It was a mistake of massive proportions, and one that would haunt him for as long as he lived. But when Blake responded, the other man didn’t sound nearly as concerned.
“Did you see if there’s a vending machine nearby? Maybe she just needed a little snack.”
“She didn’t go looking for a snack,” he snapped back. “I just found her purse in the fucking trash.”
“Ah, hell.” His teammate finally caught up to Emmett’s level of concern. “Okay, listen. I’m about tenminutes out. Once I get there, I’ll hack into the hospital’s security feed to see what I can find.”
Ten minutes. So many things could happen in that short amount of time.
Focus, Shaw. You have to stay focused. Janie’s life depends on you being at the top of your game.
“I’ll call the others.” Emmett swallowed down the giant knot at the base of his throat. “And Blake?”
“Yeah?”
“Hurry.”
He ended the call and raced through the halls on his way back to Detective Boone.
“What’s the matter?” the intuitive man asked with a dip of his brow.
“Janie’s gone.” Emmett swallowed again. “She wasn’t in the bathroom, so I went looking for her. Found this in the trash.” He held up the purse in his fist. “In a completely different hallway.”
“Ah, hell.” Boone ran a worried hand over his bearded jaw. “Don’t worry. I’ll call it in.”
“Don’t.” Emmett gave a curt shake of his head.
“What do you mean ‘don’t’? Why the hell not?”
“Because we still don’t know all the players in this thing, yet.”
The other man’s expression turned incredulous. “So now, all of a sudden, you think there are cops involved?”
“It isn’t all of a sudden, and can you guarantee they’re not?”
Boone held his gaze a beat longer. “I can’t ignore a possible kidnapping, Shaw. Not even for you.”
“And I can’t run the risk of getting her killed, Lincoln.” Emmett tapped the screen on his phone.
“Now who are you calling?”
He met the other man’s inquisitive gaze. “The only people in this city I know Icantrust.”
It only took two rings before Draven answered his phone.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Shaw. I need you and the others to meet me in the E.R. at George Washington University Hospital.”
“The hospital?” His teammate cleared the sleep from his throat. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but . . . Janie’s gone.” The words tore at his aching heart.
“Gone? What do you mean, she’s gone?”
“Just wake the others. Blake’s already on his way. I’ll fill you all in once you’re here.”
“Copy that, boss.”
