Chapter 82 Kellan

Chapter 82 Kellan
Kellan's POV

I was pacing around in the living room when it came. The incessant buzzing on the table; I reached to snatch it up with not a lot of thought on whom it would be; it was Eliza.

"Tell me you have something," I pressed, an edge to my tone, though tension in my voice belied a composure.

"Mr. Easton," Eliza started, but just then, an inflection of the tone that began to rise her voice sent my alarm bells ringing. "There's been an accident.”

"What's wrong?" My stomach twisting into a tight knot, I clutched the phone in my hand.

"Olivia, she's been admitted to the hospital. She is unconscious."

The world had stopped. I just blanked for a second until pure surging panic and anger took over my head. "What do you mean she's unconscious? What happened?"

"I don't have all the details yet," said Eliza, "but yes, she was rushed out of the house today, some type of head injury, and she's at Memorial Hospital."

I didn't say a word either; took my car keys and ran out of the house, full of adrenaline. My mind was full of fear and anger: "what did Carl do with her now?”

It had all been some kind of blur. I pulled into a space and then sprinted to the entrance. Antiseptic hit me with its sterile smell as I stepped inside. In that moment of time, I couldn't give a damn about anything in this world but finding her. Coming up to the front desk didn't show any urgency.

"Olivia, I mean, Amanda Dawson," I said, attempting to keep the shake out of my voice. "She was admitted a few hours ago. Where is she?"

The nurse finally looked up from the desk. Her face was expressionless. "Are you a relative?"

"No, but-"

"Then I'm afraid I can't give you any information, sir," she cut in briskly.

I slapped my hand onto the counter, patience snapping. "Listen, I know she's here. She's in danger and I need to see her. Now.”

Her eyes actually widened a bit, but before she got a word out, two men in black suits stepped into my line of sight. Carl's guys.

"You're not cleared to be here, Mr. Easton," one said, flatly.

I swung toward them, my hands clenched. "Get out of my way."

The second pressed forward, his face unbending. "Mr. Martins has left word that nobody, other than duly authorized personnel, is to go anywhere near her room."

Carl's name said, and my blood went to a boil. Of course, he would pull this stunt. First, he kept her locked up in his house; now he called the shots on who saw her, even when she was in a public hospital.

I took another step closer to the guards and lowered my voice to a growl. "I'm not leaving till I see her."

First, the man laid his arms across his chest. "That's not going to happen.

I wanted to hit him. My whole body screamed to hit, to push through, but I knew it wasn't a means to get to Olivia. I needed another way out.

"Fine," I spat, stepping back. "But this isn't over.


I let my torso fall back in the seat as white knuckles squeezed onto the wheel. Meager snatches of information seemed to play like recordings over and over in my mind while it spun for a solid head injury-unconscious-and one screaming question-what in God's name had Carl done now?

It felt like a knife-hot through my chest, the thought of her just lying in that cold, hospital bed, so helpless in so much pain. I pounded my fist on the dashboard as frustration began to spiral out of control and helpless anger.

Carl was the problem. He'd always been the problem. The more time Olivia spent at his mercy, the greater danger she was in. And I couldn't just sit idly by and let things go this way.

My phone buzzed on the passenger seat. Thomas.

I picked it up, my voice gruff. "Tell me you have something useful."

"I've been investigating Carl's background, like you asked," Thomas said. "And I found something.

What is it?" I said tight-lipped with the phone.

"It is about Eleanor, Carl's ex-fiancée."

Frozen was my spine. "What about her?”

“It was not as clean of a death as it would appear,” Thomas said. “There were some discrepancies: bruises on the body that did not coincide with the story Carl had given to the police; several people saying they'd watched them arguing the night she died, and now she was embroiled in Carl's extracurricular activities.”

"Extracurricular activities?" I said, my brow furrowing.

“Illegal dealings," Thomas said, "smuggling, money laundering, you name it. Eleanor was involved with it, willingly or not. And from what I've found, Carl's operation hasn't slowed down since her death. If anything, it's expanded."

My jaw clenched as the pieces began to fall into place. Eleanor hadn't just died-it sounded like she'd been caught in the crossfire of Carl's dangerous life.

"And Olivia?" I whispered.

"I don't know yet," Thomas said. "But if Carl pulled Eleanor into his world, there's no reason to think he wouldn't do the same to Olivia. She might already be deeper than she realizes."

My chest constricted as anger and fear wrestled inside of me. Carl wasn't just manipulating Olivia; he'd placed her life in danger, and she knew nothing about it.

"Keep digging," I said, my voice firm. "Find out everything you can. I don't care what it takes."
"I'm on it," Thomas said before the line went dead.

I was sitting in the car, the phone still clutched in my hand, my mind going a mile a minute as thoughts about Olivia and Eleanor, the real monster Carl truly was, swirled around my mind.

I couldn't let it go further; I couldn't let Carl get to her like he got to Eleanor.

The phone buzzed again, another message, this time again from Thomas, which, without much thought, I opened, running my eyes fast over the words.

"I found more. Evidence linking Carl directly to Eleanor's death. It wasn't an accident."

My breath caught, and the phone slipped from my hand onto the seat. Carl had not been involved in anything illegal, but he was directly responsible for the death of Eleanor.

And if he had once, he could again.