I was keeping my face turned away, so I couldn’t gauge their reactions.
Then one of them interjected, “At least one of us has to come with her. No negotiations.”
I had never heard him speak before, but I could guess who it was from the three, the burly guard with the shaved head and a horrid looking scar, running from his left eye in a mangled pattern, all the way to the back of his head. The thought of the pain and severity of whatever attack could have caused such an injury made me shiver when I first saw it.
With a sigh, she continued on her way.
My stomach was tied up in knots, but I couldn’t lift my head or say a word as he followed us.
His face remained unsmiling and wary.
Soon, we got into a room full of equipment and she stopped just inside the doorway. “She has to change first,” she said to him and shut the door solidly in his face. She moved me out of sight of the door’s little glass window.
I instantly jumped up. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll handle this,” she said firmly, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She called someone I assumed was a co-worker, and said, “Dede, can you come to the CBC lab? There’s a man outside in a suit. Tell him that the doctor wants to see him concerning his ward …” She looked at me enquiringly.
“Bianca Russet,” I supplied.
“Bianca Russet,” she said into the phone.
Whoever was on the phone with her must have asked her what the hell was going on, because she smiled, and told her,” I’ll explain later.”
“Please tell her to hurry,” I urged.
“And hurry up,” she added and ended the call.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Marjorie. Marjorie Dale.”
“I’m going to find a way to pay you back, Marjorie.”
“No need.” She smiled. “Just go help that friend of yours.”
Just then, my phone began to ring, startling the life out of me. I looked down to the caller ID and almost passed out when I saw who it was.
I muted my phone, but stared at the number until it disappeared. Almost immediately, it began ringing again and I knew he wouldn’t stop until he spoke to me. I raised my gaze to see the look of concern in hers.
“Everything alright?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice strained. “But I need to get out of here A.S.A.P.”
As if on cue the door opened and a pretty, petite nurse walked in with a curious look on her face. She had a mass of dark curls on her head and large hazel eyes.
“I’ll tell you everything later,” Marjorie said before she could say anything. She walked quickly to the glass window and waited a few seconds before she opened the door and looked out into the corridor.
Once she had ascertained that the coast was clear, I found myself being led through the door and down the emergency flight of stairs towards the back exit of the hospital.
27
Levan
I jumped down from the SUV and ran into the emergency room.
Immediately, I sighted Sergei.
He looked big and vital in that place full of fear and illness. He hurried over.
I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, my heart was pounding furiously in my chest.
“Where is she?” I asked.
There was a strange expression on Sergei’s face.
“Where the fuck is she?” I demanded frantically.
They shared a look with each other, and my eyes narrowed … fear roiling in the pit of my stomach. A strange cold fog was invading my brain. Even the thought of her being hurt was impossible to hold in my head. My voice felt strange, distant, desperate as I asked, “Is she okay?”
“We hope so.” Sergei said.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“She gave us the slip, Boss,” he finally admitted, “and we don’t know where to.”
My legs almost gave out. I knew what she was going to do.
I turned away from them and strode off towards the exit of the emergency ward.
They followed after me like lambs.
Bastards. The moment we reached outside, I lost it. The frustration and rage boiled over as I spun around and drove my fist into the first jaw it could connect with.
Yuri caught it and collapsed to the ground.
The others immediately stepped backwards.
A collective gasp rose up from the startled audience of paramedics and patients gathered in the surrounding area.
My face was throbbing, my ribs felt as if they were on fire, and my fist felt as if it had just hit a brick wall, but none of that mattered. “Tell me what happened,” I ordered quietly calming myself, turning my attention to Orlaf.
“She was taken for a test, and then the nurse came out of the room and said that she had no idea where she had gone to, and that she had just disappeared. We tried immediately to find her, but she was long gone. I believe the nurse was in on it.”