She was incredible. Standing up to the administrator like that. Ordering the others around. Absolutely incredible.

I’d been in my workshop all morning. Making things. Taking electronics apart and putting them back together. Basically wasting time while trying not to think about Erin. Not that it had worked.

Stupidly, I’d told Lola I didn’t want to be disturbed. Obviously, I needed to work on her programming so that she’d better understand language used to indicate an emergency. Or maybe that prick in there, Holt, hadn’t fully explained the situation.

Once I’d gotten the message, I’d driven over here in record time, breaking about twenty traffic laws. Then to my utter amazement, when I’d neared the room I’d heard Erin’s voice. Loud and strong. Telling the others to, essentially, go fuck themselves.

When the Erin vanquished the extraneous staff, I’d stepped back into the bathroom so they wouldn’t see me. The big orderly had cussed as he’d left. Once they were gone, I moved back to the door, listening in.

Except now I couldn’t hear anything. Risking being seen, I peeked into the room. Erin was sitting on the edge of Nana’s bed, talking to her quietly. Nana had Erin’s hand in a death grip and was nodding.

Just seeing Nana like that was devastating, and it made me want to rush to her. But then Erin spoke again. “Nana was threatened.”

What?

“What do you mean, threatened?” Holt asked.

“When she woke up from her nap, the orderly was going through her purse. When he saw that she’d seen him, he threatened to hurt her if she told anyone.”

“That’s preposterous,” Holt said, making my hands clench into fists. “Frank’s been a model employee for many years.”

“And how many reports of theft have you had during those years?”

“A few,” Holt said defensively. “All assisted living companies hear that from time to time. But what you’ve got to realize, miss, is that a lot of these patients have impaired mental faculties.”

“Nana doesn’t,” Erin said simply. “And neither do I, and the second time I visited her, I noticed a twenty missing from my purse afterwards.”

There was a pause, and I looked out again. Erin had her back to me. She was standing, facing the administrator who looked prepared to go down with the ship.

“That’s a very serious charge, but of course, we will make a complete inquiry.” He turned to Nana. “We’ll need you to tell us all the details, and of course, Frank should be able to hear the accusations against him and respond to them.”

“No,” Nana cried, and the fear in her voice nearly broke my heart. But before I could act, Erin came through. Again.

“Absolutely not. Nana can share the details when she’s ready—without the accused in the room. But right now, she’s scared. She’s just been threatened by a man twice her size. And then again by you all crowding into her bedroom. The only thing that’s happening right now is that I’m taking Nana out of here.”

Good girl! God, she was magnificent. I wondered if she had any idea how badass she was being right now?

“That’s out of the question. You’re not authorized to do that.”

“Nana authorized me. She wants out of here—and that’s what’s happening. Ma’am, could you help me get her into her wheelchair?”

I frowned for a moment. Nana’s electric wheelchair didn’t fit into the back bedroom. But then I remembered there was a collapsible one in there that the staff used when helping her get ready in the morning. It was lighter and easier to maneuver.

“Krista, don’t. Mrs. Spencer is staying here.”

But from the sound of it, the remaining nurse was on Nana’s side—and Erin’s. As I watched surreptitiously, the two women got Nana into her chair with a blanket draped over her. The nurse even packed a small bag of her things.

But Holt still had a little fight in him. “You can’t remove her from this facility. You don’t have the authority. I’ll call the police.”

“Go ahead,” Erin said, coolly, as if she’d never had a single problem speaking her mind. “We can tell them how a member of your staff threatened a resident, and you didn’t even order him out of the room. You let him stay in here, continuing to intimidate her. I’m sure the police will be interested in hearing all about that.”

There was a pause. And then Holt spoke again. “I’ll need your complete contact information and the address you’re taking her to.”

“And you’ll get it—after I have Nana out of here.”

Erin wheeled Nana forward, and I retreated back into the bathroom again. My grandmother was in good hands, and Erin was magnificent.

Surprisingly, it was Nana who spoke next. “Wait. The others.”

Erin’s voice was gentler now. “What others?”

Nana’s voice was weak—weaker than I’d ever heard it, and I ached to go take her into my arms. But Erin had this. After a whispered conversation, Erin straightened up and spoke to Holt. “What will happen to Frank?”

I couldn’t help looking again. Holt appeared flustered. “I can assure you, there will be a full investigation into this claim.”

“But will he be suspended? Barred from the building during the investigation?”

“Certainly not. The man has a family to feed. I can’t take away his livelihood.”

“So this man who threatened one of your residents gets to stick around here and threaten more? Steal from more?”

“Those accusations are unfounded at the moment.”

“But they could be true. And if they are, you’re putting all the seniors here in danger. Frank needs to be suspended. Or arrested. You can be sure we’ll be talking to the police once Nana’s feeling up to it.”

“Policies at my establishment are not your business, young lady. I decide what’s best for my residents.” God, that man needed to be punched. Or dropped off of the nearest cliff.

That was probably my cue to enter the fray. Erin and Nana were right. Frank shouldn’t be allowed to stay around all these vulnerable people one moment longer. I was about to step out of the shadows when Erin spoke again.

“Your policies aren’t my business, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious about them. In fact, I bet a lot of people would be interested in knowing more about why it’s okay to have a suspected criminal continue to work with the elderly. Hey, wait, I know.”

There was a pause, and Erin fished for something in her purse. She held out a business card. “This man, James Trent, is a journalist. He likes me—I bet if I asked, he’d write a story about this.”

James Trent—who the hell was that?

Holt took the card. “He works for a tech magazine.”

Oh. That asshole. He must’ve been the one who’d been ogling Erin at the shareholder meeting. My list of people I wanted to punch was growing.

“Yes… and Nana is the grandmother of the most famous tech guy in the country, Seth Spencer. If James writes a post about this situation on the magazine website, how long do you think it’s going to be before the Associated Press picks up the story? Not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but Seth’s kind of a big deal.”

In spite of the situation, I had to grin at that.

“All right,” Holt said grudgingly. “He’ll be suspended with pay pending the results of the investigation.”

“Good choice.” Her condensation seemed to make Holt seem a few inches shorter.

Erin bent down to pick up Nana’s bag, and I made my escape without being seen. The next part was for me to do. But Erin had done her part, and she’d done it better than I’d ever dreamed she could.

She’d been magnificent.