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I pulled into the backside of the parking lot and slammed the SUV into park before I shut it off. Racing through the building, I jammed the penthouse button and waited impatiently, leg shaking absently. The elevator dinged once I reached the floor, and I ran into the suite.
It had been locked, but the guard wasn’t posted by the door. Swinging the door open, I glanced around, noticing the lights were still off, and silence filled the condo.
“Mila? Kat?” I called, only to hear nothing in return. “Mila!”
Growling to myself, I slammed the door shut behind me and went back into the elevator. The moment I reached the ground floor, I ran outside, only to find a small commotion around a cordoned area.
There were cruisers everywhere, as well as two ambulances.
Brows furrowed, I found the nearest officer, knowing he was on our payroll. He was startled by my contact on his shoulder, but he blinked back at me.
“What happened?” I demanded of him; eyes wild while I tried to keep myself together.
He swallowed. “A man that I believe was one of yours has been killed, and a woman was injured right outside the building.”
A red veil fell over my eyes, and every fear I ever had came crashing down over me. I seethed, “What about the girl? Where is my little girl?!”
The officer gave me a blank expression, confused by my question. “There was no little girl as far as I know.”
Blinded by rage, I pushed away from him and made my way closer to the scene, forcing through the small crowd.
Nestled in the middle of the taped-off section was indeed the guard I had assigned to Mila and Kat for the day, laying in a pool of blood. First responders were working at covering his body up, but I didn’t miss the pair of yellow water wings by his side.
Kat’s water wings.
The weight of everything nearly knocked me over, threatened by a looming blackout. I grabbed at the nearest officer to keep myself upright, unable to inhale sufficient air.
Not too far away, I found the nearest ambulance with the doors open, and the paramedics worked to lift a stretcher inside. On the same count, they hoisted it up and carefully slid the stretcher in.
Dark, blood-soaked hair hung over the side of the stretcher, and dread dribbled into my gut.
Without a shadow of a doubt, it was my wife. And our child was gone.
Chapter 18 - Mila
A nightmare surrounded me, along with the pounding in my head.
Rocking back and forth on a stormy sea, I felt like I was about to be sick. Even if I wanted to be, I couldn’t seem to find the strength to. Everything was foggy like a heavy blanket was placed over my eyes.
But as I tried to open them, tendrils of black framed my vision. The vague shapes of faces peered down at me, and I wanted to scream. I wanted to thrash and cry out, but I couldn’t. My body was useless.
A distant chatter brought me back slowly, realizing the black in my vision was only my lashes. I tried to look beyond them, but it was a struggle. I didn’t know how long I had been out, but the pain rushed back to me in a sharp wave, sudden enough to nearly knock me unconscious all over again.
The intense crack of pain in my head was enough for bile to creep up my throat, and I was turned to the side the moment I started to retch. It was a blur, despite feeling every moment of it. Those kind hands helped ease me back down.
It seemed that my mind was more awake than my body, and everything felt impossible.
Trying to open my eyes, I saw bright flashing lights, which only made the pain feel worse. I quickly shut my eyes, unable to face whatever awful thing had happened.
Instead, the hard surface beneath my body disappeared the moment hands slipped beneath me, and I was placed on something soft. A slight wave of relief came over me, and I eased into that new cushion of comfort.
Fear scrambled through my system the moment something draped across my body, from top to bottom, like restraints. I wanted to scream again, but the voices surrounding me were calm and reassuring.
Unable to determine how much time had passed, my thoughts simmered down to nothing as a loud bellow came from somewhere in the distance. It was neither gentle nor reassuring, and it made my heart race.
It moved closer. Rage and anguish leaked from the other voice, mingled with the ones that tried to remain reassuring. There was a struggle of some kind, and Nikolai’s face entered my mind.
Was it him?
