Wait, no, Daniel eased her into it, as if he’d known she’d needed the help.
“What happened to Tiffany?”
A pause, then a rushed, “No, no. Tiffany is fine.”
Those words let her pull in a rough breath, and a hand against her nape pressed her forward so she could breathe slower.
The fright meant she took a moment to catch up to what Marshall said, to make sense of his words.
Eventually, however, they all came together.
“The friend of yours who went missing, Anne? She’s here.”
And if she’d felt nauseated before, it was nothing compared to right then. “What happened?”
“Why don’t we discuss it when you get here.” He paused, the bustle of a busy hospital behind him on the line. His next words were weighted, and she sucked in a breath at them. “Alison, you really need to hurry…”
* * * *
Daniel held Alison’s hand, whether she damned well wanted him to or not. The more upset the girl got, the more she tried to pull away. It was natural for her, the desire to stand on her own.
He’d gotten to understand it more as they’d spent more time together, had realized the reason.
She worried that if she leaned on anything, when it disappeared—and she was sure itwoulddisappear—she feared she’d be unable to stand on her own anymore. Instead of risking that, she’d rather never let anything close.
Too fucking bad.
She ricocheted between being shocked and angry as they drove to the hospital. They’d done all they could to ensure that no one followed them and intended to gather new paperwork to explain the hospital visit should they need to. It was easy after her heat, to blame the visit on fertility tests best done at the start of a new cycle.
Still, Daniel rubbed his thumb over her hand as they walked through the hospital.
He’d gotten a few extra details on their drive over about what had happened, though they knew little. Anne’s crumpled body had been found dumped behind a convenience store, barely alive.
It was still touch and go on if she’d make it.
She hadn’t woken, though the clerk said she’d been conscious for a short time before the EMTs had arrived. Instead, it was Marshall who’d recognized her, who’d known to call Alison.
Please let us make it in time.If they didn’t…
He doubted Alison would ever forgive herself. She protected those around her with a ferocity that was terrifying for anyone standing in front of her, and already he worried what she might do because of this.
They had a plan, needed to wait. The auction was to happen the next day, but he wouldn’t put it past Alison to throw that away and go in guns blazing herself the moment she discovered the location.
Which would be a monumentally bad idea. Not only did the FBI have a plan in place, one that had taken a very large amount of manpower to set up, but the last thing Alison needed was to be anywhere near that place.
The risk was always that some of the people could get away. Did they want to risk her being caught up in that?
The elevator doors opened on the floor where Anne was. Marshall was already waiting down the hall, his face stoic.
Which was a very bad sign.
Alison broke into a jog, pulling away from Daniel’s grasp.
The doctor’s flat expression said everything. He shook his head, his words quiet and just for her.
She didn’t crumble, didn’t tremble, didn’t cry. Instead, she nodded as she listened.
Daniel neared them, catching some of it.Did what we could. We’re so sorry.
