Page 122 of The Fractured

I left the smashing for Seb and approached her with my bat resting on one shoulder.

When she noticed me coming, she smiled quickly. “Just a scratch.”

“From what?” I leaned in to get a better look at the cut, gently moving the collar of her coveralls down.

“Part of the plate. What are the odds, right?”

“You’re good, though?”

“Of course.” Her smile waned, and she jabbed a finger over her shoulder towards the door. “I-I think I might go see if I can track down a Band-Aid.”

“Want me to come with you?”

She looked at me seriously, apart from the faint smile in the corner of her mouth, and cupped my face with her hands. “Dean, it's a scratch. I’ll live.”

I watched her leave and reluctantly returned to smashing some stuff. It wasn’t as satisfying when my thoughts were being pulled in Lily’s direction.

She was gone for a minute.

The minute turned to five minutes, and I was no longer as interested in smashing whatever was in the room.

Our hired hour was finishing anyway.

“Maybe she needed the bathroom?” Kira said as we headed for the change rooms when the time was up.

“Maybe…” I knocked on the door to the change room we shared, and then opened it enough to poke my head in.

Lily wasn’t there.

“Her locker is empty too,” Seb noted, motioning to the wall of cabinets. The door to Lily’s was open, and her bag and clothes were gone. Her coveralls and PPE sat on a chair nearby.

“I’m checking the bathroom,” Kira affirmed, walking down the corridor.

Lily had had time to change, but where was she now?

Send my love to your little doe, Dean.

I strode into the foyer, where Scott sat at the desk, scrolling a website that shouldn’t be open at work.

“Hey, pervert,” I said firmly, bracing my hands on the desk.

Scott jumped and fumbled to close the desktop window before he spun around. “Y-Yes?”

“Did you happen to see my girlfriend come through here?” My right heel bounced impatiently as I pinned him with a glare.

He stammered over something incoherent.

“Fuck’s sake, speak,” I ordered.

Seb nudged me aside to take over. I stepped away from the desk and pulled my hands through my hair. All sorts of possibilities were running through my head, but there was one at the forefront: We had been followed, and Gabriele took his chance when she was alone.

“She’s about yea high, freckles, really blue eyes,” Seb explained.

“Yeah,” Scott gulped. “She got a Band-Aid from me and went back to the change rooms—”

“Thanks for that, genius,” I muttered through gritted teeth.

Kira emerged from the corridor. When I waited for Lily to follow her out, she shook her head.