Chapter 51

Dalton

“Do you think she’ll fall for it?” Skylar asked from her chair in my office.

She’d just sent our baiting email a few minutes ago.

“I hope so,” I mumbled, one of the donuts she’d brought, shoved in my mouth.

We’d been canvassing her favorite haunts—those that Skylar knew about anyway. I’d set a man on her apartment building. I’d even gone as far as to call Joleen to see if she’d heard from her daughter. All of it wasn’t netting any results, except for me successfully freaking Devolin’s mother out.

Two hours after the email was sent, we hit pay dirt, when Brycen confirmed that my woman had opened Skylar’s email.

I hightailed it to the hospital to hopefully catch my ghost.

Lack of sleep had me fighting to stay awake. My appetite had taken a hike too, but I ate whenever someone shoved something in my face, just so they’d shut the fuck up. I must admit, I was a bear of a man to those around me. After five days without a sign of life from Devolin, could you really blame me?

With Hewitt on the loose, I understood why she’d sequestered herself somewhere safe. I even got why she’d stayed away for a few days, until things stuck, and she’d known for a fact that the man wouldn’t be let out on bail. The man had a long reach. I’d have done the same.

It had been three days after the man’s arrest, and she could have at least initiated contact. She hadn’t. Something told me that there was more than just Hewitt to do with her little ghost routine, and it all boiled down to me.

That’s why we flushed her out with that email. She may not have come out had the email been from me, but Dad had been there that night. She knew he’d been hurt. Hell, she’d called 911 for help before leaving him. She also knew of his heart history. Because of that, it was the perfect setup.

Cloistered in a dark corner, continuing my good fight against exhaustion, and failing, I missed her slipping into Dad’s room.

I shot up to a proper sitting position the moment I felt the kick at my boot followed by, “Yo, D.”

Morgan and Theo were standing over me, the woman holding an extra cup of coffee, extending it my way.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, rubbing at my eyes with one hand and taking the cup with the other.

“Anything?” the man asked.

I shook my head, taking a hefty sip of the hot liquid. “No.” I went to pull my phone out of my jeans and noticed the blanket laid across my lap.

“Looks like someone took pity on your miserable ass,” Theo said.

“Hmm,” I mumbled as I unlocked my screen, noticing I had a text.

From Devolin no less.

Devolin

My heart told me I needed to see Hank.

My gut was churning with the fact that this whole heart attack business was a ruse to get me to come out of hiding.

Before acting on my emotions alone, I decided to be cautious. It’s a good thing I had too. Breaking into the hospital mainframe and accessing their patient records wasn’t all that easy. It took me about an hour to get in there, but when I did, I breathed a sigh of relief to discover that Dalton’s father was just fine.

Thank God.

Despite this, however, I still felt a burning need to see the man. After all, he had tried to save me. I know, in my heart of hearts, that had I not interrupted my captor, Hank most likely wouldn’t have been here with us any longer.

I’m going.

With my decision made, I started planning.

Even in sleep, I could sense Dalton’s presence. I took a moment to study him. His face was pale except for his jaw. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days. His eyes were puffy, the bags under them prominent.

Not for the first time, but this was the worst, I felt guilty for staying away. I knew that Dalton could have helped me stay safe. I also knew that I could achieve the same result on my own too. It was hard to let old habits die. It was even harder to admit that even though he’d hidden important things from me, he’d done it out of love.

Looking around the hall, I spotted the rolling cart of blankets. Nabbing one, I slowly made my approach, unfolding the material as I got closer. Careful not to wake him, I draped the blanket over him. The strand of hair that I absolutely loved chose that moment to fall over his face. My hand stopped centimetres away before I softly brushed it aside, vowing that I’d have another opportunity to do more than just that. When I was ready.

Walking away from him was the hardest thing I had to do. I’d come to do one thing, and that was to check up on Hank.

Sneaking into his room, I saw the large mass of a man, laying there.

“You came,” he mumbled, once I got to his bedside.

“I did,” I whispered.

“No flowers?” He smirked.

Heat suffused my face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

I took the time to take in his appearance. Hank had some bruising on his face, a nasty mix of green and blue, but he looked none the worse for the wear.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked.

“I’m fine, girl.” He patted the hand I hadn’t realized had made its way to his, covering it. “They want to make sure everything’s okay with my ticker. So long as the tests come back good, I’ll be home in my own bed by tomorrow.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“You did enough.” His eyes held mine for longer than I felt comfortable, but I matched his intensity because it’s what the man deserved. “I should have known better than to go in there without my gun,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

I’d seen this same reaction from Dalton before. It was his way of controlling his emotions when they threatened to get the better of him.

“Thank you for coming for me,” I told him. “I should go. I promise I’ll check in on you soon.” Turning, I made it to the door, pausing when Hank spoke.

“Girl, if you really want to do something for me, keep making my son happy,” he said. “He needs that in his life. He needs you.”

On a nod, I took my leave, hurrying out of the hospital. It wasn’t until I’d gotten back to my room at Twin Oaks that I gave into the tears. I also gave into my urge to get in touch with Dalton, sending him a text.

I’ll be home soon. Sleep well, Kip.

And I didn’t turn off my phone for once.