Page 30 of Mad Love

There was a small sign with the number 1104 and a chart hanging from a clipboard beneath it. I snatched it off the wall and skimmed it, rage filling my chest. “What the fuck is this?”

Dr. Browne didn’t meet my eyes. “Instructions for her care specific to her case.”

Disgusted, I didn’t flinch when Royal grabbed it from me and started reading aloud. “Medications…” He looked at me. “Is Maddie taking anything?”

I shook my head slowly. “No, never.”

His brows shot up. “There are some heavy sedatives and anti-psychotics.”

Dr. Browne stared at the floor.

Royal’s breath hitched, and his blue eyes went arctic. “No-touch protocol? Are you fucking kidding me?”

I frowned. “What—”

“It’s a motherfucking torture technique,” he explained, still glaring at the doctor as he spat out the words. “It’s all psychological shit. Keeping rooms at freezing or blazing temps, playing nonstop sounds so you can’t think or sleep… It’s designed to break a person mentally. What the fuck could an eighteen-year-old girl do to warrant the kind of shit they use to break CIA spies and terrorists?”

My hands clenched into fists, and I physically forced myself back a step so I wouldn’t kill the woman in front of me. “Open the motherfucking door.” When she didn’t move, I punched the wall hard enough to make her jump. “Now.”

She fumbled with her keycard before swiping it over the lock. A green light flashed, and I pushed past her to open the door, bracing myself for whatever sight greeted me next.

CHAPTER 13

RYAN

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the glaringly bright light that seemed to come from everywhere. Overhead, the walls, even the fucking floor. It was blinding, and I couldn’t escape it even when I blinked.

I scanned every single inch of the space. Twice.

There was a twin bed with a metal frame bolted to the floor, and a metal toilet and sink. That was everything in the room, which felt like it was only a few degrees above freezing.

Maddie wasn’t there.

I turned, and as if he sensed I wasn’t completely under control, Royal shifted his body between me and Dr. Browne. Like he knew I was seconds away from throttling her bony ass.

“Where is she?” I demanded, sick of her games and ready to make good on Royal’s earlier threat of burning this all to the ground.

Dr. Browne looked genuinely confused. “She isn’t in there?” She tried moving around Royal to see inside. “But that’s—”

I stepped forward, and Royal planted a hand on my chest. “Easy, man,” he admonished softly. “Keep your head in the game until we know what’s going on.”

I lifted a brow, wondering if he’d be so calm if it was one of his brothers who was missing.

The doc’s gaze shifted down the hall, and I could see her working out in her head if she could get to the door and on the other side before Royal or I caught her.

“You won’t make it,” Royal told her, his tone mild as he watched her like a damn pit bull.

“Dr. Browne!” someone called from down the hall.

We all turned, and Royal brushed closer to her back, leaning to whisper in her ear. “You better watch what you say, doc, or we’ll shoot our way out of here. Starting with you.”

Her breath caught as she trembled. “J-Jared,” Dr. Browne stammered, stepping away from Royal. “Where is my patient?”

Jared, a young guy in gray scrubs, stopped several feet away and frowned at her. “What?”

Dr. Browne snapped her fingers and pointed at the room. “Madelaine Cabot—”

“We moved her,” Jared said slowly, “just like you ordered.”

---