Page 95 of Be Very Quiet

“No, babe, you did that yourself.” Something had been bothering him. “How did Harvey get you to go with him? I know you wouldn’t have gone willingly.” She didn’t answer, and he lifted his head to look at her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. “Liliana, what did he do?”

She sighed. “He lured me by telling me Rex had a heart attack. Then he knocked me out.”

Luca jackknifed up, sending a nearby machine into a beeping fit. “He hit you?”

Liliana was pushing at his uninjured shoulder to get him to lie back. “Luca, calm down.”

“Liliana, he hit you. You might have a concussion.”

The door swung open, and a nurse appeared. “What are you doing in here, Mr. Russo?” She marched over to the machine to silence the noise and then reinserted the IV he’d inadvertently ripped out. “Your heart rate is up.”

“She has a possible head injury. She needs to be checked out immediately.”

“Relax,” Liliana admonished. “The doctor did a scan and said it was a mild concussion. I’ve been cleared already, and I’m perfectly fine.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Not too bad.”

The nurse left but returned a minute later with two ice packs. “Keep these on there so the swelling goes down. I assume you’ll be spending the night?”

“If you’ll let me.” Liliana obediently applied one to her face and the other to the back of her head.

“I’ll have a cot rolled in.”

When she left, Liliana grumbled, “I feel ridiculous holding these like this.”

“Well, you look adorable.” And she did.

A knock sounded on the door, and Christian and Audria entered, followed by Reese and Detective Torres. They asked how he was doing and filled him in on the cleanup. Torres told him about the bomb that detonated in Rex Raines’s office and significantly damaged Liliana’s studio. She’d lost her best friend and now her beloved business. His heart ached for her.

He told them about the information Tyler had discovered regarding Rader and Harvey having the same father and mother.

“I can’t believe that link wasn’t uncovered before,” Reese groused. “That’s a significant detail that was missed.”

“Your guy is good,” Torres said.

Half an hour later, the nurse returned and shooed everyone except Liliana out. “You have to leave. He needs rest.”

They set a time to meet at the police department in the afternoon so Luca and Liliana could give their official statements, and then the group headed for the exit.

“We’ll be back in the morning to spring you,” Christian said over his shoulder as they walked out the door.

The nurse had made good on her promise, and an extra bed had been wheeled in and situated against the wall. Instead of using it, Liliana climbed in beside Luca and fell fast asleep. A minute later, he joined her.

#

Audria was pleased to note that she felt no unpleasant side effects from shooting Ted Rader dead. He was evil and needed to be eliminated. Her aim had been accurate, and Rader now needed his own mortician. How fitting.

Christian had come down from the garage roof and snuck inside. He’d shot simultaneously, so it was a toss-up on whose bullet killed Rader, but it didn’t matter to Audria. She knew she could use her weapon if necessary. A weight had lifted from her shoulders.

As glad as she was that the case was closed, she would miss working with Reese. They complimented each other well, and she enjoyed spending time with him. It had been different not working for him, but with him. He hadn’t treated her like an underling, even seeking her out for her opinions and respecting her thoughts. He made her feel like a valued equal, even though he was an FBI superstar on the fast track to upper-level management.

“Audria, can I talk to you for a minute?”

She turned to see the object of her thoughts, and her heart slammed against her ribcage. She was so damn attracted to him.

“I’ll be in the SUV,” Christian said, giving them privacy.

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