Page 7 of Endurance

I shut the door Dr. Ben had left open when he had gone to attend to Maura. She had popped a stitch fighting against us this morning. Knowing that we had hurt her made my stomach turn. I caught movement to my left. Stefan was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. The frown he held told me he’d been listening.

I straightened my stance and looked him right in the eye. “I’m sorry. We weren’t thinking clearly.”

“No. You weren’t,” he said, allowing his disappointment to carry in his voice. “But it’s not me you should be saying this to.”

My shoulders slumped a little. “I’d go beg for her forgiveness right now if I didn’t think she’d shoot me on sight.”

His frown fell and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Might be a good idea to give her a day or two to cool down a little, but no more. If you truly love my daughter, you’ll risk taking a bullet to seek her forgiveness,” he said and walked away.

I’d do just that. Little did I know that she would be gone before I’d get my opportunity to speak to her again.

I was on my way back to Quinn Manor from picking up tacos—a bribe for Maura to let me see her—when I received a call that she was missing. It had been two days since the morning she had shot Jameson. He wasn’t talking to me either.

I rushed up the front steps of the house and through the front door. Jameson and I both stepped into the foyer at the same time. His arm was in a sling and he was carrying a white envelope in his hand. He greeted me with nothing more than a nod and I followed him silently toward Stefan’s study.

Like all friends, we fought. Usually over stupid shit. Not something as important as Maura. Just from walking behind him, the weight of everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks felt heavier. Putting one foot in front of the other had never been so hard. But I took comfort in knowing that I wasn’t alone in this—that Jameson was feeling the same. I would have loved that baby as my own. Well, I supposed I already did because of how hard it was to lose her. But the baby had been Jameson’s blood. His pain was greater. Yet he had never rubbed that fact in my face or excluded me from mourning our baby girl. That not only gave me comfort but hope as well. So even though shit was going south again with Maura missing, my gut told me Jameson would see past the fog of fear and grief and I’d get my best friend back.

“What do you know?” Stefan questioned the moment we walked through the door. He wasn’t sitting behind his desk, calm and collected like he usually was. Instead, he was pacing behind it.

“The bag of money she had under her bed is gone and she left this taped to the steering wheel of her Escalade that we found abandoned at the hospital,” Jameson said, holding out the envelope across Stefan’s desk.

As Stefan went to take it, I saw that his name was written on the front of it. Stefan ripped it open and he pulled out a letter. His eyes quickly scanned over it. Then he scoffed. “Dear Stefan, I’m taking a vacation. Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. I have Brenna and my goons with me. I wouldn’t bother looking for me because I stole Vincent. Call you in few days. Love, Maura.” He tossed the letter on his desk and pulled his chair out to sit. “Taking a vacation,” he repeated, furiously. “I see her cheeky personality has returned.”

“How did this happen? Why was her Escalade at the hospital?” I asked.

Stefan pulled his phone from his pocket. “She said her incision was bothering her and that she wanted to get it checked out. Both Brody and I offered to go with her but she refused and said she was taking Brenna with her.”

“She left for her appointment over an hour ago,” Jameson added. “If Vincent is covering their tracks…”

It wasn’t going to be easy to find her.

“I’m calling for an emergency family meeting,” Stefan stated as he tapped away on his phone.

“We haven’t cleared everyone yet,” Jameson said.

Stefan’s eyes jumped up from his phone to meet Jameson’s. “I’m sure you know just as well as I do what she’s planning to do. I told you both you shouldn’t exclude her from getting back at the Aryans. You didn’t listen and you successfully pushed her away. We need to find her before she gets herself killed.”

I grimaced. Jameson remained stoic. “You think she’s going after the Aryans by herself?” he asked.

“She took a bag filled with two million dollars and I’m sure she’s already emptied her bank accounts—even the ones she thought I didn’t know about. Not to mention she’s vindictive to a fault,” Stefan replied.

I couldn’t argue with that.

Stefan’s attention dropped back to his phone. “Call Aiden. With Vincent gone we’re going to need another computer expert to help track her down.”

With that said, we were dismissed. Jameson practically stormed out. Fed up with being ignored, I cut him off in the foyer. “You can’t be pissed at me forever.”

“I’m not pissed at you,” he said, sounding exasperated. “I’m mad at myself.”

My brows rose. I hadn't expected him to say that, or at least not yet.

“You were right,” he said, sullenly. “I was so caught up in my own shit, I stopped thinking about Maura’s wants and needs, and started thinking for Maura. Because it was easier. Because it gave me control—control in a situation I had lost all control of. I failed to protect my family and…” He inhaled deeply as he stared at the ceiling. “I fucked up and she left because of it.”

“We both fucked up.” To offer comfort, I put my hand on his good shoulder. “But we’ll find her, and we’ll make it right.”

Later that day, everyone started arriving for the meeting Stefan had called for. Rourke and Conor had already arrived with their enforcers, two of which were standing in the hall. Jameson and I passed them as we made our way to one of the chamber’s doors. Just as I went to enter, I spotted Sean and two of his security making their way down the hall. Seeing Sean reminded me of what he’d told Salome—that Maura was dead. It seriously made me want to pummel the fucker.

Jameson, having also noticed Sean, seemed to be feeling the same. He removed his sling from his arm, tossed it to the ground, and stalked toward Sean. I only had time enough to think ‘oh shit’ before Jameson’s fist collided with Sean’s face. Sean crumpled to the ground and Jameson followed, straddling him. Then he hit him again and again.