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The faint pallor of her skin even seemed to emphasize her delicate condition.
Bit would have never defined Sylvie as fragile, yet that was the only word to describe her at the moment. He pressed his fingers to his eyes to ease the burning sensation that had taken up residence hours ago. Only when he lowered his arms did he catch sight of movement outside the glass window. The federal agent who had replaced a local law enforcement officer hours ago was accepting a cup of coffee from one of the nurses.
Agent Jarrett Lynn had not appreciated the fact that Bit had called his supervisory special agent to confirm the man’s identity. If only Sylvie had allowed Bit to be as thorough with the home health agency’s employees. He recalled making such an offer, but it had more to do with the care her father had been about to receive than it had been about her physical safety.
Every single one of them understood the risks taken with this job, as well as being center stage in Brook’s life. None of them would have it any other way. They were a team, and Bit had never been a part of something like what they had built in his entire life. He wasn’t saying that the close relationship between him and his sister wasn’t special, because he would walk through fire for Paula. If it hadn’t been for Brook, he would have ended up behind bars for the decisions he had made for his sister.
Then there was Zoey Collins.
Anyone who met Zoey would assume she was perfect for him, but that was the problem. They had too many things in common, and he found such compatibility difficult to trust. If he were being honest with himself, he definitely did not trust her the way he did those on the team.
Bit was finally coming to understand how Brook had survived over the years, but that meant she had never truly lived life to its fullest. Regardless of his racing thoughts, he hadn’t returned Zoey’s calls since he had stood her up at the restaurant. There were endless messages on his voicemail, but he couldn’t bring himself to call her back when Sylvie was still fighting for her life.
The same nurse who had handed a coffee to the federal agent entered Sylvie’s room. Nannette Benning wasn’t too pleased with him, either. Bit understood that the nurse had a job to do, but he had adamantly refused to leave Sylvie’s room. Nannette had finally relented after being presented with his credentials. Granted, the identification wasn’t a federal badge, but the fact that S&E Investigations, Inc. was a consultant with the Bureau had held a lot of sway.
If Nannette only knew that he could recite her likes and dislikes in under a minute, she probably wouldn’t have caved so easily. The experienced nurse loved every shade of purple, attended a yoga class every Wednesday morning, rescued a tabby cat named Oscar two years ago, and loved to read to the point that she currently had one thousand, two hundred, and four unread eBooks on her Kindle. There were a lot of facts that Bit had come to know about Nannette, but what mattered most was that she was the one who had tended to Sylvie’s recovery.
Bit had to believe that Sylvie would pull through, because he couldn’t fathom his life without her.
“When you have time, would you please provide me with the name of the nurse who will be taking over for you at seven o’clock?” Bit asked Nannette as he moved away from the end of Sylvie’s bed. He had held her hand for the first hour after two hospital employees had wheeled her into an assigned ICU room. He had only released his hold on her fingers so that he could continue to monitor his screen. Theo needed assistance in tracking down the unsub. “Along with the other names of those who will be working this floor. I’ll need to clear them before they are allowed access to this room.”
Nannette frowned as she continued to take Sylvie’s vitals, but the nurse eventually relented and agreed to supply the names. Bit could have gotten the information another way, but he would rather not hack into the hospital’s servers after he had already crossed lines that could land him in jail.
Bit wasn’t worried about the others, because he wouldn’t hesitate to cut a deal to satisfy the feds. Bit had familiar knowledge about a Russian racketeer’s illegal business model that the FBI would salivate over.
Not that Bit believed it would come to that, because he was very good at covering his digital fingerprints. Had he been at the office, he wouldn’t have the restrictions that he was currently facing with one laptop. As it stood, such limitations were wasting precious time, but he wouldn’t leave Sylvie’s side.
It wasn’t lost on him the reason behind Nannette’s inability to take him seriously. In no way shape or form did he resemble a private investigator, much less a consultant to the FBI.
Bit was extremely thin, pale from preferring to sit behind a computer instead of out in the sun, and his clothes were simple—jeans and a T-shirt. It didn’t help that his blonde hair looked greasy when the strands dried after being washed, which he tried to hide with knitted hats that his sister continuously made him. He had requested multiple grey knitted beanies because that was the color Sylvie had mentioned matched his eyes. Fortunately, Paula had been able to find various shades at a local yarn shop.
“I didn’t realize the situation before,” Nannette murmured as she slid the keycard through the slat alongside the monitor.
The plastic keycard was attached to the spiral wrist keychain, but Bit couldn’t help but question the security measure. The quick action signed her out of the software system, not that he wouldn’t have been able to gain access to the hospital’s databases if he had so desired to tonight.
Bit had taken a seat in the corner, but he hadn’t bothered to wheel the tray toward him. He was still attempting to figure out the meaning behind the nurse’s statement. It had taken him a minute to realize that Nannette thought he and Sylvie were romantically involved, and he blamed his exhaustion on such a delay.
What he really needed was one of his energy drinks, but he didn’t want to leave Sylvie’s bedside. Besides, Paula had promised that she would bring him some necessities. Energy drinks fell into that category.
“Her vitals are stable,” Nannette informed him. “She is showing no signs of infection.”
“My sister should be here in around thirty minutes with a change of clothes and some items that I’ll need for the next day or two,” Bit said, purposefully not addressing the nurse’s assumption about his relationship with Sylvie.
While it was true that he loved Sylvie…was in love with her…now wasn’t the right time. There might never be a right time. All he knew was that she was his best friend, and he didn’t want that to change. Ever.
“Special Agent Lynn has photographs to compare to the names on the approved visitor list. I know that visits are limited in the ICU, but I’ve already explained why there needs to be an exception. I also made sure that there was one posted at the nurse’s station.”
“Miranda mentioned something about a list. And yes, she posted it on the counter,” Nannette said with a small, reassuring smile. “We’ll do everything in our power to make sure that Ms. Deering is safe.”
Bit was grateful when his phone rang. Nannette meant well, but it was all he could do to keep his emotions in check. Sylvie’s life was hanging by a thread, and Theo needed Bit to be at his best to help track down the woman responsible.
Then there was Brook.
Whatever Jacob had said to his sister on the phone had her reverting back to her old ways. The team couldn’t allow that to happen. Brook was the reason that Bit wasn’t lying six feet underground or spending the rest of his life in jail.
Couldn’t she see that the team was stronger together than apart?
Bit’s disappointment upon setting his gaze on his phone was crushing, but he answered the caller anyway. Maybe Graham had some ideas as to where Brook could have gone or what she might be planning in terms of Jacob and the woman whom he was able to get to do his dirty work.
