IRIS BLINKED SEVERALtimes as she awoke, a fuzzy snout licking her cheek. Lucas’s PTSD dog, Haven, was nuzzling her with his nose when her eyes came open.
“Iris,” Cal said softly from where he knelt beside her. “We got your SOS.”
SOS? Had she activated her panic button? Why did she feel wrung out as though she’d run a marathon? Thatonly happened after an intense panic attack. She sat up and glanced around, the lab coming into focus until the memory of Bec in that guy’s arms and the gun going off ran through her mind.
“No, no,” she cried, frantically searching the room as her heart rate went from normal to off the charts, and her limbs once again felt like lead.
Someone lifted her arms and wrapped them around Haven’s neck. “Haven is safe,” Lucas said in a calm, even voice. “No one can hurt you now. Take some deep breaths so you don’t pass out again,” he coached, and she tried to do what he said, but her chest was paralyzed by the thought that those men had taken Bec.
“Be-be,” she stuttered, trying to form the words and tell them what happened, but her panic made that impossible. She couldn’t speak. Her heart felt like it was going to explode, and the dots in her vision were getting worse by the second. Burying her face in Haven’s fur, she tried to breathe with him, but nothing was helping. All she could hear was the gun going off and then the way Bec’s face filled with terror.
“I need to get to her.” Iris heard Selina’s voice, and she lifted her head to see Haven posturing to keep her safe.
“Haven, friend,” Lucas said, and the dog lowered himself back to the floor and looked up at her under his bushy eyebrows.
“Iris, open your mouth. I’m going to put this under your tongue. It’s an extra dose of anxiety medication.” Selina held a tablet, so Iris opened her mouth without thinking or questioning. The tab went under her tongue, and she prayed it worked quickly. She had to help Bec.“Are you hurt?” Selina asked, but Iris just shook her head. “Let’s get her into a chair.”
Cal and Lucas helped her into the desk chair, where Selina checked her blood pressure and pulse before handing her an ice pack to hold to the goose egg on her head. She must have hit it on the floor when she fainted.
“Did B-Bec activate her panic button?” Iris finally managed to ask.
“Not yet,” Cal said, squeezing her knee.
“Zac and Declan!” she exclaimed, trying to fight her way up, but Selina and Cal held her in the chair. “They’re tied up downstairs!”
“They’re fine,” Lucas said, moving Haven next to her and resting his head on her lap. Then he put her hand on his head and encouraged her to pet him. She did because his head was soft and warm, soothing her jangled nerves. “They’re both nursing headaches from being knocked out but are otherwise okay. They said they were jumped and never saw the guys coming.”
“We didn’t, either,” Iris admitted. “We heard a loud bang, and those guys were here before I could get anyone to answer on the walkie-talkie.”
“Who are they?” Cal asked. She could tell he was trying to be patient with her, but it was hard for him.
She inhaled a deep breath as the antianxiety med started to lessen the adrenaline in her system and allowed her to think. “We don’t know who they were. There were four of them, and they wore all black and had assault rifles. They wanted us to let them into the lab to get the virus because they couldn’t reach Walter, and he missed their phone call or something like that.”She waved her hand in the air in confusion before blowing out another breath.
“They were looking for Walter but couldn’t reach him, so they came here?” Cal asked, and she nodded.
“Yes. I think Bec was going to try and trap them in the lab, but the one guy who was mean grabbed her around the neck and wouldn’t let her go. He got meaner when the other guys couldn’t find the virus.”
“Where did it go?” Lucas asked in total confusion.
“Bec said she destroyed all the viruses. She must have done it while I searched Walter’s office for the computer.”
“What happened to make you pass out?” Selina asked, squeezing her shoulder.
“He shot her!” Iris exclaimed, tears running down her face as Haven whined and put his paw on her lap. “He shot her.”
Selina grasped her chin in her hand and shook it gently. “Iris. There’s no blood anywhere in the lab. Are you sure you saw him shoot her?”
With great difficulty, she met Selina’s gaze. Her eyes said she wasn’t lying. She paused, trying to sift through the fear to find the truth.
“The gun went off,” she insisted. “But I’m not sure where the bullet went, truthfully. I thought he shot her, and I passed out from a panic attack.”
Lucas stood and walked around the work area while they continued to talk to her.
“Without blood, it’s safe to say Bec wasn’t shot,” Cal said. “The question is, where is she?”
“They took her!” Iris moaned the words more than she said them. “Right before I passed out, they told herto get the parts of the vaccine that she had left because she was going with them.”
“Did they say why they wanted her to go with them?” Cal asked.
