And my world fell out from beneath my feet.
I recognized that ring, I recognized that golden mocha skin, and I recognized the tattoo on that golden mocha skin. For a moment, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I couldn't do anything except feel total and utter devastation.
And then I saw the sheet move. It was the barest of movements, probably indiscernible to the human eye, but I was no longer human. I watched carefully until I saw another one, and then another.
Abe wasn't dead.
"Are you okay, squirt?" Judge asked.
I nodded. I couldn't give away what I knew. Judge would kill the guy. Granted, I didn't really think that would be so bad, but if he had a weapon and decided to use it in this small space? A lot of people could get hurt, including me.
I sniffed the air, but all I could smell was disinfectant and the orderly's overwhelming cologne. He smelled as if he bathed in the stuff.
"Do you have to transport dead bodies a lot?" I asked just to make conversation and to keep from totally freaking out.
"What?" the guy asked.
Judge just stared at me as if I had lost my mind.
I nodded to the body on the gurney. "Do you have to transport bodies often?"
"Yeah, this is a hospital. It happens."
Right.
"I guess he's going to the morgue, huh?"
"Yeah." The guy glanced at the digital readout above the doors as if hoping the thing would go faster.
I knew I was probably freaking him out, but too damn bad. He had the man I was going to marry on that gurney. He was lucky I didn't rip his nuts off.
When the elevator dinged, announcing we had reached the floor Abe had been on when we left him, and the doors slid open, I knew we had no other choice. I shot the man a quick smile then stepped out of the elevator.
I couldn't figure out why the guy hadn't gone straight down to the basement level where the morgue was located instead of up two levels to where the cafeteria was located, but I was glad he hadn't. I might never have known he had Abe.
I walked so slowly as I headed away from the elevator, Judge stopped and looked back at me. "You sure you're okay, Danny?"
I ignored Judge until the elevator doors closed all the way, and then I fished my cell phone out of my pocket as I raced for the staircase. I was really lucky Kaito had found it on the floor in my bedroom and brought it to me. I didn't have time to shift and contact them right now. This also wasn't the place to do something like that. Knowing my luck, they'd catch me and experiment on me.
"Danny!" Judge shouted as he raced after me.
"Ian, it's Danny," I said into my phone as I met Judge's eyes. "They took Abe."
"Who took Abe?" Judge demanded.
"What do you mean, they took Abe?" Ian asked.
"I don't know who took him, but they had him on a gurney. He was covered with a sheet, and the orderly with him said he was taking him down to the morgue. I'm headed there now."
"Where's Judge?"
I glanced at the man going down the stairs beside me. "Judge is with me."
"And McDermott?"
Crap!
I almost stopped running as I realized McDermott had been keeping an eye on Abe while we went up to the cafeteria. "I don't know."
