Текст книги "Fade to Red"

Автор книги: Willow Aster

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

“What?” He stopped walking and Anthony tried to keep him moving.

“I’m taking you to her. Just keep walking. Beck, have you heard from Ian at all? Since yesterday at the airport?”

“No, why? Is Roxie okay?”

“I think she will be, but she’s been through a lot. Like I said, they’re really watching her closely, so I think there’s still concern about all the smoke she inhaled. You’re sure you don’t know anything about Ian? He’s been missing since yesterday.”

“Missing? What the hell is going on?” He wanted to punch something.

“He took Sparrow and Journey to your house, left to run errands, and never showed up for their anniversary dinner.”

Beckham drew a sharp breath. “Something’s wrong. He’d never do that.”

“I know. Howie and Matt have been looking into it.”

Roxie woke up and looked around. Beckham was sitting by her, with a tight grip on her hand.

She blinked and tears ran down her face.

“Rox,” he breathed. “I’m here. I’m so sorry. Are you in pain? You scared me so bad…” he paused and took another breath. “I’ll get the nurse.” He pushed the button behind her.

“My eyes are on fire,” she whispered.

A nurse hurried into the room.

“Fastest service ever. Celebrities have magical powers,” Roxie croaked. “Where am I?” Her voice barely came out; she sounded like a million fires had settled down in her lungs.

“Cedar Sinai,” the nurse said, smiling at Beckham.

“You look rough,” Roxie said.

Beckham’s heart dropped. The nurse laughed. He didn’t.

He brought her fingers up to his lips and kissed each one. He’d nearly lost her. This was all his fault. If he had been with her and not … oh God, what a fucking idiot. He squeezed his eyes shut and held her hand to his cheek and kept it there.

She was so shaken, she let him.

When he opened his eyes, both Roxie and the nurse were staring at him.

“How bad is the smoke inhalation?” he asked the nurse. “Is there anything we can do to make sure it doesn’t get worse in her lungs?”

“We’re starting a brief course of steroids and will be watching her for at least 24 hours, possibly longer. Sometimes symptoms can worsen later, and with all the smoke she took in, we just need to run some tests and keep a close eye on her.”

Beckham nodded. “I plan on doing that too.”

“You need to go get ready!” Roxie protested. “You’re not missing the Grammys for me…”

“I’m not going anywhere. Nate’s taking care of it. He let them know we had an emergency and that we won’t be there.” He looked at the hand that was bandaged. “Does your hand hurt?”

“Yes. Very much. But, Beckham, you have to go. You’re up for … what—8 Grammys? You can’t miss that!”

“I don’t care,” he enunciated each word. “I’m not leaving you.”

She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. “Can Ian cover it for you?”

He shook his head but didn’t tell her about Ian.

“Have you seen Johnny and Al?” she whispered right before the medication took her under.

Nate came into the room a little later. Roxie was still sleeping and Beckham hadn’t moved. Nate’s eyes narrowed when he saw Beckham.

“How is she doing?”

“She was awake for just a few minutes earlier. They’ve got her pretty drugged up. What about the guys? How are they?”

Nate shook his head and put his hand around the back of Beck’s neck. “They … didn’t make it, Beck.”

“What?”

He shook his head again. “They’re pretty sure both died instantly. A bomb went off around 12:30 a.m., looks like it did the most damage outside. There’s a small crater where their tents were.”

“A bomb?” Beckham got up and walked to the window, his fist softly pounding the wall. “How the hell does this happen?” He turned around to make sure he hadn’t woken up Roxie.

“I don’t know much yet. They’ll probably question Roxie pretty soon. I saw the police with the owners of the house earlier. The guy called the fire department and got out there with a hose before the fire got too out of hand.”

Beckham pressed down on his eyes and squeezed. “Johnny and Al … I can’t believe it. Does Howie know?”

“He’s outside waiting to see you.”

“Ten years we’ve been together. They’ve been through it all with me. I just can’t … believe it. Roxie will be devastated too. She already felt bad that they were-” He looked at the ceiling. “I can’t believe she got out of there.”

“She had a guardian angel tonight, that’s all I know. It’s hard to even process about the guys … it’s gonna take a while.” Nate bit his lip and looked away.

They leaned against the wall and didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“And Ian? You think it’s related at all?”

“I don’t know what to think. You know him better than I do, but I can’t picture him abandoning Sparrow on their anniversary. There’s been no sign of him. Sparrow is out of her mind with worry.” Nate cleared his throat.

“I’ll call her in a little while. Can’t imagine what’s going on in her head, with what’s happened to Roxie and the guys.”

Nate nodded. “We have guards at the house with her, and she’s been checking on Roxie practically every half hour.” He shook his head. “Poor girl’s spooked.” He put his hand on Beckham’s shoulder. “You watch your back, do you hear me? And listen, I’ve made sure you’re completely free of everything tonight. The police are guarding this floor, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about cameras or anything else. Don’t you even think about anything but this one right here.” He looked at Roxie. “Be with her.” He leaned closer to Beckham’s face and jabbed his finger into Beck’s chest with each word: “Don’t. Blow. This.”

“I already have,” he whispered.

“Well, I can see that. Fix it, dammit. Do you hear me? Go clean yourself up. Stay away from the Jameson. Call Troi. Do whatever you have to do. She nearly died tonight. You don’t have time to have a breakdown. Not if you want a chance with her.”

Nate clapped him on the neck and pulled him in for a quick hug before he left. Howie walked in next. Neither of them said anything, but they grasped each other by the arm and had a moment. They didn’t move until Beckham sniffled and cleared his throat.

“This just can’t be right,” he said.

“I’m gonna find who did this,” Howie said. “Fuckers need to pay.”

“I’m with you there, but we’re gonna need help. Have you talked to Dion yet?”

“Yeah, and you know he’ll do anything for you,” Howie said. “He’s still the best in the business.”

“He handpicked you guys for me—I trust him. Can you get him on this? I’ll meet with him too, whenever he’s available. We’ve gotta find Ian too. I don’t have a good feeling about that.”

“On it.” Howie gripped Beckham’s shoulder and left.

Beckham sat down and watched Roxie sleep. The hand that wasn’t wrapped up looked perfect. He placed it carefully in his, grateful that from what he could tell, her body seemed undamaged. If she had been anywhere else in the house, or outside, it would be a completely different story. The thought made his blood curdle and his eyes drip with the tears he’d been fighting since he saw her.

Roxie woke up just as her parents rushed into the hospital room. Beckham jumped to his feet and Roxie waved a hand groggily.

“Mom and Dad, Beckham. Beckham, Mom and Dad, uh, Rachel and Daniel…”

Their eyes turned to Beckham and they gave a quick nod before turning their focus back on Roxie.

“Oh honey. Are you okay? What happened? Did any of your skin get burned? What about your lungs?”

“Mom, breathe. I’m okay.” She gave a faint smile. “I inhaled a lot of smoke but was really fortunate to get out of there when I did.”

“She has third degree burns on her hand,” Beckham interjected.

“I’m okay,” she rasped. “Where’s Leo? Is he okay?”

“He’s in the waiting room with Chloe. We didn’t tell him everything yet. We wanted to see how you were before we brought him back here. You sound really hoarse…”

“I want to see him. Would you get him?”

Her dad kissed her forehead. “I’ll get him right now. Love you, honey. So glad you’re okay … you scared us to death.”

She nodded and brushed the tears off her cheeks. “I’ll be fine. My eyes are bugging me more than anything—they haven’t stopped burning yet. Do I look bad? I don’t want to scare Leo.” Her breathing came in quick, shallow bursts.

“Your eyes are really red and puffy,” her mom whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she took Roxie’s hand.

“I’ll be okay, Mom.”

“You always say that.” She shook her head and straightened Roxie’s blanket.

The chair scraped the floor when Beckham sat down, and the noise startled Roxie’s mom. She jumped and smiled.

“I’m sorry. I forgot you were here,” she said.

“More important people to think about,” he said. He smiled at Rachel then rested his elbows on his knees and stared at Roxie. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’d kill for a Coke,” she whispered.

He jumped up.

“Ooo, with hospital ice!” Her voice perked up. “The only good thing about the hospital.”

“You got it.” He kissed her cheek before leaving the room.

Rachel and Roxie both watched him walk away. Roxie let out a long sigh without even realizing it and her mom laughed.

“I can see why you have it so bad for him,” she said. “He’s gorgeous.” She laughed and fanned herself. “When you’re feeling better I want you to tell me every detail about how you won the heart of Beckham Woods.” She leaned forward to whisper his name and looked behind her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t back to hear.

“We’re not together, Mom.” Roxie closed her eyes. It was hard to tell what was making her cry more—the fact that her eyes felt like they were on fire, or the grief that sat on her chest.

There was a little rap on the door and Leo peeked in the door. Her dad and Chloe stood behind him and Chloe gave Leo a nudge.

“She’s awake. Go ahead, bud.”

“Hey, little man,” Roxie held out her hand to Leo.

He ran to the bed and put his head on the bed, patting her stomach. Roxie ran her hands through his hair while they both cried.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Leo kept saying, between hiccups.

“And I’m so glad you and Aunt Chloe weren’t there. So glad. I’m gonna be fine, okay?”

Everyone in the room was crying when Beckham came back in the room.

“Aw, hey. I need to get in on this crying session.” He put his hands on Roxie and Leo’s back. “It’s all gonna be okay,” he said softly. “You need to be using the oxygen, though.” He put the tubes back in her nose.

Roxie lifted her head and saw that he had tears in his eyes too. She wiped her eyes and sniffled. “Johnny and Al? How are they?”

He shook his head and a tear dropped down his cheek. She turned her head into his chest and cried harder.

She began coughing and couldn’t stop. Beckham pushed the button and asked a nurse to come in right away. She panicked when she saw how much she was scaring Leo. He wailed as Chloe carried him out of the room.

Her lungs felt like they were closing in on her and she had to fight with everything to not panic. She coughed harder. Beckham pushed the nurse button again frantically when her blood sprayed across the white blanket. An alarm went off on the monitor when her O2 levels dipped too low.

The nurses and a doctor rushed in.

“We’re going to intubate,” she heard someone say, “And we’ll give her a cobinamide antidote to reverse her toxicity levels. You should leave the room for this. We’ll let one or two of you back in when she’s stabilized.”

And that’s the last thing she heard for a while.

She woke up several times in the night. It was scary to have a ventilator breathing for her. She hated it.

Her parents and Beckham were there whenever she opened her eyes. In a different part of the room each time. Sometimes Anthony sat beside her and held her hand. It could have been hours or days, she didn’t know the difference.

Eventually she woke up and felt more coherent. She stayed awake for a while and her mom said her levels seemed to be steadily improving. The doctor came in later and took her off of the ventilator and removed the tube.

Her throat felt like a million knives were piercing her at once. She cringed with every swallow. Beckham held one hand and her mom held her arm above the bandage. Her dad held onto a foot. She tried to smile even though she wanted to cry.

“Leo?” she whispered.

“He’s with Chloe. They’re in a hotel. Chloe will bring him as soon as you’re ready.”

Roxie nodded. She wanted to see him right away.

“How are you feeling?” Beckham asked.

She nodded again and held her throat.

“Is it killing?” he asked.

She nodded. He looked so sad, she couldn’t stand it.

“Your throat will be sore for a few days.” A nurse spoke from the end of the bed.

“No kidding,” Beckham snapped. “Sorry! I’m sorry,” he said to the nurse before she stepped back nervously. “We’re just all on edge here, I apologize.”

The nurse nodded before escaping the room.

“You need to go get some rest, Beckham. You too, Mom and Dad,” she whispered.

“They’ve given us a room on the floor below that we haven’t taken advantage of—perks of knowing a rock star.” Her dad winked and patted her foot. “We should probably go get showers there while you’re having tests done. We’re smelling up the room,” her dad said. “Well, at least that one is.” He pointed to Beckham. “You know your mother doesn’t stink.”

Roxie giggled and then cringed. She wanted to yank her throat out for a while and put it back when it stopped tormenting her.

“Do that, please. I’ll feel better if I know you’re comfortable,” she said. “And take a nap. You all three have dark circles. Please. Go rest. I’m already sleepy again.” She looked up at Beckham, who was gazing at her as if she was the only woman he’d ever seen before.

His eyes filled as he stared at her. “I never want to come close to losing you again. Ever, Roxie.”

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He kissed her hand. “When you’re out of this hospital, you know I’m not letting you out of my sight, right?”

Roxie made a face. “This doesn’t give you permission to be any bossier than you already are.”

“You’ve always been the boss of me and you know it,” he whispered.

Her parents laughed. Her dad stood up and looked at her mom and Beckham. “I’ll just step out and check with the doctor on call to see when they’re taking her down for tests.” He looked at Roxie. “Maybe I can go grab something besides hospital food for you?”

She shook her head. “Everything sounds too hard to swallow.”

“Hospital soup it is, then.”

Her dad came in with the new nurse on shift a few minutes later.

“Sounds like,” he looked at the nurse’s name tag, “Claire here has the paperwork, so you’re going down to radiology with her.”

Her mom and dad patted her shoulder and Beckham put both hands on her cheeks.

“I’ll be back before you are,” he said.

She nodded and smiled up at him. Claire stood next to the bed and they both watched Beckham walk out of the room until the door shut behind him.

“You are one lucky woman,” she sighed. “He is so hot. Anyway, I’m not telling you anything you don’t know,” she took a breath, “but seriously, he’s always been on my list of free passes. My husband would die if he knew I actually met him because, you know, that list is supposed to be so hypothetical. You know, the list?” She looked at Roxie and her eyes got huge. She gulped. “That just came out. Not something I should be telling the girlfriend, right? Right. Okay. So. I have to get a wheelchair and we’ll be set.” She paused for a quick breath. “We didn’t have any on the floor just as I was coming to get you.” She backed out.

Roxie leaned her head back. “Thank you,” she whispered.

She’d dozed off when she heard a creaking wheelchair. The room was even darker than it had been before. Roxie groggily sat up but felt so limp she relied on help getting into the chair. Something was said as a cool cloth was placed over her eyes, but they sounded so far away. Her eyes still burned, so she held the cloth in place as they rolled down the hall. They got in an elevator and Roxie’s head jerked back as she dozed off.

Disoriented, she tried to hold up her head, but it felt like a bowling ball. Everything was blurry. The cloth was placed over her eyes again and held down.

“I don’t feel right,” she slurred.

A muffled voice responded, but she couldn’t hold onto consciousness long enough to hear it.

Ian had crawled into the bed at some point in the night. It smelled musty, but he didn’t care. He felt like he’d been out for days, but surely not. He’d be hungrier if it had been that long. He finally thought to look at his watch. 2:01 a.m.

He couldn’t stand to think of Sparrow worrying. She’d be frantic by now. She knew he’d made big plans for their anniversary, but he hadn’t given her any details. She didn’t know where he’d run the errands, but maybe the car had shown up somewhere and given them clues.

In one of the other rooms, someone was making a racket. He wondered if it was Coco or if she had help. Maybe she was angry or didn’t want him to sleep. He sat up in the bed and swallowed away the nausea. Not many musicians could brag about concussions. From a stalker. It probably didn’t count since she wasn’t even stalking him. He’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She wanted Beckham, which meant Ian’s chances were slim.

He was about to get up and look around when the noise stopped. He heard steps coming toward his room and waited. Coco burst through the door and turned on the light. She looked manic.

“Tonight backfired,” she said, pacing near the bed. “Literally. I should have done it at least an hour later, but I was too wired to wait. The placement was perfect—close to the guards, so they couldn’t save the bitch. And the bomb worked just as I hoped, but it was so loud the owner came outside and hosed it down before the fire could even burn much of the cottage!”

She talked faster and faster, while his panic grew.

“Whose cottage, Coco?”

She looked at him and frowned, shaking her head back and forth. “I just have to get a new plan,” she said. “It’ll be okay. I’ll do better next time.”

“What did you do? Why don’t you sit down and tell me about it?” he asked.

She sat on the floor for a second but quickly jumped up and kept walking. “I can’t sit still right now.” She shook her head faster.

“That’s okay. Just tell me when you can.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Her eye twitched and she rubbed her face. Her hands shook.

“I-I can’t tell you,” she said. “I have to kill you soon.”

“All the more reason to tell me,” he said. “You know that saying, I can’t tell you or else I’d have to kill you? You may as well tell me since you’re already planning on killing me.” He smiled and she stopped pacing and stared at him.

“Are you making fun of me?” she yelled.

“No! Not at all. I promise.”

Her face softened. “Okay.”

“Have a lot of people made fun of you?”

“Always,” she said. “But not Beckham. He knows I’m just shy. And you don’t either. You’re nice to me.”

“Has anyone made fun of you on the tour?” Ian asked, frowning.

“School,” she corrected. “I get made fun of at school.”

“Oh yeah. What year are you?”

“Sophomore.”

“How old are you?” He thought she was probably in her late twenties.

“Fifteen.”

Holy mother. She was all over the place. No way she was anything close to fifteen.

“Do you know Roxie?” he asked.

Her face darkened. “I tried to kill her tonight and she survived. How does someone survive a bomb like that?”

His pulse quickened. Roxie was okay. Oh God. He was scared to mention Sparrow. She didn’t seem to be on Coco’s radar, but he had to know.

“Were you able to get rid of my car?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. I pushed it off a cliff not too far from Beckham’s house. I stayed until it went underwater.” She held up her hand. “You’ll be glad to know this didn’t go to waste.” Sparrow’s new ring was on her finger.

Rage hit him so hard his body physically burned. The knot in his chest grew and he swallowed hard before he spoke again. He knew he was walking a tightrope.

“Smart. You’re staying a step ahead. I can’t believe you were able to drag me to this place. I’m a heavy bastard.” He struggled to keep his tone light.

She smiled. “I’ve had a lot of time to work on this. You have to be prepared for every scenario. Surprises. You were a surprise, Ian.”

He took a deep breath. She was so fuckin’ creepy. Flippin’. Flippin’ creepy. Sparrow and her crazy penchant for words had played through his head for years now. Even now she wrecked him from cussing properly. If he made it out of here alive they’d have a good laugh about that.

“Do you have family nearby? Do they know you love Beckham?”

Her smile curled and her expression turned in an instant. “No. They didn’t understand. They never understood.”

“Sometimes family doesn’t,” he agreed.

She studied him. “I like talking to you. I’ve already talked to you more than Beckham.” She twisted her fingers and laughed nervously. “I hope I can talk to him this easily when we’re together.”

“Of course you can. And you’re getting good practice with me,” he added. He was making himself sick being so agreeable, but it seemed to be working for now. She was responding.

She nodded. “It is helping.” Her eyes widened and filled with tears. “It’s gonna be really hard to lose you.”

“Lose me? You don’t have to lose me,” he said, sliding his teeth over his chapped bottom lip. “I don’t have to go anywhere.” He shrugged.

She didn’t blink and a fat tear dropped. “Beckham wouldn’t want to share me,” she said.

He wasn’t sure what to say to that. This was so twisted. He leaned his head against the metal headboard and gulped back the manic laugh building in his chest. He had to get the hell out of there.

“Everyone needs friends,” he finally said.

Before Coco left the room, she turned off the light. Pitch black. No windows. He worked his hands, trying to loosen the rope around his wrists. It took a while, but the rope gradually gave; he held onto it. He stood and felt along the wall until he found the light switch and flipped it on. He half expected Coco to jump back in the door if she saw the light on. All was quiet.

He inspected every inch of the room that he could reach. The door was the only way out, and if he stretched his foot as far as he could, the tip of his toe almost touched the doorknob. The thick leather around his waist wouldn’t budge. The part of the headboard that he was chained to was secure, but some of the posts seemed like possibilities. He’d work on loosening them…

The bathroom had a sink and toilet, no shower. He leaned against the wall, feeling a wave of dizziness. His head was pounding a rhythm that would drive him mad if he let it. Think, he repeated over and over. Like a rush, it came to him. It was a slim chance, but he didn’t see anything remotely better. He made his way over to the bathroom, then took the lid off the back of the toilet and whispered relief that the flush lever was metal and not plastic. He unhooked the chain and tried to unscrew the nut holding the lever in place. It was old and rusted, so it didn’t want to move. He kept working at it, barely feeling it through his calluses. It was an hour before it budged and he could unscrew the handle off of the toilet. He’d have to keep Coco from noticing it was missing, but he’d worry about that later. He sat on the bed and dug into the leather with the lever. It was a frustrating angle and he gouged his stomach again and again, not bothering to be careful. Drips of blood gathered on the sheets.

Ian woke up sweating and sat up, panicked. Coco stood in the doorway with a tray of food. Her hair was pulled back and she looked tired. She set the tray on the floor. Her skin was washed out and the rims of her eyes were red. She reminded him of a mouse.

He didn’t know what to make of her this morning; her demeanor was completely different. She wouldn’t make eye contact and seemed almost sullen.

“Thank you,” he said.

He adjusted the rope so it was loosely twisted around his wrists and slowly stood. If she’d just come a little bit closer he’d wrap it around her neck. He went as far as he could go, but she stayed just out of reach. The leather dug into his skin and he turned so she wouldn’t see the progress he’d made on the restraint.

She nodded briskly and backed out of the room, closing the door.

The air rushed out of him and he leaned over, his fists and forehead against the wall. Everything hurt. How could he let himself fall asleep? He pictured Sparrow and Journey waiting for him and energy flickered, bolstering his resolve. He wouldn’t stop until his arms were wrapped around them.

He picked up the tray, smelled the water and oatmeal she’d left for him to eat like a dog, and decided to only drink the water out of the sink. He wouldn’t have thought Coco could go through with poisoning him, but something about her today, in just those few moments, scared the living hell out of him.

There were no outside noises giving him an indication of where they were. Without the sounds of traffic or ocean or people, it didn’t sound anything like the L.A. he knew. He strained to hear Coco moving around the house and occasionally thought he heard footsteps. About a half hour after she’d come in the room, he heard a garage door. And then silence.

Beckham took the fastest shower of his life, partly to make sure he didn’t take all the hot water from Roxie’s parents, but mostly so he could get back to Roxie as quickly as possible. It was painful to see her suffering like this. He hoped to God there was no lasting damage to her lungs. He’d never forgive himself. He had to know the son of a bitch who did this. Not just for Roxie’s sake, but also for Johnny and Al. He owed them that.

“I’m heading back to the room,” he said as he was walking toward the door. Rachel was sitting at the small table and Daniel was still in the shower.

“We’ll be right there.” Rachel smiled and Beckham’s heart lifted.

It sank just as quickly. He’d bonded with Roxie’s parents but didn’t feel he deserved it. If they ever found out where he’d been when Roxie was nearly killed…

He couldn’t forgive himself for it; he didn’t expect Roxie to.

He rounded the corner and saw Claire rolling the wheelchair toward Roxie’s room. When she saw him, she turned bright red.

“Just getting her now,” she said.

“Oh, okay. Well, let me kiss her before you take her away.” He smiled at Claire and she turned an even brighter crimson. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She fanned her face. “Oh yeah. So hot … in here.”

Beckham nodded at the police officer standing outside Roxie’s door. He thought the guy barely looked old enough to drive. There had been a steady rotation of officers guarding the room, and Beckham was grateful they were keeping the press away and taking the threat to Roxie seriously.

Claire backed into Roxie’s door and turned on the light. “All ready?”

Beckham stepped in and looked around. “Roxie?” Her bed was empty. He looked at the nurse then called out. “Are you in the bathroom, Rox? You were supposed to call a nurse to help…” He smiled at Claire.

“I’ll check on her. She shouldn’t be up by herself.” Claire walked to the door and gave a little knock before barely cracking the door to ensure Roxie’s privacy.

Beckham went and stood by the window to get out of the way. He tapped out a rhythm on his leg.

“Roxie? I’m just out here if you need help,” Claire called.

The room was silent. Claire knocked lightly again and opened it wider. She turned back to Beckham, a look of confusion on her face.

“She’s not in here!”

“Did someone else take her to radiology?” he asked.

“Must have.” She picked up Roxie’s chart and frowned.

He walked toward the door and motioned Hernandez inside. “Where is Roxie and why aren’t you with her?”

“A nurse took her to radiology, said I couldn’t be in there,” he said.

“And you listened?” he snapped. He held his hands up and tried to soften his tone. “You’re here to guard her. Make sure one of us is with her when she leaves the room next time, please.”

Hernandez swallowed and nodded.

Claire walked past them. “I’ll be right back. I’ll find her and see how long she’s been gone. Why don’t you stay put until I can call down there? She might already be on her way back up.”

He dragged a hand over his face and reluctantly agreed. His phone dinged.

Sierra: Is now a good time to visit Roxie?

He texted back: I’ll text you when she’s back in the room

Sierra: Need food?

Coffee

Sierra: Done.

He paced the room, eventually ending up in the hall. Roxie’s parents looked surprised and then concerned when they saw him. Claire returned before he could explain anything to them. She stopped in front of Beckham and avoided looking any of them in the eye. A long, spiky icicle of fear lodged in his throat.

Claire took a shaky breath and began talking at super speed.

“I’ve talked to radiology and she hasn’t been down there. I’m the only nurse who has been in her room this shift. Hospital security is looking for her … putting guards at every exit. Someone will also be coming any minute to talk to you…” She ran out of breath. “I’m sure she’s fine,” she said, her voice slowing down and becoming softer with each word. “Oh, there he is now.” She let out a relieved sigh and motioned to the guard. He introduced himself, and Daniel and Rachel began talking at once.

Beckham looked over at Hernandez. “Wherever the hospital keeps the surveillance footage—that’s where I need to be right now. I don’t want to wait for any hospital protocol bullshit. Pull whatever strings you can. She was taken on your watch.”

Hernandez gulped and stood up taller. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Woods. I’ll do whatever I can to get her back to you.”

Beckham’s jaw ticked and it took everything in him to not take the guy’s head off. He gave an infinitesimal nod to Hernandez, but it was enough to get the cop moving.

Every minute Roxie was gone meant she was one step further away from him.

Hernandez spoke into his walkie-talkie and motioned for Beckham to walk with him as he listened. They got in the service elevator, went down several floors, and as soon as they got out, Beckham called Howie. He picked up on the first ring.

“I need you back at the hospital. Someone took Roxie. Can’t wait for a meeting with Dion—if he’s helping us, we need him now.”

“Already with him and we’re not far. Be right there, boss.”

A security guard met them in front of the door leading to the room with surveillance monitors, and indicated with a shake of his head that Beckham couldn’t enter. Hernandez gave him a guilty look as he went inside.