Page 41 of Cautious

I nod in agreement, thankful the kid has that. He deserves it.

I pull out my phone to turn the volume back on and see I have eighteen missed calls and seven text messages. I frown as a feeling in the pit of my gut tells me to brace myself.

“What’s wrong?” Banner asks, taking in my facial expression before whipping out his phone and cursing.

I don’t say anything, I just dial Marcus and wait until he picks up.

“Blake, man, Jesus fucking Christ. Get back here now. Meet me at the hospital.”

“What the fuck is going on? Where’s Callie? Is she okay?” I ask, climbing into my truck with Banner getting into the passenger seat beside me.

I switch my phone over to Bluetooth and let Marcus’s voice fill the cab.

“Callie’s gone. I can’t talk because the cops are here. Just hurry the fuck up,” he snaps before hanging up on me, leaving me to feel like the bottom just fell out of my world.

I slam my hand on the steering wheel and pull out of the parking lot with a screech.

“Keep calm, Blake, Callie needs you in one piece. You just concentrate on driving, and I’ll call the guys and see what I can find out.

“Keep calm? How the fuck am I supposed to keep calm when I don’t know where she is?” I snap.

“We don’t know anything is wrong yet?—”

“She wouldn’t leave without one of us with her. She knows what’s at stake, so don’t tell me to calm down, Banner. I’ll calm down when we find her,” I growl, panic clawing at my insides.

I drive as fast as I can without getting us killed as Banner tries to find out what’s going on. We pull up at the hospital two hours later when it should have taken at least three. It’s only by the grace of god we didn’t get pulled over.

Banner and I don’t know any more now than we did before, the rest of the team being far too busy trying to ascertain what happened to Callie to sit around chatting with us. As much as I appreciate their efforts to find my girl, I’m two seconds away from losing my shit.

I pull into a no-parking zone and jump out, not giving a fuck if they tow.

“Give me the keys and go, I’ll meet you inside,” Banner offers. I toss him the keys and head inside the hospital, finding Arlo waiting for me just inside the entrance.

“Tell me what the hell happened,” I snap at him, following behind him at a fast trot to the elevators.

“I know as much as you. I just got here myself and Marcus asked me to wait and bring you up when you got here.”

By the time the elevator reaches the fourth floor, I’m almost crawling out of my skin and ready to rip this place apart to find her. I spot Marcus heading toward me as soon as the doors open and brace myself for what he’s about to tell me.

“It’s my fault. He set a trap, and I walked her right into it,” he admits, his face full of guilt and remorse.

“If you don’t start explaining just what the hell is going on, I’m going to knock your teeth out,” I growl at him.

He leads me to a side door, and we go into what looks to be a family room of some sort where Felix is standing, talking to a bruised and bleeding Kellen.

Kellen jumps right in. “Callie got a call this morning saying her mother had been in a car accident. She didn’t seem to react much to that, so I offered to bring her here, figuring she must be in shock. When we pulled up, a truck slammed into the back of us, making Callie bump her head on the dashboard. I climbed out of the car, intent on ripping the guy a new asshole, when two fucking no-necked tanks got out, spouting shit off about me taking their space. It was all bullshit. There hadn’t been anyone there waiting when I pulled in. One of the guys shoved me, then threw a punch, before two more no-necks climbed out the back of their truck.”

I seethe.If they took Callie, I’ll kill them one by one.

“Callie called me,” Marcus takes over. “She wanted to help Kellen, but I knew she would get herself hurt and distract him, so I told her to go inside and wait, which she did. By the time we got here, Kellan and a security guard were giving their statements to the police, but the guys were long gone. Kellen told us what had happened to Callie’s mother, so we came up here to find her. Only, when we got here, there was no sign of Callie. A nurse remembers talking to her. She said she saw her enter her mother’s room but hasn’t seen her since. We’ve searched the place high and low, Blake. She’s not here. I’m waiting for the security guys to come back with the surveillance footage.”

I will my heart to calm down. Logically, I know in a hospital this size, she could have just been missed. She could be in any one of the many bathrooms or even in the cafeteria, getting coffee. She could, in theory, be back any minute. But I don’t believe that, and the look on Marcus’s face tells me he doesn’t either.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.” I learned a long time ago to trust his instincts.

“Callie wouldn’t leave. I don’t care what her relationship is like with her mother; she wouldn’t leave me and the boys to worry like that.”

He’s right. She wouldn’t, no matter what. And that’s what I’m afraid of.

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