“Fuck,” I say to myself, swiping at the tears.
Hunter gets up and awkwardly stands by me, not knowing what to say or how to act, and while I appreciate the effort, I’d prefer to be alone. “Should I . . . Uhhh . . . Should I call Knight?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I just need a second,” I tell him before crossing the hallway and slipping into the women’s bathroom, not even waiting for a response from him. Hell, I don’t know if he followed me to the bathroom door or if he’s just awkwardly hovering in the hallway outside Mom’s room. All I know is that my baby sister is gone.
I stand at the basin with the water running, my head dropped between my shoulders, and as the seconds tick by, it becomes harder to catch my breath.
Elias did this. He took her away from me. Just like he took Dr. McKullan and Anders. Just like he tried to take my life, too.
He’s a cancer, an infection that’s never going to go away, and he will continue to destroy lives until somebody physically removes him. And just like my masked stalker said, it has to be me. I have to do this. An eye for an eye. That baby was mine to protect, and now she’s mine to avenge.
He won’t get away with this.
Splashing water over my face, I lift my chin to meet my reflection through the mirror, but the woman I see staring back at me isn’t anybody I know. She’s wearing my face, but the person reflected in her eyes is unrecognizable. She’s dark and dangerous, a woman scorned who’s been thrown down one too many times, a woman who’s had her world crushed, and now somebody’s got to pay.
Letting out a shaky breath, I let the darkness swallow me whole, and as I straighten my back and rise to my full height, I turn my attention to the door. I’ve gotta lose the protection detail, but how the fuck am I supposed to lose a highly trained SWAT officer?
An idea takes root, and before I even get a chance to work out how this is supposed to go down, I open the door and stick my head out, cringing as I meet Hunter’s stare across the hallway. “Hey, uhhh . . . I’m really sorry about this. I have a bit of an issue.”
His face scrunches, already not liking where this is going. “What?”
“Aunt Flow kinda came a little early, and I don’t have any supplies on me. Anyway you could ask one of the nurses for some supplies?”
There’s literally nothing behind his eyes as he stares back at me. “Huh?”
“My period,” I clarify, standing directly next to the tampon dispenser that’s stuck to the wall. “One of the women down at the nurses’ station should have a tampon or two in their bag.Just ask. Oh, and maybe ask if you could get a fresh pair of scrubs too.”
“New scrubs?”
“Oh yeah. It’s a massacre in here,” I say. “I’ve been representing the heavy-flow girlies since the eighth grade, but if you could make it quick, that’d be wonderful.”
Hunter nods his head so fast I fear it might bounce right off his spine. He hastily begins hurrying down the hallway, and with his back turned, I slip out of the bathroom and make my break, almost feeling sorry for the guy. Knight is going to kick his ass for being so easily manipulated and letting me get away, but perhaps he could look at it as more of a learning experience. After all, it’s not as though he was told I was a flight risk. Hunter has no reason not to trust me, but that’s going to change after today.
Not having a car here after Hunter drove me this morning, I quickly start trying to book an Uber as I hurry through the hallways, knowing it won’t take long before Hunter realizes I’m gone. With any luck, he’ll assume I’m desperately searching the hospital for tampons, which should buy me a few minutes before he realizes something isn’t right.
It takes only a minute before my feet hit the pavement outside the hospital, and by the time I reach the roadside, my Uber is pulling up. The moment I get in the back seat, I give the driver a pleading stare. “Please hurry. It’s an emergency.”
The Uber driver steps on the gas, and I have to give it to him; he flies almost as fast as Ace. He doesn’t quite beat his record, but I’m sure if he knew he was in a race, he probably would have pushed it a little faster.
As the driver pulls up outside my home, I log in to the security system and disable the notifications before pushing out of the car and thanking the driver. Then just as I make my way up to the door, my phone starts to ring in my pocket.
Hunter.
Shit.
Despite knowing that I should just ignore it, my guilty conscience can’t let it go, and I accept the call, holding the phone between my shoulder and ear as I unlock the front door and quickly make my way inside.
“Harper?” Hunter demands before I get a chance to say hello. “Where the fuck are you?”
“It’s best you don’t know,” I tell him, walking straight through to the bedroom I share with Knight and into our walk-in closet. “I know it’s pointless asking, but sit this one out. I need to do this.”
“Need to do what?” he demands, panic thick in his tone.
Finding Knight’s safe, I enter the code before reaching in and curling my hand around the small handgun. I hold it up, and after a quick inspection, I reach for the magazine.
“Goodbye, Hunter,” I say, ending the call.
Then, with the gun in my hand, I stride right back out of the house, ready to rain down hell over Elias Slater.
