Bile rose in my throat. Jess had been brutalized, but I hadn’t even thought about what could’ve happened beyond the beating.
“They weren’t—there was no sign,” Charlie said quickly. “But Jess did have skin under their fingernails. Scratched them. That’s good.”
I nodded again, unsurprised. My kid would’ve used everything in their arsenal, fingernails included. I looked around for the elevators and started toward them.
“They said they’ll come out and find us when they have anything else,” Charlie informed me, keeping pace. “I…Teddy,I’m sorry, but I have to find labor and delivery to see if they have a pump I can use. I didn’t bring anything with me, and I haven’t fed Jenna in hours.”
“Go,” I replied.
“Okay, eighth floor,” she informed me as we reached the elevator. “I’ll meet you up there as soon as I can.”
“I’ll go with you,” Farrah told her daughter. She looked at Callie. “Keep me updated.”
Callie and Brenna followed me into the first open elevator and stood on each side like bulwarks. I had no idea what we’d find when we got upstairs. I wasn’t even sure if the hospital would give me any information on Dylan since I wasn’t technically family. Did they ask for proof? I’d just lie. They had no way to prove otherwise.
As we rose into the depths of the hospital, I looked down at the silent phone in my hand.
Still no word from Curtis.
Chapter 17
Curtis
“You’re not callin’,”my dad said softly, pushing against my chest. “You won’t be able to keep your head straight, and I doubt he’d even take the call if it was comin’ from you. He hasn’t taken any so far. Let your president handle it.”
“I can’t keep sittin’ on my fuckin’ hands,” I argued, looking at the house where I knew Teddy’s old phone was lying on my dresser.
“You’re not,” Dad replied. “We’re doin’ everythin’ we can. Boys are out talkin’ to the neighbors that weren’t here earlier. Cops are processin’ the scene. We’ll find him.”
Answering the police’s questions had taken longer than I’d wanted, but I was grateful that they’d left Teddy alone. They’d been pissed when they realized that she’d left, but after a few words with Casper, they’d let it go. Fucking vultures. They knew we hadn’t been home when it all went down. There were fifty witnesses who put us at the club.
They’d already put out an alert for Finn. Soon, people across town would get notifications on their phones with his description.
“Curtis,” Kara called, running toward me from the direction of her house. “What can I do?”
“Baby, what are you doin’?” Draco asked, moving to intercept her.
“We’re here,” she replied, slowing to a stop. “Everyone’s been waiting at our house. What do you need? What should we do?”
“Go back home and wait,” Draco ordered.
“No,” I cut him off. I looked at Kara. “You think you could get the old ladies to talk to the neighbors—”
“We’re already doin’ that, son,” my dad reminded me.
“Ask ’em if you guys can check their yards. Sheds. Whatever. If Finn went somewhere to hide—”
“On it,” Kara said. Her face was swollen and blotchy like she’d been crying, but now she was clear-eyed.
“Motherfucker, I know it was you,” my grandfather’s voice barked from inside Dylan’s truck. We’d moved it away from the house and would’ve done the same with Teddy’s, but she’d taken her keys when she left.
My phone buzzed in my hand. Another update from Charlie.
“Teddy made it to the hospital,” I informed my dad as I put the phone back in my pocket. “Kids are both in surgery.”
“Good,” he replied.
He and Draco had been sticking close. The boys were all watching, waiting for me to lose it.
