Brick nodded. “It would be some coincidence if she was abducted and held by someone who had no idea who she was.” He shook his head, remembering the terror he’d seen in her eyes. “What if she’s innocent of these crimes?”
“It seems that all of her nursing care positions involved patients with severe health issues,” Hud said. “It’s no surprise that a lot of the old cases are being reopened now. All of her patients died before she moved on to her next nursing job.”
“So foul play was never considered in most of the other deaths?” Brick said. “But it is now even though she was released. No wonder she ran.”
His father nodded. “Several of the Billings homicide detectives are on their way. I get the impression they might have discovered more evidence against her. It’s possible they plan to arrest her—or at the least, take her into custody for questioning.”
Brick rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to imagine the woman he’d found last night as a cold-blooded killer. “And if they don’t?”
“Unless one of the other investigations across the country wants her detained, then, when she’s well, she’ll be released from the hospital and free to go.”
“To be on her own knowing there is someone out there who means her harm?” Brick couldn’t help being shocked by that. “Someone abducted her, held her captive for apparently weeks and if not tortured her, definitely did a number on her.” He couldn’t help his warring emotions. The woman might be guilty as sin. Or not. Clearly, she wasn’t safe. He’d seen how terrified she’d been last night. Someone had found her. He didn’t doubt they would again.
“Once the press finds out who the woman is in our hospital, it will be a media circus,” his father was saying. “I know you found her, but I’d prefer you stay out of this. However, I’m sure Billings homicide will want to talk to you. This will have to be handled delicately, to say the least.”
“You don’t think I can do delicate?”
The marshal smiled as he leaned back in his chair. “I think you’re going to make a damned good deputy marshal, maybe even marshal, in time.” In time. Time had suddenly become Brick’s enemy. “You’ve gotten the training,” his father continued, “and once you get the last medical release...”
Brick didn’t need the reminder of what had happened to him. The fact that he’d almost died wasn’t something he’d forgotten. He had the scars to remind him. Those and the nightmares. But he hadn’t just been wounded in the mountains of Wyoming and almost died. He’d killed the man who shot him. He wasn’t sure which haunted him the most.
He also didn’t need another pep talk on being patient until he got a mental health physician to release him for active duty. Until then, he was sentenced to doing menial desk job work.
“I should get going.” No matter what his father said, he had to see the woman again. He wasn’t scheduled to work until later. He had plenty of time to stop by the hospital before his appointment with the shrink and his desk job shift. But as he started to get to his feet, his father waved him back down.
“Brick, if you’re thinking of going by the hospital, you should know that she can’t tell you what happened to her or who is responsible. She’s in what the doctor called a catatonic or unresponsive state, something often associated with trauma.”
“I know, I already called, but I have to see her.” He couldn’t forget that moment when she’d appeared in front of his headlights. It haunted him—just as the woman did. “I found her. I almost hit her with my pickup. I feel...connected to her.”
Brick knew it was a lot more than that. He was going crazy sitting behind a desk, cooling his heels until the shrink said he was ready to get to work. It left him too much time to think.
Not that he would tell his father or the psychiatrist he was required to see later today, but finding that woman last night had brought back his ordeal in Wyoming. That was another reason he wanted—needed—to see this through.
MARSHAL HUD SAVAGE leaned forward to study his son. “How are the nightmares?”
Brick shook his head, not meeting his gaze. “No longer a problem.”
He watched his son shift on his feet, anxious to get out the door. “Son, you know how happy I was when you wanted the deputy marshal job that was coming open.”
“I can do the job, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I believe you can, but not yet.”
“I’m healed. Doc cleared me weeks ago.”
“I’m not talking about your physical injuries. You need clearance from a mental health professional as well, and I heard you missed your last appointment.”
Brick swore. “I’m fine. I had a conflict... Besides, is it really necessary after all this time?”
“It is.” He was more convinced of that after seeing how personally involved Brick had become with the woman he’d found last night. Although Brick and Angus were identical twins, they were so different it amazed him. Brick had always been the carefree one, hardly ever serious, ready with a joke when he got in trouble. He was also the one who made his mother laugh the most and that meant a lot to Hud.
Dana was delighted to have her son come home six months ago to recuperate. Hud knew she hoped that he’d be staying once he was well. Brick had always taken wrangling jobs with his brother. That was how he’d ended up down in Wyoming. She’d thought maybe she could convince him, like she had Angus, to stay on the ranch and work it with his twin.
So Dana wasn’t as pleased that he wanted to follow his father’s footsteps into law enforcement. She blamed Hud for making the profession look too glamorous, which had made him laugh. Her
