Kate’s Dilemma (Kate's Case Files Book 3) Read online

  “Mayfield, I still can’t make you talk about things.”

  “And what’s with calling me Mayfield? You’ve never called me by my last name before. Besides, it was changed to Johnson.”

  “Again, I apologize. I think it’s the effects of the drug. I often think of people by their last name and mentally have to correct it to a first.”

  “Do you call Jamie by her maiden name sometimes?”

  “Nope, I have pet names for her.”

  “You make me mad, Brian,” Kate said, struggling against her bonds. She wanted to get away.

  “Well, you make me mad quite often, but that hasn’t stopped me from liking you.”

  Kate jerked, and the chair budged a little. “I make you mad? What about you? Chipper in a place and time like this.”

  “Yes, you make me mad. We’ve taken you in and given you a good home and tried to be a good friend to you.”

  Kate rolled her eyes again. “Great, now I feel like a stray dog.”

  “We haven’t demanded to know your past or asked you for much outside the workplace.”

  “Now you make me sound like a freeloader.”

  “And what do you do? You tell Patrick, who really cares about what happens to you, to buzz off because you are such a capable woman. As if his help would make you something less capable. You tell the girls, who have opened up their home, that they’re troublesome and are invading your space.”

  “Brian, stop talking.” Kate jerked her chair. She didn’t know what she hoped to accomplish, she just wanted to get away.

  “You push all of us away so you can do what?”

  “Maybe because I don’t want you to reject me,” Kate blurted out in frustration as she jerked on the chair and tumbled sideways. She found herself unable to put her head on the ground, but her position was even worse, and the floor smelled horrible.

  “You okay?” Brian asked.

  “Just great.” Sarcasm laced her reply.

  “Good. Why are you so afraid we’ll reject you?”

  Kate gulped back tears that threatened. Curse that ether, it had muddled her brain, and she was losing control. “Most people didn’t like who Kate Mayfield was. Her own father wanted to remake her. Anyone who ever got close enough saw she was a broken person who needed fixing.” Suddenly, she wanted the tears to fall. She felt her heart would burst, but her eyes felt dry.

  “When was the last time someone saw the heart of Kate Mayfield?” Brian’s tone was soft, much like Kate imagined he would use to soothe one of his children when they were upset.

  Kate took a shuddering breath and tried to think. She reached back, but the cobwebs clouded her mind. Then an image of her sixteen-year-old self with long hair done into curls, wearing a shimmering dress that fell to the floor, and feeling so pretty. Yet, she stood in a corner alone and watched a boy her own age, her escort, flirting with another girl. She shook her head. That wasn’t even a relevant memory.

  “Think about how vulnerable you were when you were being investigated, Kate. I think this team saw more of you than you realized. You need to give us a chance. We can help you. We want to be here for you.”

  Images from her first interactions with the team surfaced, and she realized he was right. They had seen deeper than most people ever had and they were still there.

  “Look, I’ll let you in on a secret,” Brian said in a whisper loud enough to carry across the room.

  “What is that?”

  “I still sometimes have the urge to hide and stash food. If I do the grocery shopping, I come out with enough food for a month for six people. I don’t even have a whole lot of memories of my birth parents or that whole time in my life, but I have a few pretty awful ones. Jamie sometimes will find food behind my clothes, or stuffed in the corner in the garage. I just go through times when I have trouble stopping myself.”

  Kate jerked on her chair, but she no longer had the leverage to move it. She wanted to do something. The image of someone depriving happy and sweet Brian of food was horrifying.

  “There are other issues I have, parts of me I wish even I could hide from. We all have them. Yes, some people don’t like me because of them. I had a string of foster parents who thought that I was one of those kids who didn’t have a chance of recovering—that I was beyond help. Every time they dumped me back into the system, I felt rejected, unwanted, and worthless. Granted, I acted out a lot. I wasn’t a nice kid to have around. But God redeemed me. There are still people who don’t like me, Kate. For every person who thinks we’re awesome, we can always find a dozen who think we’re crazy. We have to choose who we listen to and be open with people we can trust.”

  Kate nodded and then remembered Brian couldn’t see her. “You’re right.” Her eyelids felt so heavy.

  “Mayfield, don’t fall asleep on me.”

  “I just need one minute, Brian. I can’t keep my eyes open.” Kate closed her eyes and felt the heaviness return. Brian’s words faded away as she drifted into a dream world.

  A New Perspective

  Time and Day Unknown

  Patrick woke up, his head pounding. He tried to reach up but found his hands bound tightly to his sides. When he tried to move, he found his legs were also tied together. He wiggled around, the ropes biting into his flesh. He realized that duct tape covered his mouth also. This was miserable. What had happened? He remembered the cloth being placed over his mouth, but where was he now? Was he in one of the warehouses? Patrick tried to think but sleep soon claimed him. He couldn’t keep his eyes open.

  When he awoke again, he realized he needed to use the restroom, but with no way of getting out of the ropes, that wasn’t happening. He managed to turn onto his back, and he tried to look around. The room was dark; staring around gave him no clues as to where he was or even how big the room was. It had a musty, unpleasant odor. He thought for a moment and started to roll himself. It was hard at first but became easier with each turn. He finally bumped into a wall, but it didn’t budge or offer a way of escape.

  He groaned and rolled around until he determined that the room was completely empty. It was large enough he was pretty sure it was some sort of industrial building. He exhaled and rolled to his side. There was nothing he could do to get out of this. The ropes were too tight; he hadn’t found a door, a sharp object to use on the ropes, or even any kind of edge that would have helped him to create friction. He was stuck here, and if someone didn’t come soon, he was going to embarrass himself.

  “Patrick Connor cannot save the world.”

  Patrick stared into the darkness, having no idea how long it had been since he had arrived, and with nothing else to do, Kim’s words haunted him. He had dismissed them, dismissed her as not understanding. It had seemed she was looking for issues in him. Now, he saw as plain as day what she had been talking about.

  He had rushed off because he thought he could do a better job at saving Brian and Kate than anyone else. He had disobeyed Thomas and risked his own career for what? His pride.

  He rolled his eyes in the darkness. Seriously, how could he be prideful in this kind of position? He was pathetic. He had rushed out to save the world, and he couldn’t even get himself out of the ropes that bound him. His greatest hope right now was that his captor would return and let him use the bathroom before he felt like a little kid. Wow, that was certainly something to be prideful of, wasn’t it?

  Something Brian had said once came back. Something about honoring Thomas because he was their boss. He had quipped something, he couldn’t remember what, about thinking the guy was nuts. He did respect Thomas, or at least he thought he did. Lying here on the floor gave him a new perspective on things. Before, when he had rushed in, things had worked out. He had been able to save Kate and save the day, and it felt like ignoring Thomas had been a good thing. It was a lot harder to say that now. He actually wished now that he had listened to Thomas and stayed out of this mess.

  He rolled onto his back to try to relieve the pressure he felt. He wanted to
face the sky anyway. While he couldn’t use his mouth, he wanted to be able to look toward heaven. He had justified his actions for a long time. Had he really been the one telling Kate about making sure that all the decisions they made, large and small, mattered to God? How arrogant he sounded—how hypocritical. He should have been looking at his own life at the same time.

  How many times had he disrespected Thomas, his boss, and justified it because he found the guy annoying? He had been keeping a list of reasons in his head why Thomas wasn’t worthy of respect. His brain went blank on the verse, but he was pretty sure there was one about respecting those in authority over you. It didn’t have an exception clause for Thomas. More than that, it hurt his witness to Thomas to act as if he knew better.

  A blinding light pierced the darkness and Patrick blinked. Boots slapped against concrete floors and Patrick rolled toward them. Blinking in the light, he couldn’t see the person.

  Rough hands grabbed him from behind and dragged him along. A door opened and Patrick wanted to say thank you to the man when he saw a bathroom. He sent a silent prayer of thanks to God. It was at that moment he realized he was still bound.

  “I’ll give you one minute, no more,” the unseen person whispered. The ropes loosened and fell away. His captor disappeared. Sixty seconds later, he reappeared and rebound a much happier Patrick. He had tried to figure out some way to use the time in the bathroom to come up with a way of escape, but hadn’t been able to.

  He was bound again and dropped to the ground. His shoulder hurt from the impact, but he was able to keep his head from hitting the cement. He blew out through his nose and rolled around a little, trying to get comfortable. He realized there was no such thing when it came to this kind of position.

  He went back to contemplating what he needed to do when he returned to the team…if he got out of here.

  Team Project?

  Unknown Day, Unknown Time

  Rough hands grabbed Kate, and she jerked awake. She tried to fight, but it was a useless effort. After all, she had maneuvered her chair in such a way as to give her no leverage.

  “You tried to make a move and ended up on your face?” Someone above her chuckled.

  “Leave her alone.” Brian’s voice was as firm as a dry throat could be.

  Whoever held her didn’t even give him a response. She was pulled out of her chair, her hands behind her back, and dragged out of the room. She blinked in the fluorescent lighting. The fog of sleep cleared and her heart slammed against her chest. She had no idea where this guy was taking her, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to go. She kicked with her leg, and the guy doubled over. She turned and started running toward a door. Strong arms gripped her from behind, laughter filling the metal room, echoing off the walls.

  “She got you good. Didn’t anyone ever teach you that captives typically try things like that? You got to be on your guard.” Whoever held her hoisted her over his shoulder without any ceremony and didn’t set her down until they entered a small room, which ended up being a restroom.

  “You have sixty seconds, and then I come back in.”

  Kate couldn’t see his face, but she didn’t like the tone of his voice. She was set down, and the door closed before she had a chance to see the guy’s face. She quickly did her business and then cupped her hands and drank all the water she could from the sink before the door opened again. She didn’t get a good look at the guy before she was once again hoisted onto his shoulder and carried back to the room she had been in before. The best she could tell, she was in a warehouse of some kind. The next moment she was pressed into her chair and tied to it while Brian was led out. He had a pretty good bruise forming on one cheek as far as she could see, but it was hard to tell with the shadows. She was left in darkness again, this time alone.

  She tried to get at the knots, but these were no old Western movie bad guys. The knots were not within her reach, and she was bound tight. Every muscle was sore, and she realized how stupid she had been. She had kicked the guy without even so much as looking around to see an avenue of escape.

  She shifted into a more comfortable position and listened, straining her ears to hear what might be going on outside her prison. She heard nothing. They could have taken Brian away and left her to die slowly for all she knew. She wished Brian were there to bother her—to tell her what she was doing wrong. She wanted Patrick to explain to her why she wasn’t the only one hurting. She wanted Logan and Kim to be there to discuss something that she didn’t really care about. She wanted to hear Thomas tell her to get lost, or how to manage her Christian coworkers. She missed them. She didn’t think she would, but she missed all of them.

  She gritted her teeth and strained at the ropes and then sank into the chair in defeat. She was nuts. Who did she think she was? The Hulk? She couldn’t get angry and push her way through these ropes like they were grass. She was only human.

  A human who had found people she cared about.

  Despite all her best efforts, it had happened. She cared about these people, and she wanted to be around them. She liked Kim’s faith, her peaceful presence, and her wise words. She liked Logan’s balls and passion. She liked the way Thomas was picked on by everyone yet never complained, seeming to understand that it helped everyone stay together. She appreciated how Brian wasn’t afraid to speak the hard truth yet spoke it with such gentleness and humility. And yes, she liked Patrick. He had gotten under her skin, and she had to admit he had been there for her even when she had tried to push him away. He had also given her the space she had asked for.

  The door opened, and Brian was dragged back in. Kate shifted in her chair, wishing she could do something, but she knew it was no use. Weariness settled over her and hunger roared to life. How long had they been here?

  “Hey, any chance you would let her go?” Brian asked, tilting his chin toward Kate.

  The backlit captor laughed. “Very gallant, but no. Neither of you are going anywhere.”

  Brian let out a long breath. “I guess it was worth a try. Now about food.”

  Their captor walked out the door and plunged them both back into darkness.

  “How disappointing,” Brian said dryly. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  “Nope, but I managed to hurt them.”

  Kate could almost hear Brian’s smirk. “Yeah, they were talking about it. You must have a lot of hidden talents. Are you a black belt?”

  Kate shook her head and then rolled her eyes. You would think she would have realized by now she couldn’t shake her head and expect Brian to see her. “No, I’m not. You don’t have to know much to deliver blows.”

  “True. Now, are you going to stay awake this time or are you going to leave me alone to talk to myself and count buffalos?”

  “Count what?”

  “Something I did as a kid. One of my foster dads told me to count sheep when I couldn’t sleep. I asked him what you counted if you wanted to stay awake, and he blinked a couple of times and then told me buffalos. It was a good way to shut me up, and so I have always had a running joke with myself that I count buffalos to stay awake.”

  “How does one have a running joke with oneself?”

  “If you’re easily amused it isn’t hard. Now, about getting out of here.”

  “You have any ideas?” Kate asked, shifting in her seat.

  “Sure I do. It involves praying that help comes because there is no way I’m going to be able to get out of here on my own strength.”

  “And here I was hoping for a brilliant plan worthy of that Roy Rogers fellow.”

  “I wish. Bad guys have become smarter since Roy’s time. See, in most of the Westerns, they left something glass around or a loose knot so Roy was able to get away, or his horse, Trigger, saved him.”

  “Sounds like a stupid show.”

  “Hey, don’t make fun of Roy Rogers.”

  “Wow, who would have thought that Brian Heath was so touchy about his Western stars.”

  “He was a hero,
not a star.”

  Kate laughed. “Well, I now know how to get on your bad side in the future.”

  There was a long pause. Kate wondered if Brian had fallen asleep. Finally, he spoke, his voice soft and thoughtful.

  “Does that mean you are going to stay with us?”

  Kate swallowed hard, her throat feeling dry once again despite the water she had guzzled. “Brian, I like all of you. Despite how much you all get on my nerves and drive me crazy, this has made me realize how much I like each of you, but I’m not sure I can stay. I want to be around all of you but…” She tried to think of what it was that was the hardest part of staying, but it was all a jumble.

  “People are messy, they hurt, they fail you, and you aren’t sure if you can trust one person, much less a whole team.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But you’re thinking you might stay?”

  Was that hope she heard in his voice? “Would you want me to stay after I’ve been a jerk to all of you at some point or another?”

  “I think that might be a bit harsh, but yes, I want you to stay.”

  “Why?” Kate strained at her ropes again, simply for something to do with the feelings inside. “Why would you want me to stay?”

  The silence stretched long enough she wondered if he had heard her question.

  “I don’t want to make you mad, but I can see there’s a lot in your past. As much as I would like to say that all you need is God to heal it, I know you need people as well. It took some godly people in my life to heal the hurt of the past. I think this team can be that for you.”

  “So, I’m kind of like a team project?”

  “No. You’re more a member of the body of Christ, with some members of this team reaching out to help you.”

  Kate looked down and opened her mouth to respond when a commotion outside the door caught her attention. The next moment, the door burst open and she coughed as smoke filled the room.