Page 82 of Loving Bad

"Yes," I answered, hoping that it wasn't going to be too late. I gave him Taylor's name. He was good—he wouldn't need any more details than that to be able to gather the information he needed.

"How long has she been gone?" he asked.

"A day," I answered.

I heard him sigh on the other side of the phone. Twenty-four hours was too long already.

"You know the odds are she is dead already," he said aloud, which is what I was already thinking.

"I don't fucking care, I want you to find her!" I yelled, not wanting to believe for a second that she might not be alive.

"Sure, boss, I'll find her," he assured me before disconnecting the call.

I began to pace. My shock and fear turned to anger. I called Slater back.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to find out.

I didn't understand how she could be gone with a bodyguard glued to her side. How on earth had the guy gotten to her with Matthew around? He was the best that money could buy—I'd checked. It had been the only reason I hadn't hired a bodyguard myself.

"She was with Matthew," he began to explain. "He was driving them to the movies."

I held my breath.

"A car hit them from behind and knocked Matthew out. By the time the ambulances arrived, he was conscious but Taylor was gone, as well as the car that hit them," he finished explaining.

It was unbelievable that the guy had gone to those lengths to get her. I didn't want to think about what he would do to her if he was capable of that.

"Was she hurt?" I asked, feeling the fear clog my throat.

"We don't know," he replied. "Her blood wasn’t in the car, but that doesn't mean there weren’t any internal injuries."

I began to pace again, not knowing what to do next. She could be seriously injured and in the hands of some crazed stalker.

"I'm on my way back," I informed Slater. I had to get back.

"Sin," Slater said, stopping me, "it wasn't your fault."

He knew me too well. I pressed my lips together, trying to stop myself from arguing about it. It was my fault. If I hadn't left, I probably would have been with her and I might have been able to stop him from getting her.

Twenty-four hours. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to push away the voice in the back of my mind that told me she was probably dead already. I would never forgive myself for abandoning her.

"I'll see you soon," I told him before I ended the call.

"You leaving already?" my mom said as she walked into the room. Her face was pale and she looked tired.

"Yeah, I have to go," I said as I walked down the hall to the room I'd been using.

I got my duffel bag and just started shoving stuff into it. My mind was trying to process everything I'd just found out while trying to concentrate on getting my stuff together so I could get back and find out what was happening.

Did the cops have any leads? Had anyone witnessed the accident? Did they have a description of the car?

I got my leather jacket and put it on. If I hurried, I could be back in an hour. When I reentered the living room, my mom was sitting in the chair.

"I have to go," I told her as I walked to her and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"Okay, baby," she said, giving me a weak smile. It was still hard to link the person she was now with the mother she’d been to me growing up.

I found my mom's nurse in the kitchen.