“Do you know someone by the name of Nix or have you ever heard that name before?” Slade asked the question Sloan wanted the answer to.
“No, or I would have told you.” Phillips said, his eyes shooting between Slade and Adam. “I swear, I didn’t know at first what was going on or what they planned until I was too deeply involved. And I don’t know who else is involved.”
“Truth.” Adam’s voice cut through the room.
Silence followed.
Then Adam leaned forward and grabbed Phillips’s arm. Phillips jumped, trying to pull away, but Adam didn’t let go.
“You knew before you did the procedure on Becky.” Adam tilted his head, his eyes locked on the doctor.
“Yes,” Phillips gasped, knowing exactly what Adam was saying, still trying to yank free. “I knew.”
Adam released him, and Phillips jerked back, rubbing his arms.
“Knew what?” Steve asked from the viewing room, saying exactly what Sloan wanted to know. “I hate when Adam fucking does that. Leaves us hanging like this is a reality show where we have to wait until next week to find out what the fuck is going on.”
For once, Sloan agreed. He was already moving toward the door when Rafe stepped in front of him, his hand hitting Sloan’s chest.
“Hold on, friend.” Rafe’s voice was low. “Let’s see where this is going. You walk in there with those scary-ass black eyes, and he’s going to clamp up tighter than a virgin on prom night.”
Steve’s head snapped toward him. “I like this dude. Doubt he’s ever been to a prom, but yeah, I like him.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Damon and Sloan said at the same time.
Inside the room, Phillips shook his head, shame and fear twisting his face. “I knew she was pregnant.”
For one second, everything went deadly still.
“That motherfucker.” Sloan’s fist clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.
“You knew she was pregnant and still did the procedure?” Slade shot out of his chair so fast it flew back and hit the wall. Before Phillips could answer, Slade grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up, his feet leaving the floor. “You know exactly what could have happened to the child she carried, not to mention Becky. Is money worth more to you than the life of a mother and child? You sick son of a bitch.”
Phillips made a choking sound, his feet scrambling to find footing.
Adam stood and gripped Slade’s arm. “He didn’t do it.”
Slade froze, his eyes black as they cut to Adam.
“What?” Slade said, his voice low.
Adam didn’t look away from Phillips. “He didn’t do the procedure.”
Daniels words came back to Sloan as he watched the doctor struggle. Daniel had only talked to Nix, not the doctor. So if Nix had been told that the procedure was done, then maybe that’s what Daniel picked up on. Reaching over he hit the intercom.
“Let him go, Slade,” Sloan ordered, his voice hard.
Slade slowly let go. Phillips fell back into the chair, gasping, his whole body shaking as he tried to breathe.
“I swear I didn’t do it,” Phillips cried, then dropped his head into his hands. “I couldn’t. I knew she was pregnant, and I couldn’t do it. I lied and told them it was done. I figured I would be safe because they would never know I lied since she was already pregnant.”
Sloan stared through the glass, the fury inside him colliding with a relief so sharp it almost stole his footing. Becky hadn’t gone through what they feared.
“What kind of procedure were you to do on her?” Slade demanded, his voice deadly calm again.
Phillips lifted his head slowly, his face pale and wet with tears. “What?”
“Don’t play stupid with me.” Slade stepped closer to the table, his hands flat against the metal surface. “You said you didn’t dothe procedure. I want to know exactly what procedure you were supposed to do to Becky.”
