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“I don’t have a clue yet, but you can be damn sure I’m going to find out as soon as I catch up with Alexis,” I state, leaving out that she’ll probably be apologizing upside down with her ass in the air.
“Have you talked to Allie today?” I ask Nick.
“No, and I don’t plan to. And for the record, you and I never had this conversation. Just wanted to make sure she’s okay. How far behind are you now?” Nick asks as if he’s been watching the minute and second hands of his watch and knows that four minutes is now exactly over.
“We’re just pulling up to the hospital, Nick. I have to go, but I’ll keep in touch,” I tell him, opening my car door as Claire hurriedly gets out. Trent and Liam join us as we walk through the hospital doors, and I read a message that the girls just went into Jan’s room.
We race until we reach the elevator banks. My jaw tightens as I watch the light slowly change from one floor to the next, taking its own sweet fucking time before the door finally opens.
“Claire, I need to get to Alexis. Head to the ladies’ locker room, and then to Jan’s room. The float nurse we put in place left an outfit for you in locker twenty-five. Liam and Trent will be watching, but remember, this man is going to do something to flush her out. The code’s set to start in twenty-five minutes. Go into the room as the nurse and come out as Lex. Maybe, just maybe all our plans haven’t been shot to hell, and he’ll still use that opportunity to grab you. Be careful, though,” I instruct, leaving the elevator, separating off, and heading down the hall toward Jan’s room.
The corridor is quiet. The nurses are all bustling in and around the nursing station, except the one short-haired nurse who’s seated and typing on the computer. I stop outside Jan’s door when I hear Alexis and Allie softly talking to each other.
I text the security team that all is well, sending Claire a separate message to be ready because as soon as that code is activated, the nurses and doctors will swarm past Jan’s room, giving us the ability to have nurse Claire slip into Jan’s room and come out disguised as Alexis, while Alexis herself remains safely in Jan’s room.
“We’ve got this, Sheldon. The guards have the entire perimeter surrounded, and even if he did grab her, he’s not getting out with her,” Claire informs me as I get out of the way and into position.
She says this as if it’s an everyday occurrence, and while it is in Claire’s world, just the thought of that monster anywhere near Alexis makes my blood run cold with unadulterated fear.
I glance at my phone, watching the time, waiting for the activation, and when the code gets called, Claire walks from the locker room directly toward Jan’s room.
Claire pulls her phone out of her smock as she walks past Jan’s room, following the rest of the crowd. She shakes her head emphatically, and then turns back toward Jan’s room. It looks perfect, as if she were heading to the code and got another patient call, but at that very moment, Alexis blows the entire plan all to hell. She walks right out of Jan’s room into the open, and saunters down the hall like she doesn’t have a fucking care in the world.
I text the security team at the end of the hall, double time it around the nursing station and down the opposite corridor and slip into the men’s bathroom right before she turns the corner, keeping the door ajar so I can observe her.
I watch her approach, holding my breath. Her blonde curls bounce with each step she takes, and my heart pounds like a fucking freight train because at any fucking time that psycho could grab her. My eyes don’t leave her for a second. It seems like hours instead of mere minutes as she passes every single square tile on the long corridor of the hospital hall until she’s finally close enough to grab. I snake my arm around her, capturing my disobedient little submissive by the waist and clamping my hand over her mouth to ensure she doesn’t make a sound.
Alexis strains and fights against me, even manages to get a good elbow into my ribs.
I pull her tight against me, back up with her in my arms, and let the door close all the way shut. “When I get you home, you and I are going to have a serious conversation about my rules. The last two days you’ve broken just about every single one I have,” I say, putting her down. She stands gaping at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Sheldon! Jesus, you scared the living hell out of me!” she whispers fiercely, looking at me wide-eyed as if I should apologize for the situation we’re in.
“We have a decoy in your room with Jan, but I’m pretty sure Darwin had his eyes on you the minute you walked out of there.”
Her eyes go wider. I’d love to assure her that everything’s going to be okay, but right now we’re in a room no bigger than a closet with only one exit, and that’s far from fucking good. “We need to move, Lex. Stay right next to me. As soon as we get to the nursing station, the rest of the team will surround us, and then we’ll get you the fuck out of here.” Men like Darwin will go to any measure to get what they want, and this psycho bastard has his mind made up that he wants Alexis and seems willing to do anything to that end.
I send Claire a text to keep her eyes peeled. Darwin will make his move, and at least we have the element of confusion and surprise on our side. We reach the nursing station just as another code is announced overhead, and the light above Jan’s room flashes. Alexis notices which room it’s coming from about two seconds later and turns to walk that way, but I’m not about to let her head right into what could very well be a trap.
I keep a tight grip on my little submissive’s arm. “Let the clinical staff do their job, Lex. They will do everything they can for her,” I tell her, guiding her out of the way of the code team, who are racing by to respond.
Her expressive violet-blue eyes fill with tears, and I pull her tight against me, just holding her, helpless to change anything about this and knowing just how much Jan means to her.
One of the nurses must recognize her. “I’m so very sorry. If it helps, we have a wonderful team at this hospital. They’ll do whatever they can to save your friend.”
“I know they will, and thank you,” she whispers to the nurse who has remained at the station.
“Did Patricia get ahold of you? She was at huddle with Jan’s doctor and was going to give you an update,” the nurse states, speaking to Alexis.
“No, but with everything going on—” Alexis replies before being interrupted by the friendly nurse.
“Oh, there she is,” she answers, gesturing toward a blonde-haired nurse walking toward us. “Why don’t you catch up with Patricia and get all filled in until Melissa is done with her paperwork? Then she can go over a few record keeping items with you,” she says, pointing to the nurse at the desk. “I’ll go check on Jan, dear.” She reaches over as if she’s going to hug Alexis, who’s attempting to wiggle out of my arms to return the attempted embrace.
I hold Lexie’s arm firm and stand between them. She may just be friendlier than most, but no one’s getting that close to Lex right now. “Thanks for your help. Let us know what you find out as quickly as you can,” I tell her, earning me scowls from both of the ladies.
Alexis starts to say something but shakes her head like I’ve gone completely nuts. Maybe I have, but something is rattling around in my mind. It just won’t form into a clear and complete thought until the very minute someone asks Melissa a question. She answers and stands with her back to us, and Alexis freezes in my arms. I see the glint of steel as she turns, but it doesn’t come close to reaching Alexis because the gun in my hand has already fired a shot dead center into the chest of the nurse intent on getting to Alexis.
Alexis doesn’t move a muscle or say one single word, but the friendly nurse screams and someone else calls a code overhead that sets flashing lights and a shrilling alarm off from all the speakers in the hospital.
