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“Good.” Cap offered the briefest of nods. “That’s all I needed to hear from you. Your pay will be docked for this day since you were on PT, and you won’t come in tomorrow—full-pay vacation day,” he added, holding up a hand when I opened my mouth to ask what the fuck he was talking about. “After dealing with a fire at your mom’s and a hostage situation with your girlfriend, any man would need at least a day to catch his breath, and I need you at your best. Looks like we’re going to be tapped as an added layer of security for a Northern California university that’s hosting some archaeological thing—secrets of the Mayans or Aztecs, or something like that. It’s already weathered a couple protests from people who are against appropriating South American culture. The last protest even accused the university of grave-robbing.”
“In other words, the usual.”
“Yep. I need you to do a threat-assessment after you review all the known issues this university has gone through.”
The ER doors opened and Eden walked through, a white bandage wrapped around her neck and the front of her blouse still stained with blood. The mere sight of it filled me with rage.
“Day after tomorrow?” Cap said, glancing at Eden as she headed our way.
“Day after tomorrow,” I assured him absently, and held my arms open to her.
“I smell like a fish tank,” she began, hesitating. “When that hydroponic tank blew, I got showered in totally gross water.”
“Genius, I don’t give a shit.” Grinning at her girlie-girl worries, I pulled her into my arms and gave her a squeeze. She’d be damn lucky if I let her go for even five minutes in the next twenty-four hours. “Echo needs to take some sharp-shooting lessons from you. That was one helluva trick shot you pulled off.”
“No one’s better than me when it comes to trick shots. I’ve got the trophies to prove it.” She settled against me, and she gave Cap a nod of greeting as she wrapped her arms around my middle. “Speaking of which, has there been any word on Leopold Driscoll’s condition?”
“Still in surgery.” Cap gave her a smile, and I was happy to see it was genuine. “You could say you got a hole in one, Ms. Steadfast. The BB went straight up his right nostril, cracked the orbital bone behind his right eye and got lodged there. They’re still trying to get it out, and they’re not sure if he’ll be able to see out of that eye again.”
“How Biblical. My father’s going to hate that.” She lifted a shoulder, and after studying her expression I could see she had done the smart thing and made peace with Leopold’s fate. “And Cobee? My brain was so swamped with rage and fear and confusion while that poor man was just lying there, and all I could think was that he was probably dead and I wasn’t even helping him.”
“Concussed and under observation upstairs. He should be fine and ready to face charges of stalking, if you choose to press them.”
“Hm.” I could see her wheels turning—always a bad sign—before she gave me a squeeze and stepped back. “I think what I need to do before any decisions are made is to have a chat with my father. There are some things that need to be cleared up before I decide what to do next.”
“Keep me in the loop,” Cap said, nodding.
*
Eden
It was strange, how I could feel every beat of my heart knocking against my sternum as I stood outside my father’s hospital room. It wasn’t that I was upset, or angry. If anything, I was afraid; afraid of what I’d find out. Afraid of what I’d confirm.
Just… afraid.
Blindly I reached out for Luke’s hand and sighed in relief when the warmth of his fingers closed over mine. “I feel it, Luke.”
His fingers squeezed mine. “You feel what, love?”
“Fear.” I took a breath and listened to it shake. “I’m not angry. I don’t feel like raging or attacking something. I’m just… scared. I don’t want to go in that room.”
He waited a beat. “No one’s going to make you go in there, love. You’re free to turn around and never look back.”
“I know.” Damn him, of course I knew that. The only person who had pushed me to this point was me. He knew that all too well, the jerk. “I have to end this.”
Again, he seemed to take his time digesting that. “Great thing about endings, genius. Usually they’re also the start of something completely different and new. Close the book on an old way of life, and start a new one with fresh, empty pages waiting for you to fill them. Of course that’s scary, and it’s understandable that you’re afraid. But it can also be exciting, especially if you’re starting that new book with someone by your side.” He squeezed my fingers again, only this time he brought my hand to his lips for a lingering kiss. “I’m right here, Eden. I’m by your side and I’m not going anywhere.”
Aw. “Probably because you want to see what happens next.”
“Hell, yeah, I do. I’ve never seen your genius grifter of a father and you in the same room together, so I can’t wait for the fucking fireworks to blow the roof off this place. It’s better than an Orca battling a great white shark, or Superman going up against Batman.”
“Orcas and Superman are the obvious winners.”
“So are you.” He leaned in for a lingering kiss.Mm. Nice. “And if you want to know a secret, I’m not about to leave you when I know you love me. We haven’t even begun to dig into that little nugget of information you dropped on me, so I’m not going anywhere.”
Again my heart thumped against my chest. Any second now it’d tunnel its way out and plop itself onto the floor. “Okay, about that—”
“Shut up.” With that, he reached out with his free hand and opened the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
