Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
His reply is almost instant: Tomorrow. If I push the NFL negotiation today, he’ll be suspicious. I’ll get him out of here tomorrow.
Considering the decoded message and Isaac showing up here, that doesn’t feel soon enough. There’s a knock on the window and Savage calls out, “It’s Blake,” and then rolls down my window.
“That record is sealed,” he says. “Whatever this is, someone wanted it well buried.”
Just like Isaac’s birth certificate, I think. “Tell me you can get to it.”
“I can,” he assures me. “I already have a man in Colorado working on Isaac’s birth certificate. I’m sending someone to Chicago. By morning, you’ll know whatever secrets those birth certificates hold.”
I nod and he steps back while Savage rolls up the window. By morning, we’ll know the secrets Gigi was trying to expose, but right now, morning feels too far away. My gut says I need answers, and I need them now, but only one person can give those to me—and that’s Isaac. Fortunately, that’s the very person I’m going to visit right now. Unfortunately, as much as I’ll enjoy watching him make a fool of himself with law enforcement watching, they’ll also be watching me, and anything I do to him.
Chapter one hundred one
Eric
The traffic is light and ten minutes later, Savage pulls us to the side door of the hospital. “Here we go,” Harper murmurs, but I don’t allow her to wallow in the nerves attached to that statement. I open the door and exit the vehicle, guiding Harper to her feet beside me.
Adrian, a tall, dark-haired man, is in front of us almost instantly, alert and ready for trouble. “I’ll park and Savage will walk you inside. I’ll be close.”
I give him a nod, and Harper sighs. “I hate we need protection.”
“Better to need it and have it than need it and not have it like Isaac,” I say, as Savage joins us.
“Onward and forward,” he says, motioning us toward the building, which is a short few steps.
We start walking and Harper’s fingers grip the leather of the jacket I pulled on as we left the apartment. “Just remember,” she says, “if he’s not guilty, he may be emotional. If he is guilty, guilt is an emotion, too, and it’s a brutal one. Both things will magnify his reaction to you by one hundred. It’s kind of like being at a family Thanksgiving meal and knowing someone will say something that will become an ordeal.”
It’s wise advice I digest, but also laugh a bit about the analogy. “Family on Thanksgiving, huh?”
“My father had a few crazy brothers who I loved, but they were as crazy as him.”
“Where are they now?”
“They died together in a car accident the year before he did.”
If not for the threat, I’d halt and talk to her about this. She lost everything in a matter of a year, and I judged her and gave her hell for clinging to the company that was her father’s. I glance down at her. I reach over and squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t know that.”
We arrive at the hospital door and somehow Adrian is on the other side. “Your brother is in your father’s room. Apparently, your father’s doing better now. Still in ICU, still unconscious, but expected to live.”
“How very disappointing for my brother,” I say dryly.
“Be interesting to see what comes next,” Savage replies just as dryly.
“Agreed.” I urge Harper forward, comfortable letting her go ahead of me with Adrian, obviously on his toes.
And as I expect him to, he blocks for her, as I step into the hallway with Savage at my rear.
“Obviously they think the assassin is back,” Harper whispers.
I don’t sugarcoat the danger, which will not do anything to help her stay safe. “I doubt he ever left,” I say, guiding her toward the elevator. “A man sent on a mission to kill doesn’t leave until the target is dead.”
“But there’s a problem for Isaac,” Savage says, as we stop at the elevator and he punches the button. “If someone dies right after Isaac showed up, all eyes will be on Isaac.”
“It won’t matter if it’s another heart attack,” I say. “And maybe that’s the idea. Isaac stands right next to him while it happens. Kill in plain sight.”
Harper’s eyes meet mine. “Are you going to let it happen?”
Having her even asking that question pisses me off. She knows what he did. She knows he kept my mother out of treatment. “Damn straight I am. He’s not mine to save, just like my mother wasn’t his to save. Are you going to tell me I should feel differently?”
She studies me a long, intense moment before she steps to me, pushes to her toes, and kisses me. “You know I do. So stop directing the anger at me.”
I don’t care who is around. I don’t care what the fuck they think. “I thought you could handle me?”