Hearts on Fire 7: Claiming Catalina(21)
As she got hugs and kisses from them all, Cody handed her a bottle of water as Don placed a towel around her shoulders. She gripped onto Cooper so she wouldn’t fall.
Then it hit her. Jeremy wasn’t here to celebrate with her. Why was he really away? Was he in some sort of danger?
“Catalina?” Cody whispered and held her gaze as he cupped her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I want to know the truth about Jeremy. I want to know why he couldn’t be here, Cody. I want the truth,” she said. Then Serefina and the girls all cheered and interrupted the moment, but one look at Cody, then the other men, and her heart felt heavy and more tears wanted to fall. Something was terribly wrong. She felt it in her chest and in her soul. Her men were deeply a part of her.
* * * *
Cody, Cooper, and Don watched Catalina sleep. She had been utterly exhausted after the race and taking a shower. The celebration at the Station was a lot of fun, but he could tell she had no more energy. She had demanded to know where Jeremy really was and they asked for some time to discuss it later tonight at home. She accepted their request because so many friends were around them and he thought she realized that what they would tell her required confidentiality. She was such a caring, big-hearted person. He felt guilty for not telling her everything right away.
Cody lifted her up and carried her out of the bar with their friends cheering, hooting, and hollering. Her large trophy would sit at the bar for a week, then move on to Sullivan’s, then the ER, and finally her home. This was the first year in many that a citizen from Treasure Town had won first place in the race.
She lay in bed completely naked after they undressed her and helped her get ready for bed. She tried kissing Cody and talking him into making love, but as soon as she hit the pillow, she was out cold.
Cody caressed the hair from her cheek.
“She was amazing today. I was so proud of her and all she accomplished.”
“You told her a dozen times, Cody. We all did. I can’t even believe how amazing she was. That look in her eyes, the expression of determination on her face as she passed that guy and came running down the straightaway, taking first place. I felt tears in my eyes,” Cooper admitted and smiled.
Don lay beside her on the bed, watching her.
“She’s so special. She’s a strong woman, maybe stronger than we’ve giving her credit for,” Don said.
“We can’t tell her, Don. It’s how Jeremy wanted this,” Cody said and stood up from the bed.
“Maybe she should know. That way she’s on guard, too, when one of us isn’t around to watch over her. Besides, we promised her we would discuss it at home, where it’s safe. She deserves to know the truth.” Cooper said to him.
“Hopefully we’ll hear from Jeremy soon. Then he can explain himself and be here where he belongs.”
“She was so upset today when it hit her that Jeremy wasn’t there to witness her win like that.”
“It was all recorded. He’ll make it up to her when he comes back. Let’s let her get some sleep. I have some work I need to do on the computer.”
“Any updates at all, Cody?” Don asked.
Cody shook his head. “Something has to happen soon. I feel it. Something is going down. Let’s pray that Jeremy is a step or two ahead.”
* * * *
Jeremy’s heart was pounding. He remained hidden as cars approached the warehouse and industrial building. The cars pulled up into the garage bays inside the building just as planned, and the agents got out. They were all inside the entryway of the warehouse. They were taking a huge risk by doing this, but Clover had gone after another agent and killed him. That led to information on another agent who seemed to be working for Frederick, too. He had been involved in the investigation during Sophia’s abduction. He was the other snitch in the firm. They needed to take him out with Clover and hope there weren’t others.
Agent Spelling had confided in Roger Clay, saying he needed a safe meeting point for Jeremy and wanted him to go in with another two agents, secure Jeremy, and provide protection for him and two other agents. This needed to end. They had a good idea of Frederick Price’s location. He was somewhere in Pennsylvania, but they didn’t have a definite locale. They were able to somewhat track Roger’s cell phone and the calls he made from the agency and his private home line, but it gave them a fifty-mile radius of the area Price was hiding out in. They needed specifics. Once they killed Clover, they could get ahold of his cell phone and track the calls, or maybe get Roger Clay to talk.
“What’s going on, Jones? Glad to see that you’re still alive,” Rogers said to him.
Jeremy held his gaze and pretended to be unaware of this rat bastard’s true intentions. He couldn’t help but think about the agents Rogers had helped Clover kill. Rogers deserved to die.
“Not as glad as I am. Do you have a plan and a safe house for us to go to?” Jeremy asked as he looked over at the other two agents.
“Sure do. If you want to follow me outside, we’ll head out now. Don’t want to be in one place too long,” Rogers said.
Jeremy walked along with the other agents, his hand on his gun, prepared to fire, but they had a sniper on the roof and one in the woods in front. They would have a clear shot if Clover was there.
As they exited the building, they heard the shot. The sniper fell from the roof, and Jeremy and the others jumped to the protection of the car. More shots rang out, and Jeremy saw where they were coming from. As he looked at Rogers, he saw that Rogers was pointing a gun at him. The shot rang out, hitting Rogers in the chest. Another agent had killed him. Jeremy ran toward the safety of the warehouse, figuring he could run around back and come up to Clover from behind. More gunfire rang out, and he hurried, chest pounding, gun drawn as he ran across the clearing to the woods. He saw the flashes of light as Clover shot up the car and anyone near it.
“Put down your gun,” he yelled to Clover. Clover turned and shot. Jeremy fired his weapon, shooting Clover between the eyes.
“It’s over asshole, and your boss is next.”
* * * *
Catalina was glad she was working the night shift. It had given her all day to rest up after the long run. She couldn’t help but to smile. Everyone was coming in congratulating her and praising her win, but her heart was heavy. She got Cody to explain a little about Jeremy’s absence. It was obvious that he was in danger. He was trying to protect her and his brothers and pull any potential danger away from them. As Cody explained, giving only some details of the case, she realized the seriousness of it and the fact that agents were being killed and Jeremy was being hunted. That explained why Lew and the deputies were continuously around the ER and why her men were being overprotective and not allowing her to go anywhere without them and protection.
Now she worried even more about Jeremy. What if he got hurt or was killed? What if she never saw him again? She felt the tears reach her eyes, and then took a deep breath and released it. She remembered Cody’s words, and Cooper and Don’s encouragement.
“You’re a strong woman,” Cody had told her. “You know right from wrong and about justice needing to be served. We’re your men, and Jeremy and I have jobs that are dangerous where we deal with very evil people. You need to be strong and to know that we will always protect you and keep you out of harm’s way. Jeremy is doing that now, Catalina, and you need to be aware and diligent as you live your life here. I don’t want to scare you, but these men are resourceful. If you see anything suspicious or feel like something isn’t right, just text or call us, and we’ll come check it out. We don’t care if it’s nothing. You’re a fighter and you’re strong. You’re made for us and us for you. Jeremy will be back, and we can move on with our future together.”
She felt that inner need to be strong and be the woman they needed her to be.
Catalina looked at the clock. It was three a.m., and the ER was pretty quiet. There were three patients inside, one with chest pains, one who’d broke his arm in a drunken stupor as he tripped over a curb outside a bar in town, and the other was having abdominal pains and the doctor had determined it could be his appendix. They were bringing him up to X-rays when Catalina noticed the deputy wasn’t sitting in his chair. Catalina walked into the hallway to see where he was, and he wasn’t there, nor was the head nurse at the front desk. The doors to the ER room opened, which led from the main hallway into the hospital. It was an entrance doctors and nurses used. She saw a man coming inside, his head hung down, and he was moaning.
Without a second thought, she went to him.
“Do you need help, sir?” she asked.
He looked up, his eyes dark and his expression evil as he looked at her and smiled like he had succeeded in tricking her. Her gut clenched and she instantly felt the need to run, and to get away from him and call one of her men. She went to step back, but he grabbed her arm and pressed the gun to her side.
“Make any noise, and I’ll kill you right here where your boyfriend can find you.”
She knew right away he was talking about Jeremy, and she gasped, the fear hitting her belly.
She looked around frantically and then right at the camera. “Jeremy, help me,” she lipped to it, and he pulled her from the ER out the emergency entrance and into the night.