Page 59 of Bernadette
“Yes, and it was all in my head that they were mad at me.”
“I told you it was. Now, I don’t mean to be a bastard, but we’re five men down and I need to get to the fields. Tell my brother that I love him, and hope he comes home soon, but I have to get out onto the range. We’re getting ready to bring the cattle in for the winter.”
“Shit, do you want me to come home?”
“We should be good. Lucas, I’m not putting you off or anything, but if you agree, I’d like you to stay there to help keep Wyatt and Morgan safe. Not that I don’t trust the FBI standing at his door…” he let the statement trail off.
“I understand, I’ll help keep a lookout. Do you expect anything or anyone?”
“Not really, it’s just a gut thing, you know?”
“I do.” Lucas answered, and looked up as several people walked down the hall. He had stepped away from the door to make his call in privacy, and as he finished his conversation with his father and hung up the phone, he saw someone dressed in black slacks, a light blue shirt, a tie, and a doctor’s coat approach. He started forward and frowned when the doctor paused to speak with the FBI agents. As he turned to look at Lucas, the younger man frowned, the doctor looked familiar to him. With his phone gripped in his hand, he had a flash of memory as to where he had seen the person and never knew what came over him except the urge to protect his family.
“Hey!” he yelled, and when the three men looked at him, he shouted, “You don’t belong here! You’re not a doctor!”
Before anyone could do anything, the man in the white coat pulled a gun and aimed it at Lucas. Not thinking, Lucas lifted his arm and threw his phone like a baseball, and he would later swear he saw the bullet release from the gun and ducked in time to miss it. As the bullet hit the wall behind him, Lucas’ phone hit the man square in the forehead, he dropped to the ground, and two men who had been approaching the room suddenly ran forward. Lucas sighed in relief when he saw Carl Miller was one of the men running toward him.
“What the fuck?” Carl demanded, then yelled at Morgan as she opened the door. “Get back!”
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
No one said a word at first, and it was Lucas who spoke first. “I was on the phone with dad telling him Uncle Wyatt was awake. I saw that man…” He pointed to the floor where the two FBI agents had cuffed the groggy man. “I recognized him from somewhere, and it wasn’t as a doctor. He turned and said something to the guards, and I remembered where I’d seen him. I yelled at him, and when he pulled his gun, I threw my phone at him.”
“Why would you do that?” one of the FBI agents asked as they helped the man to his feet, but held him between them.
“I’m a pitcher for our baseball team at school.” Lucas shrugged like it was no big deal. “It was all I had.”
“Well, from what I saw…” Carl smirked at him. “You did good.”
“Thank you.” Lucas grinned, then looked at Morgan. “Can you get my phone?” He pointed to the object that had slid down the hall, and prayed it hadn’t been damaged.
Morgan gave it to him, but before she released it, asked, “Where did you recognize him from?”
“Do you remember when I came, no you weren’t there.” He sighed heavily, scrubbed his face, then began dialing his phone. He looked at Carl. “If I remember correctly, this man’s face was on all the screens at the office when I burst through the door to tell you guys that we had to go look for Uncle Wyatt and Aunt Morgan. I heard Joyce saying she knew him from somewhere.”
Carl looked at the man and nodded. “I believe you’re right, but we never got to the point where she said where she knew him from. You calling her?”
“I am.” Lucas nodded then said into the phone. “Joyce, it’s Lucas, first Uncle Wyatt is awake.” He grinned when he waited as she relayed the information to the others, and they all heard the cheers. “Before we get into all that,” he said, when she started asking questions about his condition. “He remembers everything, but I have a question for you.”
“What’s that?”
“When I came to the office to tell you guys that we needed to find Morgan and Wyatt, there was a man’s photo on all the screens around the room. Could you tell me why?”
“Sure, he was at the reception, and I thought I recognized him from somewhere else, but couldn’t put my finger on it. I had Astrid put his photo on the screens so I could walk around to see how I recognized him. You know, to trigger the memory.”
Lucas looked at Morgan and Carl, who had joined him at the other end of the hall with one of the FBI agents, leaving the other one to hold the guy posing as a doctor until they got answers.
“What did you remember?” Morgan asked.
“I thought about it on our way to get you and Wyatt, and told Bernie about it, but I finally remembered that I saw him twice. The first time was when I got to Stinger’s Garage to get Stella out of prison. I was sitting at Marcus’ desk, and he was the guy that yelled at me for being in the office with my feet on the desk while I waited for Marcus to return. I waved him off, because I didn’t know the man, and I knew Marcas would be okay with me being there.”
“Okay, but when was the second time you saw him?” Carl asked, and looked up as his boss, Owen Drake joined them. He had been there when the guy in custody had pulled a gun and shot at Lucas. He was talking to the men from security.
“When I remembered he was the guy I saw in the garage, I had Astrid run facial recognition on the photo of the man outside Stella’s prison cell. You know, the photo with the trailer in it.”
“And?” Owen demanded.
“And it was a match. The guy standing outside the storage unit was the same guy I saw at Marcus’ garage. I call Marcus again, and he’s confirmed that the asshole quit work there a week after I reported Stella missing.”
