Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

ROURK

I'm running late by the time I get to Bellevue, but what I had to do was important. The lawyer I hired for Karmen needed me to see the evidence they found after the search warrant was issued. It was a shock to my system to say the least, but when he told me that they didn't apprehend Andrew, I lost it. The police don't know where he is, but there's a warrant out for his arrest.

I run up the stairs, and when I scan my pass to the floor, I go straight to Karmen's room. It's empty, and the sheets have been stripped off the bed. I don't think much of it because they could be cleaning, so I go to the group room. When I don't see her there, worry starts to set in, and I go to the nurses' station.

Olivia is doing data entry on the patient files when I go over to talk to her.

"Where's Miss Phillips?" I try to sound casual about it as I take a seat at the staff computer and open Karmen's chart. "We have a session scheduled this morning, and I was running late."

"She's been discharged," Olivia says casually, and I turn around so fast I nearly fall out of my chair.

"Discharged?" I say more harshly than I intended. "On whose authority?"

"Detective Webb met with her earlier. She said the charges had been dropped, and she was free to go." Olivia shrugs and I feel rage boil inside of me.

"How in the fuck did a patient get discharged without a doctor's authorization?" I stand up, and Olivia sighs.

"Perhaps if you were less distracted by your patient, you might have read the rules." She comes closer to me and lowers her voice. "I heard the two of you in your office."

My office is at the end of a corridor with no other rooms around it. The only reason she would be there is because she's nosy. "And yet you didn't report me."

"You're only here temporarily." She shrugs. "My concern is for the patients. Besides, Karmen needs someone to take care of her. It might as well be you." I'm stunned by this revelation. "You may not know this, Dr. Rourk, but I've been here a long time and I've seen the worst of the worst. What you and Karmen have going on is one of the better things I've witnessed."

"Then why would you let her leave?" I plead. "Her family has been listed as no contact, and the man she assaulted is missing. She could be in danger."

Olivia looks confused. "Did you not pick her up when she left?"

Now it's my turn to be confused. "What? No."

"If a patient is here by court order and is only under evaluation and not admitted, then they are free to go when and if the charges are dropped." Olivia recites the rule. "It didn't require a doctor's discharge. I thought that's why you weren't here and you were downstairs waiting for her. I thought that's why you were late."

"I was late because the lawyer I hired to get her out received copies of the evidence. The fucker she stabbed had a whole goddamn shrine dedicated to her."

"Oh god," Olivia says, and her face pales. "I watched her leave."

"What?"

"On the cameras." She rushes over to the computer and pulls up the security feed. Then she backs up the digital recording to the time when Karmen left.

I watch as my beautiful girl exits the building dressed in her school uniform. She stands there for a moment and then looks up at the sky. It's raining now, but it must have just started when she left.

"Here," Olivia says, and her fingers are shaky as she points to the screen.

We both watch as a dark SUV parks almost out of the camera view behind Karmen. She's not paying it any attention as she starts walking. A hooded figure gets out of the SUV and follows behind her. Then both of them disappear from the view of the camera.

"I thought it was you," Olivia whispers. "I thought you were waiting for her. Oh god, I'm so sorry."

I'm already reaching for my phone as she collapses in the chair next to me. I text my contacts at the police department and then call Detective Webb. She answers on the first ring, and I have to control my temper.

"Someone's taken Karmen," I practically growl into the phone. "We pulled up the security footage, and it looks like it was Andrew." Clearly I couldn't see who it was, but who else would do something like this?

"Shit." I hear her mumble something to someone else before she comes back. "How long ago did this happen?"

I look at the time stamp on the video and my heart sinks. "Two hours."

"Okay, send me a copy of the video. Maybe there's something on there we can use to find her."

"There's someone coming to see you," I tell her and check my watch. "His name is Maxim."

"Who?"

"He's a friend of mine. He does undercover work. It would be a mistake not to use him."

"Understood," she says quietly, and then I end the call.

Maxim sends me a text telling me he's on the way to see Detective Webb, but it doesn't put my mind at ease. I won't be able to rest until Karmen is safe in my arms.