Revenge

By Cheryl Sumner Niehoff

Dr. Jennifer Warren has no idea, when she is called home to Colorado after her dads accident, that her life is about to change forever. Now a killer is after her, wanting to destroy her family and go after those close to her. Adam Norwood, a longtime friend, is drawn into helping her figure out what is happening to her family.

They try to avoid danger and find family secrets they did not expect. As they learn the depth of the secrets, their faith will be tested, along with their growing love for each other. Can they figure out who is behind the attacks before more people are killed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490822969

Cheryl Sumner Niehoff

Cheryl Sumner Niehoff grew up in western Colorado and has a Master’s Degree in Christian Leadership. Along with her military husband, she and their son have had the privilege of travelling all over the world, living in multiple states and one foreign country. They have enjoyed the military lifestyle and have had many adventures and made wonderful friends. She continues her education and hopes to eventually return to Colorado. An avid reader who loves stories about families she hopes to follow up this book with another about the Norwood family. Visit her website at CherylNiehoff.com.

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Copyright © 2014 Cheryl Sumner Niehoff.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-2295-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2296-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014900739

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/30/2014

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

Prologue

"I’ll get my revenge on you if it’s the last thing I do!" Doc couldn’t get those words out of his head. He would never forget that day 28 years ago when Ray Frasier shouted those words at Sarah, his ex-wife, as they dragged Frasier out of the courtroom to a life prison term in the Kansas State Penitentiary. Sarah had later become Doc’s wife.

Dr. John Doc Warren walked down the hall at Montrose Memorial Hospital. The nurses at the station all looked up and smiled. He was, at age 62, one of those men everyone wanted to get attention from. At just a little less than 6 feet, with white hair and sparkling blue eyes, he was one of the genuinely nice guys who kept himself in great shape and didn’t realize the affect he had on women. He always treated everyone with kindness and never treated a nurse like she was less important than he was just because he was a doctor. Many a single woman had tried over the years to get his attention but none had any luck as he still loved his first wife even years after her death. The nurses on this particular night, however, noticed he seemed preoccupied and not his usual cheerful self. He had acknowledged them but walked right on by which was unusual for him.

Snow was just beginning to fall as Doc walked wearily out to his Expedition. It was 11:30 PM and he had just finished checking on his favorite and oldest patient, Edith Lange, who had suffered a stroke earlier in the evening. Doc was the only doctor in the little town of Norwood, Colorado and had been so for the last 35 years. Doc had received the call from the EMT’s as they were on their way to Montrose and the closest hospital with Edith around 7:00 that evening and had immediately hopped in his car and sped the seventy miles to Montrose.

Edith was the first patient he had treated when he moved to Norwood thirty five years ago. She had given him a hard time at that first appointment, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he had big shoes to fill following the previous general practitioner in town and he better do it right. He told her he had every intention to live up to her expectations and had worked hard ever since showing her he was a man of his word. She had become his biggest supporter in the small, close-knit town. She had been there for him ever since, never hesitating to let him know if she thought he was wrong or needed improvement.

There was no way he would have allowed her to be treated by another doctor, nor would she allow someone else to treat her. He actually pitied the emergency room doctors if they tried to treat her without him there. She was cantankerous, but he loved her like his own mother and his daughter, Jennifer, thought of her as the only grandmother she had ever known.

He had not been sleeping well for the last three nights after San Miguel County Sheriff Chuck Morrison had informed him that Frasier had escaped from prison in Kansas. He had escaped from the Kansas State Penitentiary in Leavenworth after serving 28 years of his life sentence. Ray had been convicted of killing his wife’s parents in a very gruesome murder and had been in prison ever sense. Doc’s late wife Sarah had been the primary witness against her then husband. She had been brutally beaten and stabbed before seeing her parents murdered by Frasier.

Doc would never forget the scene as Ray was dragged from the courtroom after the verdict. Ray had looked at Sarah and Doc with such hatred in his eyes that Doc shuddered even now just thinking about it. Ray had yelled, I’ll kill you for this and your lover boy and that little brat of ours if it’s the last thing I do! Sarah had been unable to intervene on behalf of her parents when Ray had gone after them with a knife due to the beating he had already inflicted on her earlier that day. Sarah spent almost three months recovering from her injuries but the family lawyer had filed for divorce for her the day of Ray’s arrest.

Sarah had been Doc’s college sweetheart and they had planned to wed right after Doc finished medical school. But Sarah had been swept off her feet by Ray Frasier, her father’s handsome, young, business partner, the year before Doc finished his residency and they had married much to Doc’s heartache. So when Sarah called him from her hospital bed sobbing, he raced to Kansas to be with her. She begged Doc’s forgiveness for marrying Ray and it was like they had never been apart. Doc wanted to marry her right then but the divorce wasn’t final and they had to wait until after the trial. Doc travelled to Kansas again for the end of trial and to pick up Sarah and her two year old daughter, Jennifer, to bring them to Norwood. They were married just prior to the end of the trial. Doc immediately filed papers to adopt Jennifer and she legally became his daughter the following year. Adopting her just before her third birthday Doc became the only father Jennifer had ever known.

Doc had never stopped loving Sarah and through the months of waiting for the trial and the trial itself, she gradually opened up to him and told the story of how the charming Ray turned into an abuser and murderer. It took Sarah months to learn to trust Doc completely as she was so wounded.

Sarah died two years later in child birth with Doc’s child. The complications that resulted in her death were related to injuries she had suffered at the hand of her former husband, and although he couldn’t be tried again, Doc always felt Ray should have been punished for what he had done to Sarah. Jennifer became Doc’s life, and she was to this day. He had promised Sarah on her deathbed that he would always tell Jennifer her biological father was dead and that she would never know the about the truth about the animal Sarah had been married to.

Sheriff Morrison had been informed of all of this when Sarah first came to Norwood, and he had asked the prison in Kansas to let him know if the status of the prisoner ever changed. Three days ago there had been a prison riot that led to the escape of four prisoners, one of which was Ray. The warden informed the Sheriff that prison had not changed Ray, and he was still an angry bitter man, blaming his sentence on his ex-wife. The warden was worried that if they didn’t catch Ray before he got to Colorado, Sarah and her family would be in danger.

Doc had been trying for three days to connect with his daughter and let her know what was going on, but between his schedule and his daughter’s, they had not been able to connect with the exception of a few texts and this was not something you could text. Jennifer was an OB/GYN practicing in New York City and had been busy delivering babies. He had been trying to figure out how to tell her – it had been so easy to respect Sarah’s request when he knew Ray was in prison for life. He had written a letter to Jennifer to tell her about it if something happened to him but he never dreamt he would have to tell her. He worried she would think he had lied to her, when in reality it was out of respect for his wife that he never had told her the whole story.

As he pulled in to get gas, he looked over and noticed a black SUV with dark tinted windows pull through the gas station. Glad I don’t have to try to see through those windows at night, he thought to himself. Doc paid for the gas, thinking he would really like to have stayed in Montrose, as undoubtedly the roads would be slick going up Norwood Hill which was very steep and crooked with cliffs on one side most of the way up. Usually he would stay in town but he was due to help with the Lion’s Club pancake breakfast fundraiser to benefit his clinic with medical supplies for indigent workers in the morning, so he headed home. The Expedition was very dependable on slick roads so he wasn’t very concerned as he went in to get a large coffee and some candy for the road home. Maggie, his housekeeper, would give him grief about not eating right but he needed the energy.

About half way up Norwood Hill, Doc noticed some stationery lights on the left side of the road, facing the canyon. That’s strange, someone parked on a side road at this time of night, must be a sheriff’s deputy, he thought to himself. As he got closer he noticed the car in his headlights looked a lot like that black SUV that he had seen in Montrose. Just as he pulled even the vehicle pulled out and ran straight into the side of the Expedition. Doc tried to pull past stepping on the gas but the SUV was larger with a big rack on the front. Doc tried to steer but felt the Expedition slide into the guard rail and head for the side of the cliff. His two last thoughts were to turn on the emergency flashers and a prayer for Jennifer for God to protect her from what she did not know. Then everything went dark…

Chapter 1

Dr. Jennifer Warren walked out of the operating room having performed a caesarian section on one of her favorite long time patients, Jill Rouse, delivering two beautiful baby boys. She was ecstatic that after having watched Jill and Tom suffer through three miscarriages, they finally had the family of their dreams. Just as she walked into the locker room she heard her pager buzzing. Jen looked and saw the numbers 911 – since her office was just across the walkway she decided just to run across and find out what the emergency was. She had been up for about 48 hours and really needed a rest so she said a quick prayer that this was something easy.

As Jen walked in the door of the office, the office manager, Heather, handed her the phone, saying it was the sheriff from Norwood, Colorado calling with an emergency. Jenny-girl, there’s no easy way to tell you this, Doc’s car is off the side of the cliff on Norwood Hill. It’s hanging about half-way down caught on trees and rocks and we haven’t been able to see inside yet. Luckily Deputy Jenson came upon the scene shortly after it happened judging by the snow tracks on the road. He called emergency vehicles in and I’m in my car on the way now. I don’t know anything about Doc himself. Deputy Jenson can’t get down there without a line and we need the vehicles to tie too. He tried to head down but it is too slick and it’s snowing hard here.

Jen stood there taking it all in and finally said, Sheriff, what are his chances?

Until we get down there I don’t even know if he’s alive. It’s very slick here tonight and we don’t know exactly what happened. I won’t speculate now but I’ll keep you posted as soon as I know something. We have to anchor the vehicle so it won’t slide on down the hill before we can even begin to extract him.

I’m on my way; I’ll keep my cell phone on and try to be there by noon. It’s 4:30 AM here and if I can catch the right flights hopefully I should be there late morning. Please call anytime there’s news and if I don’t answer please leave a message.

"Jen, be careful. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to you because you’re trying to hurry for him. You know what Norwood Hill is like and this rescue is going to take time so if you don’t hear from me, don’t assume the worst. We know he has to be hurt but just how bad is going to