“Yeah. Yeah she fucking is.” Lacey’s right about the cop cars; there are four cruisers parked up outside the hospital, visible over the shoulder of the female news reporter. But it’s not the cruisers that have me on edge. It’s the Aston Martin one-77 parked by the emergency entrance.
Charlie Fucking Holsan.
This is another message. Except this one isn’t written on paper. I know him. I know him all too fucking well. This message is going to be written in blood.
It’s perfect, really. The perfect way to get my attention. Sloane’s parents are no longer around for him to threaten, so he’s upped the ante, knowing I won’t be able to resist. Something ugly and very disagreeable sets my nerves on edge. I grab out my phone and dial quickly. I have to speak to Sloane. I have to let her know that motherfucker is inside the building with her.
The line clicks as it connects, then begins to ring. Four rings. Five. Six. How many fucking rings does it take for someone to answer their phone? “Shit.”
“She’s not supposed to have her phone with her while she’s working, Zeth,” Lacey says quietly. She’s chewing on her thumbnail, her legs now tucked up underneath her, eyes intent on the television screen. “Don’t freak out,” she tells me.
She’s telling me not to freak out. Oh, holy fuck I must look like a complete psycho right now if Lacey is trying to talk me down off a ledge. “I’m fine,” I say. The phone rings out for the ninth time and I hang up, cursing under my breath. Well. There’s nothing else for it. I snatch up my leather jacket and start heading for the door.
“Where are you going?” Lacey leaps off the couch and practically sprints to beat me to the warehouse exit.
“Where d’you think?”
“You know they’re looking for you. Every worker at that hospital’s seen your face because of Frankie’s brother; Sloane said so. The cops’ll arrest you the moment you pull up out front.”
Inconveniently, Lacey has a valid point. Fucking Frankie Monterello and his pain-in-the-ass family still causing me headaches from beyond the grave. “I’m not hanging out here while Charlie’s inside that hospital.”
“Are you worried about her? You think he’s going to kill her?”
My ribcage constricts just hearing her say that. It’s like there’s a block inside my vocal chords that cuts me off whenever I think about saying something that’s not a threat or a curse word strong enough to turn the air blue, though. I can’t admit to being this terrified. I clench my jaw and look away.
“Because that’s what I’m worried about,” Lacey says. “I’m really worried about that right now. I love Sloane.” She loves Sloane? Well, this is news. I jerk my head back, narrowing my eyes at her. Lacey actually returns my scowl. “Not like that, you jerk. I love Sloane like a sister. That’s the way she treats me—like family. And you love her, too. I am so sick of you guys—”
“Do you want to come with me or not?” I say. I can’t listen to her complain about how useless I am telling people—Sloane in particular—how I feel about them. I have to do something to get her out of that hospital. Lacey blinks at me, shock marking her face.
“Yes, I want to come with you,” she says.
“Then shut up and get your jacket.”
******
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll bring Cade, too.”
“Cade’s with you?”
Michael makes an affirmative sound. “He and Carnie showed up earlier. Came to ask me something on behalf of my cousin. Cade wanted to see you, but I told him you were recovering. Which I’m guessing you’ve decided against, now?”
“I’m already recovered,” I growl into the handset. “Make sure he leaves his cut behind. And leave Carnie, too. Three of us is enough. We don’t wanna draw any unwanted attention.”
“Got it.” Michael hangs up, and I slam through my gear changes like the gearstick has done something personally to offend me. I barely lift my foot off the gas to take the corners.
“She’s fine. You know that, right?” Lacey tells me, leaning through the gap between the driver and passenger seats.
“She’s not answering her phone.”
“She’s probably just busy. It has to be mayhem in there.”
“She should have answered her fucking phone.”