2. Ezekiel
2
EZEKIEL
B lue is gone. Vanished into thin air.
Paramedics load Isabelle onto a stretcher. She s conscious and Jericho is by her side.
The baby. The baby, Isabelle is saying. She s disoriented and cries out when they strap her onto the stretcher.
Her arm is broken, the paramedic tells Jericho.
She s pregnant, Jericho says.
Let s get her in the ambulance. Sooner we re at the hospital the better.
Zeke? Isabelle calls out.
I turn to her trying to process what the hell happened. Where Blue is.
Zeke, where s Blue? she asks as if reading my mind. She lifts her head. Jericho tries to calm her down. The man. Oh God. The man?—
Her wide eyes collide with mine. I see both pain and terror in her expression.
What man? I ask. Where is she?
Sir, we need to get her into the ambulance.
There was a man, she says as they lift the stretcher. I saw his face. He crashed his car— she cries out in agony as the stretcher tilts.
Christ! Take it easy! Jericho barks.
The paramedic and Jericho follow her into the ambulance. I grab hold of the door to stop them closing it.
What man? I ask.
From the dinner. The one you were looking at. One of the Councilors guards.
Jericho and I exchange a look. I need to take my wife to the hospital. Now, Jericho says. He glances over my shoulder, then back at me. Go home, Zeke. Change your clothes. Wait there for us. Look in on Angelique. Tell her we ll be home soon. She ll expect us to check on her.
I nod, glancing at Isabelle then back to my brother, realizing how bad this could be for them. Isabelle is only a few months pregnant. What if she loses the baby? Let me know how she is, will you?
He nods and I close the door.
Dex is just waking as they load him onto a stretcher. I rush to it.
Where s Blue? I demand.
He blinks, pupils not quite focused. I want to shake him.
Sir, step away please. Give us room to do our work, a paramedic says.
Where is she, Dex?
It was no accident, Dex manages before they roll him away and into a second ambulance.
Police are rerouting traffic. Where the fuck is she? She couldn t have disappeared.
I scan the street and realize something. The car that crashed into their Rolls Royce is gone.
Sir, you can t be here, a police officer says.
There was another woman in the car. Where is she?
The officer looks over my clothes and I follow his gaze, realize why Jericho told me to go home and change. I m covered in Wyatt Hoxton s blood.
Did Isabelle mean she saw Wyatt Hoxton? That s impossible. I killed him. His blood has seeped through my clothes and into my skin. He is as dead as can be.
What other woman? the officer asks.
And where is the vehicle that crashed into them? I ask.
We re looking into that now, sir. You need to remove yourself from the scene.
A few feet away, a woman is pointing in the direction of a road that leads out of town. I step closer to listen.
He was a big guy. I saw that when he got out. He sped up to crash into them. I swear. I couldn t believe what I was seeing. Then he took the woman. He lifted her out and just?—
What was he driving? I cut in. The woman, was she?—
She was awake. She tried to get away, but he threw her into the trunk and took off.
Sir, this is a police investigation, the officer starts.
Which way did he go?
She points out of town again. It was a sedan, white. That s all I know.
Ma am, I ll need to take some more information and sir, you need to leave.
I look in the direction the woman pointed, and I see it then. One of her shoes. It s lying in the street a few paces from the open door of the car.
I scoot under the police tape and grab it. The heel is broken. I stalk back to the Rolls Royce and pull the back door open.
On the floor of the car is her purse. I pick it up, open it. Inside is her phone and along with it, a flash drive. She had it with her all along.
Sir this is an accident scene. You need to step away. Now.
My phone rings just then. I nod to the officer and answer right away. Blue?
Ezekiel? Robbie here. There s something you should know.
Now s not good. There s been an accident.
What accident?
Isabelle and Blue… Blue s missing.
Shit.
Something in his tone worries me and I walk back toward Jericho s car. The keys are still in the ignition, the driver s side door still open. I start the engine.
I ll have to call you back, I tell Robbie.
Wait. If she s missing, then I think I may know who has her.
What?
Wyatt Hoxton has a brother.