Page 9 of Knight's Journey

“Momma, why don’t I get us some coffee since it may be a while?” Zaylee stood, and Payton followed suit.

“I’ll go with you. The vending area is down the hall.”

The women were stalled when a woman wearing blue scrubs stepped inside the waiting room, pulling a surgical cap from her head. She seemed startled at first to see so many in the tiny space, but she recovered quickly.

“Who’s here with Mr. Wilder?”

Maggie stood and stepped forward. “I’m Zane’s mother. How is my son?”

“I’m Dr. Hallmark. We can speak privately outside.”

“No, please, you can speak freely. We’re all here for Zane.”

Dr. Hallmark nodded. “Of course. First of all, your son came through the surgery and is in recovery. The knife penetrated his peritoneum, which is the lining in his abdomen that protects his organs. We were able to repair the damage to the lining and his intestines. His condition is stabilized, but I’ll be honest. He’s not out of the woods. There’s a serious risk of infection, but we’ll keep him in the ICU to monitor him. The next twenty-four hours are critical.”

“What is the likelihood he’ll get an infection?” Zoe asked.

“The risk is high, but we have him on IV antibiotics and close monitoring. We’ll do all we can to keep the infection at bay.”

“May we see him?” Maggie clasped her hands tightly in front of her.

The doctor hesitated. “He’ll be in recovery for a bit longer, and then we’ll move him into Intensive Care. I’m afraid I can’t authorize all of you a visit. He needs rest. Immediate family may see him, but limit it to one or two at a time for just a few minutes. I know you want to see him, but this is best for his recovery.”

“I understand. Thank you, Dr. Hallmark.”

The doctor shook Maggie’s hand and hurried out of the room. Jay murmured in Payton’s ear before sending a silent communication to the KSI crew. Payton moved to Maggie’s side.

“Maggie, we’re going to step outside and give you some privacy with your family. Sydney and I will bring back some coffee for all of you. I know you all must be exhausted. Please, just sit and take a few moments. We won’t be long.”

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea. Thank you.”

Maggie seemed to sink back into her chair, Zoe and Zaylee moving to sit on either side. Zaida caught Payton’s arm as she started turned away.

“Sydney?”

The redhead stepped forward. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin splotchy from the tears she’d shed. “That would be me. Sydney Reede. I work at KSI with Zane.”

Zaida stared at Sydney in silence for several minutes. Sydney regarded her curiously before sending Payton a confused expression. As if she sensed everyone’s discomfiture, Zaida suddenly smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you. Zane has talked about you. It’s nice to put a face with the name.”

Zaida turned away, and Jay motioned for everyone to clear out. Once they were out of earshot of the Wilders, Jay faced Tristin. “We need a place to talk.”

“I took care of it. This way.” Tristin motioned for everyone to follow him down the hall past a row of offices. He pushed open a door to a conference room, and the motion-activated lights kicked on. It wasn’t large enough to accommodate all of them, but they managed to squeeze inside, except for Payton and Sydney who went in search of refreshments for Zane’s family.

Jay pushed his way through the group to the front of the room, his hand running through this hair with enough force to send the spiky strands standing straight up. “Are we any closer to finding out what the hell happened tonight?”

“Zane’s cover was blown.” Wings’ voice boomed out over the room, its tone unmistakably his.

Kat took a seat at the table and pulled her laptop from the bag she carried with her. “No, I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean?” Tristin occupied the seat beside his wife. “We heard them call him out. He never dropped cover, but they still suspected him. After a year undercover, this was the first time they even questioned his identity. Someone had to tip them off.”

“I think someone did, and they assumed the mole was Zane. But I don’t think they knew for sure. I also think Zane figured out who it actually was. I have the audio feed cued up. Just listen.”

She replayed a portion of the recording from the warehouse. Jay forced himself to pay attention to what was being said and not what was going down. His guilt had no place with how they had to work the case. He heard Zane tell Armando and Elian to scrutinize deeper in their organization for the leak. At the time, Jay believed this was a stall tactic, but now he heard what Kat clearly detected — the conviction and confidence lacing his tone. Kat switched off the audio and eyes Tristin and Jay expectantly.

“Did you hear it? He figured it out, and he almost had them convinced when things went wrong. I think the leak was someone at the meet tonight. If we can figure out which one it is and who they’re working for, they could be the key to getting the evidence we need.”

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