Amy’s driver unfolded himself from the seat. “Sorry, sir?”
“Amy,” I sighed. “Where is she?”
He looked confused, looking around my shoulder to the hospital doors. “Inside, sir,” he said finally. At my side, my hands clenched into fists. “Clearly, she isn’t fucking inside if I am out here asking where she is.”
The blood drained from his face. “I watched her walk inside over an hour ago.”
Turning my head, I stared at the entrance. My breath was coming in pants. If she had walked in here, then she would have come upstairs. Nothing in the world would stop Amy from coming to her son. Not unless—
The pit in my stomach opened into a chasm. Not saying a word, I ran. There was only one thing that would stop Amy from being here for our child, and that was if something had happened to her. Behind me, I heard the thump of his footsteps rushing after me. “Sir?” he panted. “What’s going on?”
“Something is wrong.” In the lobby, I turned in a circle, quickly surveying my surroundings. There were so many people, but not one of them was Amy. In the corner, a movement caught my attention. A nurse pushed into the lobby through a half-hidden side door. I headed in that direction quickly.
Shouldering past people without even an apology, I pushed open that side door and stepped into a small brick alleyway. There were huge metal bins lining one brick wall. And lying right next to one, half hidden, was a phone.
It didn’t take a genius to know who it belonged to. But what was my wife’s phone doing out here? And more importantly, where was my wife?
“Sir?”
I could feel his heavy breathing behind me, but I didn’t turn to him. The feeling was swallowing me was like nothing I had ever felt before. It felt like I was drowning.
“She’s gone.” I managed to grind out. “Someone has taken her.” I took a deep breath, forcing the panic down with everything I had.
Someone had taken Amy.
Or at least that’s what it looked like. But I couldn’t let the panic get to me yet, not until I knew for sure. She might have just dropped her phone. Bending down, I went to pick it up, and something wet glued against my fingertips. Glancing down, I saw the smudge of blood on my fingers.
“Get—” I was shouting now, my cold, in-control exterior completely crumbled as I grabbed the phone and stuffed it in my pocket. “Men here and men in the apartment. Now.” I didn’t wait to see if he was going to do what I asked. I was already moving.
If someone had Amy, that meant Nikolai was in danger as well.
“And my grandfather. Get everyone fucking out of here and find my wife. Now.”
The elevators were busy, so I took the stairs two at a time, barreling into my son’s room a few minutes later and closing the door.
“Is he?” I looked at the nurse wildly.
“He’s right here, sir. Is something wrong?” The words died on her lips as she took in my face. “What’s happened?”
The way he said it told me she knew exactly who and what I was.
“Just stay there,” I ordered, and I positioned myself by the door, my fingers twitching to draw my weapon. “No one gets in or out of this room. Is that understood?”
Fear flickered into her eyes before she nodded. “May I move the baby to the other side of the room?”
I looked at her blankly.
“Away from the door and the window.” She answered my unasked question.
“Yes.” I didn’t turn away from the door. I needed to find Amy, but my first job was to protect our son. When I knew he was safe, I would look for her.
And God have mercy on the person who had taken her and made her bleed.
Twenty minutes later, my cell phone rang with a loud noise, causing Nikolai to wail and the nurse to jump.
“Have you found her?” I asked as a greeting.
There was a pause. Just one single second, and I already knew that they hadn’t.
