A Billionaire's Redemption - By Cindy Dees Page 0,71
his panic over Willa.
The FBI agent was speaking again. “If you would like to meet me at Vengeance Hospital, that is where your Dr. Grayson is being taken.”
“She’s hurt? How badly?”
“I don’t have that information.”
Dammit. He really wanted to stay out here and look for Willa. But Melinda could be seriously injured and traumatized. He weighed Willa being alone and upset against Melinda definitely hurt and traumatized. Heavily, he turned his truck around and headed back toward town.
As the valley retreated in his rearview mirror, he murmured, “I’ll be back for you, baby. I promise.”
* * *
Willa blinked, but her eyes weren’t working properly. Everything was unfocused in shades of gray around her. Like it was getting dark. Or maybe she was dying. She became aware of pain. Too many places on her body hurt to list, and they all blended into an overwhelming ache that made it hard to think. She was too sleepy to concentrate and figure it all out.
A sound came from nearby. Deep. Braying. Like someone laughing. A laughing hyena. Except those lived in Africa, right? Why was her brain so muddy? Oddly, the sound seemed to be coming from above her. How was that possible? Did birds laugh? Where was she?
Her car. Except it was tilted all crazily on its side. Toward the passenger door. A mat of leaves covered the windows. A big tree branch was sticking into the car like it had grown through the glass. Strange dream.
Her weight hung in the too-tight seat belt and shoulder harness. Hurt. And there was a floppy white bag draped all over her front. She shoved at it, shocked at how feebly her hands moved. Sticky. Her hands were sticky. Curious, she examined her palms. Something black and wet was smeared all over them.
What happened?
Gabe would know. He knew everything. Her mouth tried to form his name. To say it aloud. If she could just say his name, he would appear and rescue her. He always did. But no sound came out of her mouth, and her chest hurt from the exertion. Instead, she wished hard for him to come for her, to take care of her. He always looked out for her. He was so good to her.
Something warm leaked out of her eye and trickled down her cheek. She missed him so much when he wasn’t with her. As if a piece of her was missing. Was this what love felt like? It was sweetness and pain, joy and sorrow all rolled into one. It would be lovely if only it didn’t hurt so much. The pain was starting to come in waves now, each one a little worse than the one before.
That crazy laughter echoed from above her again as she drifted away on a cloud of peaceful darkness that carried away all the pain. All the confusion. Everything.
* * *
Chaos reigned as Gabe parked in the hospital’s car lot. News trucks were jockeying for position by the emergency-room entrance. Deputy Green was doing his best—and failing—to force the vans back from the hospital doors. A crowd of bystanders had gathered, but for the moment, the Vengeance fire department seemed to have them contained behind wooden sawhorse barriers.
When he hopped out of his SUV, a chorus of shouts went up. The reporters had spotted him. They sounded like a flock of geese. He ignored them as he shoved through the crowd, and Deputy Green waved him through the barricades.
The emergency room was relatively quiet after outside. He spotted the FBI analyst who’d watched Melinda’s videotape and who’d called him.
“Any news?” he asked her tersely.
“Ambulance brought her in a few minutes ago. None of her injuries appear serious.”
“How is she emotionally?” Now there was a question he’d never thought to hear himself ask about Melinda Grayson.
Agent Delaney shrugged. “Haven’t had a chance to speak with her yet. Medics said she was lucid but upset.”
He winced. Melinda upset equated in his mind to her having a screaming hissy fit. Surely, the FBI analyst didn’t mean the word that way. “Can I see her?”
“As soon as the doctors are done treating her.” She added a shade too innocently, “Dr. Grayson asked that you be with her during her debriefing.”
“She did?” Gabe blurted.
“You sound surprised,” Delaney commented mildly.
“She’s usually so strong and independent. It’s not like her to want support from anyone. Being kidnapped must have been a hell of an ordeal for her to ask for me like that.”