Daddy's still not answering his phone; neither is Jerome. I tried both their cells from a payphone at the hospital- nothing. Now I knew something was wrong; I hadn't heard a word from either of them since I got back. The same was true of Mr. Bodyguard….. Mr. Bodyguard. I put in some more money and dialed his number- I forgot when I learned that but somehow I did. It rang a few times before he gratefully answered. "Yeah?" He sounded as gruff as ever. But I didn't care; I was just so happy he picked up. "Mr. Bodyguard?!" The relief couldn't be contained in my voice. "You?" He was obviously surprised to hear from me; I wasn't sure if it was in a good way or not. "Mr. Bodyguard! I…."
Before I could finish my sentence, a cold, lanky hand rested on my shoulder. My eyes grew gigantic as I found myself spinning around to see a familiar face, man standing close behind me. It was… Wait, I knew this man; I'd seen him somewhere before. Somewhere… Oh no, my mouth begun to drop open. Jack! Jack Hyde- the man I saw in the manor that night! The man the Yellow Scarves hired Black to kill and warn me about. He was here! Here in the hospital with me… me and Christian.
His grip tightened on me. "Hello, princess." "Hey, what going on? Where are you right now?" Mr. Bodyguard sounded increasingly concerned. "J-Jack!" I gasped a little too loudly in the hospital lobby. "Enjoy your calm before the storm?" He leaned in close to my ear, though I made sure to hold up the phone so Mr. Bodyguard could hear; it was kind of stupid that Jack didn't hang up first but good news for me. "If you want to see your father and his lacky again, you'll come quietly with me."
I had roughly five seconds to consider the situation. Jack knew he had me trapped, that I would go without a fight. But I still had Mr. Bodyguard on the line which I could use to my advantage. I'm sure Jack wouldn't let me say anything too obvious so I had to be smart; that's when my eyes rolled onto the police bracelet on my wrist- the one with an emergency call button… "Ok, I'm sure Detective Paul Clayton at the Westside police station will be too busy to notice I've come by yet." Bingo! Jack caught on right away, clicking the hanger down- but it was too late. I'm sure Mr. Bodyguard heard. Clearly annoyed, Jack escorted me out of the hospital's front entrance. To my surprise, he didn't hold onto me or anything; he didn't touch me again. I mean I was happy! But it was unusual; he didn't even say a word to me the rest of the car way. I waited until we came to a complete stop before pressing the help button discreetly on my wrist.
I perked up at the sound of the door opening. "Anast-…..!" I was cut off at the sight of Elena entering the room; she had a bouquet in her hands. I'll admit was surprised and not all too happy to see her; the one I really wanted to come was still absent. "Hello, Christian," she greeted me, coming over to place the bouquet on my lap. "Thank you. Hello, Elena," I gave them a sniff before grinning friendly over to her. She seated herself in Anastasia's official chair beside my bed. Although she tried to seem calm, I could tell she was nervous for some reason. She actually sat on her hands to keep them from trembling.
"How are you doing?" "Better, thank you." "That's good," her eyes moved downwards slowly, thoughtfully. "Did Jason tell you about it? He's supposed to be here any minute." "N-no…" She stuttered. No? If he didn't tell her, how could she…? My gaze widened as her met mine again.
"Where's the Steele girl?" The Steele girl? I didn't like her tone just now. "You mean Anastasia? She's calling her dad. Why?" Surprisingly, Elena hesitated for a minute, like she was afraid to proceed the conversation. "You probably don't know…." "Know what?" My eyebrow rose up a bit. "She's not who you think she is. She's… her family's…." The words in her throat struggled to come out. Wait? What the hell is she talking about? No, she can't… It's impossible. Elena can't possibly know that Anastasia comes from a mob clan, which I only just found myself; not that it changed my feelings in the slightest. I hadn't actually thought about it at all until now…
Elena's pleading stare captured mine again, growing ever more concerned. "Christian, you know how I feel about you….." Whoa! That came out of left field. "Uh, I… have an idea," I grappled to answer myself. It's true that I knew she had some regard for me, but the feelings certainly weren't mutual. Wait, could she be jealous of Anastasia? No, she'd have to know about our fake relationship for that, and she has no idea. Still, I couldn't figure out why she would say this now of all times. "I'll probably lose my job for telling you this but…. I have to tell you, Christian." "Tell me what?" What the heck is she talking about? Why would she lose her job? That's when her already-poignant stare deeply sharpened.
"Anastasia is in real danger."