bullet. Not her.”
It could’ve been her.
No. Adrian refused to let his mind go there. Jenna belonged to him now, which meant he’d kill anyone stupid enough to even think about touching what was his.
“Where is she?” Gabe interrupted his thoughts.
“With one of the few people in this world I actually trust.”
A muscle in the man’s jaw twitched. “Let me guess, Ben Campillo?”
“Damn. You are good.”
“Walker, Jenna’s—”
“Relax, Dawson.” Adrian cut the man off. “Ben’s a former asset and an old friend. He said he’d keep Jenna safe until I can get sprung from this place.”
“Walker—”
“Seriously, man. Everything’s fine.” He looked around the room. “Look, where’s my phone? I’ll call Ben right now and find out where they are, so you can see for yourself that Jenna’s—”
“Missing.”
Adrian heard the word. He knew what it meant. But apparently, he was struggling to keep up because what Gabe had just said made zero sense.
“What are you talking about?” He pushed himself up the noisy mattress. “Who’s missing?”
“Who the fuck do you think?”
Feeling as though he were on some sort of time delay, it took Adrian three full seconds to process the man’s words.
Jenna’s…missing?
The pieces finally started clicking together.
Gabe hadn’t come all this way simply because Adrian had been shot. They weren’t even friends. Hell, most days they barely tolerated each other, and that was mainly for Elle’s sake.
No, the only reason Gabe would’ve flown here from Dallas was if…
“You’re wrong.” Adrian shook his head vehemently. The machines connected to him beeped a little faster. “That’s not possible.”
“You think I came all this way to bring you fucking flowers and a get-well balloon?”
Denial had already dug its claws into Adrian’s heart, and it refused to let go. “I’m telling you you’re wrong. I left Jenna with Ben.” Adrian fumbled with the controls on the side of the bed to get himself into a full seated position. “He’s the—”
“I know who the guy is, Walker,” Gabe barked. Placing his hands on his hips, he shot Adrian a glare. “Are you even listening to me, or are you too stoned to comprehend a complete fucking sentence? Jenna is gone. No one has seen or heard from her or Campillo since they left the police station after you were shot.”
Nausea rolled through his gut as he tried to make sense of what Gabe was saying. Jenna couldn’t be missing. She couldn’t.
“Jesus Fucking Christ, Dawson. Think maybe you could lead with that shit next time?”
Ignoring the pain in his leg and the incessant beeping, Adrian threw the covers off and swung his body around so that his legs were hanging over the edge of the bed.
A new wave of dizziness hit. Working his way past it, he tried desperately to think of an explanation for the bomb Gabe had just dropped on him.
Preferably one that didn’t end with the woman he loved disappearing.
Calm your ass down. Take a damn breath and think.
He swallowed the knot in his throat. “Ben knew I needed him to protect Jenna. If you can’t find them, it’s probably because he decided to take her to a safe house or something.”
“Even if that were true, the guy’s the Chief of Police, Walker. He wouldn’t just take off without letting someone within the department know where he was headed. Or, at the very least, his wife.”
“You talked to Ben’s wife?”
“Not me.” Gabe shook his head. “King went by the house.”
Zade King was another member of Bravo Team. From everything Adrian had learned about the man, King was the most emotional and sensitive of the group. Made sense that he’d be the one to talk to Sheila, Ben’s wife.
“Nate ran the check on the Gallagher woman, like you requested,” Gabe continued on. “As soon as he was finished, I tried calling you. When you didn’t answer, I tried Jenna, and when that didn’t work, I tried the hospital.”
“She doesn’t work there…here. Not anymore.”
“No shit.” The man’s angry gaze narrowed. “After finding out that bit of information, I called Chief Campillo.”
Calling the Chief directly seemed like an odd leap for Gabe to take. “Why Ben?”
“A woman who’s like a sister to me and the dipshit I sent down here to watch over her went MIA. I didn’t want to waste even more time than I already had, so I went straight to the top. Except Campillo didn’t answer, and when I finally did manage to get ahold of someone within the department, I was told he was busy working a shooting that had taken place near the precinct.