Page 106 of Shadowed With Fear

“B,” my voice cracks and I try to push myself up. “I’m okay.” I blink rapidly through the nausea washing over me as I lift my head.

“Brahm’s right, D. You need to rest. I’ll be back in here soon to give you some more pain killers, okay?”

“Thank you, Adam.”

He looks like a nervous wreck, and I wonder how much he had been through the last few hours.

“No, sweet girl. It’s you who’s been through a lot tonight.”

Grayson steps into my room, passed Brahm and Liz.

“What time is it?” I ask looking at the sun shining across my floor.

“5:02 am.”

“What happened?” He reaches for my hand, holding it gently to his lips.

“A fucking lot, sweet girl. But we’ll talk about that later. You just rest, okay?”

“No, tell me,” I press.

He looks at B and Brahm nods, ushering Liz out who swears she’ll be back with all the junk food she can carry.

Grayson’s quiet, tracing the bandaged taped to my wrist with his finger. He clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and begins.

“Ethan and Issac took you last night,” he waits for any recognition in my eyes. I vaguely remember it happening. The costume mask, Issac looking crazed, Ethan talking about his friends.

Grays nods. “Yeah, I don’t think you’d remember a whole lot. You were in pretty bad shape, D.”

“I’m okay. Keep going. We’re we right?”

“Yeah, sweet girl. You were right. The locations in Ethan’s portfolio were all linked to places where bodies had been discovered. A lot of them went unnoticed by the newspapers because they were ruled as overdoses or accidents.”

“And the shipping yard?” I ask hopefully.

“Yeah, he did use one of the containers. The problem was figuring out which one it was that was in the image he had in the portfolio. I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner.”

“It’s okay. I swear.”

“You did so fucking well. I’m so proud of you. My little Sherlock,” he murmurs against my palm.

I blush smiling at his antics.

“Well, I gotta say, despite everything, still a better Halloween than last year.”

He snorts. “Yeah?”

“Hell yeah. Liz is bringing me junk food. I get to spend the day in bed with my best friend and my boyfrie— “

I pause, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

He’s grinning. A fortified, goofy, Grayson Williams smile.

“Did you just call me your boyfriend?” He teases.

“Pfft. What? No…”

“Yeah, yeah. So, the day in bed with your favorite sweets, your best friend, your boyfriend, and what else?”