Under His Protection
Chapter 20

When she opened the door and saw him on the bed, shirtless and with a bandage on his arm she choked back a sob and went over to his side. His eyes were closed but he opened them when he felt her touching him. He took her hand and held it.

“Zane, you had me scared to death,” she said, leaning down she kissed his cheek.

“Hey, buddy, what you doing getting yourself shot?” Joe said as he moved closer.

Zane’s head turned to look at Joe, still holding her hand. “Any word on the shooter?”

“Not yet but we did go over the area and found footprints and a cigarette butt. What I don’t get is how they missed Jade and got you instead. I do have a guess though, I think you were the target he was aiming for.”

Jade stared with an open mouth, shaking her head. “Why do you think that?”

“From where the shooter was, he would have had a clear shot at you instead Zane was hit. It does make sense, because of Zane they weren’t able to get to you so by taking him out of the picture they would have been able to get to you at some point.”

“You keep saying they, you think there’s more than one?” she asked.

Joe shook his head. “I’m not saying that, but I’m also not ruling it out.” He looked at Zane. “They’re releasing you soon so I’ll have a squad car take you home and extra security outside the apartment complex. I’ll leave you two alone and I'll make some calls.”

When he tried to get up she held him down. “I’ve got to put my shirt on so we can get out of here,” he groaned.

“Not yet. You have been given something for the pain and it’s making you sleepy. Once you’ve rested for awhile then we’ll get you dressed and I’ll take you home.”

“I’ll rest but only if you lay next to me.”

Getting on the bed she laid down and he put his arm around her. “I’m so sorry you got hurt. Because of me now they are after you too, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Maybe Joe can get someone else assigned to me.”

“No one but me is going to protect you so you can get that thought out of your pretty little head,” he said, yawning.

She looked up and saw he had fallen asleep. Knowing how stubborn he was she knew there was no way he would step aside and let someone else take over. Part of her was glad about that, she felt safe with him and didn’t think she would with anyone else. He looked so peaceful asleep, she touched his cheek, knowing she was getting dangerously close to falling in love with him.

She got off the bed just as Joe walked in.

“You look exhausted. If you want I can have a man take you home and a guard outside your door till Zane gets there.”

She looked down at Zane, she wasn’t about to leave him. “I’ll be ok.” She smiled at Joe. “Besides, if I leave here without him he’ll be furious and as I’m sure you know he has a temper.”

Joe chuckled. “That he does. He’s a good cop and will make a great detective. Zane has the best instincts of anyone I know and he’s usually 99 percent right.”

“What about you Joe, don’t you want to be a detective?”

“Me? No way. I like where I am, less hassle. Being a detective involves more hours, always on call and can be called out in the middle of the night. My wife would never put up with that and I prefer to stay married. I have to go back to the office and make more calls. I should be back in about an hour or so and then I’ll give you both a ride home.”

“Ok, thank you, Joe.” She pulled a chair next to the bed and sitting down held Zane’s hand. Her mind kept going over everything that had happened. She was sure Kenny couldn’t have killed Trevor or shot Zane. He may be a bit unhinged but wasn’t a killer. But for him to put cameras in her apartment and how could he have afforded to buy them? Also was he smart enough to know how to set them up? He did have access to her place though it was against the law for him to go in without her consent. Now that she thought about it when he first started working in her building he did have to go in to fix the taps that were dripping in the bathroom. She had left him alone to go to work. She felt like crying, he had been spying on her for months now.

“Hey, where are you going?” Zane asked when he opened his eyes and saw her walking away.

Going back over to him she took his hand in hers. “I’m just going to use the washroom. Close your eyes and get some sleep.”

“Don’t leave this room.”

“I’m not going anywhere, there’s one in here,” she said, kissing his cheek. Even in the shape he was in he was still worried about her.

When Zane opened his eyes he wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he did know Jade was not with him. He called out to her, thinking she was back in the washroom but he got no answer. Fear coursed through his veins and pulling himself up reached for his shirt. His arm was killing him but he refused to let that stop him from looking for her. His head snapped towards the door when it opened and he held his breath, hoping it was Jade. It wasn’t, it was Joe.

“Hey man, what are you doing out of bed?”

“Where’s Jade?” he snapped.

“Isn’t she here?”

“If she were would I be asking you where she is?”

“I was back at the station, been there for over an hour and I just got back. She said she wouldn’t go anywhere. Maybe she went to get a coffee.”

“No, she wouldn’t leave,” Zane barked. “I’ve got to replace her. Damn it, I should never have fallen asleep.”

They both looked when the door opened and a nurse walked in.

“Miss, the woman that was here with me, Jade Edwards, have you seen her?” Zane asked, sweat forming on his temples.

“I haven’t seen her in about an hour when I let her know Officer Brown was waiting to see her in the waiting room.”

Joe looked at Zane and shook his head before putting his attention back to the nurse. “I’m Officer Brown and I’ve never seen you before or asked you to send Miss Edwards to the waiting room.”

“No, not you, the other man. He said he was Brown, showed me a badge,” she said, her hand began to shake, knowing she had screwed up. She didn’t really bother to look at the badge, being busy and all.

“What did he look like?” Zane barked.

“He was tall, husky build with dark hair and he wore glasses, walked with a limp.”

“Don’t you watch the news?” Zane growled. “You just described Kenny/ Howard Crain, a wanted man in connection with stalking and murdering a man.”

The nurse was in tears. “No, I never watch TV. I’m so sorry.”

Joe got on his phone and called for backup. “We’ll search every inch of this hospital, get the surveillance tapes and we’ll replace her Zane.”

In his frustration, he grabbed Joe by the collar. “Find her, It’s been an hour and they could be anywhere by now. Kenny, that sick fuck has her and there’s no telling what he’ll do to her.” He released Joe when the room started to spin and he had to sit down. “My God Joe, we have to replace her before it’s too late.”

Joe checked his phone. “There are men checking the stairways, every room and we should hear something soon.”

Zane put his shirt on and hoisted his pistol. “When the cottage we were staying in blew up the only ones who knew we were there were Reggie, Kenny and you.” He looked at Joe, his eyes narrowed when suspicion crept into his brain. “You’ve been gone for over an hour, what were you doing?”

“I told you I went to the station and made some calls. Wait, do you think I have something to do with what’s been happening to Jade?”

“You are the only one who knows everything about this case and I’ve told you things that I never told anyone else.”

Joe’s face turned red and anger flashed in his eyes. “You listen to me partner, I’ve been working my ass off trying to replace answers while you’ve been shacked up with Jade. I never even heard of her till she walked into the station so what motive would I have? You and I have been friends for a long time, I have a wife and kids I love so do you really think I have something to do with this?”

Zane ran his hand through his hair. “No, of course not Joe. I’m just going crazy here with worry and we still don’t know what really happened.”

Joe sat next to him. “I know you’re sick with worry. I got in touch with the doctor who was in charge of Kenny when he was in the institution and he’s gathering all his notes and is going to fax them over to me at the station. We know that when he kidnapped that girl from school he was in love with her and he didn’t hurt her. He’s in love with Jade, obsessed with her so I don’t believe he’ll hurt her.”

“That was different, that girl wasn’t involved with anyone. Kenny knows how close she and I have gotten and it pissed him off. Remember the first case we had where the girl was stalking this guy? She said that if she couldn’t have him no one would either and she killed him.”

“We have every available man out looking. We’ll go back to the station, I just got a text saying the fax I was waiting for is there. But maybe you should go home and rest. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

Zane stood and winced when he put his jacket on, his arm was throbbing like crazy. “I’m not going home until we replace her.”

“I know,” Joe said and opening the door they walked out.

Before they got far an officer ran towards them, breathing heavily. “I found these in the stairway by the inside parking lot.”

It was Jade’s purse and a handkerchief. Zane held the handkerchief close to his nose. “Chloroform,” he said, looking at Joe handed it to him to smell.

Joe turned to the young officer. “We’ll take these with us,” he said, indicating the purse and cloth. “You gather all the surveillance tapes and bring them to the station. Also, get some of the others to question everyone who was here in the last three hours and have them report back to me.”

They walked to Joe’s car and Zane stopped to look around. “How is it possible for Kenny to sneak into a hospital and abduct a woman who was clearly out cold? The man might be strong but he has a limp.”

“We’ll know more when we get the tapes. He would probably have had a vehicle in the parking lot near the stairway. Let’s get to the station. I’m hoping the fax will give us some insight into Kenny as to what he’s capable of.”

Zane was getting more worried as the minutes ticked by, not knowing what was happening to her had his stomach in knots. He could only hope that Kenny wouldn’t hurt her, that his intentions were to keep her captive in the hopes that she would fall in love with him. The man was mentally unstable and probably thought she might in time.

When they arrived at the station there was a stack of papers for them to go through, one was a report from the fire chief on the fire at the cottage.