Chapter 34 No solution

Chapter 34 No solution
Maya's POV

Justin was driving too fast. The speed limit signs blurred past, meaningless, streetlights flickered across the dashboard like strobes. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel and his jaw was tight enough to crack.

I didn't tell him to slow down. I couldn't even speak.

I was just staring at my phone, at the photo, at my father… asleep in his hospital bed, the IV in his arm, the machines still beeping their quiet rhythm in the background. The angle of the photo was low.

Someone had been sitting in the chair beside his bed and watched him sleep. That person stood close enough to touch him.

God. I hope they didn't harm him.

Ahhhh. What's going on? This whole thing was driving me nuts.

"Who sent this?" Justin's voice cut through the silence.

"I don't know." My voice was barely a whisper. "It's an unknown number."

"Hope you haven't responded?"

"No."

"Good. Don't."

I looked at him. His eyes were fixed on the road, but I could see his mind racing. The same way mine was.

"We need to go to the hospital," he said. "Now."

"What if whoever took the photo is still there?"

"Then we deal with them."

"Justin…"

"Maya." He looked at me, just for a second. His eyes were hard. "Your father is alone in that hospital room. Someone was in the room and took a picture of him while he was unconscious. I don't care who it is or what they want. We're not leaving him alone tonight."

I didn't argue or say anything. I just held on to the phone and tried not to imagine the worst.



The hospital loomed out of the darkness. White walls, white lights…white everything. The parking lot was almost empty with a few cars scattered across the asphalt like forgotten toys.

Justin parked, killed the engine and turned to face me.

"You stay close to me, okay? You don't go anywhere alone. You understand?"

"I understand."

"If you see anyone…anyone who doesn't belong, you tell me immediately."

"I said I understand."

He stared at me for a long moment. Then he nodded.

We got out of the car. The night air was cold. Too cold for spring. It bit through my jacket like it wasn't even there. The hospital doors opened automatically. The warmth inside was almost suffocating after the cold.

The front desk clerk looked up, same woman as before. Her name tag said Doris.

"Ms. Sandoval," she said. "You're back late."

"I need to see my father."

"Visiting hours ended at eight. I can make an exception for a few minutes, but…"

"I need to see my father."

Something in my voice must have stopped her. She didn't argue, she just nodded and waved us through.

I ran past the waiting room, past the vending machines that hummed their quiet, indifferent song, past the nurses' station where a woman in scrubs looked up and started to say something.

I didn't stop until I got to his room, then I pushed open the door to his room.

Papa was asleep. The same as in the photo. The same position. His head tilted slightly to the left, the same IV in his arm.

He's okay. He's still here.

He's still breathing.

Thank God.

But I didn't feel safe. I checked the window, locked. I checked the corners of the room, empty. I checked the closet, nothing.

I checked under the bed but nothing.

Someone was here, someone took that photo. Someone stood right where I'm standing now.

Justin appeared in the doorway, out of breath. His eyes scanned the room the same way mine had.

"He's okay," I said. My voice was shaking. "He's still asleep."

Justin walked to the window, checked the lock himself, then he pulled the curtain aside and looked out at the parking lot.

"See anything?" I asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean someone isn't out there."

A nurse appeared in the doorway, young with dark hair pulled back in a bun. Her name tag said Patricia.

"Ms. Sandoval? Is everything alright? We weren't expecting visitors this late."

I turned to her. "Has anyone been here? Anyone who shouldn't be here?"

She blinked in confusion.

"Visiting hours ended hours ago. No one has been in this room except hospital staff. I've been at the desk since seven. I would have seen someone."

"No one?" Justin asked. "No one at all?"

"Just the night shift nurses. And Dr. Patel did his rounds around nine, but that's it."

Ohh God.

"You look pale," Patricia said. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need to sit down?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I said I'm fine."

My voice came out sharper than I intended. Patricia's eyes widened and she took a step back.

Justin stepped in. "She's had a long night. We're just worried about her father."

Patricia nodded slowly. "I understand. But visiting hours…"

"We won't be long."

She hesitated, then she looked at me, then at him and then nodded.

"I'll be at the desk if you need anything."

She walked away. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway and then faded.

The door clicked shut and we were left alone.

I walked to the chair beside my father's bed and sat down.

This was all my fault. I shouldn't have left Papa alone. What the hell would I even gain from this investigation?

I fucking left my father to go about some baseless chase.

Ohh my God.

But who the hell sent this? How do we find out who it was?

How do we even protect Papa when we don't even know who we're fighting?

Justin stood by the window. His arms were crossed and his eyes were scanning the parking lot.

"We should ask for security footage," he said.

"You think they'll give it to us?"

"We can try."

"And if they say no?"

"Then we find another way."

Another way.

There's always another way, but I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting, of running. I'm tired of being scared.

"Maya."

I looked up.

Justin had turned away from the window and was looking at me. His eyes were soft and tired.

"We're going to figure this out," he said. "I don't know how yet, but we will."

He sounds sure.

He sounds like he believes it. I wish I did.

"How?" I asked. "How are we going to figure this out when we don't even know where to start?"

Justin was quiet for a long moment.

Then he said, "We start with what we know. Someone took that picture and sent that text. Someone wants you to be scared."

"They're succeeding."

"I know." He walked toward me, then he stopped a few feet away. "But scared people make mistakes and when they make mistakes, we catch them."

Scared people make mistakes.

I've made so many mistakes, running from him, pushing him away., falling for someone who will never see me as anything but a…

"Justin," I said. "What if we can't catch them? What if they're always one step ahead? What if…"

"Maya." He knelt down in front of me, so we were face to face. "I'm not going to let anything happen to your father or to you."

"You can't promise that."

"I just did."

"You can't …"

"Watch me."

The words hung in the air between us.

Watch me. He said watch me, like he's daring the world to prove him wrong.

I wanted to believe him, I wanted to so badly, but the photo on my phone said otherwise. The text was still there and somewhere out there, in the dark, someone was watching and waiting.

How are we going to find out who it was?

The question echoed in my head.

I looked at Justin and he looked at me, neither of us had an answer.