Nick turned to her, searing her with an accusatory glare. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated in a whisper. She’d admitted her lie without voicing it. But if she wanted honesty from him, she needed to reciprocate.
Nick sighed and walked around the island. He took a seat on one of the stools. “Hand me a beer, please.”
Rebecca complied. She walked over to the fridge, opened it, and felt for the coldest bottle. Once she found it, she closed the fridge and walked it over to him.
“Thank you.”
After a nod, she walked around and took the stool next to him.
After seconds of uncomfortable silence, he spoke, “I-I’m… She was… She’s my wife,” he admitted with a sigh.
He’s married.The words he spoke hurt like a knife to the gut. “Wife?” she asked more pathetic than she’d intended.
Nick looked at her through eyes filled with melancholy and compassion. “Yes. She’s my wife… Vera. And she’s pregnant.”
Rebecca’s heart sank as if something of extreme importance had been taken away from her. She was speechless. There was nothing to say. She’d asked for the truth and he was giving it to her, painful or not.
“What’s wrong with her? Why is she in the hospital?”
Nick rested his elbows on the counter and blew out a breath. “Car accident.” He breathed, “It left her brain dead.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. Her lips parted to console, but she couldn’t find the words.
“The baby… the baby is strong. So, a machine is keeping her alive long enough to carry our child to term.”
“Oh, my God,” Rebecca gasped. She reached for his hand and clutched it inside her own. “Oh, my God, Nick. I am so sorry.”
He nodded but remained silent. Rebecca was speechless, but what was there to say? She had no great words that could ease his pain. As uncomfortable as it was, she sat quietly consoling him with his hand in hers. She wondered what was worse, dying or denying the imminent death of the one you love so that she may serve as an incubator.
“And you?” he asked, slicing through the silence. “Why are you seeing Dr. Thantos?”
Rebecca pulled her hand from his. As she often did when she was nervous, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her heart raced at the thought of explaining her heart condition and pending fate to him. She’d only ever spoken of it to Paula and Dr. Thantos and had no intention of telling anyone else. But now that her father was in her life and Nick had bared his soul, she figured she owed them the truth.
“My heart…” Her words were raspy. She cleared her throat and continued. “I have a condition called—”
Her words were cut short by the doorbell. Rebecca cupped his chiseled jaw and ran her thumb over the stubble. “That’s Paula. We’ll talk later.”
He nodded, but she could see impatience and disappointment in his eyes.
11
Cato
“Hit it,” Nick calmly ordered.
Jimmy Gaston slammed the battering ram against the door’s hinge, splintering wood and sending the deadbolt flying. When the door flew open, he and his team ran into the drug house.
“Police! Search warrant!” Nick called out.
He crept through the quiet, dark hall with his weapon aimed and ready to fire. Since it was only 5AM, they may have caught their targets off guard. It was possible that they’d slept through the sound of the wood splintering as the door was torn from the hinges.
He and his team swept through the low-income duplex under the guise of a narcotics search, when in fact, what they were truly in search of was Boogie. Nick had gotten a tip that Boogie might have been convalescing under the roof of his friend, Kane.
Over the last couple of weeks, Nick and his team had been following several leads. They’d performed surveillance on his known hangouts and conducted five search warrants, but still no Boogie. Now, they were on search warrant number six in hopes of getting lucky.
As his team spread out to search, Nick quietly entered the living room to find a large man snoring on the couch. Next to his foot hanging off the couch was a plate of food that was covered with roaches. The sight made Nick’s skin crawl.
