Page 24 of Endurance

On the way out, we stopped where I could pick up my belongings that Cameron and Brooks had confiscated. All they'd taken was my wallet and phone. Finn had taken the weapons Louie and I had been carrying before the police had shown up.

After I retrieved my stuff, we left the precinct and headed to the hospital.

Stefan was quiet and visibly tense as he stared out the window.

“Are you going to tell me?” I asked.

“Louie is going to be okay. The surgery was successful,” he informed without removing his gaze from the window.

“And Maura?”

Her name made his expression harden. “We have nothing. No leads. No ideas. Nothing that would help us find her.”

“I will find her,” I assured.

Stefan turned to face me with a scowl. “From this point forward, anything and everything will be run by me. All actions taken will be from my instruction. There will be no more acting on your own. The situation with the Aryans has gone from bad to worse. I refuse to lose my daughter because you all are blinded by your need for revenge. She shouldn’t have gone into that hospital alone.”

My rage exploded to the surface. “You want to blame me for her being taken, fine, but tell me, how successful you were the last time you tried to tell Maura not to do something?”

“Don’t.” It was a single word of warning.

I didn’t heed it. Through the window I could see that we were pulling up to the front of the hospital and as the car slowed to a stop, I leveled my eyes with his. “You’re not the only one who loves her, Stefan.” I got out of the car.

Stefan didn’t follow me inside. I stormed through the hospital’s door and asked the front desk for Louie’s room number. The long trek through the hospital’s halls did nothing to lessen my rage.

I didn’t bother knocking before entering Louie’s room. Inside I found Maura’s security and Brenna sitting around the bed where Louie lay unconscious. They all wore grim faces and Brenna’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

“Stefan took Vincent,” she said.

I nodded, understanding. “Stefan and he are working together to look for Maura.” I moved closer to Louie and Finn vacated a chair. He gestured for me to take it and I did. The moment my ass touched the chair, the weight of everything that had happened today finally hit me. I put my head in my hands and just focused on the act of breathing for a moment. This would be the only time I’d give myself to feel the stress of worry. Because after this moment passed, I needed to focus all my energy on finding Maura.

I took in one last deep breath and stood.

“Brenna and Finn, I want you to watch over Louie. When he wakes up, call me,” I ordered. “Dean, Asher, we’re retuning to Quinn Manor. If Vincent finds anything, I want us to be there so we can move out right away.”

Dean and Asher stood next. I looked at everyone and tried to exude confidence. “We’re going to find her.”