Revenge (Phoenix Undercover Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter 27

Josh

“We found her,” Trevor announced as I crawled out of bed in a hurry, my phone pressed tightly against my ear as I gripped it hard. “It’s bad, man. I actually think he left her for dead.”

My heart hammered in my chest.

“Where are you now?” I asked, feeling my voice crack.

“We started cross-referencing all the purchases on the credit card. When we saw a recent hotel expense we figured it was worth looking into.” I could sense the struggle in Trevor’s voice. “We had to have hotel security open the room, and it was fucked up, Josh. I don’t really know what Margo looked like before, but I do know that she’d be considered unrecognizable to anyone who did know her.”

She was now just another one of Leo’s victims.

“We’re on our way to the hospital now. Gray is ahead of me a few cars. I’ve got Connor here with me,” he informed me as I still stood in the hallway with my hand braced against the wall.

“I’ll meet you guys at the hospital,” I said just before ending the call.

I had to take some time to calm down before I made my next call.

After Gabby’s recent stay in the hospital, I felt Marshall and I had finally reached an understanding. I think he finally knew my dedication to his daughter and just how much she truly meant to me.

“Is everything okay?” was the first thing he said when he answered his phone.

“Actually, I was hoping you and Judith could come over and spend the day with Gabby and Asher.” I had absolutely no doubt he would see right through me.

“Of course we would love to spend the day with our daughter and grandson, but do you mind telling me why you are so eager for us to?” And there it was.

I couldn’t tell him much, but I could give him enough to pacify him. Or at least I hoped it would.

“We may have a break in finding Leo. I need to spend the day working things out, and I don’t want Gabs left here alone all day.” I knew he understood there was only so much I could disclose. I also knew rarely did it stop him from pushing for at least a little bit.

“We’ll be there in about thirty minutes,” Marshall assured me as we said goodbye.

That would give me enough time to get a shower and break the news to Gabby. Yes, her heart was broken by finding out it was Margo who had betrayed her, but I knew she still cared.

***

“What do we have?” I asked Grayson as he stepped away from the doctors just as I entered the emergency room entrance.

“Broken nose, jaw…” he began to give me a rundown of Margo’s injuries, “…concussion, as well as some internal bleeding. She has a few cracked ribs.”

“But she’s gonna make it?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded his head. “She’s sedated right now. They’re bringing in a specialist to evaluate her facial structure, and she needs the rest. But we’ll get to talk to her and hopefully find out what the hell this bastard has planned.”

We’d get to talk to her. I just wasn’t sure when.

I know that was selfish. She was in the other room, broken and battered, and all I could think about was finding Leo’s location. For an instant I felt like a selfish, inconsiderate asshole, but only for a second.

Margo knew what kind of man Leo was, nothing could convince me otherwise. And she knew the chances of something like this happening, or something worse.

I spent hours pacing the hospital corridor, jumping each time the door would open or someone would exit. I was growing impatient.

I left Gabby knowing she was heartbroken with the news regarding Margo. I knew it would hurt her to know the condition we found her in.

A firm hand gripped my shoulder, and I turned around to find Trevor standing behind me.

“Hey man, the doctor said he would take you and Gray back,” he said, and my stomach tensed with what I could only explain as adrenaline. I had to control myself, I knew that, but fuck, I wanted nothing more than for all of this to be over.

I wanted what any normal person would take for granted daily. I wanted to be able to take my family to the park, or hell, even dinner, without feeling like we were in danger.

I wanted Leo to pay for every fucking thing he had ever done to every innocent person. I wanted him to suffer.

And Margo was my key.

Yet the moment I stepped into her room, I felt my knees grow weak. She was beaten to such an extreme it was hard to tell what she looked like. Her face was covered with black and purple bruises. The contours of her face all blended together making it almost impossible to look at.

As we stepped closer, she remained in the same position, not even a flinch. She stared ahead at the blank wall to her right as if she was in a trance.

“Margo.” Grayson was the first one to speak because I was momentarily mute. The words I wanted to speak were lodged within my throat.

She didn’t even acknowledge our presence.

“We just need to ask you a few questions,” Grayson continued. “We need to know if it was Leo who did this to you.”

Her lack of response, hell, even a fucking grunt, was grating on my nerves. She knew what he was capable of, and to remain silent, ignoring us, infused the anger within me.

“How could you?” The words were out before I could stop them. “She looked up to you, idolized your professionalism, and you betrayed her. You were willing to help some sick fuck terrorize her.”

It was then that Margo turned her head and looked at us.

Her left eye was so swollen it wouldn’t even open.

The doctor had told us she wouldn’t be able to answer us with words, but they had given her a notepad and pen for communication purposes. I had not expected full blown conversations from her but fuck, a god-damn nod was the least she could offer.

Her right eye, the one that she could see out of, filled with tears, and she closed it tightly. I watched as she winced and gripped the side of the bed.

“Do you know that even after everything, Gabby was still heartbroken when I told her you’d been hurt? She wanted to come and see you, make sure you were okay.” Margo’s lower lip trembled, and she started to turn away once more, but I stepped forward and Grayson gripped my shoulder. “Just please tell us if this was Leo’s doing?”

Time felt like it passed in slow motion before Margo finally nodded her head and continued to turn away from us.

It was Grayson who dragged me from the room and forced me to walk down the hall.

I could feel the rage boiling within me as I let her lack of effort enrage me even more.

She fucking owed it to Gabby to help us find this bastard.

“Josh, you need to calm down,” Grayson said as he pushed me into the bathroom and closed the door behind us.

“I need to calm down?” My voice boomed through the tiny space as I fisted my hands at my sides. “She needs to wake the fuck up and realize she is protecting a madman. He tried to kill her yet she is willing to hide him.”

“Yelling at her and demanding answers is not going to get us any closer to finding him.” Grayson was calm, and that even pissed me off. How the hell could he be so relaxed about this fucked up shit? “I’m in this man, right along your side. Though I may not be as close to this as you, I can assure you that I’m as invested as you are. I love Gabby, and Brooklynn, and Audrey. They’re all right here, man.” He placed his hand against his chest over his heart. “This man has fucked with us for too long. We’ll get him.”

I know Grayson meant what he said and I had to trust him. I had to remain in control, yet I could feel myself slipping slowly.

Chapter 28

Gabby

I could see the pure determination in Josh’s eyes.

He spent day after day sitting at the side of Margo’s bed, practically begging for the smallest sliver of information.

He tried the consoling friend, the hard FBI interrogation, and even the scare tactic he used on so many others before Margo. Yet she still remained tight-lipped.

Grayson told Brooklynn he believed she feared for her safety.

Well, to me, that would mean him being behind bars where he can’t hurt her anymore. That would be the best place for Leo to be.

Apparently she felt different.

It was as if she had a loyalty to him even her own life didn’t outweigh.

It was sad, really.

I would never understand that kind of connection, how a woman could feel so weakened by a man that she forgot about her own self-worth.

I had an appointment this afternoon with my obstetrician. It hadn’t been quite four weeks since my caesarean, but with my blood pressure concerns, Dr. Bali just wanted to follow up with me and make sure I was healing well.

I originally thought of taking Josh along, but with everything going on, I hated to even bring it up.

Assigning a sister for Asher was the easiest part. Hell, Brook practically leaped off the couch in joy when I asked and snatched him from my arms instantly. She began swaying from side to side, telling him that he was about to get his first lesson on what women truly want in a man.

When I arched my brow and crossed my arms over my chest, she laughed.

“What? It’s never too early to learn to be a gentleman.” She shrugged, turning around and continuing down the hallway whispering into Asher’s ear.

My little boy would never lack in the love department, because everyone within his space absolutely adored him.

I left my apartment with the biggest smile on my face as I made my way downstairs to hail a cab. Audrey had planned to meet me at the doctor because it seemed I was always in need of a bodyguard. Per my fiancé’s instructions, of course.

I texted her as we were pulling away from the curb, but by the time I reached the doctor I still hadn’t gotten a response. I swear, sometimes I had no idea why my sister even had a phone. Half the time she had it on silent and never even realized someone was trying to reach her.

I had already decided that when I was finished today, I was going to convince Audrey to take me to see Margo. Did I think Josh would like that? Nope, but I didn’t care either. I wanted to ask her myself why she chose to band together with some crazy ass psycho and help lead him to me.

Pulling up in front of the medical building that held my obstetrician’s office, I began looking around for my sister. And of course she was nowhere.

“We are here, ma’am,” the cabby announced.

As if I hadn’t figured that out yet.

He was looking over his shoulder at me in irritation. I’m sure he calculated the amount of money each moment I sat here cost him. He was already anticipating his next passenger.

Without wanting to further aggravate him, I pulled a twenty from my purse and handed it to him.

Maybe I should have just driven my own car, but a dark parking garage was an area Josh made off-limits without an escort. I had many of those. I was to stay home with company, but if I had to leave, I was to be accompanied by someone and to remain in public at all times.

Blah blah, it was all just as annoying as it sounded. It drove me insane. I would never get used to all the damn rules that I had to live by now.

As I crawled from the cab, I dialed Brooklynn’s number and she immediately picked up. “We are fine, momma, you’ve only been gone twenty minutes. I swear I have not yet corrupted our little man.”

She began mumbling something to Asher that I swear contained the words Mommy and overprotective crazy woman.

“For your information, I am not calling to check in,” I declared. “I’m actually calling to ask if you’ve heard from Audrey. She was already supposed to be here, but I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Nope,” Brook replied. “Last time I talked to her was yesterday afternoon.”

I stepped off to the side to allow a couple to pass, my gaze immediately falling to her protruding stomach as she waddled toward the entrance. Oh how I remembered those days. Yes, I ached, and the discomfort of my incision was rough, but tolerable. I had grown to miss my feet during those days, and now at least I could tie my own shoes again.

“Okay, well…” I turned back again, taking one last look toward the parking lot. “I guess I’ll just go upstairs then. If you hear from her, tell her thanks for deserting me.”

“Don’t leave without someone being with you,” she ordered, and it reminded me of Josh. So authoritative.

“I’ll call you after,” I promised as I hit end and tucked my phone in my pocket.

I stepped in through the front entrance and walked down a long hallway toward the Hawthorne elevators. I didn’t really pay much attention to those I passed. I was still confused as to why my sister had forgotten about me. I mean, we talked less than two hours ago and she assured me she would be here.

Tapping the button to retrieve the elevator, I stepped to the side and pulled my phone from my purse once more as I typed out yet another message to Audrey.

Remind me why it is I love you. Because right now, abandoned and alone in a dingy hallway, I can’t honestly remember why.

I pressed send and smiled, thinking of what her response to that would be once she ever took the chance to read it.

The ding of the elevator distracted me, and I looked up just as it slid open. I stepped inside, and just before the doors closed a man slipped inside.

I reached out to press number three, but he placed his hand over mine and the touch startled me. I jerked back and watched as he pressed the G. The elevator began to move and he turned around to face me once more, holding out what appeared to be a syringe in his hand.

My heart raced as he lunged at me without speaking a word and grabbed my shoulder with one hand as he jabbed the needle in the side of my neck.

I struggled and screamed, but almost immediately I felt my body grow limp as I sagged against the wall behind me.

“Gabriella,” he whispered against my ear. I did everything I could to lean away from him. But I was so dizzy and my eyes were growing heavy. “We finally meet,” he said just as my body gave out and I began to slide to the floor.