Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

to reply that their daughter was nothing if not stubborn, and very capable—he couldn’t protect her if she insisted on running directly into danger. But arguing with her parents over whether or not he was at fault wouldn’t do any of them any good. “I’ll call you later.”

He climbed into his vehicle.

“We’re coming to the hospital, too,” David said.

Ryan groaned inside. His biggest concern at the moment was Tori’s safety, and if her parents were there then he only saw them getting in the way. Their interference wouldn’t help. But their daughter had come by her stubbornness naturally—he could tell they wouldn’t back down, so he didn’t bother trying to convince them.

He radioed for law enforcement to meet the ambulance and a deputy to remain with Tori at all times until he got there. His job as an investigative detective had suddenly morphed into him doubling as a bodyguard.

TEN

Tori was getting tired of seeing the inside of a hospital, especially since her parents and Ryan were having a confab in the hallway without her. Unfortunately, the doctor had insisted he keep her for overnight observation. She hadn’t convinced Ryan that she hadn’t been knocked unconscious. She couldn’t be 100 percent sure herself. And her shoulder was giving her fits.

But morning was here. She’d stayed overnight and she was ready to go. She found new clothes her mother had bought for her and put them on. Jeans and a T-shirt and a zippered hoodie. Perfect.

Ryan was much too focused on Tori’s safety, for which she knew she was partially to blame. She hadn’t done such a great job convincing him she could protect herself. But it was like he’d told her—under normal circumstances she could protect herself, but being targeted was far from normal.

Sarah had thought someone was following her—and in that way, she’d even done a better job of staying alert to danger than Tori had. Had she experienced any other kind of threat to her life that they hadn’t uncovered?

Tori squeezed her eyes shut. God, please help us to find who did this to Sarah. Please... Help me. Show me the way.

The door opened, startling Tori from her prayer. The nurse handed over the paperwork for Tori to sign, which she quickly did and met her family in the hallway.

She took in their expressions. Uh-oh.

Ryan’s face had grown even more somber. Mom’s face was paler than she’d ever seen, and Dad’s was red and twisted with anger.

How she wished they could have been spared.

Tears formed in Mom’s eyes and she hugged Tori to her and sobbed. At this moment, Tori wished she was two thousand miles away. She’d only brought them more heartache by being here.

“I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to put you through this on the heels of...” She couldn’t say Sarah’s name when referencing her death. Not to her parents. It hurt too much. “I only meant to help.”

Mom released her, then Dad stared down at her, his expression stern, as if she were still a child. “I insist you go home to South Carolina now. Go back to your job and leave the investigation to the authorities.”

Tori frowned and fought the need to defend her decisions. She wasn’t a child, even if her father insisted on treating her like one. “I can’t have this discussion with you. Not here. Not now.” Maybe not ever.

Turning her back on them, she walked away, hating herself for the seemingly heartless action. It was anything but heartless—too many emotions were getting in the way of her talking to them, causing an abyss to expand between them.

She stopped at the elevator, hoping for an escape. She had considered remaining in Rainey even after the investigation concluded because she believed her parents needed her. They all needed each other after Sarah’s death. But now she wasn’t sure she could tolerate her father’s attitude. Would he always be this overprotective, this controlling if she stayed? She couldn’t be sure—and she knew it wasn’t fair to judge him based on his behavior right now, when emotions were running far too high. They all needed a little bit of grace and mercy for each other right now.

Footsteps approached from behind. She knew that cadence.

Ryan.

Unbidden, her heart danced around inside. She shoved those nonsensical feelings away, or rather, tried to.

He sidled up next to her. “So you’re just going to leave them like that?”

Tori pressed the elevator button, then angled her head toward him. “It’s an argument that can go nowhere and might escalate into something truly hurtful. I’ll call them later. They’ll get over it. You should know how it works in families. You have a bigger one than I do.”

He hung his head and shrugged, then lifted his chin, his eyes pinning her. “He loves you, that’s all. He’s worried about you.”

And so are you.

“I know. You feel the same way he does. You want me gone.”

Ryan said nothing in response as the elevator door finally dinged and then opened.

Together they stepped into an empty elevator, but not before Tori noticed her parents chatting with the doctor, Rick Hensley, whom her dad knew. Good, they were distracted. A pang shot through her heart.

The elevator doors closed them in. “I’m at the end of my rope, Ryan. That’s all. Now please take me somewhere safe so I can get busy again. If my laptop and purse can be recovered, I’m going to need those, too.”

“We’re going to find him, Tori, I promise.”

“Don’t you think you’re a bit overconfident? You can’t make that promise.” The words came out sounding harsh, which she hadn’t intended.

She caught a bit of her contorted reflection in the small mirror in the corner. She was a wreck. Tori combed her fingers through her hair so she could look more presentable.

Ryan said nothing at all, but in the reflection she saw his lips had flatlined.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she said. “Your retort should have been, ‘And you’re the one who’s going to bring him down?’”

He chuckled.

Good. She liked the sound