Page 104 of Savior

I could picture Nate and I pulling our baby in a wagon under a canopy of green, waving to the neighbors sitting out on their porches.

“You seem different,” Jeremy noted. “Happier than the last time I saw you.”

I frowned, still watching as the mother and her baby became dots on the horizon. “The last time you saw me, you made an extremely inappropriate comment and then got into a fight with my husband.”

“Fair enough,” he said with a chuckle. “So, what are you going to do?”

“About what?” I turned back to look at him.

“The case… Avengers assemble and whatever else Dakota says. I thought with what happened to Mike, you’d be out searching for answers. Speaking of, did you ever track down the cop? What was it you call him?”

“Doucheface? No, we never found him.” My head suddenly felt heavy, and I stretched my legs, sliding down until it rested against the cushion. This felt different than the average, everyday fatigue I’d been experiencing.

Like being weighed down with a warm blanket.

“You doing alright, Kate?”

I took another sip of tea before the cup fell from my fingers and onto the table between us. “My tongue feelth thick,” I slurred, sounding more than a little intoxicated. I planted my bare feet against the patio pavers and stood up, only to begin swaying violently as the ground tilted beneath me.

Oh my god, I felt drunk.

“Whoa there.” Jeremy managed to catch me before my face introduced itself to the stamped concrete. “Are you feeling okay? Let’s get you inside.”

I nodded, letting him lead me through the living room and onto the couch. “I’m gonna grab you some water. Just lay here.”

“Dizzy,” I mumbled as if Jeremy would somehow be able to interpret that I’d been dealing with lightheadedness. The room spun slow circles around me, and I watched in wonder as the ceiling fan multiplied before fighting against a wave of nausea.

I needed a doctor.

My hands closed around air twice before I managed to pluck it off the coffee table. There were six missed calls from Nate.

But he was in surgery…

“Do you want ice?” Jeremy called from the kitchen, and I nodded.

Up and down means yes.

A text box appeared underneath my thumb as I tapped at the screen, struggling to remember how to unlock it. I stared blankly at the arrangement of letters, struggling to make sense of them in my addled state.

Nate:

Hospital says they didn’t page. Must’ve been a glitch in the system. Heading home now.

Glitch.

I thought you knew Jeremy was a hacker…

The answer had been staring us in the face the entire time. My foot slipped off the edge of the couch, falling to the hardwood floor like a boulder from the side of a cliff. The trap had been set, and we’d walked into it without another thought.

Jeremy was the traitor.

I reached for the coffee table only to end up in a heap on the floor. The pulse thrummed in my throat as I tried lifting an arm to pull my body up, but it was as if someone else had taken control. With a low moan, I managed to drag myself a few inches, stopping to cool my overheated skin against the hardwood.

When I tried again, my fingers just twitched in response.

“Here we go, Kate,” Jeremy called as he came into the room. “Jesus Christ, I told you to stay on the couch. You’re in no condition to be moving around.” He lifted me into his arms and placed me back on the couch, smiling as he gently brushed the hair from my eyes.

“Y-y-you,” I forced out through a clenched jaw. “W-w-why?”

---