Releasing her, Jeff spoke quietly into Bill’s ear—probably explaining where he had to go—and then turned to wave to Evan. “Don’t have too muchfun without me.”
“Dad,” Evan said as if he were being ridiculous.
With a quick grin, Jeff disappeared into the hallway.
Relative silence settled over the room. Tara glanced at Bill and then moved to Evan’s side, leaning her hip on the mattress. “So. Tell me about your dog.”
Evan excitedly showed her his toy, which he’d thought he lost. “His name is Pickles. My dad said I might be ableto get a real dog when we get home.”
“That’s awesome. What kind do you want?”
“A brown one. Or maybe black.”
She laughed.
While Jeff was gone, Tara distracted Evan and herself from his absence by chatting with him and Bill about his favorite movies and TV shows, playing tic-tac-toe on a pad of paper she kept in her purse, and letting him draw.
Just after Evan dozed off about forty-fiveminutes later, a fit Black woman entered the room and introduced herself as Olivia Jackson. She produced her PI license and presented her associate, Ty, a stocky blond with an infectious smile and serious muscles under his button-up shirt and khakis.
Once Ty took position outside, Olivia said, “Jerome will be here soon to back him up. I’ll have two guys on this room around the clock. It’s alreadybeen cleared with the hospital administration.”
Tara thanked her, feeling marginally better. At least Evan would be protected.
Bill shook Olivia’s hand. “Thank you for finding Evan.”
She shook her head. “I’m just sorry it took so long.” She gestured to the bed with a frown. “And that we couldn’t get him out before this happened.”
“He’s safe now. That’s what matters.”
With a clipped nod,Olivia handed both of them her card. “Call me if you need anything.”
Tara and Bill were silent for several minutes, both watching Evan sleep.
Bill finally sat in the plastic chair next to the bed. “You’re good with kids.”
“Thanks.” Her cheeks warmed. “I enjoy them.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t end up as a teacher.”
No one had ever said that to her before. “It never occurred to me.” Shemight not have followed the path her parents wanted, but all of their concerns over her getting a well-paying job must have rubbed off on her because she’d subconsciously dismissed the idea of becoming a teacher based on salary alone. “I like what I do now, though.”
“What’s that?”
“All the business stuff at Steele so Kurt—the owner—can focus on drumming up new clients, finding new people tojoin the team, and keeping the guys we have happy.” She wanted to talk more, maybe learn some fun facts about Jeff, but she really had to pee. “I’m going to use the bathroom and get some coffee. Do you want anything?”
“No, thanks.”
She left the cheerfully decorated unit through oversized swinging doors that opened into the main corridor with its wide handrails and boring wall art. She wentin search of the restroom, cataloguing every person who passed, inspecting every shadow.
Operating at a heightened level of awareness had her jumping at the slightest movement, second-guessing everything she saw, anticipating an encounter around every corner.
She’d kill for a nap right now. Anything to give her brain a rest from this constant state of “on.” It was like learning how to drivea car, where everything inside and outside the vehicle catches your attention and you don’t know what to filter. How did people operate in a hyper-vigilant state twenty-four/seven without losing their minds?
Living like that and facing all the horrors of war, no wonder so many service members returned home with mental health issues. Jenna’s husband and brother had both struggled with how tohandle the low-stakes, low-adrenaline life after returning to the States. In the end, it had gotten Rob killed.
Tara picked up her pace toward the lounge at the end of the hall.
Even though the danger to her life wasn’t over, at least the local cops now had all the evidence. A lot hinged on whether there were any usable fingerprints on the items in Tara’s purse—the ones she could rememberfor sure that the blonde had touched—and whether the prints were a match to those found in Annette’s house and the police department’s fingerprint databases.
