Chapter 38
Courtney
Everything happens so fast it’s hard to react.
Two men approaching Harlow and me, menacing looks on their faces.
“Step back,” one of them instructs me, holding open one side of his leather jacket and revealing a gun.
“What do you want?” I ask in confusion. “I don’t have any money on me.”
“We want something worth far more than anything in your wallet.” He kneels in front of Micah.
"Get away from him!" I yank the stroller back just as someone grabs me from behind.
I drop like a rock, catching him by surprise and he has no choice but to let me fall, which was my intention.
Then I kick his legs out from under him, but that interaction was all the time needed to unbuckle Micah from the stroller.
I throw myself in that direction, but the second man yanks me back by the ponytail.
I yelp in pain but continue surging forward, grabbing the man reaching for my son.
Wrapping my arms around his calves prevents him from moving but a third man has just appeared, and he knocks Harlow out of the way.
To her credit, she vaults herself in Micah’s direction, but this time the man pulls back his fist and when she goes down a second time, she doesn’t move.
“Daniil!” I scream his name, but I see the crowd surrounding him. Even in the chaos I’m aware that this was a planned attack—and that my child was the target.
“Courtney!” I hear Daniil yell but there’s a sharp pain in the back of my head and then nothing.
The next time I open my eyes there’s a paramedic shining a light in them, and I bat at it in annoyance.
“What happened?” I demand, trying to sit up. But everything starts to spin, and I collapse back down.
“Please—don’t try to get up.” A kind-sounding man with a heavy accent speaks gently. “You’ve a head injury.”
“My son…” I try to look around, but the pain is unbearable.
“Please. Don’t move.” The man is kind but slightly exasperated.
Then I see why.
Daniil is struggling with someone, yelling in a language I don’t understand. I see Marcus, who’s holding a towel against his bloodied face, and Dax, who looks furious. And Sandor, who seems to be coordinating something.
Am I on the ground?
“Daniil!” I finally call his name and a moment later he’s kneeling beside me.
“You’re going to be okay,” he says gruffly. “Let the paramedics stop the bleeding. You’re probably going to need stitches so I’m going to let them take you to the hospital and—”
“Where’s Micah?” I rasp, pushing through the pounding behind my eyes.
He doesn’t respond right away, his face tight.
“Daniil, where’s the baby?” Panic wells up in my chest and I swat at the hands trying to tend to my wounds.
Despite the nausea rising in my throat and the lights flashing behind my eyes, I sit up. “Where’s my baby?” I whisper harshly.
“They…took him.” His voice is strained, filled with agony but so much fury fills me I can’t focus on what he’s feeling.
“Took him? Took him where? Who?!” I yell, getting to my feet, albeit unsteadily.
“Sweetheart, please—you may have a concussion. We need to get you to—”
“I’m not going fucking anywhere!” I yell.
“What are you doing standing here? Why didn’t you go after them?
God dammit, Daniil, what the fuck is wrong with you?
!” I whirl, as if I’m going to see the men who took my baby, but blackness threatens and I suddenly lean over, heaving all over the pavement.
“Courtney. Sweetheart. Please.” Gentle hands at my waist. “Let them take you to the hospital. You’re bleeding and I’m certain you have a concussion. We’ve sent—”
“They can stitch me up here,” I snap, fighting through the nausea and impending darkness. But willpower alone isn’t enough. There’s a sting on my arm and then everything starts to fade.
“Damn you,” I whisper to Daniil. “What did you do?”
“You need medical attention,” he whispers guiltily. “But I’m going after Micah.”
“I will never forgive you for this,” is the last thing I say before blackness overtakes me for the second time.
* * *
When I come to again, I’m definitely in a hospital. Despite the grogginess from whatever they gave me, I’m instantly alert, taking in my surroundings. Lennox is in a chair next to my bed, doing something on her phone, but she looks up when I start to sit up.
“You shouldn’t—” she begins.
“Knock it off,” I snap, sitting up. “Have they found Micah?”
“No.” She meets my gaze guiltily. “But everyone is out looking.”
“Do they know who took him? Has there been a ransom demand?”
“Yes and no.”
“They know who took him?” I look at the IV in my arm. “Get a nurse in here to take this out or I’ll do it myself.”
“Court, please don’t do this. You had a severe blow to the head—enough to cause a fracture to your skull. You need to rest.”
“Lennox. Did you understand what I just said? I will take it out myself.” I hate being an asshole to one of my closest friends, but I’d have to be in a coma to not join the search for my child.
She sighs but presses a button, and a moment later a nurse comes in.
“Take out the IV,” she says quietly in English. The nurse starts to protest in Limaji, but Lennox shakes her head. “Please.”
The nurse looks upset but does as asked.
As soon as I’m free I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I’m in pain and my head is swimming but it doesn’t matter.
“Do you know where my phone is?” I ask Lennox.
She shakes her head. “No. Everything at the scene was chaos. Do you need—”
“Can I use yours, please?”
She frowns but slowly hands it to me. “Who are you calling?”
I type out my brother’s number, waiting impatiently until he answers.
“Lennox? What’s up?”
“It’s me. How soon can you be on a plane to Limaj?” I ask him abruptly. “Bring Elliott.”
“What?” He sounds confused but I don’t have time to explain.
“They took Micah. Get here.” I disconnect and hand Lennox her phone. “Where are my clothes?”
“What do you think you’re going to do?” she demands as I shakily get to my feet.
“I’m going to look for my child!” I snap, though it sends a piercing pain through my head. “Fuck.” I pause, pulling in slow, shallow breaths to manage the pain.
“Please, Court. You’re in rough shape. If you leave now, anything could happen. You could have a brain bleed or—”
“Would you sit here in a cushy hospital while someone had your boys?” I demand, looking around. “Where the fuck are my clothes?”
“They took them.”
“Lennox.” I turn to her with as steely of a gaze as I can muster up. “Get me clothes and get me out of here. And if you try to sedate me again, I promise you, this will be the last time I ever speak to you.”
“The Royal Protectors, the police, even a few CIA operatives who were in the area are looking,” she says quietly. “They’ll find him.”
“Forgive me if I don’t have much faith in the Royal Protectors right now,” I snap. “Now, are you going to find me some clothes or do I leave here with my ass cheeks flapping in the wind?”
“I can’t snap my fingers and make clothes magically appear.”
“Fine.” I rummage through the cabinets against the wall and pull out another hospital gown, putting this one on backwards so my back is covered.
“Seriously, Court, stop.” Lennox blocks the doorway. “Please. Would you just listen to reason? Do you think I’d stop you if you weren’t really badly hurt?”
“It doesn’t matter!” I yell, throwing up my hands. “We’re talking about my baby. And don’t even try to say you wouldn’t do the same thing if you were in my place.”
“I would, yes, but I’d also be cognizant of the fact that a brain bleed could kill me. What good will you be to your son if you’re dead? And then who’s going to raise him when they find him?”
I pull in a shaky breath, knowing she’s right but hating it.
“I won’t stay here,” I say finally. “I’ll rest at the palace where I can be close to whatever’s happening.”
She sighs. “Yes, all right.” She types something into her phone. “Natalia is here, guarding the elevator that leads to this floor. She can drive us back to the palace.”
“Good.” I stand there, hands on my hips, fear and frustration surging through me.
“Would you sit down, please?”
“Stop telling me what to do,” I say gruffly.
“I know you’re upset but taking it out on me isn’t going to solve anything. Or help us find him any faster.”
“You’re part of the reason I stayed,” I reply angrily. “All your talk about safety protocols, how things aren’t black and white…what a great guy Daniil is.”
“All of those things are true!” she says, frowning. “It’s not like I lied to you. But shit happens.”
“You made it sound like it doesn’t. That it’s the exception, not the rule. Instead, I’ve been here three times and there’s been an attack two of the three times. I don’t like those odds.”
Natalia appears at the door before she can respond. “What’s happening?” she asks. “You want to leave?”
“I am leaving,” I state bluntly. “Let’s go.”
Natalia and Lennox exchange a look and Lennox shakes her head slightly.
“Don’t do that,” I say angrily. “I’m right fucking here.
Someone kidnapped my child, so yeah, I’m being a little unreasonable.
I dare either of you to say you’d be perfectly calm under the same circumstances.
” I turn to Lennox. “And you’re supposed to be my friend.
One of my best friends. Why aren’t you on my side? ”
“I am,” she whispers, hurt flickering in her eyes.
“But we have every available body out looking. Joe is running point at the palace, Ace is reaching out to all his CIA contacts, and even Erik is on the phone calling in favors for information. No one is taking this lightly. And you have a fucking fractured skull!” Her voice breaks a little and I feel bad, but I can’t succumb to emotion right now.
Micah’s life could depend on my being vigilant.
No matter how many feelings get hurt in the process.