Page 240 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
I drift my eyes to Regan. “Regan is here. I’ll call him.”
Brandon exhales a large puff of air.
“Brandon.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for your help. Please keep me updated on Hugo.” My words come out scratchy and strained.
“I will.”
When he disconnects our call, my eyes lift to Regan. Her face is pale, and her eyes are plagued with red rims. “I need to talk to you.”
“Can it wait?” My tone is clipped as fear takes hold. “They’ve taken Isabelle.”
Regan clutches her neck before briskly nodding.
“I need you to call Alex and request his assistance.”
Her pupils widen as she swallows harshly.
“Brandon said you’re the best person to ask for his help. I don’t know what your history is with him, and at the moment, I don’t fucking care. My only concern is getting Isabelle home, so I need you to do this for me, Regan.” My tone is stern but still apologetic for the fretfulness slipped over her usual take-no- shit-from-no-oneface.
She licks her lips. “Okay.”
She removes her cell phone from the pocket of her shimmery black trousers as I hit the speed dial for Jae. Several heart-clenching seconds pass before she answers. “Hey, doll face, how are you?”
My lips twitch as they suppress a smirk from her playful quip. Jae has always called me ‘doll face’ as she swears I'm the spitting image of a male model she lusted over when she was a teenager. His face was plastered on the cover of an Australian magazine calledDolly, hence the doll reference.
“Hugo’s been shot.”
Regan and Hunter’s eyes snap to mine in sync.
“The paramedics have been instructed to take him to your hospital. His ETA should be around…” I stop talking and check my watch. It’s late afternoon, so rush hour is at its peak. “Ten minutes… maybe fifteen.”
“Do you have any further details. Injuries? Where he was shot?”
“I relayed to you everything I know.”
She sighs. “I’ll get the OR prepped and on standby,” she advises as the sound of her tiny feet padding along a tiled floor come down the line.
I gulp in a big breath. “Jae, Hugo is like family to me—”
“I know, Isaac. He’ll have the best surgeons in the country looking after him. He’ll be well taken care of.”
“Thank you.” I disconnect our call and place my phone into my pocket, hiding my shaking hands. When I spot Regan’s tear-filled eyes, my anger gets the better of me. “Not now, Regan. We need to keep it together until we bring Isabelle home. Jae will look after Hugo.”
Her lips quiver as she nods.
“Did you get ahold of Alex?”
She shakes her head. “He isn’t answering his phone, but I know where to find him.”
Five minutes later, Hunter and I follow Regan into the building Hugo used to collect Isabelle from every evening. The hum of activity simmers to a flurry of whispers and gawking stares when I step inside the foyer. The agents’ shock at seeing the man they have been surveilling from a distance up close and personal is marked all over their faces.
Regan shimmies her shoulders and exhales sharply before she walks toward a glass office in the corner of the room. Alex is standing with his back turned to us, peering out a large window behind his desk. When he senses the awkwardness suffocating the air, he swivels around. His lips curl into a wide, egotistical smile when he notices Regan sauntering toward him, but it switches to a snarl when he spots Hunter and me.
Regan walks into his office, not waiting to be invited in. “Alex Rogers, this is Isaac Holt and Hunter Kane,” she introduces, gesturing her hand between Alex, Hunter, and me.
