Lila

When she'd pulled herself together, Lila pulled out of Chris's arms and made herself breathe slowly and deeply wiping her eyes again. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "Just… it's just a shock. The whole thing."

​​

"Of course."

She closed her eyes and breathed. "Okay, I'm together now. Tell me."

Chris looked at her surprised. "Tell you what?"

"Tell me what we're doing to find him, to get him back," she said impatiently.

Chris's face crumpled, and for a shocked moment, Lila thought he might cry. "It's…" he swallowed hard. "We don't think he's left the building, we're pretty sure he hasn't. But he's off our radars. So we're trying to get someone in there who can find out where they stashed him."

Lila raised her chin and braced. "Is he still alive?"

"As far as we know," Chris said faintly.

Lila blinked and breathed and made herself stay calm. "I want to see everything that comes in on it. Good or bad."

Chris grimaced "Lila, you need to rest. Your injury was serious, and I know there must be some trauma…"

"I will be fine. I want to see everything that comes in. I want two briefings a day. And I want out of this hospital." When Chris looked like he might argue she glared and said, "He's my husband, Chris. I'm his emergency contact in the system. I signed power of attorney forms. I'm in the will. Everything. You will tell me everything you know, even if it's… even if it's bad."

Chris took a deep breath and clawed a hand through his hair, but he nodded. "Okay. But… let us help you, Lila. This is going to be a lot no matter what happens. Don't… don't try to handle it alone, okay?" He looked at her gently and she nodded swallowing hard.

"So, a debrief?" she said a moment later.

Chris pulled his phone out and flipped through a couple screens. "I'll have the team leaders come in this afternoon and brief you."

"And bring me a phone," she said quickly.

Chris frowned. "Where's yours?"

"I don't know. I'm assuming Doug has it."

Chris winced. "Okay, I'll have tech get on it. We need to be able to get in touch with you when we aren't here."

"And I need to be able to get in touch with you. And Dane needs to be able to get in touch with me. Transfer the number to the new phone."

"No, Lila, that will mean his dad will know your contact."

"I don't care. He needs to be able to get a message to me if… if he gets away."

They stare at each other a moment and Lila prayed he'd see the combination of determination and fear in here.

Chris slumped a breath later. "Okay, fine. Fine. I'll… I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you. Now, help me figure out how to get out of here."

Chris gave her a lopsided smile that reminded her of Dane in a way that made her have to look away from him."

*****

"Well, this isn't prison Mrs. Daniels. But I have to tell you, it goes against my very best instincts to release you before forty-eight hours. That was some significant bleeding in your chest cavity that could have been far more serious if we hadn't caught it when we did. We need to be completely certain that it has stopped, and that you aren't developing an infection."

The doctor, a kind looking older man, stood at the side of her bed, looking at her through rimless glasses.

"Is being here necessary, though, Doctor? If I had observation at home, a nurse, would that be sufficient."

"After tomorrow, possibly," the man said. When we can be certain the bleeding has stopped. A caregiver would know how to keep an eye out for infection symptoms. But no earlier than tomorrow afternoon."

Lila muttered under her breath, but then a sharp jab jolted her from her side and she could feel herself pale. "Okay," she said. "Tomorrow." She negotiated with the doctor about which caregiving service would be best, who had the credentials to offer help in a high security environment, and they finished speaking just as Chris knocked and leaned into the room to look at her with a question.

"You're fine to enter, Mr. Daniels," the doctor said. "And I'll be back tomorrow to check you for release, Lila," he said, patting her hand.

Lila thanked him, but had her eyes on Chris, who'd brought several staff with him, she was relieved to note. They spread out in the room at the foot of the bed, all looking at her with various forms of concern and fear.

"I'm fine," she said, as soon as they'd all greeted her. "I got hurt, but I'm going to be fine—the doctor's just agreed to release me tomorrow! So, now I want to know what's going on. What happened, what you're doing about it, and how I can help."

Chris took a deep breath and dived in. Half an hour later, Lila was sick to her stomach. It was worse than she'd thought.

Security had coverage on the building, but it was believed that there was an underground parking lot, with possible links to other buildings, or exits away from the building itself that they didn't know about.

"We used heat traces to find you in the building," the covert team leader told her. "but the steel and materials underground interfered. So we know he was carried down there, but we don't know if he's still there, or has been removed in a way we're unaware of."

Josh was there as the head of her personal security, and he looked ill. When she caught his eye, she tried to smile. But he frowned deeply and looked away. Like he was ashamed. Why did he feel bad? He hadn't been involved in her security when she was taken.

"There's something you need to know, Lila," Chris said, when everyone else had filled her in on what had happened the night before. His throat bobbed. "Dane's father sent pictures of you when he had you—that was how he baited Dane."

Lila nodded. "I knew he'd taken some. I figured."

Chris held her gaze. "He's still sending stuff. About Dane."

Lila's stomach dropped to her toes. "Show me."

"We can't, the Police are examining it forensically right now. But you need to know… it's ugly."

"What did they do to him?"

They all looked at each other, but it was Chris who answered. "It wasn't that. It was more… what Dane did," he said softly.