“You could have last night.”
Natalie sighed loud enough to be sure her mother heard. “I have to go, mom. I’ll call you later.”
“Just remember. . . a deal like this won’t stay on the market for long.”
As Natalie started to argue her point, she noticed the line of faces sitting at the bar in the window of the coffee shop across the street. Gavin sipped from a small cup, staring. He set it gingerly back on its saucer and stood. He had a bad habit of showing up everywhere unannounced. Natalie hung up on her mother and ran into the hospital, thankful for the card-only access to the locked unit.
She swiped her badge and hurried past the nurses’ station to the break room, punching Colt’s name on her speed dial. She pressed the phone to her ear as it rang. No answer. He’d silenced it for her last night when they were together. Did he forget to turn the volume back up? Maybe he couldn’t hear well enough to register the buzz if he’d set it on vibrate.
Fear began to take hold of her. At work, she was safe—security guards lined the halls and accompanied nurses into each patient’s room—but she was trapped there, with Gavin outside. He’d known where to find her, probably followed her or paid someone to do it; he could afford it. Natalie’s heart raced.
“Hey, Nat! Didn’t expect to see you here today.” Alex, another nurse, got a mug from the cabinet and poured himself some coffee.
“Covering for Jen,” Natalie said, steadying her voice. Her hands shook and she stuffed them into her pockets.
“Called in sick?” Alex sipped the coffee and jumped, fanning his tongue.
Natalie nodded. “Yeah, she came down with something.”
Alex backed away. “Best to keep six feet apart. We’ve got to look out for each other in this place.” He took his mug and disappeared back to the nurses’ station.
Natalie shrugged off her coat and hung it, flexing and curling her fingers to make them stop shaking. She hated this feeling of dread in her chest. She dialed Colt again but once again reached the voicemail. “Colt, where are you? Gavin’s waiting for me outside of the hospital. Call me when you get this.” Her mother was right; getting out of the city was the right choice. She’d call the realtor at lunch, put an offer on that house. She felt it was her only option.
Her thoughts now took her to the night before, to Colt’s arms around her. His promise to protect her. Where was he now?
Her face heated and tears welled in her eyes.Calm down Natalie,she thought to herself. Colt would meet her after her shift ended. She wiped a missed dab of plum from the corner of her mouth and steeled herself, squeezing her trembling limbs, then strode out to the hall to start work as though nothing was wrong.
