Chapter 17
The lights remained off as he snuck down the upper hallway. I took off my heels and held them in one hand so that I wouldn't make any more noise than necessary. As it was, Marv and I were very careful not to make any noise at all. As quickly and quietly as possible, we moved down the hall on separate sides. His eyes sharpened – glittering with intensity and seriousness. We listened for any kind of movement behind the closed doors. Down the entire hallway, there wasnothing.
"Are you sure Knix saw Mr. Wallace come up here?" Iwhispered.
"He–" A scream cut him off, shocking the both of us. It almost sounded like it had come from outside, but it was muffled and low. With the noise level downstairs, no one else would have heard it. Marv yanked me off my feet, shoving me behind him, and I dropped my heels. The next thing I knew, he had a gun palmed in his hand and his shirt was untucked. I blinked. Where the hell had that comefrom?
"Where do you think that came from?" he hissed atme.
I had no clue, but if I strained my ears enough, there was soft sobbing. I pointed at a door and Marv moved towards it slowly. For some reason he didn't want to announce our presence just yet. It was so hard for me to follow behind him at such a sluggish and quiet pace. I wanted to barge into the room, no matter thedanger.
Marv reached out and tried the handle. It wasn't even locked! He sighed and slid his phone out of his pocket, handing it to me. "Call the others," he ordered, then his foot was against the door and he kicked itin.
I decided against calling, instead, I shot out a quick text to all Knix, Bellamy, and Texas and hoped like hell they managed to get here in time. Then I moved in right behind Marv, my jaw dropping. Natalia's cheeks were red and blotchy. She sagged on the couch on the far side of the room as a dark figure ducked through an open window. Marv gave chase, ducking out right after thefigure.
"Natalia!" I ran across the room and fell to my knees next to her. Her big dark eyes were wide and glassy. She looked at me, but I had a feeling she couldn't really seeme.
"No," she whispered. "No, please, no." My heartsqueezed.
"Natalia, it's me," I said, choking on my own tears. "It's your friend. I'm not going to hurt you. You're okay." The front part of her dress was pulled down. Something flashed out of the corner of my eye and I looked down, bending to pick up a small, cheap camera. Natalia whimpered, and I tucked the camera into my bra, the bulge noticeable, but not an issue as I went back toher.
"You're okay," I soothed the shivering, terrified girl. Something was wrong, though. Natalia wasn't responding right. She was crying and whimpering, but she couldn't talkcoherently.
There were calls from down the hall. "Harlow!" Bellamy yelled. "Where areyou?!"
"In here!" I called back. Several footsteps stomped over the floors and as the door was flung open again Natalia cowered against me when Bellamy and Knix arrived with a panting Texas on theirheels.
"Hold on," I snapped. "Go slowly." I patted Natalia on the shoulder, letting her clutch me. "She'sscared."
"What happened?" Knix demanded. I told him exactly what Marv and I had done and what we had walked into. Knix's eyes glittered angrily. He shot Bellamy a look. "Go find Marv," he ordered. Then he looked to Texas. "Find Ms. Enders and her assistant and bring them up here. No one else." Texas and Bellamy both nodded and then they were gone. Natalia's shivering increased as Knixapproached.
"Go slow," I warned. I was surprised by how steady I managed to keep my voice when really, I felt like there were hundreds of emotions rioting inside of me and choking me up. Natalia's face was flushed, and her eyes remained glassy. Knix nodded once at me and then proceeded to get on his knees so that he wouldn't tower over us. I didn't even ask where Delilah was. I trusted Knix enough by this point to know that he had probably left her somewhere safe enough, likely withIsador.
"What's wrong with her?" I whispered. Tears pricked my eyes as Natalia curled closer to me, seeking comfort and protection in me. I wrapped my arms aroundher.
Knix moved closer as slowly as possible. "I need to examine her," he said. "Natalia, can you understand me?" He used a voice that was incredibly gentle. She whimpered again anyway. My arms tightened around her and Knix sighed. "Harlow, I don't want to traumatize her further, but I do need to make sure she's okay. Can you check her eyes forme?"
I nodded and looked down. "What am I lookingfor?"
"Just tell me what you see," heordered.
"Her eyes are glassy," I related. "She's not focused – Natalia?" I cupped her face in one of my hands and she didn't evenflinch.
"Hold a few fingers up in front of her face," Knix instructed me. I did as he said. "Put them together, yes like that, now slowly move them back and forth. Are her eyes tracking them? Following them at all?" heasked.
I shook my head and looked back up at him as I lowered my hand. "What does that mean?" I askedhesitantly.
"I think she may have been drugged," Knix said. He shifted closer. Natalia was growing more and more despondent. It appeared as if whatever she had been given was making her sleepy. She closed her eyes and slumped against me. Knix stood and tucked his arms under her slack body and lifted her into hisarms.
"What are we going to do?" I asked,scared.
"I'm gonna get her to a hospital," he said, striding out of the room with me on his heels. "I don't know what they gave her or howmuch."
My eyes widened as we descended the staircase. My thoughts immediately leapt to dark places. But there was no way whoever was behind all of this was going for murder now. This hadn't been an attempt at framed suicide. The camera and dress and runaway figure proved it.Right?
Knix jogged out into the front lawn and then around the building to a parking lot I hadn't realized was there alongside the Bluestone House. "What about Ms. Enders and Mr. Wallace?" I asked as I rushed to catch up with Knix's long legs. Knix stopped and cursed. Texas came around the side of the building with the two in tow justthen.
I could hear Ms. Enders proper tone, "What is the meaning of this, young man? I demand–" Her voice cut off with agasp.