Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Then I heard it—a horn, long and unrelenting, blaring louder than anything else around me. It cut through the air like a warning, shrill and inescapable. I barely had time to process it, barely had time to react. And then everything went black. Again.
Chapter 24
Webb
Remy’s voice cut through the quiet like a scalpel. “We’ve just had a Jane Doe admitted to Orlando Regional Medical Center. She’s a female in her mid-twenties, currently unconscious, with no identification on her.”
I looked up fast. “That could be anyone.”
“She came in with two people claiming to be her grandparents,” Remy added, clicking away on his keyboard. “Gladys and Ira,” he read aloud. “According to the intake notes.”
I froze, and my stomach twisted, tightening into a hard, sour knot. “That’s not Gabby. She doesn’t have grandparents named Gladys and Ira.”
Jesse raised a brow, arms folded across his chest. “It's still worth checking out, right? Stranger things have happened.”
Remy nodded, his tone even. “There’s more. She was brought in following a road traffic accident and transported by emergency services. The medical team is currently running a head CT and checking for any signs of internal trauma.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged, not bothering to look up. “Hacked into the hospital’s patient monitoring system. I’ve got eyes on their incoming logs, just in case Maddox got spooked and tried to dump a body somewhere.”
I inhaled sharply, trying to keep my face neutral, but the idea of Gabby showing up as a body—just a name on a coroner’s form—made it feel like the room had shrunk.
“Jesse,” I called, my voice raspier than I intended, “go check it out.”
He was already grabbing his keys. “I’ll be careful,” he assured, clapping me once on the shoulder before heading out the door.
The rest of us regrouped around the monitors. The whiteboard now had half a dozen photos of Maddox’s known associates, notes scribbled in red and blue marker, and a running timeline of Gabby’s disappearance. Everything was pointing inward, circling closer, but nothing felt solid.
“Matty, anything on that tracker yet?”
He was hunched over his laptop, eyes darting behind the lenses of his glasses, one hand rapidly scrolling. “Hold on…hold on. I just got the email.”
He clicked it open, muttering as he scanned through it. “The manufacturer says it’s tied to a remote dashboard. They gave me emergency access based on the serial number the shop sent over. Give me thirty seconds to triangulate.”
We waited in suffocating silence. The only sounds were Matty’s fingers against the keys and the soft hum of machines around the room.
Then his eyes widened. “I’ve got a signal. Tracker’s active.”
“Where?”
He pointed to the screen. “The same hospital Remy flagged.”
I didn’t even wait. I was on my feet, grabbing my jacket. “Let’s go.”
Marcus, Elijah, and Matty were already moving with me, grabbing gear, prepping in instinctive formation like we’d done this before. There was no discussion and no hesitation.
My phone buzzed just as we stepped out onto the porch. Checking the screen, I saw Jesse's name, so I answered it on speaker.
“I think it’s her. She’s unconscious, but it looks like her. I’ve been watching the two pretending to be her grandparents—Gladys and Ira. They’re beat up bad, but they’re hovering over her like hawks.”
I exchanged a look with Marcus.
Jesse continued, “The guy—Ira—has stitches across his forehead, and his arm’s bandaged up like hell. Gladys…man, she’s bruised to hell and has a broken arm, but she’s holding a cloth and gently washing the blood off Gabby’s face. Keeps stroking her head like she’s her kid. If they’re faking, they’re Oscar-worthy.”
My throat went tight as I turned to Matty. “The tracker—can you confirm it’s coming from her? Not just the building?”
Matty looked up from his screen. “The signal’s not moving. Either she’s wearing it, or it’s fallen off somewhere in there.”
That was all I needed to hear.
“Let’s move,” I decided, already heading for the truck. “She’s in there, and this time, we’re not leaving without her.”
By the time we reached Orlando Regional Medical Center, my chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside. I jumped out of the truck before it had even come to a complete stop, barely waiting for the tires to settle before I hit the ground running. Marcus and Elijah were right behind me, while Matty stayed on the phone with Remy, squeezing out whatever last-minute intel he could before we reached the front desk.
Inside the ER, the air buzzed with that specific kind of hospital tension—too many voices, the constant shuffle of feet, the faint beeping of machines from down every hallway. The woman at the reception desk didn’t even blink when I stepped up.
“I’m looking for my fiancée.” I only just managed to keep my voice steady and low. “Her name’s Lara Maddox.”
The lie came out effortlessly. I didn’t care what name she’d been admitted under, I just needed to get to her.