Page 17 of Guarded from Corruption

“Really impressive,” Dante finishes with a small smile.

When I tell them about the chokehold, Niall makes a little choking sound of his own. Almost disbelievingly, he asks, “You put the nurse in a chokehold? Knocked her out? Changed her clothes and put her on the bed? After everything you’d been through?”

A warm flush of pride chases away some of the clinging cold I can’t seem to shake. “Yes.”

Niall isn’t the only one giving me an admiring look. Dante and Rhiannon both look just as impressed, and Rhiannon says teasingly, “Remind me not to get on your bad side, Jade. And that goes for you, too, Niall. She’ll kick your ass.”

Niall holds my gaze, his eyes soft with something that looks a lot like affection. “I know.”

The weight on my chest lifts a little after that.

The rest of my escape is almost anticlimactic. Just hours of terrified running, silently praying I wouldn’t be discovered. And then that interminable hour—that’s how long Niall said it took to get to me—waiting in the woods.

“Tomorrow, we’ll sit down with some maps,” Dante says. “Try to figure out exactly how far you ran, if you saw any landmarks, anything that can give us an idea of where the facility is.”

“It was so dark,” I tell him apologetically, “And I was trying to keep off the roads. So I didn’t see much of anything.”

“It’s okay,” he replies. “Even the distance you ran can help. We’ll figure it out.”

I’ve almost stopped shaking by the time I reach the end of my story. Or at least, to the point when Niall picked me up and brought me here. When I finish with, “I saw Niall walking into the woods. And I ran to him. Then I started to think I might actually be safe.”

The room falls into silence for a few seconds. Niall moves back to the couch and sits beside me, tucking my hand back into his again.

Dante stares at his tablet, his forehead wrinkled in thought. Then he glances at Niall and some sort of silent message passes between them in a series of chin lifts and eyebrow raises. After a moment, Niall sighs. “This is the last question for today. Jade’s had enough.”

Turning to Niall, I say, “I’m okay. I can keep going.”

“Hun.” His voice gentles. “You’re shaking. And you’re pale as a ghost. Pushing isn’t going to help anything.”

Am I still shaking? Lifting my free hand to look at it, I realize, yes, it’s trembling like a proverbial leaf. And I do feel like the slightest wind could knock me over. “Okay.”

Dante dips his head at me. “Okay. Last one. Why didn’t you want us contacting the police? Or the hospital?”

Oh crap. My stomach turns to lead.

There’s still another terrifying part.

I clutch Niall’s hand as I answer, “Because I heard the men talking in the hallway. There were no names used; everyone was there anonymously. But some of them knew each other. And the things they talked about…”

My heart races.

“They were important men. Powerful. One talked about an upcoming political campaign. Another mentioned a big hospital benefit in San Antonio. And one man… he said he had the charges against him cleared. That he had the police in his pocket, and they conveniently lost the evidence against him.”

Dante grits out a low, “Shit.”

“Another one was an actor, I think. And one… he was laughing about a trial. He might have been a judge. I wasn’t taking the drugs anymore by then. So I remember everything.”

Niall turns to me, his brows pulled into a V. “But you didn’t see any of them?”

“I have no idea who any of them are,” I admit quietly. “I should have tried harder to figure it out. But I was so scared. And I was focused on trying to escape. If only I’d?—”

“Absolutely not.” Niall holds my gaze. “What you did, Jade? It was incredible. I’m so…” He swallows hard, and his eyes darken to a deep twilight. “You were amazing, hun. You are amazing.”

CHAPTER SIX

NIALL

“Are you sure you’ll be okay if I go to my meeting?”

---