Begging for a Second Chance (Sienna Sloan and Jarred Sterling) novel Chapter 188

As soon as the command left his lips, one of the subordinates wheeled out an unconscious Owen.

Sienna's chest seized. She rushed forward and immediately pulled Owen safely behind her.

On the opposite side, the kidnappers went on high alert, discreetly tightening their grip on their weapons.

Sienna's eyes flashed with cold precision. There was no time to properly examine Owen's condition.

She swiftly pulled a custom-made pulse-triggered bomb from her bag and strapped it directly to Celeste's chest.

Shoving Celeste toward the mercenaries, she yelled her final warning: "If anyone fires a single shot, this bomb detonates, and you'll all be blown to pieces!"

Seeing the explosive strapped to Celeste, the kidnappers froze in place, utterly terrified.

This specific bomb was engineered to detonate based on the frequency of Celeste's pulse. Any sudden change could trigger it at any second.

Celeste was so terrified her legs gave out completely. "Take it off! Get this off me right now!"

Sienna didn't waste a fraction of a second. Pushing Owen's stretcher, she sprinted toward the exit with every ounce of strength she had left.

They hadn't made it far before deafening gunfire erupted behind them.

Clearly, two factions had just engaged in a massive firefight.

Sienna didn't know who was shooting at whom, and she didn't care.

She only had one thought in her mind: Save Owen!

Seeing the chaos, the two hired fighters immediately stepped in to help, grabbing the stretcher and rushing Owen toward the transport vehicle.

Sienna's voice shook violently. "Hurry! Get us to the hospital!"

The vehicle tore down the highway at breakneck speed.

During the chaotic escape, Sienna hadn't had a chance to assess Owen's vitals.

Now, sitting in the back of the speeding car, she realized his limbs were ice-cold, his lips had turned a sickly purple, and his pupils were sluggish to react to the light.

Sienna dropped to her knees on the floorboards, her trembling hand reaching out to check his breathing.

The breath grazing her fingertips was so agonizingly faint it was almost non-existent.

A suffocating panic gripped her heart. She pulled his limp body into her arms, and the tears she had been fighting back finally spilled over.

Sienna looked up and met a familiar face. It was Maloney.

He was wearing a dark suit, his hair slightly disheveled, clearly having rushed over the second he got the news.

"Maloney," she whispered, her voice cracking violently after just one word.

Maloney frowned deeply, his eyes scanning her from head to toe.

Her white dress was ruined, covered in dirt and smears of someone else's blood. The knees were torn open, dark bruises painted her arms, and her eyes were bloodshot from sobbing.

His frown deepened considerably.

He carefully guided her to a bench in the hallway. "The hospital called to tell me Owen was in trouble. I couldn't reach you, so I came straight here."

He paused. "Why didn't you tell me something this catastrophic happened? Where's Jarred? I heard he and Mother came over to help you. Are they out looking for Owen too?"

Sienna was entirely checked out, teetering on the absolute edge of a mental breakdown, completely devoid of the energy to answer his questions.

She sat there like a statue, her deadened eyes locked onto the glowing red light above the OR doors.

Seeing her utterly shattered state, Maloney knew she had just survived something deeply traumatic.