Page 76 of Anchor
Pete Walter stripped off his gloves. “She had a panic-triggered hyperventilation episode. Code patterns spilled. Exhaustion took the rest. She’s down, but she’s stable.”
Ian’s eyes never left Claire. “Prognosis?”
“Short-term? Sleep,” Pete answered. “Long-term? If those episodes keep coming, she’ll crash harder. She needs calm, structure, and people she trusts. Not more interrogation.”
Ian’s gaze flicked to Reid. “And she trusts him.”
Reid didn’t look up. His thumb kept tracing across her knuckles. His voice came low, rough. “She found me. Even in the middle of that storm, she found me.”
Ian studied him a long moment as Pete started packing up his kit. “She’ll sleep for a few hours now. If she wakes, she’ll need him more than us.”
Ian gave a short nod, and Pete left. Apex lingered in the doorway, but Ian waved him out. The door clicked shut, leaving Ian with Reid and the fragile sound of Claire’s breaths.
“You understand, don’t you?” Ian asked. “What this means now.”
Reid finally lifted his eyes, the weight in them unmistakable. “Yeah,” he said softly. “It means I don’t get to let go.”
The hiss of oxygen was the only sound. Claire’s chest rose and fell steadily now, her hand still caught tightly in Reid’s. He didn’t release her even as sleep dulled her features, even as her pulse eased under his thumb.
Ian stood across the room, hands folded behind his back. He let the quiet linger, let Reid have the space to sit hunched in the dim light, lines of strain still carved into his face.
Reid pressed his lips to the crown of Claire’s hair. “I’ve got you.”
Ian’s eyes narrowed faintly, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. Not judgment, just recognition. The room held like that for a long time.
Slowly, Ian shifted. “Vos is inside the walls.”
Reid didn’t look up. “I know.”
“And Heather hasn’t called. Not once. She’s letting this hang on us.”
Reid’s jaw flexed, the words scraping out low. “She’s letting it hang on Claire.”
Ian nodded once. “Which means this isn’t just personal. It’s tactical. And if that man tested her once, if he left code in her, Chase International is already compromised.”
Reid finally looked up, eyes steady, still holding Claire’s hand like a lifeline. “Then we fix it. Together.”
Ian stepped closer. “Good. Because, by morning, every board member will know Claire’s no longer just a professor caught in the crossfire. She’s the center of the storm.”
Reid’s grip tightened around her hand. “Then I’ll hold the line.”
Ian’s gaze didn’t break. “You’d better.” He slipped out, then the door opened a crack. Apex stepped in, quiet but unflinching, his eyes going first to Claire, then to Reid.
Reid lifted his head. “What’s the situation?”
Apex set a folded tablet on the bed for Reid to see. “The team is going over everything a second time. Every outlet from Lansing to D.C. is still circling, no thanks to Heather Bowman.”
Apex glanced at Claire’s sleeping form again. “The momma from hell showed up at her Michigan office an hour ago.Cameras caught her. She didn’t ask about her daughter. She told the press she’s ‘cooperating fully with any federal inquiry.’”
Reid’s chest went tight. He didn’t answer right away.
Apex didn’t push, just added quietly, “Ian’s reconvening the board. They’re waiting upstairs.”
Reid looked back at Claire, brushing a stray strand of hair from her forehead with the gentlest touch. “I’m not leaving her.”
Apex nodded. “I’ll sit here. You go. She won’t wake up alone.”
Reid studied him, then finally, reluctantly released her hand. The absence felt like losing a part of him.
