Page 57 of Ryder’s Storm

“Thank you.”

Jenny left and pulled the door shut behind her. Scarlet was alone.

The events of the last hours replayed in her mind. She was sure that Maya was a capable doctor and would be able to help Lizzy, but Scarlet still couldn’t figure out why Vanessa hadn’t called an ambulance instead of calling Ryder and bringing the injured woman here. Something didn’t add up. The woman had clearly been attacked by somebody. So why was Vanessa keeping this from the police? Did she know who’d attacked Lizzy, and wanted to protect that person?

27

Scarlet yawned and looked at her cell phone. She’d been waiting in this room for almost an hour. And she urgently needed to go to the bathroom. There had to be a restroom somewhere. She rose and opened the door to the hallway and stepped outside. On the way from the medical suite to this waiting room, she hadn’t seen any signs for bathrooms, so she decided to head in the other direction, farther down the corridor. When it turned, she followed it, but none of the doors she encountered on the left or the right were bathrooms.

The corridor ended at a door. She pushed it open, and stepped through it. Behind it were stairs. Clearly, there were no bathrooms in this direction either. She should have asked Nurse Jenny to direct her to the restrooms. Scarlet pivoted to put her hand on the door handle, but there was none. The door couldn’t be opened from this side, at least not without an access card. A card reader was affixed next to the door. Probably a security measure so nobody unauthorized could enter the medical floor from this staircase.

Scarlet had locked herself out.

“Crap!” she cursed.

Now she had no choice but to walk up a floor. To her relief, the door she reached was unlocked. Scarlet pushed it open and looked around. She was in another corridor and decided to try to find a bathroom to her right. She finally found a door with the sign of a woman on it, and opened it. The restroom was clean and large, with several stalls and multiple wash basins. She used one of the stalls, then washed her hands and dried them and checked her face in the mirror. Happy with her reflection, she turned around.

She almost collided with an older woman and froze, her heart pounding. “I’m sorry, ma’am!” Scarlet hadn’t seen her when she’d looked in the mirror. She let out a breath, trying to calm herself.

“No problem.” The woman looked her up and down. “Are you supposed to be on this floor?”

Scarlet sighed. “No, I think I got lost. I was in the medical center, and then I was looking for a restroom, and I locked myself out, and the only place I could go to was up a flight of stairs. Maybe you could help me find my way back?”

“Sure, just turn left out the door, take the second corridor to the right, and it’ll lead you back to the elevator.”

“Thank you, ma’am, I appreciate it.”

Scarlet turned, and left the restroom. She followed the woman’s instructions and made it back to the elevator. Relieved, she pressed the button, when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.

Benjamin was walking toward her, his eyes narrowed. “What the hell?”

“Oh, hey, I got totally turned around. Can you help me get back to the medical center, please?”

He stopped in front of her, glaring at her. “Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing on a restricted access floor?”

“It’s me, Scarlet. Why are you pretending not to know me?”

The elevator doors opened.

“Because I don’t know you.” He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the elevator with him, then pressed a button.

“Let go of me. Why are you such an asshole?” The few interactions she’d had with Benjamin when he’d guarded her house had always been pleasant. Clearly the guy was in a bad mood.

“Because we don’t tolerate intruders. What are you trying to do here, huh? What’s your plan?”

“I don’t have a fucking plan! I was looking for a restroom!”

“Not a very original excuse. I’ve heard better ones.”

She tried to free herself from his iron grip on her biceps. “Damn it, Benjamin! You’re hurting me.”

He stared at her, his expression changing. “Oh for fuck’s sake! My brother let you in here? I’m not Benjamin, I’m Damian, his twin.”

He finally let go of her arm. She rubbed it.

“I didn’t know Benjamin had a twin.” Benjamin had never mentioned it. Not that they’d exchanged much more than a few pleasantries.

“Yeah, well, he likes to pretend he’s unique. He’s not.”