Chapter 290: Chapter 290: On the road

By the time Ethan stepped out of the consultation room, the night had fallen for the second time he was there. The hospital corridor stretched ahead in a wash of pale light and shadow, white coats moving with purpose, the world continuing in its relentless forward motion while his thoughts kept circling the same point.

Someone had taken Leon, and the same someone had nearly killed Maverick to do it.

And this wasn’t new.

He stopped near one of the tall windows overlooking the city. Beyond the glass, winter pressed against the world; streetlights burned dim halos into mist, and the night breathed with the muted intensity that suggested important things were happening somewhere, unseen, unfelt by most.

His hand hovered over his phone.

Trevor Fitzgeralt was not a name one dialed lightly. Not just because of his title, nor because of the empire wrapped discreetly around his existence. Trevor had a way of turning every problem into something that could no longer be ignored. There were no half-measures with him. If Ethan involved him, this would officially become more than a crime. It would become political. It would connect threads Ethan had tried very hard to keep separate.

He sighed and let his head hit the glass with a faint thud. “Where are you, Leon?”

Before he could decide to call the grand duke or not, his phone was calling. Something wasn’t right.

Ethan stared at the screen for a heartbeat, the name anchored there as if it didn’t exist yet.

Maverick.

That alone told him enough to know the call wasn’t simple.

He answered with a steady voice, the kind reserved for fragile structures and emergency briefings. “Stuart?”

There was no answer at first, only breath. Sharp and uncontrolled.

“Ethan?” Leon’s voice broke on the second syllable.

He closed his eyes briefly, the relief sharp and painful all at once. “Leon.”

Whatever composure Leon had left shattered. Words tumbled in a rush, panicked, stumbling, and half-incoherent as he tried to explain and apologize and plead all at once. He kept saying Maverick’s name, kept gasping like he couldn’t get enough air, like the world was already collapsing under his ribs.

“Leon, listen to me,” Ethan cut in, firm but calm. “Maverick is safe.”

Silence.

Then a choked sound, halfway between disbelief and collapse.

“He’s alive,” Ethan continued. “He’s at the hospital. He’s stable. He’s going to be alright.”

That dragged Leon from the cliffs of despair, loosening it enough that the omega could breathe without breaking. The shaking in his voice didn’t stop, but it slowed. Fear settled into something tremoring instead of spiraling.

“Okay,” Leon whispered. “Okay… okay…”

“Good,” Ethan said, keeping his tone even. He had already switched on the recorder without Leon ever noticing. “Now I need you to focus. Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” Leon said helplessly. “They…” He swallowed. “They moved me. I was out for a while. It’s dark. I can’t see much.”

Nothing helpful, but that was something Ethan already expected.

“Do you still have your bond partner tracker enabled?” Ethan asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t argue. Don’t provoke. Don’t try to be brave,” Ethan said quietly. “I need you to do one thing. End the call and activate location sharing directly with me. It will ping my system. Once you do that, put the phone away and don’t touch it again unless I call. Can you do that?”

Leon inhaled shakily, but his voice was clearer now. “Yes.”

“Leon.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not alone anymore,” Ethan said. “Stay still. Stay quiet. I’m coming.”

A shaky breath. “Okay.”

The line disconnected.

For a second Ethan just stood there, the silence after the call feeling almost unreal. Then the world snapped back into motion.

He switched screens, pulled up the location feed, watched a red dot stabilize on the map, and felt something like cold precision slide into place where panic had been.

’Right. I need to do something. Move Ethan!’

He dialed Albrecht.

The detective answered faster than most people breathed. “Miller?”

“I have contact,” Ethan said without any introduction. “Leon called me using Maverick’s phone. He’s alive, conscious, and terrified and has no idea where he is.”

Albrecht didn’t swear, but the slight shift in his breathing said enough. “Did he give anything? Sound. Smell. Movement. Transport. Anything.”

“He didn’t have a visual. He was unconscious during relocation. He woke up in the dark. He still has his device, and he can transmit location. I told him to stay still and keep his head down.”

“You have the coordinates?”

“Yes.”

“Send them. Now.”

“I will,” Ethan said, already sharing the live feed. “But I’m not waiting. I’m heading there.”

There was a short pause. Calm. The calm that men displayed when carefully selecting their words. “This is not a private rescue, Mr. Miller. This is an organized abduction tied to multiple past disappearances. You walking into an unknown with god knows how many hostiles is…”

“Not optional,” Ethan finished, just as calm. “You have people. I know that. And I want them there. But Leon called me. Not you. I’m not sitting in a hospital hallway while bureaucracy catches its breath.”

Silence again, layered, assessing.

Finally the detective seemed to understand that Ethan was not going to listen to anything he had to say. “You’ll send live tracking for yourself as well.”

“I already did.”

“And you will not engage,” Albrecht said. “You do not go in first. You do not play hero. You keep eyes on the location, confirm visual if you can do so without drawing attention, and you stay alive. I cannot afford to add another man to the casualty column tonight.”

Ethan gave a short nod even though the detective couldn’t see it. “Get your team moving.”

“They’re moving,” Albrecht replied. “And Miller…”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. Don’t be reckless.”

The call ended.

Ethan didn’t waste time after that. He was already moving, already striding down the corridor, already cutting through the antiseptic brightness toward the exit. The hospital doors slid open, and winter air hit him sharp in the lungs, cold, grounding, and real. He crossed the parking lot in long, decisive strides, unlocked the car, and slid in.

Engine on.

He took one last look at the hospital reflected in the rearview mirror, bright windows, silent corridors, and Maverick breathing somewhere inside that building because Ethan had made the correct decision at the right time.

Now Leon needed that same refusal to wait.

Whether or not Albrecht trusted him didn’t matter.

Whether or not Ethan trusted Albrecht did.

He shifted the car into gear.

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