Chapter Thirty-Seven
The doctor waited for us in the study with his medical bag ready. “Good evening, Mrs. Shaw. I’m Dr. Ivy.”
Garrick stepped in. “You’ve been briefed on discretion.”
“Yes, I work for Mr. Monroe frequently.”
Oh, so this wasn’t a hospital doctor, but a mob one. Makes sense, I guess. If I told someone at the hospital I’d been drugged and tranquilized, the police most definitely would be involved. “Can you tell me what you remember?”
The man was younger than I would have expected a mob doctor to be—late thirties to early forties. “Some sort of tranquilizer and…umm…ipecac. That’s all I know. He fed me some broth, and I drank a little water. But I haven’t had any side effects.”
He listened to my heart and checked all of my vital signs, reflexes, vision, and more. My body seemed normal. Tired, but normal. The entire time, Garrick paid close attention, watching the doctor and me intently.
The doctor put away his stethoscope before taking a seat in front of us. “Everything looks good, Mrs. Shaw, besides your fatigue. Get lots of rest if you’re able for the next few days. I’m going to draw some blood to do a full panel and see if there’s anything else, just to make sure. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Is there anything I need to watch for through the night?” Garrick asked.
Dr. Ivy turned his attention to Garrick. “If her responsiveness changes, call me. Same with dizziness or nausea. Anything you find out of the ordinary, basically. I don’t foresee any problems, but I’ll be available if needed.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
He proceeded to disinfect my skin and take five large vials of blood. After securing a cotton ball on my arm, Dr. Ivy packed up. “Since it’s around five in the morning, we’ll have the results…” The doctor looked at his watch. “This evening.”
Garrick stood but didn’t leave my side. I was too tired to move. “Thank you, doctor. Anything else?”
“She needs rest. No work for the next few days. Stay hydrated. I’ll check in tomorrow and come by with the results. Good night.”
“Night,” we said as the doctor was escorted out of the room.
Again, the heaviness of the situation fell on me. Garrick stood a foot away, watching me. “Are you ready for bed?”
First I needed answers. “How did you find me?”
He took a seat in front of me and took one of my hands. “When I got to Miami, I got your message. I called you immediately, but the call went straight to voice mail. I pulled up your phone, and the location finder had been turned off. Immediately, I knew something was wrong—you wouldn’t have turned off your phone. I called Arnold and he corroborated your story that you came out of the restroom sick and beat him to the elevator. You were in the room by the time he made it to the apartment. He called through the door and you answered.”
“Navarro said they had a look-alike planted.” From Garrick’s reaction, I knew he suspected more. “You think there’s more?”
“Yes. That’s why we hired the mercenary team. Joe wanted to bring Arnold in on it, but I refused. None of Hastings’ men knew, either.”
It proved one thing; Joe was clean. Otherwise, Navarro would have relocated us sooner, and the time I got to spend with Carrie wouldn’t have been granted. “What about the cameras?”
“All disabled while you were in the restroom. We think it was some sort of jamming device either Carrie or another insider planted.”
“Navarro said you had no idea I was taken yet. How’d you figure it out?”
Garrick shifted to pull me into his lap. “I called Hastings to get into the apartment and gave him the codes around two. He found you were missing. The look-alike slipped out at some point. With the jamming device still working, I used it to my advantage. We’ve been organizing since then.”
A piece of the conversation with Navarro stuck out in my mind. “Navarro had someone watching you. He thought you were still in Miami.”
“What did he say?”
I thought about the conversation, but it had been when I’d first come to and the effects of drugs still lingered. “Something along the lines of wanting to know when you leave Miami. Whoever he was talking to…he had someone captive. I’m sure of it. It’s all still a bit blurry.”
Garrick’s brow furrowed as he thought. “Who was he holding captive?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But after spending a few hours with him, it was clear he would do anything to get what he wanted. That’s how Navarro worked—threatened people to keep them in line. I wouldn’t have left the house, even if it wasn’t guarded.”
Garrick’s eyes widened and he asked in disbelief, “Why?”
The tears pricked my eyes. “Garrick, he was a monster. Completely unstable, mentally. Totally sick and twisted with no concept of right and wrong. No grasp on reality. He threatened everyone I loved. Even our nieces and nephews. He was…he was going to sell them into human trafficking. It was horrible.”
“Motherfucker.” He cradled my face as I cried, thinking about how terrible it had been. “Everything is okay. You’re safe. Our loved ones are safe.”
Through the tears, I asked, “What if he had some sort of fail-safe. Like if something happened to him, all these terrible things would happen.”
I felt the muscles in his chest tighten. “We’ll monitor. In the next seventy-two hours, we’ll know. Hastings and I will handle it.”
Meaning more deaths. And Garrick further entrenched in the mob life.
But if someone was coming after those I loved…It was too hard to finish the thought. It went against everything I believed in.
“Garrick, can I ask you something else?”
“Of course.”
“This doesn’t mean we’re getting involved with the Monroes’ lifestyle, does it?”
He traced my lip with his thumb and met my eyes. “No. I know what you saw tonight was a different side, but that was only because you were in trouble. Regardless of the Monroes, I would move heaven and hell to protect you.”
I leaned against his chest, relieved.
There was another knock on the study door. “It’s Hastings. Can I come in?”
Garrick looked at me and I nodded. “Come in.”
Hastings walked in, fresh from a shower, concern clear on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m not sure.” It was all I had at the moment.
He paused midstride. “Do you want me to leave?”
There was so much more I needed to tell them. “No. I need to tell you guys everything while it’s still fresh. Have the men gotten to Kimberly?”
“They’re watching the house from all sides. No one has come near her. There are men shadowing Kurt and Sawyer, your parents, Garrick’s family. Everyone should be covered.”
That made me feel ten times better. There was another knock. “Who is it?”
“Joe and Arnold.”
Garrick raised an eyebrow to Hastings, who shook his head. “Knoah, we need to handle something with Joe. Do you—”
“I don’t want to be out of your sight right now.”
“Me, either.” He squeezed me tighter. “Come in.”
Arnold came in first, and for the briefest of seconds, he paused as if shocked to see me. Both Hastings and Garrick had their eyes on him and had to have noticed.
He cleared his throat. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Shaw?”
“Better. Thanks.” Something akin to panic crept into his features.
Joe patted his boy on the back. “Arnold saw me in the hall and asked if we were back. Wanted to check in to see if Mr. Shaw needed anything.”
And I had been a surprise.
No way.
I blurted out, “What did Navarro have on you?”
Hastings’ head whipped around to face me. Garrick set me on the chair and stood with Hastings.
Things began to click with Joe. “Arnie, what happened?”
“He has my girlfriend. She’s pregnant.”
Oh shit.
Joe swore. “What pregnant girlfriend?”
Arnold took a step in the room. Garrick became thunderous. “You let him take my wife. You helped.”
Arnold looked like he might be sick. “He held a knife to her stomach. I have a live-stream video of her.” Frantically, he dug out his phone and pulled it up. A woman nearly six or seven months pregnant sat tied to a chair. There was dried blood on her stomach where her skin had obviously been cut. I wanted to be sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Joe ran his hands down his face.
“Dad, I kept Haley a complete secret to protect her. In the line of work we’re in, I couldn’t risk her identity being made known.”
Carrie’s words came back to me. “The man with you was in on it.” Everyone turned my way. “Those were the words Carrie spoke. She meant you.”
“Yes. Does Navarro know you’re gone?”
“Navarro’s dead,” Hastings said without any emotion.
Arnold looked back to his phone. “I have to find her. I need to go.”
“No.” Garrick’s voice was cold. The room became deathly quiet. “I will send a team to find Haley. But you will not go.” Arnold began to protest. “You put my wife at risk.”
“But—”
Garrick silenced him. “I hired you to do a job. Trusted you because of your father. I won’t be a fool again. Detain him.”
Hastings made a phone call. “Study. Now.”
In a matter of seconds, more armed men came in. “Detain Arnold. Take him to the location.”
My head hurt as the truth continued to reveal itself. How far did Navarro go? I had a feeling not all of the devastation he’s caused had been reveled yet.
Earnestly, Arnold looked at Garrick. “Do I have your word?”
“You don’t deserve it, but yes, I will do everything in my power to locate Haley.”
They took Arnold from the room, and Joe looked at Garrick. My heart twisted for Joe as a conflict of emotions ran across his face—understanding of what his son did yet shame at the same time. “Do you want me detained, as well?”
“No. If you had been in on it with Arnold, Navarro would have been tipped off. Do you want to go on the mission to rescue Haley and your grandchild?”
“Yes.”
Garrick looked at the man behind him. “Make it so. Keep Hastings and me briefed.”