Page 40 of The Devil's Bargain
Mercy had refused to allow him to leave, stating that if, by chance, someone really had tried to kill him on purpose, it was safer to remain. Of course, that caused their Second to complain nonstop, lamenting about how bored he was, especially since Cal had guarded against a repeat of the other day's antics.
He didn’t have time to humor the guy. The sooner he found the culprit, the sooner they could all go home.
And now Saz was telling him their only lead was dead?
“I can’t say for certain yet, but there weren’t any obvious signs of foul play. For now, I’ve sent the body to Mitri. The rest of us are still here collecting as much evidence as we can. I hate toask, but Aodhan still can’t think of anyone who might have had it out for him?”
“No,” Cal lied.
Saz hummed in understanding. “Wonder if this was just a case of guilt and fear then. If he was drunk that night and almost accidentally killed a renowned surgeon like Aodhan Solace, fear of the consequences could have driven him to taking his own life.”
“We can’t rule it out. But we also can’t go making assumptions without anything to back them up. I want whoever did this to be found. If it’s the dead guy in the truck, so be it, but I want us to be certain before we even consider closing this case. Understood?”
“Of course,” Saz said. “Don’t worry, Calix. You know we’ve all got your back.”
As far as Cal knew, Reed and Saz had also kept his secret about being a part of Mercy’s pod. If they’d told anyone, he would have been screening questions at work without a doubt, so that was nice. The last thing he wanted to waste time on right now was telling people about his love life. It was no one else's business.
“Thanks,” Cal told him. “For everything. I appreciate it.”
“We’re friends,” Saz replied. “We’ve got to have each other's backs.”
Ironic that Calix had to return to the planet he’d always loathed in order to find the one thing he’d always wanted. A place to belong. A place with people who genuinely cared.
Did it make him feel a little bad that he was sort of lying to the guy about Aodhan and his potential enemies? Yeah. But that wouldn’t change his mind. He’d never compromise his Second, even if he did trust Saz to keep his mouth shut.
He could trust him with another task though.
“Do me a favor,” Cal said. “Call me in twenty minutes.”
“What for?”
“I’ll need an excuse to leave. Unless you want me taking another extended lunch break?”
“Got it.” He chuckled. “Must be nice having someone cling to you the way Aodhan is. You really lucked out. I’ll contact you in twenty.”
“Thanks, Saz.”
Calix hung up and took his time slipping the earbud attachment back into his device. It was good that they’d finally found something, but disappointing that the something was a body. Saz’s explanation of things made sense too, and Cal was left wondering if maybe Mercy had been right and he was letting his anger and fear cloud his judgment and read into things that weren’t there.
Maybe it really had been a case of a drunk driver. Or the man had fallen asleep at the wheel momentarily and run the red light because of that. It would explain why he hadn’t braked. Aodhan’s accident wasn’t a secret. A high-profile member of society, such as himself, who was almost killed in a hit-and-run, made the national news.
Up until this point, Calix had only ever had himself. There’d never been anything to lose, and having come so close to experiencing that during those harrowing moments when Aodhan had disappeared from the connection…
A scream tore through his thoughts, and Calix was reacting before he could even fully process that the sound had come from within the room. He tore the door open, blaster already in hand, and aimed the second his eyes locked on a stranger hovering too close to Aodhan’s bed.
The man was young-looking, with the same shade of dark brown hair as Aodhan. His eyes, brown, rested on Cal with less urgency than someone who currently had a gun pointed at them should have.
Calix frowned.
This face was…familiar.
“Be’urn,” Aodhan called out to him and then made a big show of stretching and resting his hands behind his head. “What took you so long?”
The doctor was lounging in bed, seated against the headboard, seemingly as relaxed as a kitten, despite having made a sound of alarm only a minute ago.
“Hello,” the man standing at the foot of the bed said in a calm voice. “It’s nice to meet you, Calix. My name is Zane.”
“Zane Solace?” It was the guy from the photos Cal had seen during his past investigation. “Aodhan’s brother.”
