Take Back My Heart (Come Back To Me) Page 7

“Have a seat over here and we’ll explain the operation. We are including you in this meeting for informational purposes only. We normally wouldn’t discuss these things in front of you, but we are doing this as a favor for your sheriff.” Chief Reynolds directed them to the chairs they’d set up in the corner of the cramped hotel room.

  “We’ve set you up in a room on the second floor here. Sheriff Greene and Deputy Thomas will be in the room to your left, and two of my guys will be in the room on your right. This is only a precaution. We’ve been able to make contact with Miss Hawthorne. I believe you know her as Jen?”

  Lauren nodded.

  “Special Agent Ryan feels it’s best if we try to separate Mr. Forbes and Eliot. Given the information that he’s gathered on him, we believe he’s highly volatile and we’re concerned about what could happen if we move in while they are together,” Chief Reynolds continued.

  “So we’re waiting again?” Lauren snapped angrily.

  “I’m afraid so, ma’am,” Special Agent Ryan chimed in.

  “I’m not happy with this. None of this! It’s been nothing except sit and wait. And now you people are telling me that Kyle’s in something bad and I’m just supposed to sit back and wait while the fucker has my son? I don’t fucking get why you can’t just go get my son and arrest Kyle,” Lauren lashed out.

  She knew in her mind that what the officers where suggesting was the best plan of action. They couldn’t rush into a situation with Kyle and risk Eliot’s safety. But her heart wanted her son back in her arms. She needed to see her little boy’s face and know that he was okay. Words meant nothing when she’d spent days without any contact with her son. Her heart was bleeding from having Eliot torn away from her.

  “Lauren, calm down.” Connor squeezed her hand. “You’ve got to let them do their job. We don’t know that Eliot is in harm’s way. When you talked to Eliot and Jen, they assured you he was fine. Hold onto that,” he coaxed.

  This whole situation was making her crazy. Connor was right. She had to pull herself together and trust the system.

  “Miss Hawthorne did confirm to us as well that the boy was unharmed,” Chief Reynolds agreed. “I’m a father myself, and I cannot imagine the heartache you’re feeling right now. We need to do this the proper way for Eliot’s sake. We’ve had only a few hours to prepare, Ms. Forbes. Special Agent Ryan here has been working for months on his case—so to say we’ve had to hit fast forward would be an understatement.”

  At Connor’s urging, Lauren relented and let Chief Reynolds’ team show them to their room.

  “I’m so exhausted,” she sighed as she sat on the edge of one of the double beds; taking in the room around her. The double beds were divided by a plain wooden dresser. A small table sat in the corner near the window and two chairs flanked each side. It wasn’t home, but it was clean. It would have to do until this was all over with.

  The night trekked on while they waited to hear something, anything, about how things were progressing. Officers Gold and Mooney, from Chief Reynolds’ team, stopped by with carry-out for them to eat, and provided them with a brief update of what was happening.

  They would wait until the morning to proceed so that Agent Ryan’s team could attempt to draw Kyle out of the house.

  Lauren picked at the food in front of her after the officers left, but she couldn’t eat. Her stomach protested every time she brought the fork to her mouth. Connor pushed for her to eat more, but her patience with Connor was wearing thin. She was tired of it all, and that included being comforted by him. She didn’t want to hear how she should eat to keep her energy up. She didn’t want to hear it would all be okay. And she didn’t want to hear anyone tell her to hang in there and wait.

  Slamming her fork down, she pushed back from the table and stood. “I think I’m going to take a hot shower.”

  The tone in her voice was enough for Connor to take a hint. “I’ll clean this up and give you some space. If you need me, I’ll be out on the balcony.”

  Ignoring him, Lauren gathered her things and locked herself within the confines of the tiny bathroom.

  Connor took his time outside. Work had taken a backseat since he had come back to Millford. His inbox was overflowing with messages. Scrolling through, he saw some that his assistant had taken care of, ones that had been forwarded to his colleagues to be dealt with, and a few that lingered that needed his attention specifically. He took the chance to sort through what he could and replied to several before he shot off an email to his father, the CEO of the company, letting him know what was going on.

  When he stepped back into the hotel room, the lights were off. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the silhouette of Lauren’s body tucked into bed. Moving quietly through the hotel room, he gathered his own things and slipped into the bathroom for a shower. He was just about to crash in the other double bed when he heard Lauren’s whisper.

  “Would you…um, hold me for a little bit?”

  “I thought you were asleep,” he replied quietly, compassion filled his voice. Pulling back the blankets, he slid into the bed she had claimed, determined to provide her with any comfort he could.

  “Can’t sleep. My mind won’t stop racing.”

  “I’m sure.” He pulled her close, letting her head rest on his chest as he rubbed his hand up and down her back.

  “I’m ready for this to be over.” She stifled a yawn. Maybe when this was all over, she would let herself take a chance with Connor. He was tolerating her mood swings and doing all he could for her, while she felt like her life was hanging in the balance. For now, she could only focus on one thing: bringing Eliot home.

  Maybe she owed it to Connor to see where things would go from here.

  “Me too, Princess. Me too,” he whispered into the darkness.

  Lauren’s breath evened out and her body relaxed against Connor’s. Holding her close, his own eyes drifted closed.

  He woke some time later, feeling rested but panicked.

  How long had they been asleep?

  Had they missed an update?

  Glancing around the room, he noticed the light filtering through the curtains. Morning. It was already daylight. The alarm clock on the bedside table to his left read 7:30 A.M. They’d been asleep since around midnight.

  Lauren was still curled up beside him, an arm flung over his chest, holding on as if her life depended on it. He wanted to let her rest. It was the first time in days that she had actually given in to her body’s need for sleep. But he worried one of the officers may have tried to reach them. Could they have slept so soundly that they didn’t hear Lauren’s phone ring? Surely, the officers would have come knocking on the hotel room door if no one answered the phone, right? His mind raced. The last thing he wanted was for Lauren to wake up with the same thoughts running through her mind and feel guilty for falling asleep.

  Banging on the hotel door interrupted his thoughts. “It’s Sergeant Mooney,” a voice called through the door.

  Lauren jumped from Connor’s arms, and she leaped over the other double bed that stood between them and the door. A quick look through the peep hole verified it was one of Chief Reynolds’ officers standing on the other side. Lauren quickly pulled back the security lock and yanked the door open, nearly slamming it into the wall.

  Her heart raced in her chest as the officer began to speak.

  “I’ve got good news. I just got word from Chief Reynolds, they’ve got Eliot.”

  Lauren let out a gasp, and tears immediately began to roll down her face. “Is he okay?”

  “From the little I’ve been told, he’s safe. Try not to worry too much. They’ve taken him to the hospital as a precaution, but I’m here to take you to him as soon as you’re ready.”

  Her legs went weak. They had rescued her son. He was okay. She finally let out the breath she’d been holding. Now she needed to put one foot in front of the other, get the hell out of this hotel room, and get to her boy. She took a step forward only to feel her body fal
ling toward the floor instead. The last thing she heard was the sound of Connor’s voice calling out to her before everything faded to black.

  Connor paced the ER waiting room where he’d been sent after the ambulance arrived. The place was packed and the room they had Lauren in was too tiny for an extra body. Still unsure what happened back at the hotel, he worried something might be seriously wrong with Lauren.

  One minute, Sergeant Mooney was giving them the news that Eliot was in police custody and okay, and the next thing he knew, Lauren fainted, catching the corner of the metal bedframe on the way down and busting her head open. Officer Mooney immediately called for an ambulance and helped Connor put pressure on her head to stop the bleeding. He didn’t even know if she had regained consciousness.

  “Connor Matheson,” a nurse called from the open doorway.

  Connor’s head snapped up and he quickly made his way toward the young woman.

  “I’m Elizabeth, Lauren’s nurse. She’s awake and asking for you.”

  “Is she okay? Any idea why she collapsed like that?” Connor asked.

  “The doctor will be able to answer those questions for you. He was looking over her chart while I came to get you.” Elizabeth pulled back a curtain and directed him inside.

  Lauren glanced up when she heard him enter, a concerned expression on her face. “Where’s Eliot?” Her voice came out tiny and weak. “No one will answer me.”

  Shit. He hadn’t thought to ask about Eliot. He was so worried about her, that Eliot had not been at the forefront of his thoughts. He should have been with the little boy, comforting him until his mother could be reunited with him. Didn’t Sergeant Mooney say they’d brought him to the hospital as a precaution? Why hadn’t he thought to ask about the boy? Guilt washed over him.

  Chief Reynolds stepped into Lauren’s room without knocking. “Sorry, I probably should have asked if I could come in or something, but I saw them bring Connor back, and I figured you’d like an update on Eliot.”

  Connor let out a breath. He had been spared and would not have to tell Lauren that he momentarily forgot about her son.

  “They won’t tell me anything,” Lauren complained.

  “Sorry about that…policy,” Deputy Hawthorne shrugged apologetically “Since he was a kidnapping victim, they needed to wait for permission. Eliot is resilient and is perfectly fine. I just left his room myself. One of my officers is with him and they’re currently playing on her iPad. We brought him here as a precaution. It’s protocol when there has been a situation to make sure the victim has no injuries we are not aware of. The doctors ordered lab work, and we are still waiting on those results.”

  Lauren sniffled, wiping at the tears falling down her face.

  Chief Reynolds continued, “Again, it’s merely a precautionary measure. Physically, he appears to be unharmed, but we have to follow protocol. I let his doctor know that you’re over on this side of the ER. I’m sure he’ll come speak to you as soon he has the results. I know it’s a lot to process, but we’ll need to ask him some questions too; however, we’ll wait until you’re with him to proceed.”

  “Knock. Knock. Lauren Forbes?” a male voice called out before opening the curtain on her once again. “Ah, sorry to interrupt.” A middle-aged man wearing a doctor’s coat stepped inside.

  “I’ll come back in a little bit.” Chief Reynolds started to excuse himself.

  “Wait!” The deputy paused, turning back toward Lauren. “What about Kyle, were your guys able to get him?” She questioned.

  “I’ll let Special Agent Ryan fill you in on that. I haven’t gotten the full run down,” he answered, quickly retreating before she could ask any more questions.

  The doctor cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “I’m Doctor Morris. Is it okay for me to speak freely with your visitor here?” His eyes roamed to Connor.

  He wanted to stay. He longed for Lauren to say yes, but Connor realized she may pull away from him. Trying to be the bigger man, he offered to leave before she could send him away.

  Lauren squeezed the hand she’d been holding since he had entered her room. “It’s fine. Stay.”

  Doctor Morris flipped through some papers and began asking Lauren questions about her health history, making notes as he went along. “With no previous history of fainting, I’m confident that it was likely related to the traumatic event you’ve been dealing with. The laceration to your head is fairly minor. MRI was normal, no signs of any trauma from the fall. Blood work shows your blood sugar was low and your electrolytes were a little off when you arrived. You didn’t mention any problems with diabetes. Not on insulin or anything, is that correct?”

  “No, no diabetes. I haven’t been eating well the past few days. The only other time I had an issue with my blood sugar dropping was when I first got…” Lauren paused. “Um…when I first got pregnant with Eliot.” Could she be pregnant again? She hadn’t thought about the fact that she had missed her period. Then all this chaos with Kyle and Eliot happened. Being pregnant was the last thing she would have expected.

  The doctor nodded and smiled. “That was the other thing we needed to discuss. You’re about five weeks pregnant judging by your blood work. According to the nurse, your last period was June third, is that correct?”

  “Y-Yes.”

  “Then based on the bloodwork, I would say five weeks is fairly accurate, but an ultrasound would tell us for sure.

  “Is-is-is, the baby ok?” she asked, as tears filled her eyes.

  “I ran some additional blood work when we got the positive pregnancy results, your hormone levels are where they should be. Have you had any bleeding or cramping?”

  Lauren shook her head no.

  “Great. I’d like to do an ultrasound to gather some additional information and to make sure things are all right. I’ll warn you, we may not see more than the gestation sac and yolk sac. We won’t be able to see the fetus at this point. An ultrasound should give you some piece of mind though.”

  Lauren agreed, and Doctor Morris left, promising to return soon with a radiology technician and the ultrasound machine.

  “Are you okay over there?” she asked nervously, letting out a ragged breath.

  “I’m gonna be a daddy.” He shook his head in disbelief. “This certainly wasn’t how I saw this day ending.” Shock was the only thing that could describe the way he was feeling.

  “Yeah,” she whimpered. It was all too much. Connor had been home for a handful of months and she already found herself pregnant with his child. She should be focusing on Eliot, not worrying about a baby growing inside her. “Eliot,” she gasped, thinking of her boy again. “Where the hell is his doctor?”

  Connor jumped up. “I’ll find out,” he said, excusing himself and leaving her alone with her racing mind.

  It was no wonder her body gave up and she collapsed. She felt like there were a thousand things being thrown her at her all at once. Connor could still very well leave her again, and then what would happen? Deep down she wanted to be happy, to be thankful for the life growing inside her, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel anything except worry.

  Connor came back not long after he’d left with another doctor in tow. He introduced himself as Doctor Bond and briefed her on Eliot. All of his lab work had come back normal. Relief coursed through her. Eliot was going to be okay physically.

  “I’d like to go ahead and send him over to sit with you, if that’s all right?” Doctor Bond suggested.

  Lauren wanted to agree, to be reunited with her son, but Doctor Morris’ expected return made her hesitant. She didn’t want Eliot in her room when they did her ultrasound. No, she’d rather tell him about the baby in her own time. “Could you give us just a few more minutes? I could send Connor over to retrieve him when we’re finished. But could you please let him know I’m okay and not to worry?”

  Doctor Bond gave her a smile. “Sure, I’ll let him know. Whenever you’re ready, come and find me or the nurse.”<
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  Within minutes of Doctor Bond’s departure, her own doctor returned with a technician and the ultrasound machine. There wasn’t much to see, but he promised her things appeared to be right on track. “You’ll want to follow up with your own doctor in about two weeks. I’d like to give you some more IV fluids, get another round of blood work, and keep you overnight for observation. If all is well in the morning, then you’re free to go,” Doctor Morris explained.

  She didn’t have the strength to protest his plan. Instead, after her doctor left, she sent Connor to get Eliot and waited anxiously to hug her boy again.

  Her son came running through the curtain to her room with Connor, Chief Reynolds, and Special Agent Ryan following closely behind. “Mommy!” he cried as he wrapped his arms around her. Tears poured down his face as he buried his head in her shoulder.

  “Baby boy. It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s all over now.”

  When he finally lifted his head and met Lauren’s gaze, she patted the bed beside her, urging him to climb in where she could cuddle him close. Lauren kissed the top of his head, and thanked God he was back where he belonged.

  “Lauren,” Chief Reynolds interrupted their reunion. “When you’re ready, we’d like to talk to Eliot, and Special Agent Ryan has some news.”

  Lauren took a good look at the men standing before her. They would forever be her heroes for saving her little boy.

  “Eliot, Chief Reynolds needs to talk to you,” she whispered. “Can you do that? You’ve been so brave. Can you be brave for a little longer and talk with these gentlemen? I promise, I’ll be right here with you the whole time,” she reassured him as an uneasy feeling settled into her own stomach. Would she ever really be ready to hear what happened when Kyle took him from her?

  He nodded, and sat up straight. “Sure.” He sounded more confident that Lauren felt.

  Chief Reynolds took his time. He introduced himself and Special Agent Ryan, talking about normal things; and then the questions began.

  Eliot told his side of the story from when Kyle took him after his soccer game on Saturday, right up until the police picked him up and took Jen out in cuffs. “It was just like any other time I’d been with my dad. The only difference was that we were staying with his friend. This Jen lady. Most of the time, we stayed in the house, but there were a few times he took us out for ice cream and then he’d disappear for a few minutes. I watched a lot of T.V. and waited. He wouldn’t let me call my mommy. One time, he went out alone, and Jen let me call home if I promised not to tell my daddy.”