Page 130 of Shadowed Hearts: Frost
Vanessa's hands start to shake, not from weakness but from nervous energy. Her knee bounces rapidly, fingers tapping against her leg in accelerating patterns. The strain of accessing these memories overwhelms her system.
I place my hand over hers, stilling the movement. Her skin feels cool against my palm. "Take a breath."
Kade pulls out his tablet, fingers moving across the screen. "I'm mapping these connections. If Tatiana ordered Jenny's death..."
Vanessa leans into my shoulder, drawing stability from the contact. I adjust my position, providing better support while maintaining a clear view of the evidence.
"The toxin—" Vanessa's voice breaks. "It wasn't meant to kill me, was it? It was designed to break my mind."
Someone knew enough about Vanessa to target her specific brain chemistry. Someone wanted her alive but destroyed.
I reach for my tablet, needing the familiar weight to ground me. My thumb hits the window control, and the smart glass instantly darkens to complete opacity while sound dampeners activate with a barely audible hum. The holographic display projects against the wall when I pull up the venue blueprints, casting blue light across the now-secured room.
"If we overlay the security footage timestamps with Vanessa's movements," my fingers move across the display, each tap and swipe a familiar dance, "we can establish a timeline of when Tatiana met with the masked man."
Vanessa sits cross-legged on the couch, wrapped in one of my blankets. The hollow look in her eyes has started to fade, replaced by the sharp intelligence that... I cut off the thought before it continues.
"The toxin fragments make more sense now," she says, her voice stronger than yesterday. "They weren't necessarily trying to kill me. They wanted to break my brain. To make me an unreliable witness."
Kade nods, sorting through the physical evidence photos. "A dead hacker raises questions. A crazy one who hallucinates conspiracy theories just gets ignored."
I mark points on the holographic map where Vanessa's fragmented memories align with security footage. "We need to identify the masked man. His build suggests military training."
"I remember something else," Vanessa's fingers moving in those invisible keyboard patterns that indicate her brain is processing faster than her words. "Tatiana mentioned 'the benefactor' being displeased with the attention Jenny's death caused."
My breath catches. The benefactor. The same term Steele used before Kade executed him.
"We're looking at an organization with multiple layers." I adjust the diagram to reflect this new information. "Tatiana reports to someone higher."
Vanessa shifts, her body angling toward mine as we both study the display. She reaches for my hand, fingers brushing against mine on the couch between us.
My heart rate spikes, a response I can't control. The memory of her seizures flashes through my mind; her lifeless form, the flatline on the monitor, the pure terror that ripped through my chest. I deliberately shift my hand away, glancing at my watch with calculated casualness.
"You need your medication," my voice drops to the cold, professional tone from when I first met her. "It's been four hours since your last dose."
Something flickers across her face, hurt, confusion. I pretend not to notice, standing to retrieve her pills from the medical supplies.
Kade's eyes narrow slightly, catching the exchange. He clears his throat, gathering his files. "I should get these findings back to headquarters. We'll continue tomorrow."
I hand Vanessa her medication in a small cup, maintaining clinical distance. The hurt in her eyes cuts deeper than any knife, but I force myself to maintain the space between us.
I nearly got her killed. Loving her nearly destroyed me.
thirty-four
Vanessa
Ihit Slate's number and turn to Asher while it rings.
"Why are you acting like I'm made of glass when—"
"Nessa! Perfect timing, I just finished this insane—"
Slate's face fills the screen on the second ring, cutting off both my question to Asher and his own enthusiastic greeting when he sees my expression.
My leg bounces underneath my closed laptop, nervous energy radiating through my entire body. The afternoon light filters through partially closed blinds, casting shadows across the living room where we've been avoiding each other for three days.
Asher straightens from where he's been obsessively cleaning his already spotless Glock. His dark eyes narrow, watching me with that calculating intensity, but he doesn't make a move to stop me. Smart man.
