Page 39 of Cruel Titan

“I’ll be down in a sec.” Smiling, I think about Francis, knowing she is downstairs whipping up a batch of waffles or pancakes. She’s been coming in on her days off. Saying she’s worried about us or doesn’t want to sit home alone. And I would much rather her be here too.

Willing myself out of bed, I walk into the closet and pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before heading downstairs. Breakfast first, then I’ll figure out my next step. I can’t just sit here all day, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

* * *

Most of the day is gone, and I still haven’t figured out what to do. The one thing I want to do is probably the last thing I should do, but here goes.

Dialing Lindsey’s number, I hold my breath until she answers the call. I hear excitement in her voice, but that’s only because she doesn’t realize the danger she could be in. It’s been a little over three weeks since Davis told me to stay away. And I miss Lindsey dearly, but I don’t want to put her further at risk.

“Does Davis have company right now?”

“Nope, he’s not busy at all,” she teases before I hear his voice in the background asking if she could check with his nurse on the status of his pain medicine. I doubt he even wants it. What he does want is Lindsey to leave the room so he can talk freely.

“Yeah,” comes his gruff voice by way of greeting. Even though it’s his usual grumpy tone, I can’t help but love it.

“I know what you said, but I need to tell you something.” I fully expect him to fuss at me or at the very least say he doesn’t want to hear it, so I’m a little surprised when he responds by telling me to stop by the hospital at 6 p.m.

The day crawls by, so I decide to head that way a little early and take a longer route. It might be better anyways to make sure no one is following me because someone was willing to kill and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

The route I take is winding and long. It’s a good thing I left when I did or I would’ve been late, but I eventually end up finding my way to the hospital, walking in exactly on time. Spotting Davis sitting up in the bed, I’m relieved to see him. Everything about him looks more like the old him and less like the hospital version that had been hooked up to a million tubes and wires.

“Where’s Lindsey?” I ask, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed that she usually occupies.

“I convinced her to go home for a few hours. It wasn’t an easy task.” He looks a little less harsh than usual as he asks, “Did something happen?”

“A lot,” I let out a breath and update him on a few of the highlights, but he doesn’t have much of a reaction.

“Try to focus on something else. I should be out of here in a few weeks, then I’ll help you.” He sounds determined, but his plan and the update Lindsey had given me don’t coincide.

“Um … you may be leaving the hospital in a few weeks, but you won’t be going back to work right away.” Or ever according to Lindsey, but she’d said Davis doesn’t want to accept that part.

“I’ll be back to work soon.” He shifts, flinching as if he’s in pain but plays it off quickly.

“Yeah. And it almost got you killed. Are you sure you want to put Lindsey through that again?”

“She knows the risk.”

“Stop being an ass.” He ignores me and doesn’t respond for a change so I continue, “You can’t put her through that again. You realize that, right?”

He blows out a frustrated breath, his shoulders dropping, “I worked my ass off to get where I was. And it might all be over just like that.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“No. This isn’t on you.” He rubs his hands across his face, staring straight ahead at the wall. “I’m just not good at anything else.”

“That’s highly unlikely. I would’ve thought you’d do anything you wanted to and wouldn’t accept no for an answer, regardless what it was. I’ve assumed failure wasn’t an option in an aspect of your life … except manners. At least, that’s the Detective Dick that I knew.”

“I’ve been called worse. Much worse,” he chuckles before looking to me. “I will help you get to the bottom of this, but I need a little more time. Just be careful. We’ll figure this out.”

Nodding, I smile, though I can’t imagine pulling him back into this. If not for his sake, then for Lindsey’s. I can’t imagine her having to go through this again—or worse, having to bury her husband. He’s already on whoever’s radar, which was made more than obvious when they tried to kill him. Even though I hear his words, I don’t think I’ll be able to follow them. I need answers, and he needs to heal and protect his wife. I’ve already lost the life I had with my dad. Davis has a chance to return to his, and I’m going to make sure he does.

I don’t hang out much longer, it’s too risky. I head out to the one place that I really don’t want to go, but hope something will come of it. Whether it’ll be something good or bad is the question once again.

32

Quinn

It’s dark by the time I arrive, which makes the house look even more ominous and unwelcoming … something I never would’ve thought I’d feel in a million years looking at my childhood home. The one that now has my name on the deed thanks to Nathan, and the one that I still don’t want any part of.