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A familiar voice came from somewhere around me, and I fought to open my eyes. My entire body hurt, and my head ached worst of all. I tried to focus on the voice as it spoke again.
“Donahue. Can you hear me?”
I tried to formulate words, but nothing came out. I could barely hear my own thoughts over the pounding in my ears, but I listened again as the person spoke.
“Shit. Hang in there, man.”
The accident. Jules. Was she okay? I tried to stretch a hand toward her seat, but it refused to cooperate. The voice bled away as the darkness consumed me, pulling me under once more.
*
A PERSISTENT HUM FILLED the air, punctuated every so often by a low beep. Through sheer force of will, I managed to crack my eyes open. The light was dim, but it felt abrasive, and I closed my eyes almost immediately. I blinked once more and took in as much of my surroundings as possible before closing them against the pain again.
White ceiling. Industrial-style lights that were currently—blessedly—turned off. The room was dark and unfamiliar. I took quick stock of my body, finding my muscles stiff and sore, especially in my upper back near my ribs. The third time I tried to open my eyes, I managed to keep them open. I rolled my head left and right, taking in the strange machines on either side of the bed. A hospital. God knew I’d spent enough time in a room just like this back in Chicago after the incident in the warehouse. Was I dreaming? I tugged against the IV threaded through the back of my hand. The tight pinch of skin told me I was wide awake. That meant...
I drew back and searched my memory, trying to remember the last thing that happened. I remembered Jules this morning—God, I hoped it was this morning—acting strangely on the drive to Briarleigh. She’d been just about to tell me something before the car had come out of nowhere. Through my mind’s eyes, I watched the accident unfold with startling clarity. The black SUV had run the stop sign to my left and plowed into the left front fender of the truck, sending us into a crazy spin. I saw the white powder fill the air as the airbag deployed, tasted it on my tongue as it filled my mouth and nose. The next few details were sketchy. I remembered reaching for Jules, finding the door wrenched open, the passenger seat empty.
Jules. I had to find Jules. I pushed myself up in bed just as the door opened, and a pair of familiar brown eyes met mine.
Jack’s expression registered surprise as they landed on me, and he quickly crossed the room. “Hey. How are you holding up?”
“Like shit,” I replied. “How is Jules?”
His face twisted with regret. “I’m not sure. I haven’t heard from her.”
What? That didn’t make sense. “I need to see her. Right now.”
Jack made a little shrugging motion, his face contorting with regret. “We haven’t been able to get ahold of her.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? She was in the car. She has to be here!” Panic made my voice rise several octaves, and Jack’s eyes grew round with worry, sending my heart into overdrive.
“I didn’t know she was with you. We didn’t see anyone else.”
Motherfucker. I grimaced as a ripped the IV from my hand, sending the machine into a beeping frenzy.
“Hey.” Jack held up a hand in my direction. “You need to stay. Your wrist is fucked up and you look like shit.”
I glanced down at the bandage around my left wrist. Well that explained why my arm wouldn’t cooperate. I struggled from the confines of the bed.
“Are you sure she didn’t leave?” he asked softly.
I turned an angry glare on him. “Don’t even fucking think it. She wouldn’t leave me.”
Jack rested a hand on my shoulder to steady me as I stumbled. “I didn’t say that. Maybe she just—”
“No.” My voice was hard as I cut him off. I stared at him for several long seconds before releasing a heavy sigh. “Someone took her, Jack. I’ve gotta find her.”
“Who took her?”
“I don’t know.” My voice rose several octaves as panic set in.
“Okay,” Jack said. “Let’s think this through. What do you remember?”
Not enough. I closed my eyes and tried to focus. As soon as I’d registered that Jules was gone, my door had been wrenched open. I saw a man in my mind’s eye, but the features were blurry and incomplete. He’d said something before slamming my face into the steering wheel. What the hell was it?
“I don’t know. Dark hair, dark eyes I think?” Jack just stared at me.
“I was fucking half conscious,” I snapped. “What the hell do you want from me?”
“Just trying to help,” Jack offered.
“Want to do my job while you’re at it?”
Jack stared impassively back at me, and I raked one hand through my hair. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m just—”
My words were cut off by a nurse entering the room. She eyed me where I stood beside the bed. “Sir, you—”
“I’m officially checking myself out,” I cut her off. “Give me whatever paperwork you need signed. I’m leaving.”
Pain exploded behind my eyes as I stood, and the nurse rushed over to me. “Let me at least get some painkillers for you and get you dressed,” she offered.
“No,” I responded immediately to both.
Jack spoke up. “I’ll help him from here.”
The nurse reluctantly let go of me and was out the door a moment later, presumably to get whatever discharge papers she needed to have on file.
Jack’s fingers curled into my shoulder, and I grimaced at the pain. He gazed down at me. “Unless you plan to walk out there with your bare ass hanging out, I suggest you put some clothes on.”
Fuck. Had I been in the right frame of mind, I would’ve felt the slight breeze on my back a few minutes ago. As it was, the only thing I could think about was Jules and bringing her back to me safely.
“Fine.” I waved a hand at Jack. “But hurry up.”
He made a low sound in his throat as he dug my bag of clothes out of the bottom drawer of the dresser nearby. He passed them to me without another word, and I began to dress when something occurred to me. “What day is it? How long have I been here?”
“They brought you in yesterday morning,” Jack responded.
My eyes widened in disbelief. “You let me stay here for a whole goddamn day?”
“Jesus Christ,” Jack quipped. “You’re a fucking nightmare. How the hell does Jules put up with your shit?”
I flipped Jack off and resumed dressing as quickly as I could, my body still sluggish and uncoordinated. “We need to check around town, see if anyone has seen her during the past twenty-four hours.”
Jack remained silent, and I searched his questioning gaze before blowing out a hard breath. “She was with me in the car. I’m not crazy. We had breakfast at Rosie’s, then I headed back to Bruce’s place to drop her off. I think she was finally going to open up...”
I tensed at the reminder. I couldn’t believe she’d been engaged at one point. Jealousy curdled in my stomach like acid, but I forced it down. She’d reacted the same way when I told her I’d been married before, but it felt different somehow. Maybe because she was so young. Perhaps it was because I suspected she’d been running from a man when she first showed up three months ago, sporting a collection of dark bruises. I debated whether to tell Jack what she’d said but held my tongue.
“A car ran the stop sign at the intersection of I-93 from the south and slammed into us—black, I think. The next thing I remember—”
The gunshot. The thought made me pause, and I ran my hands over my body, checking for any bandages. Jack watched me with a combination of concern and interest, and my brows drew together as I pieced together the events. My back was sore which meant he’d hit the plate, but the bullet hadn’t penetrated. “He didn’t shoot me.”
One dark brow lifted toward his hairline. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
My mind spun furiously. Why hadn’t he killed me when he had the chance? He was too close to have missed. If Jules’s fiancé had come to take her back, wouldn’t he have killed me on the spot instead of just warning me away? “When I reached over to check on Jules, she was gone. He said something like, ‘don’t come after her.’ There was a gunshot, and I blacked out.”
Jack swore, and I met his dark gaze. “I need to find her.”
“All right,” he acquiesced. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Three minutes later, Jack returned with the nurse holding a clipboard and a wheelchair. I eyed the contraption with no small amount of animosity. “No fucking way.”
“Hospital rules,” he replied. I swore I could hear the laughter in his voice though he concealed his smirk.
As if losing my fiancée hadn’t been enough of a blow to my pride. I scowled. “Jesus Christ. Let’s get this over with.”
I scrawled my signature over the papers the nurse presented in front of me then reluctantly climbed into the wheelchair, Jack at the helm. “If you dump me out of this thing, I’ll murder you,” I bit out.
This time, Jack couldn’t contain his laugh. “Tempting as that sounds, I wouldn’t do that to you. Gotta be in one piece to bring Jules home.”
His words triggered something else. The only personal effects in the hospital room were my clothes. I assumed that my cell, my wallet, everything else was still in my truck.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked as soon as we were settled in Jack’s Suburban. “I’m guessing mine was forgotten at the scene.”
Jack nodded. “I don’t remember seeing it, but I’m sure it’s there. Maybe one of your deputies grabbed it.”
I turned surprised eyes on him. “You were there?”
He nodded, his face serious. “I was the one who found you.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “Thanks for your help.”
He offered a little nod as he passed his phone to me. I stared out the window as I dialed the number.
I’m coming for you, Jules.