Chapter 128 #46: You Know I Have To
David’s eyes are already on me before I even hang up the call and lower the phone. He doesn’t ask who it was. He doesn’t have to. The way my shoulders stiffened told him everything.
“No,” he says before I can even open my mouth.
I slide the phone back into my pocket and meet his gaze. “I didn’t say anything yet.”
“You didn’t have to. Your face did.” He shifts against the pillows, wincing as the movement pulls at the incision line beneath the thin hospital gown. “You’re not going.”
“You know I have to.”
“No. You don’t.” His voice stays low, but final. “Vincent Calder is the last person on earth you should be meeting in an abandoned warehouse at midnight. Especially not alone.”
I drag the chair closer until my knees bump the bed frame. “If I don’t go, whatever he has stays buried. He says he has proof Maya killed Elaine. Proof that could take the target off my back before the detectives decide cuffs look better on me than hospital wristbands.”
David’s jaw tightens. “Then we send Marcus. Or Rhys. Or hell, we call Harlan and let the NYPD earn their pensions for once.”
“And risk Vincent vanishing the second he smells a badge?” I lean forward, placing my elbows on the mattress, close enough that I can smell the antiseptic clinging to his skin mixed with the faint trace of whatever soap the nurses use. “He’s paranoid. He’s cornered. If he thinks I’m bringing backup he’ll bolt, and we’ll never see that evidence. I’ll spend the next six months trying to convince a jury I didn’t strangle your mother while my daughter asks why Mommy isn’t coming home from court.”
His fingers flex around mine. The grip is still weak, but the intent is iron. “You think I’m going to lie here while you walk into a trap?”
“I think you’re going to trust me to handle this the way I’ve handled everything else these past few weeks.” I keep my tone even and reasonable, even though my pulse is hammering so hard I can feel it in my throat. “I’m not the same woman who used to wait for permission, David. You know that.”
He studies me for a long beat. Then he exhales roughly through his nose.
“Fine. But Marcus comes with you.” I open my mouth to object but he cuts in before I can even form the words. “If you fight me on this, Nora, I swear to God I’ll drag these IVs out and follow you myself. Broken ribs, sepsis risk, and all.”
A laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. It’s brittle, but real. “You’d make it halfway down the hall before a nurse tackled you. Then we’d both be in handcuffs.”
“Exactly.” He doesn’t smile back. “So we're gonna have to compromise. Marcus shadows you in a separate car. He stays out of sight until you signal. If anything feels wrong, you say the word and he’s there in thirty seconds. That’s the only way this happens.”
I open my mouth to argue but he cuts me off with a look that could stop traffic.
“Either Marcus follows, or I start unhooking tubes right now. Your choice, Doll.”
The nickname lands softer than it should, curling around the ache in my chest. I hold his gaze another second, weighing the stubborn set of his jaw against the very real possibility that he’ll do exactly what he threatened. I’ve seen him push through worse with less reason.
“Fine,” I say at last. “Marcus follows. But if Vincent spots him and runs, this is on you.”
“Deal.” Relief flickers across his face. “Text him and tell him you have a deal.”
I pull my phone out again and type fast.
《We have a deal. Midnight at Warehouse 3. I’ll be there》
The three dots appear almost immediately.
《That's my smart girl. See you soon》
I show David the screen. He reads it, mouth flattening into a thin line.
“Charming,” he mutters.
I pocket the phone and lean in until my lips brush his ear. “I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
He catches my wrist before I can pull away, gently pulling me closer. “Come here.”
I don’t resist. I climb onto the narrow bed as carefully as I can, avoiding tubes and monitors, and settle against his good side. His arm comes around me, weak but insistent, pulling me even closer until my head rests on his shoulder.
“You come back to me, do you hear me?” he says against my hair. “No heroics. No playing martyr. You get the evidence... you get out... and you come back to me.”
“I know the playbook, David” I say with an eye roll, then press my mouth to the side of his neck planting a soft kiss. “I’ve been running it since the night you got shot.”
His fingers thread through my hair. “I love you.”
The words hit harder than they should. I realise I haven’t heard him utter those words to me in over five years.
“I love you too.” I kiss the corner of his jaw, then his mouth, slow and deep enough that the heart monitor picks up speed. I pull back and look him in the eyes. “Stay alive while I’m gone, okay? I have plans for you once you’re discharged.”
He gives me the ghost of that old wicked smile I love so much. “Counting on it.”
I slide off the bed, straighten my sweater, and head for the door.
“Text Marcus,” he calls after me. “Now.”
“Yessir. Already on it.”
I step into the hallway and fire off the message to Marcus before the door even clicks shut behind me.
《Warehouse 3, Pier 29. Midnight. Vincent says he has proof Maya killed Elaine. I need you to shadow me. Separate cars. Stay dark until I call》
His reply is instant.
《On my way. Don’t leave without me》
I exhale and head toward the elevators. The clock above the nurses’ station reads 9:47 p.m. Just over two hours to kill.
Time enough to kiss Lucy goodnight, change into something that doesn’t scream hospital visitor, and pray I’m not walking into the last mistake I ever make.