Chapter 36

Trevor waited anxiouslyoutside the room while Sadie met with the doctor.

She hadn’t invited him in, and he understood why. A person’s medical health was a private matter. He respected that.

But Trevor hoped for her sake she’d gotten some good news.

Everything was quickly unraveling. Before too long, any semblance of peace would end up as a pile of discarded scraps.

Finally, she stepped out of the exam room, her eyes brighter than earlier.

She paused near him. “Dr. Conroy says I’m progressing as I should be. No other symptoms have popped up, so that’s good.”

Trevor rose and nodded, hating this new tension between them. “I’m glad to hear that. I know you could use some good news.”

“You can say that again.” She let out a feeble breath of air, almost as if attempting a laugh but failing. “I’m ready to get out of here. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

He’d halfway expected Sadie to fire him. With all the deceit between them, it wouldn’t surprise him.

But she didn’t say anything regarding that.

He still needed to keep her close for now, so he saw the food idea as a win.

“Let’s go,” he murmured.

They walked back to the elevator, awkward silence falling between them as they waited for the doors to open.

For a moment, Trevor wondered what might have developed between them if all the lies didn’t exist.

He couldn’t see himself ever meeting someone like Sadie—the Sadie he knew, at least—again. Even if he did, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be willing to open himself up to someone else, not after this catastrophe.

Maybe it was better if he did exactly what Larchmont had told him. To simply find contentment in being single and being married to his job.

Things were a lot less complicated that way.

The elevator dinged, and they stepped inside. They had the car to themselves.

He pressed the button for the first floor and watched as the doors slowly began to close.

Then a hand slipped between the doors and stopped them from closing.

A man rushed inside. “Sorry about that!”

Except this guy didn’t exactly look like a hospital employee, Trevor mused. Not even a visitor.

No, an aura of danger surrounded him.

Instead of turning to face the doors, the man paused in front of them.

Facing them.

As the door closed behind the man, Trevor’s breath caught.

This was the man who’d been watching him and Sadie earlier. The one who’d been in the hospital right after Sadie was first admitted. The one Trevor had chased. The one he’d seen at the restaurant, if he had to guess.

He was here.

In the elevator.

With them.

Trevor braced himself for the fight of his life and reached for his gun.

* * *

“You don’t need to draw that,” the man muttered before moving his sweatshirt aside. “I have one too. This will be a lot easier if we just use words.”

Sadie sucked in a breath as she watched the man.

He was the man she’d seen outside the hospital.

The one who had made her panic surge.

Now he was here. With them.

Trevor lowered his hand, but his arm looked triggered, as if at the first sign of danger, he would draw his weapon.

Instead, Trevor stepped forward until he stood between her and this stranger. “What do you want?”

“Just to talk.”

“Who are you and why have you been following us?” Trevor demanded.

The man reached over and pressed the Emergency Stop button. The elevator lurched to a halt, and a bell began to ring, the screeching loud and overwhelming.

Sadie’s pulse beat harder, pounding in her chest with ferocity. What exactly was this guy planning?

“I’m not here to hurt you,” the guy said over the sound of the alarm.

“Then why are you here?” Trevor asked.

“We need to talk. But not here. Somewhere private. Every time I try to get close to talk to you, someone interrupts my plans.”

“How do I know you’re not setting us up?” Trevor asked.

“You don’t,” the man said. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

Trusting strangers wasn’t something that seemed prudent at the moment.

“Meet me at Clinch Park in two hours, and I’ll explain everything then.”

He let go of the alarm button, and the screeching bell turned off. The elevator continued down then the doors opened.

Just as quickly as he’d appeared, the man was gone.

Sadie sucked in a deep breath, trying to process what had just happened. Finally, she asked, “What was that about?”

Trevor shook his head, his gaze hard. “I have no idea.”

“You know that guy could have killed us right in the elevator if he’d wanted to.” She gave Trevor a second glance. “I mean, you could have stopped him, but you know what I’m getting at. You think this guy really might be a good guy?”

He shrugged. “At this point, I have no idea what to think.”

“So you want to meet him?”

Trevor let out a long, drawn-out breath. “I don’t think we have much choice.”