I don’t relax. I can’t. The room tilts again. Black creeps at the edges of my vision. I sag back against the pillows, barely catching myself before I rip another line free.
The nurse moves quickly, pressing gauze to my arm, adjusting the IV with careful hands. “We’ll find it.”
One of the agents gives a dismissive snort. They mutter to each other as they back toward the door, still watching me like I might break loose and charge. The door shuts behind them with a harder click than necessary.
The nurse who had been monitoring the line finishes checking the bag and steps back from the bed. “I need to grab another kit,” she says before slipping out of the room.
Then the door clicks shut.
I stare at it, my chest rising too fast as I wait for it to swing open again with the only answer that matters. Every muscle in my body stays wound tight. My eyes stay fixed on the handle as seconds drag past. I expect another agent, another round of questions.
Instead, a different nurse steps into the room.
She keeps her eyes lowered and holds a cell phone in one hand.
“You have a call,” she says before setting it on the rolling tray beside my bed.
She turns and walks out without another word. The door closes behind her, leaving the room quiet again.
The screen glows.
Incoming call. No number.
I pick it up. I don’t speak. Silence breathes on the other end for a second.
Then, calm and amused, “Still alive, huh?”
My grip tightens until my knuckles go white.
“Grant.”
A soft exhale. “Well you won’t be alive for long.”
My jaw locks. “Where’s Brooke?”
He gives a slow sigh. “That girl has some fight in her. You should be proud. But if I were you, I would stop worrying about her and start worrying about what is about to happen to you.”
“If you touch her,” I say, each word forced through clenched teeth, “I promise you will regret it.”
His voice dips lower. “Oh, Seth. I’m gonna do more than touch her.”
Something inside my chest tightens hard enough to make it difficult to breathe.
Grant chuckles. “Rest up, Seth. Prison’s not going to be easy for you.”
The line goes dead.
For a second, I just hold the phone to my ear, waiting for the click to reverse. Waiting for anything.
Nothing. The silence presses in.
He has her.
And he's going to hurt her.
My chest tightens so fast I think the sutures have split. My pulse roars in my ears.
The door opens, a federal agent steps inside. He shuts the door behind him and slides his phone into his jacket pocket.
