“Thanks, Grace.” Mathis shoots her an appreciative look.
“She got my dress in time,” I say for only him to hear, my brain going back to the dress.
He squeezes my hand. “It was a combined effort, but yes, your dress is here.”
“And I’m going to get to customize it.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to thank her.”
“How about taking her to the restroom, telling her thank you, and wiping away the tears she’s guaranteed to shed.”
I nod, knowing he’s right. I’m going to tell her how much the gesture means, and she’s going to cry.
“Ladies, why don’t y’all go to the restroom? I’ll take care of the check, and when you get back, we’ll leave,” he suggests, and I swear Grace is out of her seat with Olympic speed and gone in a flash.
Bizzy and I get up, but before leaving, I turn to Clint. “Thanks for the quick thinking. These girls are going to add to Josh’s already great day.”
“Anytime, Claire. He’s a great kid, and believe it or not, he has a special place with me.”
There’s so much sincerity in his words, and I recall Mathis’s theory that Clint lost someone with cancer. It’s plain to see his theory is correct. Something inside aches for Clint. “You have a special place with him, too,” I say gently and follow Bizzy.
“We should have known that whornado would rear her skank head over this,” I hiss into my phone, then realize it wasn’t as quiet as I thought. I grimace apologetically at the technician doing my pedicure. She grins back, shaking her head in amusement.
“I haven’t even told you the best part. Sasha gave us an ultimatum.”
Bizzy just told me that Brayden’s mom, Sasha, has refused to let him fly across the country for my wedding. She’s threatening to bring in their lawyers if Shaw doesn’t cave. My blood is boiling, but Bizzy seems tickled.
“She offered to amend her stance if we fly her with him and pay for her accommodations.”
Now, I know why Bizzy is tickled. This is the most audacious stunt Sasha’s pulled in a long time. My anger calms instantly and I laugh. “Isn’t that generous of her.” Sarcasm drips from my lips.
“We expected this. After Shaw took her back to court when she tried to move to Atlanta and take Brayden, she’s been biding her time to get revenge.”
“When will she realize it’s her own fault she’s a bloodsucking pariah? I wish she would have hauled ass to Atlanta and left our baby boy with us. He’s much better off without her.”
“Her vanity clouds her reality. But we’re not worried. Shaw’s already called his lawyer, and Caldwell is working on it.”
I smile knowing Caldwell will make mincemeat out of her, as always. My phone dings with another incoming call, and Mathis’s name pops up on the screen. “Biz, I need to go. Mathis is calling.”
“Okay, talk later. I’ll keep you updated on the drama as it unfolds.” She hangs up and I press accept.
“Hey, sweetie.”
“Baby, where are you?” he greets.
“Getting my nails done.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Sometimes it’s nice.”
“I called to let you know I’ll be here late tonight. Can you come in a little early and stop by before your shift?”
“Is that code for bring my ass to your office so we can finally have sex on your desk?”
This time, the technician stops what she’s doing and full out laughs.
“Jesus, I love that mouth.”
“You better. It’s a talented asset of mine.”
There’s a brief pause, and I know he’s thinking the same as me, remembering this morning.
“Can you refrain from making me hard until you’re here to do something about it?”
“I can try.”
“Hurry, I miss you.”
“Don’t be gooey.”
“Don’t be late.” He hangs up, and tingles swarm around inside my stomach. I may have made fun of Bizzy and Grace all these years, but I fully understand them now. The charm and anticipation of unspoken promises are equivalent to living in fantasy land.
“Okay, no more,” I tell the technician, dropping my phone on the table beside my chair.
“It’s quite okay, Miss.” She goes back to work.
I close my eyes and actually feel all the muscles in my body loosen as the woman starts the reflexology on my heel. Her hands are firm, and she presses deep with each movement. Perfect, just perfect. The massaging chair kneads and rolls, and it doesn’t take long for my mind to completely clear.
My phone rings lowly, and when I see it’s my mom, I press ignore and go back to bliss.
“Hmm,” I moan when she loosens the muscle in my calf. She works each leg expertly.
This is heaven.
My phone goes again, and I’m tempted to ignore it, but when I peek to see who’s calling, I grab the phone. “Hi, Rachel.”
“Hi, Claire, are you busy?”
“Does orgasm by reflexology count as busy?”
I hear her typing, undoubtedly making a note that I like reflexology pedicures. This happens frequently when we talk; she’s always noting things I mention.
“Should I call later?”
“Nope, if you can handle the moaning, I can talk.”
She chuckles with a high pitch, making me wonder if my wedding planner is a girlie-girl. “I can deal with the moaning. Sorry to bother you, but your mother said she couldn’t get a hold of you so I thought I’d give it a try.”
“My mother is a liar. We spoke three times last night. Since I walked in the door to this place, I’ve had four phone calls. Hers, I chose to ignore. I’m glad you called; it saves me an email. We’ve had a few additions to the guest list that may bring attention. Eddie Jarvis, Joe Palos, Perry Carver, and Darren Jackson.” I name the athletes that are connected to us through Shaw and Nick. Through the last few years, we’ve become friends. Eddie is a teammate of Nick’s, and the other three Shaw’s clients. All of them are famous, all of them are awesome, and all of them invited themselves—deciding they weren’t missing the final Bennett Brother wedding.
“Mathis already informed me.”
Of course, he did.
“I’m actually calling about something a bit more… controversial.”
“Controversial?”
“I received a call from Grace, and she wanted to discuss your bachelorette party. She explained her delicate situation and wanted to get ideas.”
“It’s not delicate. She’s knocked up and an extreme southern belle. Her nickname is Sweet Peach. I’m sure, when she started looking into planning, she was overwhelmed.” I crack myself up.
“Well, yes, I guess so when you put it like that. But she was gung-ho for the true girls’ night out experience, not caring about the pregnancy part.”
“That sounds exactly like her.”
“This is where the controversial part comes in. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up, Mathis called. He was… how can I put this… shall we say adamant, that you are in no way to have anything salacious. He emailed me a list that eliminated almost all normal options of what the usual bachelorette parties consist of. I received similar lists from Shaw and Nick. Unless you want to do a day trip to the Hoover Dam, I’m afraid I’m in a pinch.”
“Those men are insane! Have you ever seen such barbaric antics?”
“This is Vegas, I’ve seen everything.” There’s hilarity in her answer. “I think I may have a solution. It will be pricey, but I think I can make it happen. However, it may require some unorthodox name-dropping.”
“Keep talking.” Now, I am intrigued. This woman hasn’t flinched or shown one interest in the fact that our small guest list includes six of the most sought-after athletes in the country. Using the term name-dropping means this must be extravagant.
“How do you feel about concerts?”
“I love concerts.”
“How do you feel about Imagine Dragons?”<
br />
I bolt up, inadvertently yanking my leg from my poor technician. “I love Imagine Dragons!” My heart speeds at the possibility of what she might say.
“I’ve got a lock on a suite at the arena for the Imagine Dragons concert on July twenty-fifth. The suite holds up to eighteen.”
“Yes!” I shout, pumping my fist in the air. Another woman two chairs away looks at me with surprise and envy.
“I take it this is acceptable?”
“Hell yes, use Nick’s name all you want. I don’t even care those cavemen will crash my bachelorette. It’s worth it.” I’m so excited, I actually squeal.
“Well, then brace because you’re going to go ballistic over this next tidbit.”
I brace, exhaling loudly, and wait.
“My contact at the arena tells me Coldplay and Halsey are joining the band as special guests.”
My heart actually stops, my jaw dropping to my lap. I can’t find words because hers are replaying in my brain.
“Claire?”
I clear my throat, but it barely helps. “I think I’m in shock.”
“Good shock I hope?”
“Remember my statement about orgasm by reflexology? You topped that.”
“Then I’ve done my job. Should I work on this now?”
“Absolutely, Rachel, and if I meet any of the bands, I’m naming my first daughter after you.”
“If only you knew how many times I’ve heard that.”
“This is an oath.”
“I cannot wait to meet you in person, Claire. You have been a delight. Admittedly, I was scared at first you’d be a prima donna. However, planning your wedding ranks in my top.”
Never in my life has anyone referred to me as a delight, but in this second, it’s the best compliment ever. “Rachel, make sure you’re one of the eighteen in that suite. I want you there.”
She pauses, clears her own throat, then speaks, her voice now hoarse. “I’d be honored.”
“Are we gonna get sappy now?”
The line muffles, I hear a low cough, and then she’s back to professional. “Hell no, I don’t do sappy. I’m a ball-busting wedding planner at the hottest spot in Las Vegas. Sappy is for wimps.”
“Thank God, because when you meet the weepy wimpsters, you need to team with me.”
“I look forward to it, Claire. We can bust balls together.”
“Get ready.”
We end the call, and I fall back into the chair, my excitement bursting.
“Claire, I think I’m gonna take that phone, get my hot stones, and give you a little extra today,” my technician tells me with a sparkle in her eye.
I drop my phone in my purse. “No argument here.”
Two hours later, I’m floating on cloud nine walking into the hospital. My mind is swarming with all things wedding and getting to Mathis as quickly as possible. I’m so dazed, I barely pay attention to the black Escalade parked ten feet from the employee entrance.
I hardly glance at the man leaning against the building, smoking in the clearly labeled ‘no smoking’ zone.
I finally snap out of it when I notice the usually busy entrance is deserted. This is a popular shift change time for several departments. An eerie feeling washes over me just as a sting pinches my side.
Then everything goes black.
Chapter 18
Mathis
A sharp sting radiates through my chest and a fiery pain rolls in my gut. I check my watch, noting Claire should be here any minute. She’s hyped. Rachel called to tell me the news on the now fully approved and combined bachelor and bachelorette party. A troubled feeling settles deep in my gut, and I begin to get edgy. Something is wrong. My hospital cell rings at the same time a high alarm shrills in the hallway.
I’m on my feet and halfway down the hall in under two seconds, running to the Pediatric Oncology floor. “Bennett,” I bark into the phone.
“Code five, get to your team and secure the floor. Follow protocol.” Dr. Andrews hangs up before I can question him.
“Fuck me.” I break into a run. Code five is the second worst situation, right under terrorist threat.
When I reach the oncology entrance, nurses and patient technicians are scurrying any children in the rec area to their rooms. Dr. Cross is behind the desk on the phone. His words are clipped, and when his eyes meet mine, I freeze. His usual easy-going demeanor has converted. He turns away, and as much as I want to hear what he knows, I jump into gear. I go room-to-room, counting patients and staff. Once I know everyone is accounted for, my mind turns to Evie.
She’s at the nurses’ station, but before I can get to her, the elevator opens and three uniformed officers and a member of hospital security rush in.
“We’re all accounted for,” I shout to them, expecting them to take off to the next department. Instead, they don’t leave, coming straight to me.
“Dr. Bennett, you need to come with us,” the security guard says.
Evie is at my side in a second, gripping my elbow. “What’s going on?”
“Give us a minute.” Dr. Cross walks in front of me, his body tight, his jaw clenched, his eyes sharp. “Mathis, we need to talk.”
“Talk.”
He looks behind him to the four men and back to me, lowering his voice. “There’s been an abduction.”
“A child?” My initial instinct is that a baby had been stolen.
“Two witnesses are reporting a woman in street clothes, wearing a backpack—”
“Claire.” It hits me like a sledgehammer, and I brush Evie off, push Cross aside, and get close to the officers. “Claire?” I say forcefully.
Their faces remain stoic and only one replies. “We’d like to have confirmation. The security feeds are rolling now.”
“Let’s go.” I take off to the stairwell, not waiting.
By the time I hit the first floor, I’m racing to the security offices with my phone to my ear, begging for Claire to answer her phone. It goes straight to voicemail three times before I leave a message. “Claire, baby, call me now!”
I don’t slow, barging into the room and finding a mixture of security and police gathered, staring at three walls of screens. One wall is playing the same scene from different angles, and I see as soon as the footage picks up a woman exiting the parking garage. The blood in my veins turns to ice with the first glance. It’s Claire. The video is grainy, distant, and not entirely focused, but I memorized her sway the first time we met. She crosses the small walkway, gets close to the employee entrance, and someone jumps her from behind wearing full body coveralls. No identifying items. Everything is concealed from shoes to face.
The smoking man jumps into action, helping the mystery man throw Claire into the back of an Escalade, then leaps into the driver’s seat and speeds away.
I look at the running timer on the top of the screen, realizing it took only eight seconds.
Eight goddamned seconds and she was gone.
“It’s Claire,” I announce to the room, my voice shaking with rage.
My eyes scan each angle, over and over, the end result always the same— her being thrown into the vehicle. My blood boils, my chest seizes, and my body quakes with fury and fear.
“Dr. Bennett, we need to ask you some questions.” Another officer steps in my space.
“First, you tell me what you know,” I demand.
“You’ve seen what we know, which is nothing. Hospital is under lockdown in case this wasn’t an isolated incident and there is a much larger game in play. She could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She could have walked up while the perpetrators were waiting for a partner. There are too many unanswered questions. Our guys are going floor to floor, checking credentials, interviewing staff, and looking for anything out of place. Right now, we can’t confirm she was the target.”
“Bull fucking shit!” I scream, losing my temper. “They put a needle in her side, picked her up like a ragdoll, and threw her into a vehicle! If she wasn’t their tar
get, they abandoned their fucking job and in the process took her.”
“Dr. Bennett, we can’t assume anything.” He tries to sound reasonable, but my temper skyrockets.
“Did I mention she is my motherfucking fiancée!?! While you can’t assume anything, I can, and my conclusion is she was fucking kidnapped!”
He jerks, his eyes locking with mine, his soothing nature now gone. “It’s obvious she was taken, and we need to ask you some questions to put our resources in the right direction.”
“My office.” I turn on my heels, not giving anyone a second look. Before I can open the door, it swings wide and the hospital administrator hurries in.
“Claire Dixon has been kidnapped, there may be a criminal somewhere in our hospital acting out God knows what, and you better be ready to answer a shitload of questions,” I bark out, brush past him, and head back to the stairs.
Footsteps pound behind me on the way back to my office. My adrenaline is in overdrive as I pace the space, clawing through my hair, calling her once again, and feeling my heart splinter at the sound of her voicemail.
“Dr. Bennett, please calm down and talk to us. Tell—”
He’s cut off by a shrieking that almost takes me to my knees one second before my office door slams open and Bizzy flies in, pale and completely stricken. Shaw is a step behind her. She notices the two uniformed officers and screams. “Please, tell me it’s not true.”
Shaw wraps his arms around her waist and chest, bringing her to him and trying to subdue her. His eyes meet mine, and I can’t take the dread staring back at me. My legs give out, and I sink into my chair, dropping my chin to my chest.
“This is a closed meeting, ma’am... Please, give us privacy.” One of the men tries to soothe her.
“We’re not leaving,” Shaw speaks up. “In case you need to know, I’m a lawyer, Mathis’s brother, and Claire Dixon is family. In my estimates, you have about twenty minutes until our other brother shows up, and he comes with a lot of attention. I’d suggest you ask your questions.”
I lift my head in time to see the man’s irritation spark and his shoulders straighten. “How’d you get in here? The hospital is on lockdown, and I’d like to know how you are informed of a disappearance that has not been made public.”
Heartthrob (Bennett Brothers Series) Page 19
