Page 76 of The Ruthless Note

Just then, her phone rings.

She breaks her gaze and glances down.

I do too.

The name on her screen says ‘Vi’s School’.

Her expression shifts in an instant. She bends down to scoop up her phone.

“Call them back on the way. We need to move.” Before she can protest, I take her hand again and drag her along.

She stumbles behind me, her face pale and her eyes locked on the cell phone. We rush out of the library and into the parking lot which is, thankfully, close by.

Cadence swipes to answer the call, but her fingers are trembling too hard. She ends up hitting ‘ignore’ instead.

“Dammit.” She calls back. “It’s going to voicemail.”

“Keep trying,” I say, pressing the key fob for my car and jumping into the front seat.

Cadence hesitates outside of the passenger side.

I lean over, pop the door and yell at her, “Get in, Brahms.”

She blows out a breath and takes the front seat as if she’d rather do anything else.

I’m familiar with her old high school, so I don’t bother asking for directions and back the car out of Redwood’s parking lot.

On the way to the school, Cadence finally gets through.

“Hello?” She leans forward, her face ashen and her entire body breaking out in a sweat. “Did something happen to Vi?”

There’s silence for a moment.

And then Cadence yells, “Which hospital?”

I motion to her.

“St. Thomas Hospital? Okay.”

Her knee is bouncing like Zane during a crazy drum solo.

She hangs up and explains to me, “Vi had a terrible cramping pain during lunch, so they took her to the nurse's office. But the pain got worse, so they sent her to the hospital.”

“Do they know what’s wrong?”

She shakes her head, her eyes turning tearful.

My heart lurches. I put my hand on her knee to calm her. “She’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know that?” Cadence responds, her voice heated and broken.

“Because Vi is tough. Like you.” I don’t know where the words are coming from. I only know I mean them.

That settles her down a bit… but not by much.

When I get to the hospital, I’ve barely slowed the car down before Cadence is leaping out like a madwoman. I want to follow her, but I can’t park here. Instead, I find a spot in the lot and jog into the building.

The lobby is crowded for this early in the day.

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