Page 50 of Savior

“Nate,” I said slowly. “Did you see or talk to anyone suspicious that night? Maybe someone who didn’t stand out right away?”

He paused before saying, “There was a man—he showed up within hours of them declaring on your father. At first, I thought he was lost and tried directing him to the right floor, but he… he told me to keep the details of the surgery to myself. He said that the other club was going after anyone associated with Grey. Warned me to keep my mouth shut and stay out of it. I thought he was with Silent Phoenix, but now? Now, I don’t know who the fuck I was talking to or where the fuck my wife is!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear with a wince. “Geez Louise, eardrums. Okay, so someone warned you not to tell anyone you’d done the surgery, but why? How is that important? Do you think Kate found out somehow?”

“I don’t—I mean, maybe? I don’t see how. Maybe they knew I was his son-in-law and how that would look to his enemies? I just did what he told me to. I kept Kate away from it all, and something still happened.”

I pulled my glasses off to rest against my thigh before brushing the stray flecks of mascara from under my eyes. “Your last conversation with her, did she say anything? Anything that might help us know where to look?”

“She wanted to talk about that night. I’d been on for forty-eight hours, though, and was delirious. I think I told her we’d talk about it in the morning maybe. But if she’s not with you, where would she go?”

“Nate let me call you right back. I think I know someone who can help.” I quickly ended the call and dialed the only person that I thought might know where my sister was.

“Hey, Dakota.”

“Jeremy,” I snapped. “Is Kate with you?”

“Uh—”

“Don’t try to think of a lie or a way to make it sound better. It’s a simple yes or no.”

“Yes, but I—”

“Maybe remind her that we’re in the middle of a war. She can’t run off without telling people.” I pressed the end button before scrolling down to highlight Nate’s name.

“Did you find her?” He asked, by way of greeting.

“Yes. Kate’s safe, and I’m sure as soon as she’s ready to talk to you, she’ll call, okay?”

Nate exhaled loudly. “Thank god. Did she—did she sound okay? Was she upset? Did she say why she left?”

“Just calm down. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re her Bucky, remember?”

“Can you keep what I said between us? I want to be the one to tell her the truth about that night. She should hear it from me first. Fuck, I should’ve made a pot of coffee and just told her everything last night. Just—if you talk to her again, just tell her that I love her.”

I agreed and disconnected, wondering how Kate managed to do it every day. My only patient for the day was Nate, and that had left me in desperate need of a nap.

Some superhero I made.

“Everything okay?” Little Ricky asked, holding the back door open with his foot.

I slipped my glasses back up onto my nose with a slight shake of my head. “Not really. Kate’s with Jeremy. We need to know why. Also, while we’re there, we need him to pull security tapes from the hospital. Nate was the one who operated on my dad after he was shot, Little Ricky.”

He made a sign of the cross over his head and chest, sputtering, “Did he—he just felt like that wasn’t worth mentioning?”

“That’s just it. Someone warned him to keep quiet and stay out of it. If we get those tapes, we might be able to identify who that someone was. Worst-case, we get Jimmy or Zane to use their connections and run it through some facial identification software, see if we get a match.”

“One dumpster fire at a time, Cap. First, we gotta find out what happened to your ma, then we’ll track down Hail Mary and Jarvis, which I totally called, by the way. Pay up.”

I ground my teeth together and growled, “Does now look like the best time to collect on a bet, Rick?”

“What’s that? Oh, my ma’s calling us. Coming, Ma!” He jogged back into the house.

I shook my head and followed.

When Molly saw us, she shoved the paperback in her hand down in between the cushions on the couch with a yelp and quickly stood up. “I didn’t hear you come back in. Change your mind on water? Maybe a lemonade? Whatever you want, I’ll get.”

I glared at Little Ricky before taking a deep breath. “I need to know what happened to my mother… when she was attacked.”

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