Begging for a Second Chance (Sienna Sloan and Jarred Sterling) novel Chapter 178

Sienna snatched the phone and glanced at the screen. It was Mary, Owen's primary care nurse.

Since Mary video-called her every night to give a detailed update on Owen's condition, Sienna didn't think twice about it.

She scrambled out from under him, walking a few steps away before hitting answer.

Jarred, however, caught the caller ID. His sharp eyes immediately noticed the foreign name and the profile picture of a Western woman.

A prickle of suspicion flared in his chest, and he deliberately stayed quiet, straining to hear the conversation.

The moment the call connected, Mary's panicked voice filled the room. "Ms. Sloan, Owen vanished this morning. All the security cameras in the ward were disabled. There are no witnesses and absolutely no signs of forced entry.

We contacted the authorities immediately. After inspecting the scene, the police confirmed this was a highly coordinated extraction by a professional international syndicate. As of right now, they have zero leads!"

The blood drained from Sienna's face, her knuckles turning bone-white as she gripped the phone.

Owen had just been transferred out of the ICU. His brain tumor removal surgery had been a success, but the slightest complication during his recovery phase could be immediately fatal.

She dug her nails into her palm, forcing her voice to stay steady. "When was the last time someone saw him?"

"During the routine rounds two hours ago," Mary replied.

Two hours. That was more than enough time for a professional team to relocate him anywhere in the country.

She ended the call. The glaring light from the crystal chandelier above made her vision swim with black spots.

Jarred had moved silently to stand right behind her. As a former tactical officer, his instincts for danger were razor-sharp.

Between Sienna's violently pale face and the frantic snippets of audio he had caught, he had already pieced together the nightmare.

"Owen is in trouble?" Jarred asked, his voice low and tight.

Sienna ignored him completely. Her fingers flew across her screen as she frantically searched for the next available flight to Germany.

Jarred reached out, his large hand clamping over her phone screen. His tone was significantly darker now. "Sienna, answer me. Wasn't Owen at Capital Hospital? When did you move him out of the country?"

The question pierced right through Sienna's shattered defenses.

She bit down on her lip so hard she nearly drew blood. Her eyes finally swam with red, but she stubbornly refused to let a single tear fall.

Jarred was right. Running around Europe by herself, with no idea who had her brother, was basically suicide.

But that was Owen. The only real family she had left in the world.

The boy she had protected with her life since she was ten years old. The boy she had dragged back from death's door over and over again.

She couldn't just stand here and do nothing.

Just as the crushing wave of helplessness threatened to pull her under, Jarred's phone buzzed.

Declan Ward's name flashed across the screen.

A sickening intuition hit Sienna. She knew Declan had news about Owen.

She stared at the phone, her voice cracking into a ragged whisper. "...Put it on speaker."