There had been no reports of an abduction last night. No dead bodies found. The abduction was quick, clean, and left no traces.
I called the hospital again and asked to speak with Ava Lang. The operator directed the call to her room, and to my surprise, she answered. "Hello?"
"Ava, this is Deputy Tyson Wild with Coconut County. We didn’t get a chance to speak previously. You were heavily medicated and traumatized at the time."
"I'm still heavily medicated and traumatized," she said, making a joke in a thin voice.
"How are you feeling?”
"All things considered, I guess I'm okay. It hasn't been easy, but it could be worse. I'm trying to find things to be thankful for. It's a challenging time. I don't know what the future holds.” She paused. "I'm glad you called. I've been worried about Sebastian. He left last night. The poor guy has been sleeping on the couch here for the last several days. He hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He totally wore himself out. I finally talked him into leaving. Now I can't get in touch with him. He doesn't return my calls or messages."
I cringed. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news.”
I told her the details, and she gasped.
"I don't understand,” she said. “Why would anyone want to kidnap Sebastian?”
She hadn't thought it through.
I caught her up to speed on the situation.
"So, what does that mean? Do you think you can get him back?”
"We're going to try our best.”
"Are you really going to trade his sister for him?”
"She's our only bargaining chip. Perhaps we can work something out.”
Ava was quiet for a long moment. "I know this is going to sound terrible, but at least Sebastian has a legitimate excuse for not coming back to the hospital and ignoring me. For a moment I thought…" Her throat grew tight, and she almost couldn't bear to say it. "I thought he left me. For good. There is no reason why he can't find himself a better, younger model. I don't think I'd blame him if he did.” She tried to stifle the tears, but it didn’t work. She broke down into sobs. “I’m hideous now.”
I didn’t want to make promises I couldn't keep, but I said, "I'm going to do everything I can to get him back safely.”
"Thank you.” She paused. “There's something I haven't shared with him or anyone else.”
I knew what she was going to say before she said it. "Sebastian's going to be a father.”
"How did you know?”
"Intuition.”
"I just… I need him now more than ever.”
"I understand. If I have any say in the matter, your child will grow up with a father. I can't make promises for Sebastian or what kind of father he’ll be. But I'll get him back or die trying."
She thanked me again, and I ended the call.
Madelyn lifted a surprised brow, having eavesdropped on the conversation. “A father? The narcissist is going to have to think about someone else for a change?”
“Only if we get him back alive,” I said.
Dean called me back. "I scrubbed through every inch of that footage after midnight, and there's no sign of anyone getting abducted in the parking lot. But I did find a clip of a guy who left the hospital with two big guys and got into a Bentley. I'm guessing that’s your missing person. Matches the description. I'll send the clip."
I thanked Dean, and a few moments later, a download link buzzed my phone. I retrieved the footage and watched. JD and Madelyn hovered over my shoulder, eyes glued to my phone.
Sure enough, Sebastian stepped out of the hospital with his bodyguards. He waited at the curb with one while the other hustled to get the car. The big guy ran across the parking lot, hopped into the black Bentley, and drove around to pick up Sebastian. The other bodyguard held his door, and Sebastian slid into the backseat. The bodyguard jumped into the passenger seat, and the car drove off. They pulled onto the road and sped away without incident.
I figured they were victims of a bump stop. At a light, a suspect would rear-end you. You’d get out of the car toinvestigate, then you’d have a gun in your face. They’d take your car if you were lucky. Kill you if you weren’t. This time, they took everyone. Probably disarmed the bodyguards and forced them into the Bentley or a van.
