“Only one way to find out,” I mutter, handing the scanner to him and picking up the box.
“What are you doing?” Coleman asks sharply at the same time as Basia gasps, “Where are you going?”
“Elevator,” I reply, not stopping until I reach it.
“Caleb, don’t!” Basia pleads. “Let’s just call Detective Mann, please!”
Ignoring her, I step inside, then hit the close door button.
I don’t know what’s making me act this recklessly. Is it Teddy and his all-American boyish charm and good looks? Is it Basia hanging on to his every word? Whatever the motivation, I rip open the box without letting myself think it through.
There’s no explosion of powder, no hiss of chemicals. Only bloody packing paper and a severed finger. I debate just going outside and throwing it in a trash can. But in the end, it’s evidence, and something that could lead to finding this asshole.
Basia stands rigidly, facing the elevators, and I see her sag with relief as soon as she spots me.
“I could slap you!” she hisses, her lower lip trembling.
“Didn’t know you were a sadist, darling,” I reply, then shove the box into Coleman’s hands. “Fingertip looks intact, might be able to find out who she is.”
He nods and checks his smartwatch. “Alright. Matty’s almost here, I’ll take this in personally.”
“I’ll bring her some food,” Basia says, wringing her hands.
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Teddy starts, but she’s already inside. “Guess she needs a distraction.”
I scoff. “With that incredible insight into the female mind, I’m surprised you’re still single.”
He raises his eyebrows with a smirk. “Who says I’m single?”
I blink at him, then look at the open apartment door where we can only just hear Basia puttering around in the kitchen.
“I thought…”
Coleman laughs under his breath. “You’re a tool, Ward.”
With that, he pushes past me, leaving me alone in the hallway. I find Basia in the kitchen, staring at the contents of the fridge with a blank look on her face.
“How about I order us some takeout?”
Even though I speak as gently as I can, she still flinches.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” she sighs.
“Great. I’ll go check with the nightshift agent if she has any preferences.”
“Wait, don’t go,” Basia blurts out, wide-eyed and pale. “Don’t leave me alone right now.”
I place my hands on her shoulders and squeeze.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll just call Teddy and ask what?—”
I don’t get to finish because Basia wraps her arms around my waist and buries her head into my chest. By the time I unfreeze to hug her back, her shoulders are shaking with shuddering breaths.
I’m not letting her go through this again, even if I have to spend every moment from now on poring through DOB-unknown birth certificates, looking for the adults these children became. Because one of them is terrorizing my…
Terrorizing my woman.
∞∞∞
