Chapter 31 Indie glanced at Colt. His fingers were wrapped so tightly around the wheel that his knuckles were white. Everything about him was hard and angry and almost felt unreachable. The second he'd returned to the party, he'd swept her away. Why tonight? Why did those jerks have to ruin it for him? "How are you doing?" she asked quietly, her voice sounding loud in the quiet car. The muscles in his forearms flexed. "I don't like that I don't know what he was doing there." "Maybe he was waiting for a chance to grab someone but was scared off by you and Jesse?" Colt shook his head. "I think there was more to it." She touched his thigh, feeling the muscles in his leg ripple beneath her palm. When they reached the house, Colt got out first, Glock in hand as he circled the car. He helped her out, but his gaze didn't stop moving, continually scanning the street. They stepped inside, and Colt checked every inch of the house before he let her out of his sight. When everything was clear, she slipped off her shoes, watching as he holstered his weapon. "I'm sorry we had to leave your party." "Noah's more the party guy anyway." She sighed. It was true. Over the next hour, they heated up some food and got comfortable on the couch. They were on the second episode of Yellowstone when Colt's cell rang. He pulled it out to show Ben's name flashing on the screen. Nerves fluttered in her belly. Was something wrong? He'd only be calling at this time if something was wrong, right? Was it Sylvia? Colt put the cell to his ear. "Ben, is everything okay?" There was a pause. Then Colt's jaw tightened. "We're coming now." He hung up and turned to her. "Mom's in the hospital again. They were driving home when she lost consciousness. Ben's not sure what happened, but she was grabbing her chest before she passed out. It might be her heart." Air got stuck in Indie's throat. Oh God, that wasn't good. She turned off the TV and rushed to throw her shoes on. Neither of them spoke on the drive to the hospital, but Indie didn't move her hand from Colt's thigh. He drove faster than he should have and tension radiated off him. Was it a heart attack? Something else? They pulled into the hospital parking lot, and it didn't take them long to find Sylvia's room. Indie's pulse picked up speed at the sight of her so still in the bed, with so many tubes attached to her. Ben rose from the chair beside her bed. "Do they know what's wrong?" Colt asked. "Doctor said she had a severe drop in blood pressure and something called bradycardia, which is a slow heart rate." Colt's fingers tightened around Indie's. "What was the cause?" "They're not sure yet. They're running some tests." Colt's gaze ran over his mother. "Is she going to be okay?" "She's stable right now." That wasn't a guarantee. Indie ran her thumb over the back of Colt's hand, wanting to soothe him. Needing to do something, anything, to make this just a bit better. In reality, she knew there was nothing she could do. They just had to wait. He squeezed her hand before moving to his mother's bedside and touching her arm. "I think someone did this to her." Colt swung toward Ben at his quiet statement. "Why?" "We left shortly after you. Sylvia was acting strange. Stumbling. She seemed confused. But she'd barely drunk anything. We were driving home when she grabbed her chest and passed out. I drove straight here." He was right, that didn't sound like natural causes. Colt's phone rang, and he looked at the screen before putting it to his ear. "Jesse." There was a short pause. "I'm here at the hospital too. So is Ben. Room twenty-four." "Jesse's here?" Indie asked, once Colt hung up. "Yeah. He has something to tell me." There was something about the way Colt said it...like whatever Jesse had to say, it wasn't good. Jesus. They did not need more bad news right now. A couple of minutes later, the door opened and Jesse stuck his head in. "Hi. You guys got a sec?" Colt glanced down at his mother. "I'll stay with her," Indie said, stepping beside Sylvia's bed. "You guys go." He lowered his head and kissed her temple. "We'll be right by the door." When they left the room, Indie touched Sylvia's hand. "It's just you and me, Sylvia," she said softly, studying the woman's face. "And I'd really like you to wake up because Colt needs his mother. I love him so much, and I am so grateful to you for raising him to be the person he is. I need to show you how grateful I am. And I truly believe that if you spend some time getting to know me, you might just decide that I'm not so bad. Heck, you might even start to like me." Her lips twitched at the thought. But it was all true. Sighing, she turned to see the window curtain was open. Instinctively, she moved toward it. It would be dark soon, and privacy was definitely needed right now. She'd just reached the window when something made noise in the bathroom beside her. It was faint. Like a small shuffle. She frowned. What was that? She stepped into the bathroom, glanced at the mirror-and the second she did, Gordon stepped out from behind the door. She didn't have time to scream before he slammed her head against the wall and her world went black. "What is it?" Colt asked, as he stepped into the hall. "One of my deputies spotted Roman and Chester in the parking lot about half an hour ago." Ben's eyes narrowed. "Roman was here? Why?" So they'd gone straight from the party to the hospital? "I don't know. I just got here, and I'm going to go check on your father now, but I wanted to tell you both first." Colt opened his mouth to say that he wanted to go too, but a man in a white lab coat stepped up to them, clipboard in hand. It was the same doctor he'd met previously. "Doctor Leeroy," Colt said, before the man could speak. The doctor dipped his head. "Mr. Reed." "Do you know what happened to her?" "We found propranolol in her blood." "What's that?" Ben asked. "It's a prescription blood pressure and heart medication, although not a prescription that Sylvia should have. It didn't mix well with her medication and is the reason her heart rate dropped so low and she passed out." "He drugged her," Jesse said quietly. "Roman." "That's why he was at the party," Colt growled. Jesse's phone rang. "Is everything okay?" There was a small pause, then Jesse's eyes flashed up at Colt. "Wade, the deputy I put on your father's door, is gone. And so is Gordon." Colt's world narrowed. He turned and crashed into his mother's room. But Indie wasn't there-and the window was open. No. He sprinted to the window and jumped straight out, but he saw nothing. Everything was still and quiet around him. Jesse jumped out after him. "There's blood in the bathroom." Gone. Indie was gone. And without needing any confirmation, he knew his father had her.