Claimed (For Her 3)

“What’s going on? Why are we on lockdown?” I look up as I see Mallory talking to Miles. Ryan, Paige and Skyler are with her. “We were shopping and then all of a sudden we had to come back. Is everything okay?”

“Why aren’t you on the top floor, Mallory? I specifically asked you to stay there, where I know you’re safe,” Miles says, looking over at Ryan.

“The key cards didn’t work. We thought we didn’t make it back before you shut it down, so we came here,” Paige says.

“Wait, what did you say?” I ask, cutting in. The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “We didn’t issue it yet.”

I click on the screen of my computer and bring up the feed for Jay’s desk. She’s not there.

“Fuck!” someone mutters behind me, and then I hear Paige shout for the building to go into code red.

The alarm sounds, and everyone is in motion. Everyone but me. My hand is shaky as I push back the footage and find the image of when she was last sitting there. I’m praying she just got up to go to the bathroom.

My stomach turns sour as I watch her pick up her phone and her face goes white. She walks out on shaky legs and gets into the elevator. I move the footage to when she gets off, and I can see her look up and mouth the words I love you.

“Oh God, no, baby. No.” My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest. What the fuck is she doing?

The footage shows her exiting the building and getting in a cab. I can’t see anything past the perimeter, and I stand up so quickly my chair falls to the floor behind me.

Someone gasps, and I’m shaking with rage. I grip the edge of my desk, not knowing what to do. My first thought is to run out of this room and chase after her, but where do I go? I want to kick the desk over and break every piece of equipment in here, but that won’t do me any good either.

“Chen,” Paige barks, and I snap out of my downward spiral and look over to her. “You’re the only one who can track her down. Find out where she went.”

She’s right. I can do this.

Pulling up the data on the nearest satellite, I hack into the cell tower and get her phone records. I remind myself to clone her goddamn phone just as soon as she’s back in my arms.

It takes minutes for all of it to come up, and every second of that is pure agony. Finally, the last number that called her pops up. Her apartment.

“Her sister,” I say, feeling another rock in the pit of my stomach. “I need to go to Jay’s apartment.” I stand up and start to push past the group of people behind me, but a short redhead is standing in my way.

“Jordan, let us go. You’re the only one who knows how to do this shit,” Paige says, waving at my computer. “If you go looking for her, what happens if she isn’t there? Then what? You come back here and start again, losing precious time.”

I want to protest, but I know she’s right. I open my mouth, but she slaps something into my hand.

“You’ll be with me the whole time. Captain?” she says, turning around to Ryan. “Get your gear. We’re out in two.”

They walk over to McCoy and Grant, and the four of them talk in low whispers. I feel like my hands are tied, but I know there’s more I can be doing.

I get on my computer and pull up every trace I know. Everything is going to be okay.

If I say it enough, it has to be true. Right?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jay

When I open my eyes, I feel the side of my head throbbing. The sound of my pulse is in my ears, and I’m disoriented. It’s like that time I went on the Scrambler at the fair and couldn’t walk straight afterwards. Only I can’t even stand up now.

I look around and see light coming in from above. It’s late in the day, and it looks like the sun is setting. Damn it, how long have I been unconscious? Hours have passed since this morning, when I was with Jordan and he was kissing me.

The thought of his name sends a bolt of lightning to my heart, and I sit up way too fast.

Leaning over on my hands, I feel like I’m going to vomit. I dry-heave and then cough, fighting the urge. “What happened?” I whisper to myself.

“Jay?” I hear a croaky voice and finally look around the room.

A sob bursts from me when I see my sister lying on the ground only a few feet from me. I crawl over, unsure if my legs will work yet or not.