Chapter 31 His Enemy at the Hospital
Olive swallowed hard, her words coming out uneven. “I—I should go.”
She reached for the door, fingers curling tightly around the knob, her body already angled away from him. Every instinct told her to leave—now.
“Wait.”
The man stepped forward.
“Can you stay for a while?” he asked, his tone calm, almost casual, like he was asking her to sit down for coffee. “I just want to talk.”
Olive turned to face him, unease crawling slowly up her spine. “I don’t entertain strangers,” she said firmly, forcing strength into her voice.
Her grip on the doorknob tightened.
Then he spoke again.
“I know where Leo is.”
Her hand froze.
The words hit her like a blow to the chest.
“What did you say?” she breathed.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs. In an instant, every fear she had tried to bury surged back to the surface. Leo. Missing. Silent. Unreachable for days.
The man let out a soft chuckle—low, slow, amused.
That sound alone made her skin crawl.
Inside her head, alarms screamed. Even if he knew something—even if Leo truly was in danger—this was wrong. Everything about this felt wrong. This man wasn’t here to help.
He was here because of Leo.
And that meant she was the leverage.
Olive forced her fingers to move again, twisting the doorknob with sudden urgency.
The door swung open—
And Olive gasped.
Four men stood on the other side.
For half a second, her mind refused to understand what she was seeing. Then reality crashed down all at once.
Before she could step back, rough hands clamped around her wrist and arm.
“Hey—!” she cried out, panic exploding through her chest.
She struggled instinctively—kicking, twisting, pulling with everything she had—but they were too strong. One man grabbed her from behind, locking her arms, while another blocked the doorway completely.
Her breath came out in sharp, frantic bursts.
“No! Let go of me!” she screamed.
Then suddenly—
A cloth pressed hard against her nose and mouth.
She shook her head violently, trying to pull away, but a hand gripped her jaw, forcing her still. The smell hit her instantly—sharp, chemical, burning her senses.
Her limbs began to feel heavy.
“No… stop…” she tried to say, but her voice dissolved into a weak, broken sound.
The rooftop tilted.
The sky blurred.
Voices melted together into noise she could no longer separate.
The last thing Olive heard was faint laughter—low, distant, echoing—
And then everything went dark.
When Olive came to, pain was the first thing she felt.
A dull, pulsing ache throbbed through her wrists.
She opened her eyes slowly. At first, everything was blurred—shadows, movement, darkness pressing in. Then her vision sharpened just enough for reality to crash down on her.
She was inside a van.
Her heart lurched.
Her hands were tied tightly behind her back. Her ankles were bound as well, the ropes rough and unforgiving. Thick tape sealed her mouth, stretching painfully across her skin, making even breathing feel difficult.
Panic surged through her chest all over again.
She tried to move, instinct screaming at her to fight, but the ropes only dug deeper into her wrists. She flinched, a sharp sting cutting through her senses—her skin was raw. She must have struggled while unconscious.
A muffled sound escaped her throat.
Two men sat on either side of her, close enough that she could feel the heat of their bodies. More men were seated in front.
And then she saw him.
On the passenger seat beside the driver sat the man from the rooftop.
Her stomach dropped.
Terror clawed up her throat as she shook her head violently, trying to scream through the tape. Only broken, useless sounds came out. Her chest rose and fell too fast, breath coming shallow and uneven.
The man in the front seat turned his head slowly, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
His eyes met hers.
He smiled.
“Don’t be so excited,” he said lightly, his voice calm—almost amused. “You’ll see Leo soon enough.”
Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs.
She twisted her head toward the window, desperate to see something—anything—but the glass was dark, heavily tinted. No lights. No streets. No familiar shapes. The men in front blocked her view completely, their bodies forming a wall that kept the outside world far away.
The van continued moving, smooth and steady.
There was no sudden rush. No chaos.
Just control.
And in that suffocating darkness, Olive understood with chilling clarity—
She is not being taken by mistake.
She is not being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She is being taken because she mattered.
Because she was important to Leo.
And that realization terrified her more than anything else; these men were Leo's enemies.
Olive had no idea how much time had passed—minutes, maybe hours—when the van finally began to slow.
The motion changed first. The steady hum beneath her faded, replaced by a low rumble as the vehicle rolled over rough ground.
Then it stopped.
The engine cut off.
Silence crashed down hard, so sudden it made her heart thump louder in her ears. Her chest tightened as she strained to listen—footsteps, voices, anything.
The door slid open.
Cool night air rushed inside, brushing against her skin, sharp with the scent of damp earth and crushed leaves. It felt colder than before, heavier somehow. Two of the men in front stepped out first, their dark shapes stretching long shadows on the ground beneath the dim lights.
Before Olive could react, the man beside her grabbed her arm and yanked her forward.
Pain exploded through her wrists as the ropes tightened. She cried out through the tape, her body jolting as she lost her balance, her feet barely touching the ground.
“Just carry her,” one of the men snapped impatiently.
Without hesitation, the man bent down and lifted her as if she weighed nothing, her body slung awkwardly in his arms. Her head fell back slightly, the world tilting as panic surged again.