Page 15 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Eight

W hen Ryan and Seth arrived at Queens, the team made their way back to the ER.

They were more accustomed to Tripler Army Medical Hospital, a big pink beacon built on the mountain.

The story was that Hawaiians told the Army to paint it red because that would be better than white.

By the time they realized that red would fade into pink, it was too late to change it.

Ryan wasn’t sure if that was a true story or not, but it always made him chuckle.

They had been to the hospital a lot in recent months. It was the nature of their team. They were rescued, and they always went to the closest trauma hospital when needed. A lot of times, that was Tripler.

An older woman with short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a business-like attitude approached them. She wore a set of purple scrubs and a white jacket.

“TFH?”

Seth nodded.

“I’m Doctor Mickelson. Come with me.”

They were led to another room off the ER.

“You’re the doctor?”

She nodded. “Ray Gailbreath is in good condition. Mostly, he’s dehydrated and has a few scrapes and scratches. He kept babbling about a shooting, and he was worried about someone called Keely.”

Seth and Ryan shared a glance.

“So, I guess that means something to you?”

Seth nodded. “She was the other survivor that night.”

“Ah, okay. I heard about that, but I was off last weekend. Anyway, I want to keep him for a day. He’s in decent shape, but I want to keep an eye on his vitals for twenty-four hours. They’ll be sending him up to his room soon, but he’s back here.”

“Thanks, doctor.”

“Go easy on him. He has a slight concussion and, like I said, that, coupled with the dehydration, means he might be a little loopy. The nurse will show you back.”

A woman stood in the doorway waiting for them.

She led them down a long corridor, then turned right, which led them to a door.

She opened the door, and they followed her through.

The first glimpse of Ray shocked Ryan. There were scratches all over his face, a black eye, his nose looked like it had been broken, and his skin was pale.

“Ray,” the nurse said softly.

He jolted just before his eyes opened.

“You’re safe, Ray,” she assured him.

His gaze moved from her to both him and Seth.

“These gentlemen are from TFH.”

“I’m Seth Harrison, and this is Ryan Morrison. And Maya.” His partner was sitting beside him, a warm reassurance as always.

“Hello.”

His voice was weak, and he looked like he’d had the shit kicked out of him. But Ryan would reserve judgment. He could have been an accomplice to the whole thing.

“We need to ask you a few questions about what happened a couple of nights ago.”

He nodded, then winced. Seth suffered through a concussion a couple of years earlier, and he understood the pain.

“I’ll help as much as I can,” he said. “Anything might help us find the guys who took you.”

He sounded sincere, but there was something about the guy that was bothering Ryan.

Maybe it was Keely telling him that the guy was hitting on her.

He wanted to believe he was above petty jealousy, but that was the only explanation for wanting to punch the man.

A man who had obviously been worked over by someone.

“You’ve worked parties for the Kellys before, correct?” Seth asked.

“A couple. They hired me through my website.”

“Good. Can you tell us what happened?”

“We were in the middle of dessert when the guys showed up.”

“How many were there?”

“Three. One really tall man…he seemed to be in charge. The other two were stockier, like they were the muscle.”

“Can you give us a good description?”

He shook his head. “They were wearing ski masks.”

Of course they were.

“Okay, Ray. Can you go through what happened that night?”

He nodded, then winced again.

“Everything was normal. I didn’t know what was happening at first. I had just poured the champagne that Keely…” his voice trailed off. “Is Keely okay? They were very intent on finding her.”

Another shared look with his boss as alarm screamed through him. “What do you mean?” Ryan asked.

“They kept saying they had to get the chef.” He closed his eyes. “That was the last thing I remember before one of them hit me over the head. Next thing I know, I’m in a room with no windows.” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t do anything to save her.”

“How did you get away?” Seth asked. Ryan could tell his captain had his own suspicions.

“I kept pounding on the door. No one would come, and I was in there forever. Finally, I made enough noise that the people next door heard and called the police. They thought it was a domestic abuse situation. Like I was beating someone.”

Thank God for nosey neighbors. They could be a cop’s best friend in these situations.

“Is there anything else?” Ryan asked.

“No. I mean, some of my memory is fuzzy.”

“We’ll let you rest,” Seth said, but Ryan had a question.

“Ray, did the guys say they were looking for the chef or for Keely?” he asked.

Ray opened his eyes. “Keely is the chef.”

That was heartening at least. Using the present tense meant that he at least hoped she was okay.

“Did they use her name?”

“Oh…no. They just kept talking about the chef. C-can you tell me if she’s okay?”

“She’s fine, Ray,” his captain said. “You don’t need to worry about her.”

His whole body seemed to relax at that point. “Good.”

His eyes closed, and he knew the man was asleep before they even made it to the door. They stepped out into the hall.

“What do you think?” Seth asked as they walked out of the hospital.

“Not sure. He seems genuinely worried about Keely, and he definitely had a concussion.”

“True.”

“But there is still something off. Why take him, then just leave him somewhere? It makes no sense at all. And we still don’t have a motive.”

“I agree. Unless they questioned him, but maybe they walloped him, he doesn’t remember.”

“Let’s hope because otherwise, we have diddly squat.” And that made Keely even more vulnerable.

Keely had finished her presentation and answered questions before her father appeared in the classroom.

She was very thankful for that because every Hawaiian kid knew who Riki Templeton was.

She was happy to step aside and let him talk to the kids.

It had been a long ninety minutes, but she had enjoyed every minute of it.

As she headed to the door, her father stopped her.

“Where are you going, KeeKee?”

She smiled at him. “I need to use the restroom. Do I need a hall pass?”

There was a smattering of laughter.

“It’s just down the hall. Don’t worry.”

He nodded, although she knew from his look that if she didn’t return within five minutes, he would show up in the bathroom.

With a sigh, she headed down the hallway.

Keely had just reached the bathroom door when she felt a tingle on the nape of her neck.

She glanced behind her but didn’t see anyone.

Shaking her head, she went into the bathroom.

The last few days had her feeling out of sorts, so it made sense that she would freak herself out.

The high school campus was locked down. The only people in the school were the principal and a few teachers.

After she was finished, she was washing her hands when she thought she heard someone stop by the restroom door.

Frowning, she dried her hands, then decided it was time to leave.

She knew her parents were leaving the island soon, so while their reasons for being here were horrible, she wanted to soak in all the good vibes she could get.

She opened up the door and frowned. The hallway was dark. It was an overcast day and there had been a slight drizzle, but she hadn’t realized just how much the overhead lights were helping.

Telling herself a teacher or one of the janitorial staff turned them off, she walked down the hallway. Of course, the restroom had to be at the other end, and it was one long ass hallway.

“Keely,” someone whispered. She frowned and glanced behind her.

There was no one there. Now her imagination was really freaking her out.

With a roll of her eyes, she started back on her way.

She couldn’t fight the feeling that someone was watching her, which was insane.

It was just all those questions from TFH that had brought back all her worries from that time.

At fourteen, she had been somewhat sheltered from the world.

Because of her father’s fame and her mother’s family money, they had both been strict about her social media.

It was one reason that even today, she was somewhat standoffish online.

So, having someone seemingly try to hurt her…

it had freaked her out. For weeks, she had thought someone was following her.

Her father hired the best security he could buy, but in the end, they saw nothing.

Knowing if she was worrying about all of that, her father would read the expression on her face. She didn’t need him to worry over nothing. With that thought in mind, she straightened her spine and opened the door to the classroom.

Most of the kids had gone, but there were three boys left. She waited patiently until her father finished answering their questions. Soon it was the two of them.

“Is anything bothering you, KeeKee?”

She shook her head. His frown told her he didn’t believe her. He opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On , telling her that her mother was calling him.

“Hold that thought.” He answered the phone. “Love, we’re about to head back.”

His expression turned even more grim as he listened to her mother.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Alarm lanced through her as he hung up the phone.

“What?”

“Your grandmother is in the hospital.”

Ryan had fought traffic all the way home to his rental in Ewa.

When he’d first arrived in Hawai’i, he had rented a small apartment in Ko’ Olina, not sure if he should put down roots like a house.

It hadn’t been ideal for Maya. She needed space, even if it was a small yard.

He had ignored the connection he felt the moment he and Maya had arrived.

He had come here to heal, a suggestion from his mother, the therapist. Of course, now she was irritated that he hadn’t moved back to California.

He had thought about buying a house, but this rental in Ewa Beach had come up. It wasn’t big, and the traffic could be a bitch, but for the moment, he was happy with his choice. The rent was low, there was a beach a couple of blocks away, and the small backyard was just big enough for Maya.

They slipped into the house. Ryan turned off the alarm and immediately led Maya to the back door. After being cooped up in the truck on the way home, he knew she needed to run off some of her restless energy.

Ryan let the door close behind her, and he was thinking about a beer when his phone vibrated. He frowned. It was after eight at night, so he knew that it wasn’t his family—unless it was an emergency. When he saw the name, he frowned.

“Hello.”

“Morrison,” Riki’s deep voice filled his ears.

“Yes, sir.”

“I have a problem.”

Worry had his entire body seemingly freeze up. “Is something wrong with Keely?”

“No. She’s hiding things from me, but what else is new?”

What the hell?

“You don’t have children?”

“No, sir.”

“You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you do. Anyway, my mother is in the hospital. We have to head back to Texas tonight, but I’m worried about leaving KeeKee behind.”

“Did you increase her security?”

“Yes. Dillon came over and upgraded all of the alarms and added a few more cameras. I just don’t like leaving her alone.”

“I can understand that.”

There was a long pause as he wondered if the other man understood the depths of his interest in Keely. Of course he did. Anyone with a pulse would want the woman.

“All those questions brought back all the bad memories of that time, and now I feel I need to be in Texas.”

“Would you feel better if we had a team member there?”

The sigh he heard over the phone was filled with relief.

“Is that a problem?”

“No. I’ll just let my captain know. When are you heading out?”

“Our pilot is getting the plane ready.” And right there was another reason he and Keely would never work. She came from a family with their own damned jet.

“I’ll get my go bag and head on over. I’m in Ewa, so it might take a little bit.”

“We’ll wait for you. Thank you, Morrison.”

He hung up without another word. Maya scratched at the door. He went over to let her in as he called his boss.

“Morrison, how did you know?”

He frowned. “Know what?”

“We have a call.”

“I didn’t know. I was calling you to tell you I was headed to Keely Templeton’s house.”

“Why would you call me about that? Whatever you do on your own time is your own business. She’s not a suspect.”

He blinked. “It’s not a social visit. Her father called to tell me they have to leave the island. A family emergency back in Texas. I said I would keep an eye on things.”

Long beat of silence. “Going with that one?”

Fuck. Even his captain had picked up on his interest. “She’s a victim.”

He had seen what could happen when you made the mistake of getting involved with a victim.

Keely might be innocent, but his old partner had gotten tangled up about a victim they found.

The darkness stalking her had resulted in a breakup of his team, and Ryan almost lost his life.

His old team member—Cameron Dunning—had turned on the entire team.

“Okay. But we have a call.”

Fuck. He would have to call her father and tell him that he had to go out with Maya. Damn . “Where?”

“Makaha.”

“How many are missing?”

“None are missing, but there are three men who vaguely fit the description of our attackers.”

“What makes you think that they are the perpetrators? That could be any three people.”

“All I know is that there is evidence tied to our crime, and we aren’t going on a rescue mission. All three of them have been shot execution style.”