I’d almost worked myself into a full-blown panic when the door eased open and a police officer stepped into the room. “She’s in here!”
Seconds later, two other officers came rushing into the room. One of them walked over and knelt beside me. There was a kindness in his eyes that immediately set me at ease. “I’m Officer Reed. We’re here to help you.”
I nodded.
“Are you Remington Taylor?”
“Yes. I’m Remington.”
Relief washed over me when he said, “Don’t you worry. We’re taking you out of here.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
“No, I’m just a little woozy. I think I might’ve been drugged or something.”
“Don’t worry. The doctors will check you out. You’re gonna be okay.”
Officer Reed slipped his hands underneath me, then carefully lifted me off the ground. When he started out of the room, I put my arm around his neck and tried my best to hold on. We stepped out of the small room and into absolute chaos. At least ten police officers were scrambling around, and each of them looked utterly distraught—leaving no doubt they’d found Thomas. With me cradled in his arms, the officer stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the medics rushing towards us with a gurney.
We both watched as they raced into the room where Thomas was being held. The entire room fell silent. There was a mixture of anger and heartache in the air as the officers watched the medics tend to one of their own. I knew there were dirty cops in the world, Mathews had proven that, but these men were clearly not one of them. They were caring and compassionate, and it made my heart break to see the anguish in their eyes when the medics placed Thomas on the gurney and rushed him out of the room.
Once Officer Reed was sure that we were out of the medics’ way, he continued up the steps. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“I certainly hope so.” His voice trembled as he continued, “Just can’t believe this shit. Been working the law for ten years now and never saw anything this messed up. He might’ve been IA and all, but he was still one of our own. You gotta be sick in the head to do this kind of thing.”
“Yes, you do.” I had no idea what had gone on while I was in that room, so I asked, “Did you get him?”
“Yeah, we got him, and rest assured, he’s going to pay for this. I give you my word.”
As we made it upstairs, I could hear the sirens from the second ambulance pulling into the driveway. We stepped out the front door. Office waited for them to park and open the back doors of the ambulance, then carried me over to the back of the vehicle. Being careful not to bump my head, he took me inside the ambulance and lowered me down on the gurney. I immediately started searching through the crowd for some sign of Noah, but all I could see were police officers, news reporters, and nosy neighbors. Officer Reed peered down at me and asked, “Something wrong?”
“No, I’m okay. I was just looking for...um...” One of the medics started checking my vitals as I sighed. “It’s not important.”
“They’re around the corner.” He glanced back over his shoulder, eyeing the two black SUVs in the distance. “They’ve been here the whole time. I take it that one of them means something to you?”
“Yes, you could say that.”
“Good. Pleased to know you’ve got someone looking out for you.”
The medics started asking me a stream of questions regarding my age, the date of my last menstrual cycle, possible allergies, and what medications I was on. It was at that point I answered, “I can’t be sure, but I think I was given something. I’ve been pretty out of it since I got here.”
“Any idea what it might’ve been?”
“No, I don’t have a clue.”
“That’s okay. I’ll make a note that they need to do a drug screening when they admit you.” The medic turned her attention to Officer Reed. “We need to get her to the hospital so they can check her out.”
“Of course.” The officer gave me a quick smile as he said, “You take care of yourself and don’t get into any more trouble.”
“Thank you.” I grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
With that, the medics got me settled in the back of the ambulance, and I was on my way to the hospital. Between the lack of sleep the night before, the drugs, and the adrenaline crash, I was struggling to stay awake. With the medics still checking my vitals and talking back and forth, I closed my eyes and gave into my exhaustion. When I finally woke up, I was in a hospital room with my parents hovering over me with a worried expression in their eyes.