Page 2 of Forever Found

“Eli has nothing to do with this,” I uttered, my words trembling as I looked down to my brother’s too pale face.

“On the contrary. I think Eli is going to have quite a large part to play in all of this. He’s going to make sure you behave yourself, isn’t he?”

I looked at Max with a glare, but behind it I was spiraling into panic. I knew I had been backed into a corner and I had no way to get out of it, and protect Eli at the same time. I knew Asher and my guys would be looking for us, but would they find us? What if Max were really taking Eli and I somewhere we couldn’t be found? Asher would pay a ransom if it came to it, but that didn’t guarantee our safety. I wasn’t an idiot. Max had just told me way too much to ever let me live if the money he wanted was paid. No, I had a feeling Eli and I were dead either way if the guys couldn’t find us. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to find a way to escape. I had to get us both out of the grip of thesemonsters before it was too late.Yeah right, good luck with that!My own consciousness was mocking me, and I knew it was likely right, but I refused to give up. I couldn’t. Not this time.

I must have zoned out, which was a ridiculously stupid thing to do in the presence of men who wanted to hurt us, but it was too late to do anything about it when Bull, wrapping his hands around the tops of my arms, wrenched me back to reality.

“Get your hands off of me!” I yelled as I struggled instantly to free myself from his grip. As always, the fight was useless and in seconds I’d been dragged back to the room at the back of the plane that I had woken up in. The realization I had been ripped away from Eli lit a fire in me, and I wrapped my hands around Bull’s forearms and dug my nails into his flesh with as much force as I could. I scratched him so deeply blood poured from beneath my nails and he ground out a curse. I fought harder to get free then, but Bull kept a hold of me, and with a rage filled growl he smashed me into the door frame so hard I barely registered the pain down my back before everything just went black.

JORDAN

“He lost a lot of blood and the abdominal wall was damaged by the bullet. Several vessels within the abdomen were also damaged, but we’ve repaired what we could in the surgery. He’s been given blood and drugs to try and stabilize his blood pressure,” the doctor told me. She was a woman, not much older than me. She was wearing green scrubs and the cap on her head had care bears all over it. I couldn’t help wondering if she was even old enough to have operated on Adam as she continued to speak. I questioned if I should have asked for another surgeon, an older one maybe? That was a shitty thought though, and I knew it. She had to be well qualified to operate, didn’t she?

My mind was all over the place and I just couldn’t seem to focus on her words, or on anything other than the image that had awaited Kane, Ash, and me when we drove through the wide open gates of our house. Addy and Eli were gone. Our security guards were all dead, laid out on the snow covered ground around the front of the property and Adam. He’d been laid out on the white stone step just outside the house, only the step was no longer white. It was red, and Adam….I had been so sure he was dead. He had looked dead. My girlfriend and my best friend were gone, and my brother was dead.

“Mr. Ellis?” I looked down from the Care bears on her head, to the doctor before me.

“Is he going to live?” I asked. My throat felt so tight the words barely came out.

“He’s in the I.C.U. and he’s stable for now. We’ll be watching him closely for any signs of infection for the next forty eight hours,” she replied.

“What does that mean?” God, why couldn’t I think straight? I wished Asher were with me but he and Kane were calling in every favor they were owed, and every person they could trust, in order to find Eli and Addy. I’d told them to go. We needed to get Addy and Eli back, but now I wasn’t keeping it together like I’d promised I would, and I knew it.

“Your brother isn’t out of danger yet, but he’s holding his own. He’ll be under very close observation in the I.C.U. so we’re hopeful we will be able to act quickly if there are any further complications.”

“Can I see him?” I asked. I still didn’t understand what she was telling me. I wanted to scream at her to just tell me whether ornot my brother would survive, but I held it back. I knew if I lost it the way I needed to, I’d never pull myself back together again.

“Soon. I’ll have a nurse come to get you once Adam is settled in the I.C.U.” she told me, and I nodded, feeling numb and lost. “Is there someone I can call for you? A friend or family member, maybe?”

“No.” I whispered. “Thanks.”

“The nurse will be out shortly. Let her know if you have any more questions.” With that the doctor bustled off and I fell back into the chair I had been sat in for the last two hours, unable to move, just waiting for the news that Adam had been taken from me too.

“Jordan!” I had no idea how long I had been sat with my head resting in my hands, just staring at the ugly green linoleum floor beneath me, when I heard Asher’s voice. I lifted my head and found him striding towards me. “How is he? Did you get an update?” he asked as he stopped and crouched down before me.

“Alive,” I whispered. I ran my hands through my hair as I sat up and tried to take in a deep breath. “He got through the surgery. She…the doctor…o-or maybe surgeon? I can’t remember…s-she was too young, Ash. Maybe we should have gotten someone else? She…she was so young and what if she didn’t know what she was doing? What if she fucked up?”

“Jordan, take a breath for me. I’m sure she knew what she was doing. Adam’s still with us, isn’t he?” Asher soothed. His voice was calm and his hands were steady as he laid them over my knees, but he looked like hell. He was pale and his hair was a wild mess. His suit jacket was gone and the sleeves of his shirt were unbuttoned and haphazardly pushed up his arms.

“He’s being moved to the I.C.U. She said he’s not out of danger yet. I can’t lose him, Ash,” I pushed through my tight throat as I fought not to let tears fall.

“We’re not going to lose him. He’s strong and he will fight like hell to come back to us all. He knows we all need him,” he told me determinedly. “Plus, he’s gonna be so pissed about all of this he’ll refuse to die on principal,” he added with a chuckle. The corner of my mouth lifted at that. I knew he was right. Adam was going to be seriously pissed he’d been shot, and that those fuckers got the drop on him.

“Did you find anything on Addy and Eli?” I asked. I was terrified for both of them, but especially Addy. She had already been through so much and she was only just beginning to learn to cope with her trauma. Being taken again…I was terrified we’d lose her for good this time, even if we did get her back.

“Not much. Leo took out the other guards, then disabled the security cameras and system. We didn’t even see him go into the house.”

“Why would Leo betray you? Money?” I questioned.

“Most likely,” Ash shrugged. “Which means this is likely a ransom, but I’ve had no calls yet. Kane’s gone to track down Zara.”

“Zara? You can’t think she did this? She’s not smart enough to put this together,” I pointed out.

“No, but Addy had another memory come back last night when she was with Kane. She remembered my father on the phone while he thought Addy was passed out, He was talking to Zara,” Asher explained.

“She was mixed up in all of this?”

“We don’t know, but right now it’s the only lead we have. I called Harris too. He’s still in Chicago with Evie’s family. Aleks is going to do some digging on Zara and try to get us a lead. It’s not enough, but it’s all we can do right now.” Asher ran his hand through his crazy hair and I saw how tense his entire body was. He was terrified for his siblings.