Page 83 of DFF: Delicate Freakin' Flower

We were halfway across the county when Eddie’s name lit up on the truck’s Bluetooth system.

I hit the accept button on the steering wheel, heart already in my throat. “Eddie?”

“Yeah,” his voice crackled through the speakers, low and tight. “We just had company.”

Every muscle in my body tensed.

Elijah, riding shotgun, immediately straightened. “What kind of company?”

“Two men walked in dressed like hospital orderlies, but everything about them screamed military. They moved in tight formation, communicated efficiently, and didn’t hesitate for a second. They brought a gurney and claimed they were there to move Gabby “for testing.” No paperwork. No official authorization. Just enough confidence and polish that theymight have pulled it off—if I hadn’t been watching them like a hawk.”

I swore under my breath. “Jesus.”

“Ira backed me up,” Eddie continued. “He might be old, but he’s fast. In a blink, he got behind one of them and swung the IV pole like a club, catching the guy off guard. At the same time, Gladys started shouting about a fire and yanked the emergency alarm.”

“She what?” Elijah barked out a laugh.

“She knew it’d lock down the floor and call in hospital security, and it worked like a charm. The guys panicked and made a run for it. One managed to escape, but the other wasn’t so lucky.”

“You have him?” I asked.

“He’s out cold after he hit the tile hard when Ira took him down. I stashed him in the medical supply closet three floors down, hidden under a blanket cart. Right now, security’s tied up with the fire alarm and the chaos unfolding upstairs, but that’s only going to buy us a short window.”

Elijah cut in, glancing at me. “We can’t go back.”

I gritted my teeth, already fighting my instincts. Every part of me wanted to turn the wheel, head back to that hospital, and keep Gabby within arm’s reach.

“Elijah’s right,” I decided finally, my voice like gravel. “If we chase every attack, we’ll never stop the next one. We need to get ahead. Call one of the other trucks and get someone to the hospital—quietly and fast. Let Eddie know where to drop the guy so they can extract him without drawing attention.”

Elijah made the call and got it organized.

We rode in heavy silence for a few minutes. My hand clenched the wheel tighter than it needed to. I couldn’t get Gabby’s face out of my mind. She was lying peacefully in that ICU bed, completely unawareofhow close she’d just come to being taken again.

And for what? So Barris could finish what Maddox started? No.Hellno.

We called Marcus and Jackson on a group line as we neared Jackson’s place. Jesse and Remy were in other vehicles, but we were all converging there to regroup.

“We need a new play. They’re getting bolder. If they’re willing to walk into a hospital in daylight, this ends now.” It was eating away at me how close they'd gotten to taking her again, especially with Gabby being so vulnerable right now.

“They’re not going to stop unless we break them,” Marcus replied. “We find Barris, we stop the engine. Maddox is scrambling, but Barris is holding the leash.”

Jackson chimed in. “I’ve got my boys pulling footage from the hospital and surrounding blocks. If we can catch the plates on the guy who ran, we follow that trail.”

I drummed my hands on the steering wheel to try and get rid of some of the anxiety weighing me down. “Go ahead with that, we’ll be there in fifteen. Let’s plan the rest of it out in person.”

When we pulledinto Jackson’s driveway, the place was already buzzing with activity. Trucks were lined up along the drive,and armed friends moved through the shadows just beyond the reach of the porch light. It felt less like a gathering and more like a war council coming together.

Inside, Sasha was already waiting. The moment I stepped through the door, she spun around from where she’d been pacing and stormed up to me, her eyes blazing.

“She hasn’t woken up? Are you serious, Webb?”

“She made it through surgery.” I understood why Sasha was so upset—my feelings mirrored hers in every way. “She’s stable, but she just hasn’t opened her eyes.”

Sasha’s eyes welled up for a second before fury overtook the fear. “I swear to everything, I’m going to de-ball Colin Maddox and Clayton Barris with—” she spun on the spot, scanning the room, “—my cat’s nail clippers.”

Everyone froze, scanning the room for them in case she decided it'd be therapeutic to start now.

Jackson blinked. “You mean those tiny?—”

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