

That training kicked in as I scanned Ruthie’s right leg then triaged what I could for the apparent gunshot wound on her foot.

To Ruthie’s credit, she didn’t scream or yell in pain. She used one of the towels Susan had given her and bit down on it as I pressed onto her foot to stem the blood flow. She winced, gasped, and moaned a few times when I wrapped it, but that was it. My firecracker was a trooper.

The EMTs arrived shortly after and began to load her up. I made it very clear that I was going with Ruthie in the ambulance, no exceptions. We still had not yet determined the exact threat and I didn’t want to leave her yet.

As we rode to the hospital, my mind raced. I knew I would have to leave her side once we got to the hospital as she would likely be rushed into a room, possibly even surgery.

Archer had informed me the plan was to have Axel bring Susan and Ellie down to the hospital since they wanted to be there when Ruthie was finished being treated.

Diego was meeting us at the hospital and would help me keep watch over the women while Axel then met up with the rest of the guys to help in the search and rescue of Cat .

I felt guilty about not being able to assist with Cat’s rescue, but I couldn’t leave Ruthie . She’d gotten under my skin these last few months, and now it felt like I was leaving a family member behind.

Upon arrival at the hospital, I made sure Ruthie was safe, confirming that the police had called ahead and made sure she would have a police detail outside of her room at all times. A nurse took me to a side room, where I could wait for news of Ruthie’s condition from the doctor.

As I waited for Diego and word from the doctor, Archer called again to inform me that Vince had received news from the kidnapper, making his demands and giving her location. Vince , Archer , and Wade , along with the cops, had come up with a rescue plan.

Diego arrived fairly quickly, and I filled him in on what I knew. A few moments later, Axel arrived with Susan , Jenny , Ellie , and Val .

Axel left pretty quickly to go join the others, with a promise to keep Diego and me informed.

We sat there for what felt like forever just waiting for news of Ruthie .

Vince’s sister Jenny and their mom Susan spent most of the time comforting Val , who was understandably distraught at her sister being kidnapped.

Ellie sat by me and held my hand, though I wasn’t sure if that was for my benefit or hers.

Vince’s dad had called to let us all know that they had found Cat , and everyone was en route to rescue her. I knew between our guys and the police they would get her. There had been a collective sigh of relief knowing that she would be back with the rest of us soon.

“Family of Ruthie Campbell ?” a man in scrubs and a white coat said from the doorway.

“I’m her mother,” Susan spoke up, clearly lying to the doctor.

I decided to join in for good measure, using the same tactic Wade had used when my sister was in the hospital. “ And I’m her fiancé.”

No one else around us called us out on our lies, so the doctor began detailing Ruthie’s condition.

“She’s doing well, all things considered. The bullet missed her anterior tibial artery, so overall blood loss was minimal. The bullet went through and through: however, it did nick her talus bone.”

This confirmed my earlier assessment of her wound, though I hadn’t known it was the bone that connected her foot to her leg.

“X-rays do show a moderate fracture, but the bone was not displaced, which would cause it to be unstable,” the doctor continued.

“ Despite the bone not being displaced, we decided to fit her with a cast due to the severity of the fracture, and because it is a part of the body that can often have too much weight on it. She will have to wear it for six to eight weeks until it heals.”

“When can we see her?” I asked.

“She’ll be moved to her recovery room and you can join her there. I’ll have the nurse come get you when we have her situated.”

The doctor left as we all returned to our seats. I felt relief, knowing that this wasn’t as serious as it could have been.

I thought about calling her grandfather, but I knew his mobility was an issue and he wouldn’t likely be able to get here on his own. I decided I’d wait and ask Ruthie what she wanted to do.

As we waited for the nurse to come get us, I thought about Ruthie and how she would navigate her apartment and her dog now that she had a cast on.

She couldn’t climb stairs, and her place was on the third floor with no elevator.

Plus , she couldn’t walk Dash on a leash with crutches.

I decided I would stay at her place with her tonight—on her couch—so that I could help with Dash and anything else she might need.

Tomorrow , however, I would be moving her into my place—a place I had just moved into not that long ago myself.

I had a fenced-in backyard and a single-level home with a guest room all ready to go.

It just made more sense. For tonight, though, I would take her back to her place.

Shortly before the nurse informed us Ruthie was ready for visitors, Archer called to tell us they found Cat .

She was safe and on her way to the hospital—the same one we were at, thankfully—to be checked out.

Vince or Archer must have twisted some arms to get them to come to this hospital too, rather than any of the others in the city.

Diego went with Susan , Jenny , and Val down to the ambulance bay entrance to wait for Cat once she arrived.

Ellie and I stayed back to check on Ruthie .

We walked into her room to see a nurse explaining how to take care of the bright-pink cast that adorned her foot and ankle. Of course it was pink.

She was lying there on the standard hospital bed looking miserable as the nurse listed off instructions.

Ruthie was at least a foot shorter than my six-foot-six-inch frame, but her personality was far from dainty.

She had attitude, was full of confidence, and was very resourceful, but she also had an extreme love of everything pink.

It was an interesting contrast to the rest of her personality.

Her silver-blonde hair was a hot mess now compared to the usual perfect shoulder-length waves but still looked incredibly soft.

“How’s Cat ?” Ruthie asked Ellie and me, bringing me back from my thoughts. I looked up to find her leaning around the nurse to see us. “ Did they find her? Is she okay? Where is she?”

The rapid-fire questions made me smile. Here this woman was, in a hospital bed after having just been shot, and she was worried about someone else.

“Yes, they found her,” Ellie responded as she walked up to her bed. “ She’s okay from what little we know, but they’re bringing her here to have her checked out.”

“Okay, thank God .” She sighed and leaned back against the pillows.