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I hold out my phone, where the image from the fake ID fills the screen. “He’s shaved his beard, but he looks much the same otherwise.”
I don’t expect much. From what Delilah has told me, her sister has been out of the life for a while now. “I don’t know,” she whispers. “I mean, I had a lot of clients. He could have been one of them, but I don’t really remember him.”
“That’s okay,” Delilah assures her, smiling sweetly. “It was a long shot, anyway. And I shouldn’t have brought it up until you’re feeling stronger.”
“I feel fine.” I find that hard to believe. I’ve taken a beating or two in my life, and I know I felt like hell afterward. Never did I end up in a hospital bed, much less in the ICU. “Let me see it again. The beard is throwing me off. But the eyes look familiar.”
Delilah clears her throat and makes a face like she’s uncomfortable. “He definitely remembered you. He said you had a lot of fun.” Even without the air quotes she makes, the heavy sarcasm in her voice would tell the story.
Just like Deanna’s sharp gasp tells another story. “Oh, my God. It’s him.”
“Him?” For her sake, I manage to keep my voice low. Barely.
“I don’t remember his name,” she admits, and again it’s a struggle to restrain myself. Lately it seems I’ve spent more energy reining in my reactions than on anything else. Not something I excel at.
“But you do remember him?” Delilah asks.
“He kept talking about all the fun we were going to have together.” She shudders. “He’s a sick pig.”
Delilah looks at me. “She remembers him.”
Deanna squeezes her hands, trembling now. “He was the one?” There go the monitors, beeping faster than ever. So fast, in fact, that a pair of nurses enter the room looking concerned.
One of them points back and forth between Delilah and me. “The two of you are upsetting her.”
“Please, that’s not what we’re trying to do.” Not that I think it matters much now what Delilah says. I haven’t spent a lot of time in hospitals, but I recognize the disapproving look. That, I have plenty of experience with. It comes with the territory whenever a civilian recognizes me or my family from the news.
I reach out and touch her shoulder. “Maybe we’d better let Deanna rest for now. We’ve already kept her talking longer than we should have.”
She tries to shrug me off, anyway. “I don’t want to leave you,” she whispers to her sister. That fierceness, that deep, almost desperate devotion. It’s humbling to see. I can’t help but admire it even if her stubbornness isn’t helping matters.
The nurse checking Deanna’s vital signs offers a sympathetic smile. “She’s in very good hands here,” she insists, gently but firmly. “This is the best place for her now, and the best thing she can do right now is get plenty of rest. Once she’s strong enough to be up and around, that’ll be the time for these longer visits.”
“It’s true,” I agree, equally firm in the way I pull Delilah to her feet. “Let’s go. We can come back tomorrow.” The look which the nurses exchange gives me a hint as to how they feel about that idea, but I can’t be bothered to give a shit. If I had my way, Delilah would be able to stay here with her sister as long as she wanted. But that would mean letting her out of my sight, something which I would rather avoid as much as possible.
After the two of them whisper a farewell, we meet Jock in the hall. The short nod that passes between us serves as an entire conversation. Now that we know for sure it was Greg, nothing short of a biblical-level flood would stop me from finding that worthless piece of shit. I doubt Delilah would raise the sort of qualms she did over the idea of his parents being hurt.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to pull the trigger herself. Put the sonofabitch out of his misery and make the world a better place.
“What was that about?” I should’ve known she’d be paying attention, watching our little exchange. She doesn’t miss a thing.
I glance over my shoulder. He’s following at a safe distance, murmuring into his phone as he gives orders. “That was the go-ahead to find that little toad, wherever he is, and bring him out from whatever rock he’s hiding under. He needs to find out what happens to men who do shit like that to women.” We reach the elevator doors and I turn to her. “I hope you know that’s how this has to go. The police aren’t handling this.”
“Do I strike you as somebody with a lot of faith in the police?” she asks with a bitter little laugh. I hate to hear it. I’m not under any illusions when it comes to her—she’s not some pure, innocent thing—but I hate to see how hard life has made her. She deserves so much better.
And here she is, with me. I’d hardly say I fit the bill.
“Just so long as we understand each other.” We step on the elevator and I press the button that will take us to the garage entrance.
She leans against me, closing her eyes and sighing. “My poor sister,” she whispers. “Seeing her like that. You don’t know how hard it was for me to keep it together. And I know I didn’t even do a very good job of it, but believe me, I tried.”
“I know you did. I know you tried your best.” We step out of the elevator and take the short hallway to the garage. Chuck is waiting beside the car along with Scott, who we brought along for extra protection. As expected, he’s scanning the area for any threats before waving us over to the car while Jock heads to his own, one spot over.
To me, this is nothing, business as usual. For Delilah, though, it’s unsettling enough to make her hand tighten around mine.
“Don’t worry. We’re safe.” Still, all this does is remind me of why I wanted to get her away from me in the first place. The extra precautions, the heightened danger. She has no business being any part of this.
So why can’t I let go of her? Even though I know it would be for the best.
