Page 170 of Serving the Mogul

“What?” I demanded.

“We just got a call. Tina’s fine.”

Tightening my grip on the briefcase, I stepped back from Gianni. “What do you mean,fine? They haven’t shown up. Tina isn’t here.”

“Tina’s in the hospital.” She grabbed my shoulders and shook lightly. “She escaped. She flagged down a trucker and got a ride. She’s safe.”

The blood drained from my head so fast I felt dizzy.

That’s my girl!

“She’s...safe.” The words caught in my throat. The roof of my mouth was dry, my tongue felt thick, and my entire body felt like Jell-O. I coughed to clear my throat and tried again. “You said she’s safe.”

“Yes!”

Sixty-Two

Tina

“Okay, ma’am. Now follow the light…”

The throbbing pain of my headache had eased with the painkiller they’d given me earlier. The IV fluids feeding into my arm probably helped as well.

But this was the third resident to come in and do their neurological workup—or whatever—with their damn penlights.

“Ms. Siegler?”

Grimacing, I shook my head. “I’ve had enough of the penlights.”

“Oh, is your head still bothering you?”

“Yeah.” It was hard to refrain from snapping at her. Her perky voice and solicitous smile didn’t help either. “My head is still bothering me. I guess the being kicked, beaten, dehydrated has made this a bit of a headache kind of day.”

“Well, yes, you’ve had a rather stressful day.” She glanced at her penlight before giving me a quick smile. “This won’t take long—”

“No!” I threw my hands in front of my face. “No more lights in my eyes.”

“Dr. Burton.”

The cheery blonde turned to see a nurse in the doorway. She beckoned her over, and they spoke. The doctor left, taking her vile penlight with her and the nurse slipped inside.

She gave me a tired smile. “The residents can be tiring, huh?”

“If they’d keep their damn penlights out of my eyes.” Movement beyond her drew my attention. It was a uniformed officer they’d posted outside my small room. He stuck his head in and his eyes slid over me, then he stepped out of sight.

Had they called James?

“…better?” She was speaking, but I hadn’t been listening.

I shook my head with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. My mind isn’t exactly…on this right now.”

“Understandable. Do you have anyone you want to call?”

Again, the open doorway caught my eye. There was a lot of commotion out there, the noise of buzzers, voices over the intercom. I kept watching for James.

“Yes…I mean, no.” My mouth was sodry. I picked up the cup the nurse had given me earlier and gulped the water. “Somebody notified the cops handling my case. My boyfriend…”

“Do you want me to call him?”

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