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Not to her.
I immediately call Sebastian, ready to rip his arms from his body if he doesn’t answer. After several agonizing seconds, I finally hang up. The fact that he didn’t take my call is all I need to know. Hopefully, he’s not dead. I’m quick to shoot off a message to Zack to have someone look into his disappearance.
The address the mysterious man spoke of comes through on a text, as well as a warning to come alone and unarmed. I read it with a frown, my brows pulling together. It’s in an industrial part of the city. A place I used to be familiar with. Why would he take Calista there?
It doesn’t matter. I just need to get to her.
I plant my feet and stand, shoving my chair back so forcefully it slams into the wall. Then I’m through the door and striding toward the elevator that leads to the underground parking garage.
“Mr. Bennett, I was going to ask if you’d like your usual lunch, but you seem in a hurry,” Josephine calls out from behind her desk.
“Cancel it, Josephine. I’ll be back later.”
“But, sir—”
I don’t let her finish as I rush toward the set of metal doors. “Come on!” I growl, pressing the button repeatedly. Finally, they part, and I step inside, tapping my foot as the damn elevator moves at a slow pace.
When the doors open, I step out onto the garage level. My driver is already standing by the open door of my vehicle, waiting to assist me, and I wave him off.
“I’ll be driving today.”
* * *
I pullup to my childhood home.
This motherfucker brought Calista here to torment me. There’s no other explanation for this specific choice in location.
I grip the steering wheel so tightly, my knuckles turn white, and a tingling sensation skitters along my fingers. The longer I stare at the house, the more nauseous I become. I promised myself that I’d never step foot in this godforsaken place again.
This is where my mother died.
But I’ll be damned if the same thing happens to Calista.
Taking a deep breath, I get out of the car and stride up the walkway. When I reach the front door, I’m tempted to pound on it with my fist. Instead, I rap my knuckles against it once. No need to do more than that when the asshole inside is expecting me.
The door opens, and the same man whose face was just displayed on my computer screen stands in the foyer. Thomas Russell holds a firearm, the barrel pointed at my chest.
“So glad you could make it, Mr. Bennett,” he says, his eyes dark and sinister. “You arrived faster than I guessed you would. Looks like Miss Green means more to you than I thought.”
“Where is she?”
“Why don’t you come inside and make yourself at home?” Russell chuckles. “Considering you used to live here, I think that was quite clever of me. Pun intended.”
The sound of his amusement has me shaking with the need to hit him, but my need to see Calista overrules it. I stride forward and come to an abrupt halt when I find her lying on the floor. Completely motionless.
My heart drops, and I race to her side, kneeling to take her pulse. It’s weak but there. Relief swamps me while I battle the urge to pull her into my arms. My instincts scream at me in protest when I retract my hands, but I can’t show weakness.
Calista looks so fragile, her skin pale and her breathing labored. She blinks slowly, and I can tell the minute she recognizes me because she mouths my name. It guts me. I thought I knew heartache, but I didn’t really until this moment.
I rise, turn to Russell, and glare at him, not bothering to hide my fury. “What did you give her?”
“Oh, nothing that would kill her right away,” he says, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “You and I need to have a little chat first.”
I look around, and a flashback from my youth surfaces.
I’m a child, coming home after school to find my mom collapsed on the living room floor right where Calista lies. My mother’s skin had that same sickly pallor, her breaths shallow and pained. The fear in that moment caused me to panic. I stared at her for several minutes with the certainty that I was losing her. Then I pleaded with her to wake up before the ambulance arrived and proclaimed her deceased.
Now, seeing Calista like this… it terrifies me. I’ve never been more scared in my entire life.
