Page 101 of GAF Factor

“On it.”

I pushed through the crowd toward the stairs, desperate to get to the girls and get them out. A sinking feeling hit me hard, and my gut was hardly ever wrong in situations like this. I had to get them out now.

“Isla, what’s wrong?”

I pressed my hand to my ear to hear better as I got to the bottom of the stairs. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Isla,” Jane said, her voice laced with panic.

The door opened at the top and Isla came stumbling out. My eyes widened in horror as she hit the first step with shaky legs. I rushed up as fast as I could, but I didn’t get there in time before she collapsed, tumbling down several stairs, her body bouncing off them as if she were a rag doll.

“Isla!” I shouted over the music, grabbing her before she could fall down any further. I hefted her body into my arms, dragging her against me. Her head rolled against my chest, but she didn’t move.

“Isla, talk to me,” I said, slapping her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered open, and what I saw terrified me. Her pupils were constricted. I ran my hands over her skin.Clammy. Cold. What the fuck? I pressed my fingers to her pulse. It was slow.Too fucking slow.

I lifted her limp body in my arms and took off down the stairs. “IRIS, get the fucking car now!”

“What’s going on?”

“Isla’s been drugged. I think she’s overdosing.” I turned and shouted over my shoulder. “Jane!”

“I’m here!”

My only concern was getting Isla to the hospital, but IRIS would shoot me if I lost his wife. The crowd parted as they saw me running to the exit. I burst through the front doors just as IRIS was pulling around the corner with the car. Jane ran ahead of me, yanking the backdoor open.

“Rae, get me directions to the nearest hospital now!” IRIS shouted into his phone.

I laid Isla down on the seat, keeping her flat as I held her cold hand in mine. She didn’t want to be cold ever again, and here she was, fucking freezing. What the fuck happened?

“Jane, what did you see?”

“Nothing. I was with her the whole time.”

“Did she drink anything?”

“Only what you gave her. I went to the bar for drinks, but she never touched it.”

“What about Mitch?”

“He shook her hand and—oh, God. Uh…when he was leaving. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and kissed her cheek.”

I lifted her up and felt along the back of her neck. My eyes slipped closed as I barely felt the patch on her skin. I tore it off, though it wouldn’t do much good now. Whatever drug was on it was already in her system.

“He fucking drugged her,” I bit out, clenching my teeth hard. “He knows where Shawn is, and he tried to kill her. Fuck!”

“Just hang on. We’re almost there,” IRIS shouted.

But all I could focus on was Isla—how pale she looked. How she was barely breathing. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her talk to Mitch alone. That should have been me up there. Hell, I should have dragged him out of the club and beat the truth out of him. She never should have been within fifty feet of that asshole.

I closed my eyes and laid my forehead against hers, praying she would be alright. I wasn’t sure if I believed in God or if hewould even listen to my prayers. I knew I wasn’t deserving of it, but I had to try for her. She was worthy. Out of anyone in this world, she was good and deserved a higher being to step in and save her life.

“We’re here,” IRIS said, screeching to a halt.

The door opened and I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her out of the car. The gurney was already there waiting for me. I laid her frail body on the gurney, brushing her red hair back from her face just as the doctor shoved me out of the way.

“Sir, we need to move.”

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