Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,66

guy waiting for me at home. I don’t need it this time. All yours.” I smiled smugly as I got clothes from my locker and imagined what Seb might be doing right now. Snuggled up on the couch watching infomercials, probably. Maybe showering or cooking with Eli. All equally cute ideas, and I couldn’t wait to get back to the Tower.

“Hmm. Making your own luck and all? You sure about that?” Shae called as she walked to the other side of the locker room.

I changed my shirt and rummaged through my pants pockets for my phone. “Positive.”

I picked up my cell and looked at the screen. Wrong. Gut-wrenchingly, pulse-spiking wrong. I almost dropped my phone when I saw the seventeen missed calls and just as many texts asking me to call home immediately.

Eli: 911 911 911 911

Hunter: Do not panic, just call us

Matt: Report in.

“You okay, doc?” Shae did a double-take as I rushed past her, tucking in my shirt as I bolted out of the locker room, my shoulder bag almost smacking her as she struggled to keep up on my way to the exit.

“I shouldn’t have thrown away that wish.” I was a man of science. I didn’t believe in hocus pocus, wishing on stars, voodoo doll taboo, but God dammit. Seb was in trouble. I could feel it.

“We all make mistakes, doc, even me. Keep your head up, babe. You saved lives today!”

It was a small condolence, but it kept me calm as I raced to my car and dialed my home number as I turned on the motor, terrified at whatever Seb might have gotten into. This was the same intense worry I suffered whenever my brothers were in strife, but I’d never felt it for someone outside of my chosen family. My feelings for Seb had blossomed since the moment we first met in the ER and they’d reached a critical point after we’d hooked up. I wasn’t used to this kind of affection coming on so fast, but here it was, and I couldn’t deny it.

But beyond the fear, I was deeply, painfully pissed off at myself. I should have trusted my instincts. There was serious trouble on that hard drive, and I shouldn’t have left him alone with it.

Matt finally answered. “Dr. Carlisle’s residence—”

“It’s me.”

“Seb’s missing.”

I sighed and pressed my forehead to the wheel as rage surged. Matt’s straight-talking was a gift, and I was glad that I didn’t need to drag the truth out of him, but the news was still a gut-punch. They were supposed to protect him. They were supposed to have my back.

“How long has he been gone?” I was loud and snapping, angry and desperate.

“Three hours now. No leads.” Three hours? He could be anywhere.

My stomach clenched and my heart raced as I turned on the engine. “I’m coming. Do you have any more information? Any idea where he could be?”

“We checked his apartment, and Ben’s. No sign. No information. Waiting for you to make a plan.” To anyone else, Matt might have sounded cold and uncaring, but I could hear his concern in the way that he clipped his sentences. Not that it made me any less mad. I threw on my seatbelt.

Eli’s voice boomed in the background. “Is that Derek? Can I talk to him—”

“Does he know anything you don’t know?” I asked Matt.

“Unlikely.”

“Tell him I’ll be there soon.” I hung up before he had the chance.

The effects of the pile-up crash on the city-bound traffic were still petering out, and it left me in gridlock with rage roaring in my ears and worry burning in my gut. I knew something would go wrong as soon as Ben’s laptop came to us this morning. I should have listened to my instincts. Now, Seb was alone, vulnerable, with big, naive ideas about the world, but he was an adult… It was his choice to leave but knowing it didn’t stop me from worrying about him. Shit. There was no telling what kind of dangers awaited him. If my brothers, each equipped with their own special skill, had no leads, then I didn’t have much chance of finding him. And I couldn’t help him if couldn’t find him. I was beyond terrified.

The traffic crawled, Seb’s phone rang out again and again, and by the time I saw the peak of Vanguard Tower, I was ready to punch someone. I practically wrenched the wheel from the column as I turned into our garage, and I was still trying to