I washed my hands and shrugged the coat back on to hide the blood that had soaked my shirt. In the bluish light of the bathroom, I looked pale and tense, but other than that I didn’t think anyone would be able to tell I was in the throes of shock.After a few minutes, I left the bathroom and checked my phone. It had been eight minutes.
My phone vibrated in my palm.
“Where the fuck are you?” Soren snapped.
“I’m where you told me to be,” I said. “By the bathrooms.”
“Don’t move.”
Thirty seconds later, Soren emerged from an aisle. He looked incensed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is Bridget okay? They said she wasn’t at—”
“No. Not here. These people are more determined than we thought. And Bridget’s made it very clear you’re not supposed to die.” His tone implied thathedidn’t much care either way.
“But you’re the police. Shouldn’t you be able to find them?”
Soren’s glare could have melted a glacier. I snapped my mouth shut before I said anything worse.
“Doing our best there, bud. But in the meantime, I’m supposed to take you to Bridget. You good with that? Or do you have any other opinions?”
I shook my head. “I do not.”
“Good.” He turned on his heel and, after a split second of indecision, I followed.
Chapter 23 - Gabriel
“I knew something like this was going to happen,” Bridget said, distraught. She was pacing the living room, gripping the roots of her hair with wild eyes. “He’s going to die and it’s my fault.”
Maggie had just called to tell us someone had attacked Nathan, and the police had been dispatched for shots fired at his apartment. She promised to let us know as soon as she had any other information.
“He’s going to be okay,” Andrew said, trying to sound soothing. He was watching Bridget pace like he wanted nothing more than to grab and hold on to her, but he hadn’t touched her at all.
My heart broke for her. I knew what it was like to feel responsible for someone else’s pain, even if it wasn’t fair or true.
The burner phone buzzed again.
“I wish I had more to tell you guys. There’s nothing useful at the scene, just a bunch of blood, an enthusiastically unhelpful roommate, and his girlfriend, who keeps asking if they’ll be on the news,” Maggie said grimly. I could hear the murmur of voices in the background, a distant siren abruptly cut off. She had called in a lot of favors to get access to Nathan’s apartment.She dropped her voice lower. “The assigned detective thinks Nathan might be dead, actually. Which is good for us.”
“It is?” Bridget asked.
“We don’t know how they found out about you being with us. And not everyone in this department is squeaky clean. So yeah, let’s let them think he’s dead for a while.”
“Corruption,” I said, the word bitter in my mouth. It had been a fact of life in Italy as well.
Bridget’s face blanched in horror. “But we can’t just let people think he’s dead! What about his friends? His mom?”
“Yeah, I’m not saying it’s ideal. Speaking of, he obviously can’t come home. Any ideas on where he could stay?”
Bridget looked at me, then Andrew.
“Bring him here,” Andrew said before I could answer. “We’ve got room.”
“Alright, I’ll have Soren call you. Just… keep Nathan where you can see him for now.” Maggie cut the call.
“Are you sure about this?” Bridget asked into the silence that followed. Her expression of mingled gratitude and misery broke my heart even further. “You don’t even know him.”
“But you do. And no friend of yours is going to get hurt if I can help it,” Andrew said softly, finally reaching for her. He gripped her hand tightly for a moment before letting go. The bond was a jumble of desire, anxiety, and determination.
