39. Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Eight
Kayleigh
“I don’t want to leave her,” I bawl as Erik wheels me out of the hospital.
“Neither do I, seamrag bhea. I promise we will be back here as soon as visiting hours start,” he tries to reassure me, but I won’t be under the same roof as Makenna.
“What if she needs me and I’m not here?”
“Then we will rush here. I have men outside the NICU guarding her, and Abigail is working tonight.”
“But it’s not the same.”
“I know it’s not. I promise we will be here waiting for visiting hours to start, we will stay all day until they kick us out, and we will do that every day until we can bring her home. I know it’s not the same, but for now we have to do this. She needs to be here to get strong enough to come home.”
“I know. I’m sorry. This postpartum depression stuff fucking sucks. I go from angry to wanting to sob my heart out.”
“You do not have to apologize. You had a rough pregnancy, then you had emergency surgery. I know how badly you want to hold and snuggle Makenna, but you can’t, and on top of that, you are limited on the time you can spend with her. I’m a mess as well.”
“You don’t show it like me.”
“No, but I’ve been clinging to you. We will get through this—all three of us.”
“I guess.”
“Hello?” Erik grumbles when his phone rings in the middle of the night three days later.
“What? How long ago?” he says, jumping out of bed and rushing for the closet. I wince as I try to sit up. By the time I am on my feet, Erik is dressed in a suit and is putting his gun in the back of his pants.
“What happened?” I ask. I’ve never seen him so unhinged. He gently sits me back down.
“The hospital was just attacked.”
“Attacked? How? Is Makenna okay?”
“A group of men stormed into the hospital, killing dozens of patients, doctors, and nurses. I have no idea if Makenna is hurt or not, but I’m going down there.”
“Wait while I get dressed.”
“No. I know you want to go, but you are still recovering from surgery, and if they are still there, I need to have all my focus on getting Makenna out of there.”
I sigh. “Okay, but promise me you will get Abigail out of there too. Her son needs her.”
He pecks my lips. “I will. I have to go.”
“Go, please keep me updated.”
“I promise.” He runs out of the room. I hear him barking orders down the hall, and I move to our balcony and step out to watch. I’m standing here like a wife watching her husband going off to war, and I guess I sort of am because, if something happens to Makenna, the war that will be brought down by Erik will be a crimson war.
Only a few minutes later, Erik and an army get inside five SUVs strapped with weapons. Erik looks up, seeming to sense me as he gets in. Then he pulls out his phone and my phone rings.
Kayleigh: Hello?
Erik: Please stay inside.
Kayleigh: I will, I just wanted to see you off.
Erik: I know, but please stay inside and listen to Rowan until I get back.
Kayleigh: I promise. I love you. Bring our baby home. After this, she is staying here.
Erik: I promise I will. I love you too.
For the next hour I pace my bedroom waiting for news.
“Kayleigh,” Rowan calls out.
“Did you hear something?”
“Erik told me to have you call him, but he wants you sitting down.”
“No,” I say; this can’t be good news.
“Call him. I will stay with you,” he tells me as he lowers me on the edge of the bed. My phone rings once before I hear Erik’s distressed voice on the line.
Erik: Seamrag bhea.
Kayleigh: What is it? Is she okay?
Erik: She was kidnapped.
Kayleigh: Nooooo!
Erik: I promise you, I have every man in this city looking for her. There’s more.
Kayleigh: What else?
Erik: We watched the tapes; Abigail tried to save Makenna, and she was killed when she threw herself over Makenna’s incubator trying to block her from the shooter.
That is when I cry out. My baby is missing and the nurse who I have gotten close to, was like a friend, died saving my daughter. Her poor son and mother.
Erik: I promise I will find who did this and they will suffer.
Kayleigh: I know you will. Find them and make sure they pay.
Erik: They will. Try and rest. I need you to take care of yourself while I track them down.
Kayleigh: I will. I’ll stick with Freya and Ember.
Erik: Good, I have to go but I love you.
Kayleigh: I love you too.
We hang up and I sobs shake my body. Rowan wraps his arms around me.
“We will find her,” he tells me.
“I know, but in her condition, she is so weak. What if we are too late?”
“You can’t think like that. Freya has already set up a team who is on standby, and as soon as we find where she is, they will meet with us to start immediate treatment and will remain here until she is a happy and heathy little baby girl, one who is going to be so spoiled.”
“I’m scared, Rowan. So fucking scared. I need her. I feel like I can’t breathe.”
“Put your head between your knees,” he says as he guides my head lower. “Good, take a deep breath.” I do. “Good, and another.” We do this for about twenty breaths until my chest doesn’t feel as tight.
“Sorry,” I tell him.
“Don’t apologize. If someone kidnapped one of the twins, I would be a mess like you and Erik.”
“I think I need to lay down,” I say, feeling exhausted.
“Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, Rowan.”
“Don’t thank me, you’re family. You are the crazy one who is marrying the grumpy bastard. I should be thanking you. He is more tolerable to be around these days,” he teases me, which brings a small smile to my face. He quietly shuts the door behind him.
Emilia
Ring….Ring….
Who the hell is calling me in the middle of the night? I grab my phone. Why is Kayleigh calling me? Must be needing new mommy help.
Emilia: Hey, Mama!
Kayleigh: Emilia ! She says my name with a sob, which has me jack-knifing in the bed and sitting up.
Emilia: What’s wrong?
Kayleigh: Makenna was kidnapped.
Emilia: What? I need all the details. I put her on speaker. Thankfully Mateo and Marcello are out handling business and will be gone for hours so we can get on a plane and handle things the CR way before they notice and can stop us. I grab my burner and text Julietta on her burner phone, along with sending a quick message to Esmeralda. I rush over to my laptop. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation, a four-day-old newborn with breathing issues has been kidnapped. Add the fact she is my niece, and this fucker is dead.
Kayleigh: Erik got a call a few hours ago saying the hospital was attacked, and he rushed off. When he called me, he said a team had come into the hospital shooting dozens of patients, doctors, and nurses, but they kidnapped Makenna. I don’t know what to do.
Emilia: You did the right thing by calling me. I have resources that no one else has. I won’t explain it now, but I will when I get to Scottland. Trust me.
Kayleigh: I do.
Emilia: Good. Let me do what I do best, and you will have your baby home soon.
I hack into the hospital feed and watch in horror as a group of ten men spread out and shoot anyone they come across. I move the camera to the path that leads to the NICU.
I see the three men stationed outside of the NICU had no chance against ten; I can only assume they were Erik’s men.
Bastards. Killing men who were just protecting my niece.
“No,” I whisper when I see what looks like them ordering the staff out of the NICU. “Leave. Save yourselves,” I mumble as I watch one of the nurses stand in front of Makenna’s incubator. I wish I had fucking audio, but the nurse’s body language is enough to tell me she isn’t going to give in. The gunman and the nurse go back and forth for a few minutes before he loses his patience and shoots her in the chest. She grabs onto the incubator. Even with a gunshot wound in her chest and blood pouring out of her mouth, she weakly tries to push the gunman away.
“What a fucking warrior.” The gunman yanks her to ground before unplugging all the wires from Makenna and carrying her in his arms with a gun still in his fucking hand.
I’m going to fucking kill him.
I keep following with the cameras, but when he steps outside, the camera feed is cut. Fucking smart assholes. I send the front of the hospital through a program seeing if we can pick up on anything—a reflection, something.
I’m going to find these fuckers. If they are smart, they will give Makenna back before hell comes raining down on them. They not only have the Duncan Mafia but the O’Sullivan, De Luca, and Garcia Mafias as well. You don’t mess with family, especially not women or children.
They will learn what it means to mess with my family.