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“Thanks for being there for me tonight,” her voice murmured from beside him.
His gaze slid up to meet her luminous brown eyes. He opened his mouth to say…what?
A prolonged cough made them both jump and glance at the doorway where Matt stood. Frowning.
Jax popped to his feet, knocking the chair back a foot. “Matt.” He stepped away from Seyla. The motion knocked her hand from his arm, leaving a cold spot in its place.
“Thanks for watching over her. I can take it from here.”
Jax understood what the emphasis on “watching over her” conveyed. Point taken. “Okay. Yeah, so…I’m gonna head out. Seyla,” he said, tipping his chin up at her, “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Matt, I’ll see you later, right?” He held his breath, hoping their friendship hadn’t been affected.
Matt relented, and the edges of his mouth tipped up. “Sure, see you then.”
Jax heaved a grateful sigh and hightailed it from the room before he did any more damage.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Seyla, I want your intake report by the end of the day.” A note of irritation vibrated through the voice on the line.
Seyla pulled the phone away from her ear and eyed it with confusion before she put it back to her ear. “I-I’m sorry, Director Davis. I think I misheard you.”
“I need your intake report.”
“I put a copy on your desk.”
“It’s not here.”
“Ooookay. I’ll print it again and bring it to you.”
“I’ll expect it within the hour.”
The harsh click hurt Seyla’s eardrum. After endless hours of preparation for the upcoming meeting with the director this afternoon, had she ruined any chance of him listening to her concerns by being forgetful? A search of the papers on her desk yielded no intake report. She opened her top drawer. Same results. She yanked open the bottom drawer and gasped. One of Jessa’s porcelain doll heads sat in the tray, staring at her. Seyla sat immobile for a second, eyes closed, in an effort to calm her nerves. Afterward, she returned the doll head to Jessa’s office before resuming her search. A thorough check of the other desk drawers also yielded no report.
Was she losing her mind?
She was sure she had put that report on the director’s desk. She printed another copy on her new laptop and rushed through the hallway to the printer. When she rounded the corner, she collided with a person.
Chase.
“Whoa!” he hollered, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady them both. His cane clattered to the floor.
“Chase, I am so sorry!” Seyla gritted her teeth against the muscle pain competing for attention, a reminder of her close call and the emergency epinephrine pen Jax had slammed into her right leg to save her life.
“It’s alright. These legs don’t work like they used to, but sometimes they surprise me.” Bitterness coated the words, curdling the air.
Her heart ached at the loss he’d suffered. According to Jessa, he’d been a formidable tennis player in college before the symptoms of multiple sclerosis appeared. His father, one of the original founders of the sanctuary, had died due to complications from the disease, and she couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling with the potential of a bleak future like that looming over him. Jessa said he spent a lot more time at the sanctuary these days, intent on maintaining his father’s legacy.
Seyla wrestled with what to say, then opted to say nothing when Jessa came through.
“Hey, Chase, I didn’t know you were here. Where’s your Lexus?”
He huffed in disgust. “Who knows at this point? Wherever the person who stole it put it, I suppose.”
“Seriously?” they asked in unison.
“Yeah.” Chase leaned forward to retrieve the cane, using the wall for support. When he stood up, he ran his free hand through his hair. “Last night, in fact.”
“Oh no,” Seyla said. Was somebody on a crime spree? First, her apartment. Now Chase’s car? “That’s awful. Did they take anything else?”
