Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Your friend, Mr. Turner, suffered third-degree burns on his back and legs. He’s been in and out of surgery. They’re doing the best they can to clean the wounds and remove any debris out of his back. Next steps are skin graphing. But he’s stable and awake.”
Fredrick.
“What about Kade? Kaden Forth?”
The doctor checks the chart in his hands. “I don’t see that a Kaden Forth was brought in with you.”
No. Fuck. No.
“He had to have been. Check again. He was in there with me. He was going to grab…”
Fuck.
The pain in my chest explodes. This is my fault. His death is on me.
“There was a woman in there as well. Was she…” I don’t finish. The officer steps forward. “Mr. Cross, my name is Officer Heywood. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about the fire.”
“Answer mine first, dammit!”
The officer nods. “You and Mr. Turner were the only ones brought in. A body was retrieved from the building, but it was too badly burned to identify. It may be some time before we are able to know if the remains are Mr. Forth or Patricia Phillips.”
“I need to see Fredrick.” I need to know what Patricia had planned. I sit up, forcing myself to fight through the dizziness. “Do you know who started the fire? Where’s Commissioner Stephens? I need to talk to him.”
He pulls out his pad of paper. “From what we know from the surveillance we’ve recovered, it shows a young man setting low-grade explosives around the building. They shouldn’t have been powerful enough to do the damage they did, but unfortunately, one struck the gas line, which caused a whole lot of damage. I don’t have to tell you the building is old, which didn’t help the impairment to the structure.”
“And Jensen? What’s the update on Jensen Stone?”
My stomach threatens to heave, waiting for his response. I already know by his expression he’s going to tell me they haven’t found her.
Seven hours.
“There’ve been no leads. Mr. Turner was questioned. His story pans out at this time. There was no reason to list him as a suspect. We put out a missing person’s and notified the university. We’re doing everything we can—”
“If you were doing everything you could, you would have found her by now!” I snap. I’ve been held up in this bed for seven hours while she’s been enduring God knows what. She could be—
“Excuse me, Mr. Cross?”
Everyone turns to the girl standing in the doorway. She’s well put together, but looks scared, nervous maybe. Her face is stained with tears.
“Can we help you, miss?” The doctor questions.
She looks unsure, but after a few seconds, steps into the room. “Yeah, uh…my name is, uh…Christine Bigsby.”
Anger rises inside me. Christine. The friend who blew her off. The one who caused all this mess. “What the fuck do you want?” I bite out, and she physically sinks into herself.
“I’m…I think I know where Jensen is. I know how to find her.”
I force myself to stay conscious. “Where is she?”
“Syl—Sylvia asked to borrow my phone yesterday. I didn’t think anything of it, but when she never returned it or came back to the house, I thought it was strange. Not long after, all the news came out about the club fire. Then the school posted about a student missing. Sylvia hates her. I know it. I think…I think she has something to do with it.”
I throw my legs over the bed, grabbing the railing as a rush of dizziness threatens to throw me back.
“Mr. Cross, lay back down. You are not permitted to leave.”
I push him away and stand. Fuck, the nausea is about to win this one. I shut my eyes until it passes, then reopen them to search for my clothes. “Where are my things?” I ask.
“Mr. Cross, I highly recommend against this.” I don’t give a fuck what he recommends. I need to save Jensen. I did this. Fuck, I’m the cause of everything she’s going through.
I walk to the small closet in search of my clothes. Thankfully, I find a set of scrubs. I don’t give a fuck who sees as I drop my hospital gown, and with every last bit of energy in me, change.
I bring my searing eyes to the girl. “How do I find her?”
“My phone has a tracker. My dad put it on there. He just wanted to make sure, if I ever lost it or got stolen, he’d be able to find me.” Her voice is laced with panic. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner. I just didn’t know. I thought Sylvia was nice and—”
“I don’t give a fuck! How do I track your phone?”
“I called my dad. He sent me this location. It’s in Morrison Woods, just outside the city.”
I don’t bother with her a second longer. I don’t care that she’s a crying mess right now. She’s the reason Jensen is in this mess. So are you, asshole. I turn to Officer Heywood. “Call Commissioner Stephens. Tell him she’s here.” I hand him the tracker location.