Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Immy let out a wounded noise.
“We’re going to give you an MRI tomorrow, but it’s normal to have some short-term amnesia after a drowning. Your memory might return or not. But don’t let it worry you, all right? Tomorrow someone will talk to you about speaking to a therapist. You went through a traumatic experience.” The doctor gave her a smile, before it dropped as she looked at everyone else. “Now, not all of you can stay here. You have ten minutes to say your goodbyes, then only one of you may remain.”
Maeve stared at her friends, then Gray. There were so many questions running through her mind that it was hard to grasp onto one.
“It’s okay, Maevie-baby,” Immy said. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
“Abe?” she whispered. “Someone said Abe was hurt?”
Jenner and Sampson exchanged a glance. “He’s fine.”
But she knew that they were lying.
“What happened to him?” she pressed.
“Who is Abe?” Gray asked.
“A friend,” she whispered. She was so exhausted, she wasn’t sure she could handle much more. “He stayed home with me. He was working in his office.”
“So you did actually leave someone to watch her,” Gray muttered.
“We left two people,” Sampson told him. “Jenner’s other bodyguard, Andy, and Abe.”
“What happened to Abe?” she asked.
“When we got home tonight, we found him in his office,” Immy said. “He was slumped over the desk, unconscious. Someone hit him on the head.” She ran her hand down her face, looking shaky. Jenner drew her closer to him.
“Immy,” Sampson barked.
“I know you guys are ridiculously protective, but you can’t keep stuff from her,” Immy said. “It will upset her more not knowing.”
“Lyle called us while we were at the auction,” Sampson explained.
“Lyle?” Gray asked.
“The guy at the front gate,” Sampson told him. “He saw you carrying someone wrapped up in a blanket out of the gate. He thought it looked like Maeve, but he wasn’t certain as he knew we were out. So he quickly checked the cameras and saw that you’d come out of our gate and then he called me. Luckily, I wasn’t on stage.” Sampson grimaced.
“We raced home,” Jenner said. “We were calling Abe and Andy, but no one answered and we couldn’t check the house cameras. It kept coming back that they were off-line. When we got home, we found Abe unconscious. Andy and Maeve were missing, and Maeve’s wet clothes on the living room floor.” He shot a look at Gray.
“I had to get her warm. The hospital has the blanket I used to wrap her up in.”
“They can keep it,” Jenner said dismissively.
“We thought . . . we thought your stalker had gotten you,” Immy said. “We were about to call the police when a friend from the hospital called me. Do you remember Abby?”
“Yes, she works in the emergency department, right?” Maeve asked.
“Yeah, she saw you come in, but didn’t recognize you until something started niggling at her and she checked your name. Then she called me. We figured your stalker likely wouldn’t bring you into the hospital, so we followed behind Abe’s ambulance.”
Sampson snorted. “He could still be her stalker.”
“Gray isn’t my stalker. Will Abe be all right?” She couldn’t stand to think of Abe being hurt because of her.
“He’ll be fine,” Sampson said firmly. “He’s got a hard head.”
“What about Andy?” she asked. “Did you find him?”
Sampson frowned. “No. He’s not answering my calls.”
Why would Andy disappear?
“So you guys have a security system?” Gray asked.
“Of course,” Sampson snapped.
“Well, I managed to enter the grounds without setting any alarms off.”
“What were you doing sneaking into the house?” Sampson asked. “That’s not normal behavior.”
“I needed to get to Maeve and the guy at the gate wouldn’t let me in. My point is — could this Andy have turned the system off, then tried to drown Maeve?”
They all looked sick at the thought.
“He’s worked for me for years,” Jenner whispered.
“I’ll find out,” Sampson said grimly. “I’ll find that bastard and he’ll tell me.”
Would Andy hurt her? But why? He’d always been polite to her.
“You guys should go check on Abe.”
“Immy and Jenner will,” Sampson replied. “I’m staying with you.”
“Not happening,” Gray countered. “I’m not moving from her side.”
Sampson glared at Gray.
“Guys, you’re not helping,” Immy said, her hands on her hips. “And what you should be doing is asking Maeve what she wants, not beating your chests and then trying to pee all over her.”
“Ew,” Maeve said. “That’s gross.”
“But apt,” Immy replied. “Well?”
Gray raised an eyebrow. Sampson sighed. “We can’t leave him with her. He just said that he’d kidnap her.”
“Because he loves her. You love her, right?” Immy asked Gray.
“Immy, you can’t say that to someone,” Jenner scolded.
Maeve could feel her cheeks heating.
“Maeve is mine,” Gray said firmly. “I’m not leaving her. I would never harm her. And since Maeve seems to hold some affection for you all, I will give you my word that we will not leave without saying goodbye. But make no mistake, I do that for her. Not you.”