"What the holy fuck?"
The hair on the back Dwayne's neck stood on end as he pulled up to the hospital. Police lights flashed as officers littered the parking lot. Yellow caution tape encircled the entrance of the hospital.
As he hopped out of the truck, two stretchers exited the hospital, pushed by coroners. He inhaled sharply as he remembered McKenzie's outburst just thirty minutes ago.
Panic exploded within him as he bolted to the stretchers and pulled back one of the sheets, then the other.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" The coroner watched him crossly as he readjusted the sheets.
"Sir! Get behind the tape!" A lanky officer pressed a hand against Dwayne's chest forcing him to take a few steps back, behind the yellow tape.
Relieved that neither of the bodies was McKenzie or Jasmine he swallowed the lump that had gathered in his throat. Were they inside? He needed to get to them.
Dwayne's eyes were glued to the entrance as a few people filed out of the hospital escorted by police officers.
"Come on, come on, where are they?" he grumbled.
Dwayne paced impatiently waiting for them to emerge but when they didn't he knew he needed to take matters into his own hands.
Without another thought, he lunged below the yellow tape and into the hospital before anyone could stop him.
Anxiety coursed through his veins as he rushed to the room where he left McKenzie and Jasmine. His pores raised at the sight that greeted him. The crib was toppled over, the table was smashed to bits and there were streaks of blood on the floor.
Did the blood belong to McKenzie or Jasmine?
He shouldn't have left! He could've gotten someone else to do the shopping.
He fucked up and he knew it.
He needed to find out exactly what had happened from one of the officers outside. He'd toss around his position in Bertarelli's Law Firm if he needed to, in order to get the information he wanted.
He was about to walk away when he spotted McKenzie's handbag halfway under the bed. He entered the room and retrieved it.
As he opened her handbag to search for some sort of clue as to what could've happened, a voice called out behind him.
"Excuse me, sir, you shouldn't be in here."
With her handbag in hand, Dwayne spun around and came face to face with his old high school friend, Richard Maxwell.
"Waw, Richie, look at you, on the other side of the law…for a change," Dwayne grinned.
Richard was one of his teammates from his high school rugby team and was labelled a troubled teen by teachers. There was a time when they doubted whether he would even graduate.
"Look, who it is, Mr. London himself, I didn't know you were back." The corners of Richard's lips lifted into a smile.
Richard had a more muscular physique than Dwayne and stood about three inches shorter.
"I am. I'm just glad I ran into you." Dwayne's tone changed to a more serious one. "What the hell happened here? I left a while ago and returned to all of this!" Dwayne gestured toward the room.
"An attempted kidnapping gone horribly wrong," Richard said, as he adjusted his detective badge on his waist.
"Do you know who they tried to take?" Dwayne's voice was strained, a part of him already knew the answer to the question.
Richard flipped through a few pages from his notepad. "The eyewitnesses heard the woman call her daughter..."
"Jasmine," Dwayne finished the sentence breathlessly.
Richard arched his brow. "How did you know that?"
Dwayne explained to Richard how he ended up at the hospital with McKenzie and Jasmine.
Richard's brows knitted with concern, as he spoke, "This guy killed two security officers in cold blood. Reports state he carried them through the back entrance. The alley at the back of the hospital is bloodied and filled with bullet holes, but we don't have bodies to go with the blood."
"Fuck! So, Zee and Jazzy could be anywhere hurt?"
"Security cameras caught a woman running out of the alley with a child. Neither of them seemed to be injured. We're assuming they got help to escape. But, we have no idea who helped them since their faces weren't caught on the footage."
Dwayne breathed a sigh of relief but it was short lived as Richard continued. "Another injured guard on his way to the hospital heard the man call the woman his wife."
"Wife? Zee's married?"
Richard nodded. "Looks that way."
Dwayne punched the wall frustratedly, "I should've been here!"
"Do you carry a gun?" Richard asked in a mocked tone. "Because you can't show up to a gunfight with only your two fists."
"At least I could've done something." Dwayne paced.
"What you would've done was gotten yourself killed."
Dwayne inhaled deeply. Guilt was eating away at his core. He seriously regretted leaving McKenzie and Jasmine behind.
"Do the police have any leads on the name of the guy?" Dwayne asked, hoping to get a lead.
"With the footage we got off the security cameras in the alley, we should have a positive ID on McKenzie's husband within the hour. We also have partial plates of the black van he sped off in."
It was as if something activated in Dwayne's memory.
"A black panel van with a dark tint? 8RSN462?"
Richard glanced at Dwayne, then consulted his notes before meeting Dwayne's gaze once more. After a moment's pause, he quickly jotted something down in his notepad.
"Dwayne, how did you know the license plate of the van?"
"When I left Zee's yesterday, I noticed a black van outside. In a neighbourhood like that it could only mean bad news so I memorized the plates just in case."
Richard took a step back and looked at his friend. "So let me get this straight, you've already been to McKenzie's place but you couldn't come to check on your boy? That's cold man."
"Richard, seriously, I have to find them." Urgency laced Dwayne's voice.
Richard nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. Let the police do their jobs. We'll find them both."
"Fuck, Richard! Zee's crazy husband came in here, killed two people, injured one, and tried to kidnap her and Jazzy! And then there was some crazy ass shootout in the alley and you're telling me not to worry? Of course, I'm fucking worried!" Dwayne tried to keep his composure as his fists clenched at his side.
Richard sighed, "You're too close to this man."
"Like hell I am!" Dwayne's eyes blazed. "You guys have to get warrants and do things by the book. By the time you guys find them they'll be dead."
"We have the resources, let us do our jobs," Richard urged.
"But, I have the desire to find them…alive. I don't give a damn about red tape and politics that the police have to conform to. I'll use vigilante procedures to get them back if necessary," Dwayne growled.
"Easy, D." Richard patted Dwayne on the shoulder. "Seeing that I can't talk you out of it, the least I can do is help." Richard lowered his voice. "I get off at seven. Meet me at the Buffalo Pub Wilshire Boulevard at eight and we'll put our heads together."
"Thanks, man, I really appreciate it."
Dwayne extended his hand and Richard shook it.
"McKenzie's?" Richard asked as he tilted his head to the handbag in Dwayne's hand.
"Yeah, I'm hoping it could give me some sort of clue…" Dwayne's voice trailed off.
Richard said solemnly, "Ok. I'm not supposed to let you leave with evidence but I guess it'll be better in your hands than locked away somewhere. Let me know what you find. I'll see you later."
Dwayne nodded. With McKenzie's handbag in his hand, he walked out of the hospital.
Once safe in his truck, he dumped its contents onto the passenger seat. He shifted through the passports, birth papers, and a few bottles of Xanax and found her phone.
Luckily for him, her phone wasn't password protected. He checked the last number she called. It was some guy named Yellows. He realized that this was made about forty minutes ago.
"Probably, who she was talking to in the bathroom," he mumbled.
Dwayne leaned his head against the seat. He should've pushed harder when McKenzie came out of the bathroom.
Have you forgotten how stubborn McKenzie is? It would've been like pulling teeth.
He glanced at the phone again. With a name like Yellows this couldn't be anything good.
"God, Zee, what have you gotten yourself into?" he groaned.
Dwayne decided to call the number to see if this Yellows person could be of any help. Maybe, he'd know where McKenzie went.
Dwayne dialled the number and waited.
"Talk to me, Kitten."
"This isn't Kitten, but she's in trouble. Can you help?" A rush of words poured out of Dwayne's mouth.
Dwayne's heart sank when the line went dead.
What did you expect? For the man to tell you who he was?
No! But, at least be of help in some way!
He was furious, at himself and at McKenzie for not trusting him enough to confide in him. Maybe, all of this could've been avoided. He piled everything back into McKenzie's handbag and started the engine.
He wasn't a violent type of guy but when it came to McKenzie and Jasmine he was going to do everything possible to not only get them back, but protect them so no one will ever hurt them again. The only thing left to do was to meet Richard and come up with a plan.
A flash of lightning trailed across the sky followed by the low rumbling of thunder as a light drizzle began. He hoped that wherever McKenzie and Jasmine were that they were safe and dry.