“Do you know if she’s safe?”he asked, more panic tightening the knot forming in his chest.
“No.But you have her number.Can you text her?”She glanced around nervously, no doubt expecting trouble.Or should he saymoretrouble?
“Let’s get to a safer spot first.”That way, they could focus on finding his sister without fear of someone walking up to the truck without their knowledge or catching them off guard with a bullet.
He started the engine and put the gearshift into drive, half expecting someone to call the cops in this quiet neighborhood.There weren’t many places like this in downtown Austin, so they would stick out.
“Should we take a drive past the parking lot one more time before we head to a better lit area?”he asked.
“That’s probably a good idea in case she circled back.”Ivy issued a sharp sigh.“Do you want me to text everyone with your phone?”
“In a minute.Let’s see if we can find her first.No use worrying everyone for nothing,” he said.No news didn’t always mean good news.It depended heavily on the scenario.In this case, he feared it was a bad sign.
Ivy nodded as he navigated onto her street.She sank as low as she possibly could and still see out the windows.Since these bastards were most likely after him, too, he wasn’t sure if the move did any good.If it offered her some kind of reassurance, he certainly wouldn’t complain.
As he drove past the parking lot, a sense of dread settled over him.
“Should we check nearby hospitals?”Ivy asked.
“Why?”
She gave him a quick rundown of what happened as he navigated onto Lamar Street.This was more of a main road, and traffic picked up even in the middle of the night.There was always traffic in downtown Austin.In this case, it was comforting to blend in with other vehicles.
“Look up the closest ER,” he said, handing over his cell.
Ivy did.
“Found it,” she said a minute later.“Should we show up or call?”
“Let’s call first,” he said.“The bastards after us shouldn’t know her name, and if she is there, she will check in as herself.”
“Got it.”Ivy made the call and soon had someone on the line.Her face paled as she sat upright in the seat.“She’s there.”
“Give me directions and call Travis.”Beau didn’t look forward to being the one to tell his brother-in-law that Chloe was in the ER, but the man deserved to know.Beau’s first thought was that something bad had happened to the baby.He would never forgive himself if she lost their child because of something related to him.Travis would never forgive him, especially considering this baby was a medical miracle.
“Do you want to be the one to talk to him?”Ivy asked after making the call.
“Yes,” he said, “put it on speaker, please.”
She did.
“Hey, man.I have news, and I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I wanted to update you.”
“Okay, I appreciate it,” Travis said.
“Chloe is in the ER, and we don’t have any other details aside from that, except that we are on our way right now.”He glanced over at Ivy.
“Two more blocks,” she said.
“What’s the name of the hospital?”Travis asked, the fear in his tone palpable.
Ivy rattled it off.
“As her husband, they’re more likely to give me information about her condition and the reason she’s there in the first place,” he said.
Beau’s mind was already running wild with possibilities.“We’ll let you go so you can make that call.”
“Thank you for the heads up, Beau.”
