Chapter 19 RINGO
My gun is raised as I step through the door, my free hand reaching back to my wife, making sure she doesn’t barge past and get herself shot. She clings to the back of my cut, her breathing rapid, desperation clawing at her with the need to see if her daughter really is alive.
“Down there, Sarg.” JD uses my title as he steps out from the hallway that leads to two bedrooms, as Vender keeps his gun pointed at a woman who is trembling with her arms wrapped around her waist, perched on a rickety bar stool by the kitchen bench.
“This the nurse?” I ask, and Vender nods as I feel Abbey shift behind me, before she finally shoves past.
“Where’s my daughter?!”
The woman flinches as Abbey comes charging for her, but my wife doesn’t touch her. She holds herself back, getting in the woman’s face.
“Y-you’re A-Abbey?” the woman trembles, and I can’t hold back the growl that rumbles in my chest.
How could this woman kidnap my wife’s baby?! I want to fucking kill her!
“Where the fuck is she?!” Abbey yells, which is when we hear the faint cries of a baby down the hallway where JD came from before.
Darting her head over her shoulder, Abbey’s eyes move to the mouth of the passage, and JD fills us in.
“Elizabeth Stone has locked herself in the end room with the baby. We don’t have eyes in there. The blind on the window is closed, but Trunk is outside it, in case she tries to escape.”
Turning back to Caroline Thatcher, Abbey snarls, and the nurse pales at seeing my wife’s monster slip free.
“She make any threats?” I turn to JD as Abbey heads back towards us.
“Just said we can’t have the baby.”
“That’s my baby.” Abbey shoves through us, stomping up the hallway to where Mex is standing guard outside the room.
Grabbing the handle, Abbey tries to open it, but it’s locked, and a heavy sigh escapes her.
“Elizabeth?” she calls through the door, and a moment later, Daniel’s mum responds.
“Abbey?”
“Unlock the door. I want Bobbi.”
“Bobbi?” Elizabeth asks. “I’ve been calling her Jane.”
I nearly fucking laugh when Abbey’s unimpressed gaze locks with mine and she rolls her eyes.
“Really? Jane Doe?” she scoffs, and Elizabeth tries to explain.
“We didn’t know what to call her.”
“That’s because she’s not your kid!” Abbey yells, losing patience. “Unlock the door!”
A small cry comes from the room again, and Abbey frantically tries to open the door, knowing it’s her little girl.
“Open the door!” Abbey yells, frantic as she looks at me, her eyes pleading for me to do something.
Gritting my teeth, I storm forward, about to kick the door down, when the sound of the latch clicks.
Abbey gasps, lurching for the handle, but I whip my arm out in front of her, stopping her from putting herself in the line of fire.
“Let me go first, Angel. Just to be safe,” I grunt, gripping the handle, not even waiting for her response.
I don’t remember the last time I was this fucking nervous. My heart is jack hammering, and I raise my gun as I turn the knob and slowly push the door open.
The gentle cry of the baby gets louder, and my eyes track the room quickly, ignoring the furniture, and landing on a woman with tears in her eyes, her features reminding me of her son, Daniel.
“P-please, don’t shoot.” She holds out her hands. “The baby is fine. She’s just hungry.”
“Step aside!” I demand, and Elizabeth hesitates, so I lift the gun higher, making sure she can see right down the fucking barrel. “Do I have to shoot you to get you out of the fucking way?!”
“No,” she sobs, a shudder rippling through her as she trembles and finally does what I ask, taking three steps to the side, letting me see the humidicrib against the wall.
Keeping my gun trained on the woman, I glance over my shoulder, expecting Abbey to be right behind me, but instead, she’s pressed against the wall out in the hallway, her eyes squeezed tight, like she’s too scared to open them to find it was just a dream.
“Angel,” I say gently, and JD steps up to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s time, Abbey,” he rasps, and her eyes snap open, wide and full of fear as they lock with his. “It’s time to reunite with your daughter.”