His face lowered close enough to mine I could smell his fetid breath.He must not have brushed his teeth in days.“You’re mine.I knew it the moment you started your internship.It’s why I pushed Stillwell to keep you on for the residency.He thought it’d be better if you got experience elswhere.But I knew I would get you in line and in my bed.”
“If I go back with you, what will happen to Vinny?”
His eyes darkened.Oops.Wrong thing to ask.“I’ll dispose of him before we leave.We don’t need the excess baggage.”
“You will leave my brother alone!”
He made a frustrated noise.“Such a stupid bitch.”
He dragged me forward.I barely had time to scream before he smashed my head into a cabinet, and the world exploded into stars.
ChapterThirty-Five
JOSH
My phone buzzedin my back pocket.
Erika:911
She was at the clinic.I tried texting back.
Josh:You ok?
Nothing.Not a single word back.Not even the little typing bubble to show she’d seen the message.My stomach twisted hard.I dialed the front desk.
One ring, two, three.Then straight to the on-call messaging service.
I tried texting Marty, but all I got was her voicemail.
Marty wouldneverignore a call from my number if she was still at the clinic.If Erika had been injured, Marty would’ve found a way to reach me.The only reason neither woman would answer was if something had happened at the clinic—an attack, a fire, somethingunthinkable.
The murmuring crowd of parents around me blurred into white noise.We still had two innings left.
“Drew!”My voice cracked as I sprinted from third base toward the dugout.“I have to go.Something’s wrong at the clinic.Get Vinny home after the game…or maybe don’t take him to his house.I’m not sure if Erika will be there.Just, keep him after the game, please.And the dog.Get Tracker.”I nodded where he sat in the corner of the dugout.“I’ll call as soon as I know anything.”
I didn’t wait for a response.My pulse thundered in my ears as I yanked my backpack off the bench and tore across the gravel toward the parking lot.My hands shook so hard I nearly dropped my phone as I punched in Dante’s number.
He picked up on the first ring.
“It’s a 911 at the clinic,” I gasped.“Something’s really wrong.Erika sent me an emergency message and now I can’t reach anyone.Can you get there?How far out are you?”
“Ten minutes, less if I push it,” Dante said.“I’m on my way.”
I called Marty on her cell again.Still no answer.I called the front desk again, but it rolled into the after-hours message.I tried Erika again.
All I could remember was Erika saying she felt insecure working alone.What if someone pulled a gun and wanted the controlled drugs?Her words clawed at my chest like a warning I never listened to.
The thought of losing her—really losing her—was something I’d never outlive.All the bullshit about us being broken… God, none of it mattered.It was all noise.All lies.
The road blurred beneath me as the miles flew by, but my mind was gone, empty except for one truth pounding in rhythm with my heartbeat:
I have to get to her.
I have to get to her.
I have to get to her.
Nothing else mattered.
