Page 113 of Ashes

“Sienna’s phone,” I answered, looking up at him.

My breathing became ragged and I turned on the flashlight on my phone. I loomed it over the cement until a glint reflected off the ground. I stood and walked over there, only to find a ring tossed next to her car.

I bent over and grabbed it, the cold metal burning my palm. Fury raced through my veins like a tidal wave that someone had takenmywife.

I turned around and headed for the hospital in a hurry.

“What are you doing?” Kai asked, worry lacing his words. “Jamal, hold on.”

I didn’t deign to answer him and rounded the corner to enter Monte Claro from the emergency entrance. I didn’t know whether or not Kai and Valentina had followed, but at this point I didn’t care.

All I cared about was finding Sienna.

I veered toward the hallway on the right, following the signs for the security office. A nurse at the sign-in desk stood up abruptly from behind the plexiglass, but I didn’t acknowledge him.

I only heard the whispers of someone behind apologizing for my behavior as I kept walking, running up the stairs and closing the distance to the security’s office. I knocked on the door, with only one thought in mind.

I can’t lose her.

I’d never listened to my heart because I’d always believed it could play tricks on me, which led me to constantly choose logic.

So I always listened to my head, but I’d learned over the last few weeks that your head could also be fooled.

But my soul, my soul was telling me,had beentelling me, that she was it for me.

I’d never believed in meetingthe onebecause it always seemed like a foolish concept in my head. How could one person in a world filled with seven billion of them be the person that was meant perfectly for you?

I hadn’t understood what it meant to find that person until I met Sienna.

And in this moment, I hated myself for never telling her I loved her.

Because now…

Now, it might be too late.

“If anything happened to her…” I whispered.

I’d never forgive myself.

I knocked again and someone shouted “coming” before they opened the door. The bald security guy was mid-chew when he glanced up, finding me glaring at him. He had an unfinished sandwich hanging in his other hand, yellow sauce smeared on the corner of his mouth.

“I need to view your security footage covering the back employee parking lot from the last two hours,” I said, my voice tight with furry.

“Sir, you can’t be h?—”

“It wasn’t a question,” I snapped, walking into the room as I forced him to step to the side to let me in.

“I wouldn’t push him if I were you,” I heard Kai say as I headed for the large screens.

The security guard came up beside me and placed his half-eaten sub on his desk. He wiped his hand over his navy blue pants before settling back into his seat and pulling up the files.

My heart pounded furiously as I watched the scene play out on the screen.

Sienna had left the hospital from the employees’ back door at 10:05 p.m. and walked toward her car with her head bowed, rummaging through her bag until she found her keys.

The lights of her car flashed as she approached, but someone dressed in all black came up behind her. I stared at the figure locking her body into a tight grip and the urge to rewind time and be there to kill him ignited in my body.

I watched Sienna trying to fight him off, but his right hand suddenly lifted in the air and aimed for her thigh, most likely meaning he’d drugged her.