Page 20 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

Rick groaned. “I’m fine. Can’t I just walk?”

The nurse rolled her eyes. “If I had a dime from every one of you tough guys who said that, I’d be a millionaire by now.”

Jake laughed.

The nurse continued, “You’ve got some paperwork to sign at the desk. It shouldn’t take long.”

“I’ll be taking him wherever he wants to go,” Jake said to the nurse. “I’ll go grab my SUV. Where do you want me to pick him up?”

Another thirty minutes later, Rick was stepping into the front seat of Jake’s SUV while Jake loaded Rick’s bag into the back seat.

“Where to?” Jake asked, stepping inside the vehicle, and situating himself behind the wheel.

“You tell me,” Rick muttered. “You discovered something new about Shanna Weldon’s disappearance, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” Jake agreed, giving him a side glance as he shifted into gear and merged into traffic. “We have more video images. Again, we can’t say for sure it’s her. Facial rec doesn’t work as well when the last time she was photographed was eight or nine years ago. But we think we’ve identified the guy she was with, so we can follow up with that.”

“Is he anyone I would know?” Rick asked.

“More than likely not. He owns a marina in Rice Lake,” Jake replied. “His name is Wes Montgomery.”

Rick shook his head. “No. I’ve never heard of him.”

“Everything I have about him is back in my office in Crystal Rock. If you’re serious about wanting to be part of this investigation, you can accompany me to Wisconsin, and we can go over the entire case.”

“Of course, I’m serious. I know I shouldn’t feel responsible for her disappearance, but I do,” Rick said grimly.

Jake shook his head. “You shouldn’t. Since I had a feeling that she was holding back on me, I’ve talked to Shanna’s mother since then. And I was right. She wasn’t giving me the whole story.” Jake sighed. “It’s a shame that she’s become somewhat of a loose cannon. We won’t be able to let her know what we’re planning. There’s just too much of a chance that she could unintentionally say or do something that would interfere with our investigation. But I believe what she told me.”

“And what was that?” Rick asked.

“She and Shanna made peace with each other during those last six months before she disappeared. I even saw how much she changed, especially after Russ Weldon was killed in that car accident.” Jake hesitated. “And there’s something else that you’re going to hate hearing.”

Rick’s eyes met Jake’s as he stopped at a red light.

“Shanna was pregnant.”

Rick groaned.

“Let’s wait until we reach Crystal Rock, and we can go over every bit of information that I’ve collected,” Jake said.

“Where are we headed?” Rick asked, finally noticing that Jake must have already had a destination in mind when he left the hospital.

“I’ve got my private plane waiting. We should reach Crystal Rock just in time for a late lunch,” Jake observed.

“There’s something that I forgot to mention. As much as I’d like to assist, I have to report back to base after a few more weeks of rehabilitation,” Rick admitted.

“No, you don’t,” Jake said firmly. “You’ve been cleared for as much time as I need you. Your injuries are going to put you out of commission physically for a while, and your connection to this case makes you invaluable. I suggested that you should be trained for Air Force Special Operations.”

“AFOSI?”

Rick felt like he’d been run over by a rollercoaster. But everything Jake was telling him was true, as much as he hated to admit it. As a member of search and rescue, his physical endurance wouldn’t be up to par for months, even with everyday rehabilitation.

“You can take your time getting back in shape with the physical therapist at the wounded warrior home and work with me on this trafficking situation while you’re here.” Jake sighed. “Without a plan, we can’t move ahead with anything. We need to see if it’s possible to come up with an unassuming approach to investigate the situation to see if we’re on the right track. The last thing we want is for any of the traffickers to get wind of the fact that the FBI might be back on the case so that whoever’s involved gets ordered to lay low.”

“Alright,” Rick agreed. “I’m sure we can do that. As much as I love my search and rescue career, I’ll have to face facts if my injuries prevent me from returning. I know we can come up with a way to approach this situation and identify whether it’s a trafficking operation and maybe even shut them down if it is. Besides, I’ll never truly be at peace until I find out what happened to Shanna.”

“That’s exactly what I thought you’d say, Rick,” Jake admitted. “In fact, I was counting on it.”

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