Page 39 of Before and After


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“Help me,” she whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

“Hang on. I’ve got you.” I managed to move us a few steps into the bar. The ESG were gone, but Caden was still there. “Caden, help!”

When he spotted us, he launched off his stool and strode toward us.

“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “We’ll help you.”

Chapter 10

Caden

Shit.

I lunged forward and took some of the young woman’s weight before she dragged Allie over.

“Caden, she’s dizzy, slurring her words. She said she only had one drink.”

The blonde’s head lolled to the side. I slid an arm around her, while Allie did the same on the woman’s other side.

“We’d better get her to the hospital.”

Allie’s brow creased. “You think it’s drugs?”

“It could be.”

Together, we hobbled into the hotel lobby. The woman mumbled, barely conscious.

“Caden, she was with the extreme-sports guys. The ESG.”

My jaw hardened. Then I spotted one of my security team frowning as he walked our way.

“I saw on the camera,” Hugh said. “Gretchen is bringing an SUV around.”

“Scan the security footage from the bar,” I ordered. “See what she was drinking, and if anyone tampered with her drink.”

Hugh nodded. “I’m on it. I’ll call ahead to the hospital and tell them that you’re on the way.”

Allie and I got the woman outside just as the SUV pulled up. Allie opened the back door, and I helped the woman into the back seat. Then Allie slid in with her.

“I’ve got her.” Allie’s voice was calm, focused.

I was pretty sure that nothing shook Allie Ford.

I circled the vehicle. Gretchen handed me the keys and I got in the driver’s seat.

“Keep us updated, boss,” Gretchen said. “Tell us how she is.”

It was a short drive to the local hospital and my hands clenched on the wheel. In the backseat, I heard Allie murmuring soothing words to the mostly unconscious woman.

I’d done the same drive, not so long ago. With Ro holding a sick Tessa in the backseat. I hoped to hell we had a good outcome again.

I pulled up at the emergency entrance. A moment later, the doors to the hospital opened, and a team raced out with a gurney.

Pushing open the door, I slid out of the SUV. “A woman in her mid-twenties. She’s dizzy, slurred speech, barely conscious.” I opened the back door. “She said she only had one drink.”

A woman in a blue scrubs nodded. “We’ve got it from here.”

In seconds, they transferred the woman to the gurney and were whisking her inside. Allie stood beside the vehicle looking lost, staring into the hospital.