Chapter 4

Dalton

About two-point-five seconds after the nurse left me in the waiting room, I pulled out my phone and dialed up Brycen. I might have wanted Devolin to give me the information, but depending on the severity of her illness, it might not be soon enough, and time was of the essence with this particular new case.

Within half an hour, the man was sitting next to me, pounding away at Devolin’s hardware. Shortly thereafter, another nurse—one named Doris, according to her nametag, who looked like a witch with an axe to grind—came by to convey a verbal message that Devolin was fine and she wanted me out of there.

Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. I told the old battle-axe as much too, and sent her on her way with a handwritten note to boot.

With Brycen playing around on Devolin’s computers, we weren’t going to be moving anytime soon.

Turning to my computer specialist, I asked, “What can you tell me?”

The man looked up, his eyes wide with a look of wonderment. “Is this chick for real?” The confusion on my face must have shown, because he didn’t hesitate to elaborate with a shitload of enthusiasm, so much so, his hands became part of the conversation. “I wish I could borrow her brain for a day. She’s a fucking genius, D!” For him to say that about someone he’d loathed for the better part of a year was something else. “This tracking software she’s created puts mine to shame.” He shuffled closer, tilting one of the laptops so that I could check things out. “This, is what I’ve been missing. This is what we need for NSI, D. You should see the codes she’s written. Fucking hell! If you won’t offer her a job, I will.”

The problem was that I had planned to do that a year ago. Before I could, Devolin shut me down, citing that parting ways after Morgan’s rescue was best for everyone. As I’ve mentioned before, I hadn’t stopped at that, but she was like smoke. There one second, gone the next. Invisible. Today had been the biggest break I’d gotten where she was concerned.

Before I could share this with Brycen, I spotted my half-sister heading my way. “Sky?” Getting to my feet, I took a few steps toward her, then waited.

Skylar greeted me with a hug. “What are you doing here?”

I squeezed her back, answering, “Waiting on someone.”

She pulled back from me, her eyes filled with worry. “Is it one of the guys?” Then she peered over my shoulder, eyes going wide, reflecting recognition. Her face filled with shock. “That’s Devolin’s bag!” Clearly agitated, her arm shot out and her finger pointed in Brycen’s direction. “Those are her computers! What’s he doing with her computers, D?”

What in the ever fucking fuck? Skylar knows Devolin?

My stance widened, my arms crossed over my chest, and my eyes studied the woman in front of me. Skylar bit her lip nervously, her eyes darting between me and my partner, who was diligently tapping away on one laptop, then switching to the other, muttering nonsensical things to himself, all the while oblivious to this latest development.

“How do you know her?”

“She told me she was fine,” Skylar explained, and tried to move past me to get to Brycen, but I shot out an arm to stop her. She sighed and looked up into my eyes. “Dalton…is she in trouble?”

Despite her evident concern, I didn’t answer. Instead, I repeated my earlier question. “No bullshit, Sky. How do you know her?”

Fire flashed through her eyes as my sister’s trademark stubbornness kicked in.

Getting onto the tips of her toes, her index poked me in the chest. “She’s a friend.” Another poke. “A good friend. The best I’ve had in the last two years as a matter of fact.” She kept punctuating each point with that finger of hers. “Tell me what’s going on. Whatever you think she’s done—”

“Sky—”

“No! Listen to me, D.” She wasn’t backing down. Like a dog with a bone that one. “She wouldn’t do—”

I was officially past the point of exasperation. “Would you shut the fuck up and listen to what I need to say?”

“You can’t take this away from her, D,” she whispered. “It’s all she’s got. She’s been sick for—”

“Sick?”

“Yeah, sick, and not the cold or flu kind, D. You do realize you’re in the Chronic Care Ward, right?” She paused, shaking her head before letting it drop to her chest. “I just…” A sigh. “I just thought that this last time would be it,” she whispered, but I heard her loud and clear. “She doesn’t deserve this to be happening to her. She doesn’t need more shit in her life.” Her eyes flew up to mine and I was faced with a protective Skylar. “You need to leave her alone. Whatever it is that you caught her doing, she’s doing it for good, you get me? Leave. Her. Be. Dalton.” She finished this with her chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Grabbing onto her shoulders, I pulled her into me, hugging her, offering her comfort. “Had you given me a word in edgewise,” I said softly into her hair, “I’d have told you that Brycen, the guys, and I have been looking for Devolin for quite some time now.” Skylar’s body went solid as a rock. Nodding against her head, I continued, “She helped me out a while back.” I chuckled. “She’s given us quite the runaround, too.” Pulling away, I set her back, a subtle smile on my face. “Aside from the fact that I wanted to track her down to thank her for getting involved, I—”

Skylar’s eyes widened. “This is about Theo and Morgan, isn’t it?”

What the fuck?

“I heard her that night, D.” Her voice shook. “I was working the nightshift, and planned to stop by on my break like usual, but I heard her. The panic in her voice. The resolve in it…her defeat. I had no idea what she was doing, but I knew it had something to do with her computers.”

“Skylar?” She turned to face the same nurse who’d given me Devolin’s message earlier. “Your girl’s looking for you.”

Skylar nodded to the woman, “Thanks, Doris,” then turned to me once more. “I…”

“Go,” I told her. “Make sure she’s alright. We can talk about this later.”

She nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

Smirking, I nodded. “Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”

“D…” She rolled her eyes.

“Fine.”

“She’s the one with the flowers and gifts, isn’t she?” Her lips quirked up at my slight nod in response. “I’m going to tell you this, but I swear, I’ll hunt you down in your sleep and kill you if you tell her this came from me…”

That’s when I knew I had an ally in Skylar.