Colt glanced down at his mother.
“I’ll stay with her,” Indie said, stepping beside Sylvia’s bed. “You guys go.”
He lowered his head and kissed her temple. “We’ll be right by the door.”
When they left the room, Indie touched Sylvia’s hand. “It’s just you and me, Sylvia,” she said softly, studying the woman’s face. “And I’d really like you to wake up because Colt needs his mother. I love him so much, and I am so grateful to you for raising him to be the person he is. I need to show you how grateful I am. And I truly believe that if you spend some time getting to know me, you might just decide that I’m not so bad. Heck, you might even start to like me.”
Her lips twitched at the thought. But it was all true.
Sighing, she turned to see the window curtain was open. Instinctively, she moved toward it. It would be dark soon, and privacy was definitely needed right now.
She’d just reached the window when something made noise in the bathroom beside her. It was faint. Like a small shuffle.
She frowned. What was that?
She stepped into the bathroom, glanced at the mirror—and the second she did, Gordon stepped out from behind the door. She didn’t have time to scream before he slammed her head against the wall and her world went black.
“What is it?”Colt asked, as he stepped into the hall.
“One of my deputies spotted Roman and Chester in the parking lot about half an hour ago.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed.
“Roman was here? Why?” So they’d gone straight from the party to the hospital?
“I don’t know. I just got here, and I’m going to go check on your father now, but I wanted to tell you both first.”
Colt opened his mouth to say that he wanted to go too, but a man in a white lab coat stepped up to them, clipboard in hand. It was the same doctor he’d met previously.
“Doctor Leeroy,” Colt said, before the man could speak.
The doctor dipped his head. “Mr. Reed.”
“Do you know what happened to her?”
“We found propranolol in her blood.”
“What’s that?” Ben asked.
“It’s a prescription blood pressure and heart medication, although not a prescription that Sylvia should have. It didn’t mix well with her medication and is the reason her heart rate dropped so low and she passed out.”
“He drugged her,” Jesse said quietly. “Roman.”
“That’s why he was at the party,” Colt growled.
Jesse’s phone rang. “Is everything okay?” There was a small pause, then Jesse’s eyes flashed up at Colt. “Wade, the deputy I put on your father’s door, is gone. And so is Gordon.”
Colt’s world narrowed. He turned and crashed into his mother’s room.
But Indie wasn’t there—and the window was open.
No.
He sprinted to the window and jumped straight out, but he saw nothing. Everything was still and quiet around him.
Jesse jumped out after him. “There’s blood in the bathroom.”
Gone. Indie was gone. And without needing any confirmation, heknewhis father had her.
