Chapter 6

Trevor’s thoughts raced.

Someone had altered Sadie’s medical treatment plan. Based on what he’d put together, that couldn’t have been an accident.

Someone had tried to kill Sadie in the parking lot. When that didn’t work, they’d come up with a Plan B.

He remembered the man he’d chased. Could he have done this?

He wasn’t sure if the guy would have had time.

What he did know was that Detective Bennett must have been getting off the elevator just as Trevor flew down the stairway chasing that man. Their paths had almost crossed, which might have raised some questions.

He turned back to the current situation.

From Trevor’s understanding, if that dextrose had been administered, it could have done major damage after Sadie’s head injury.

His gut tightened as he realized this was far from being over.

“I need to talk to the doctor,” Bennett barked.

“Of course. I’ll go get him now.” The nurse scurried from the room, still appearing flustered.

Trevor shifted, feeling awkward as he stood there with Sadie and Detective Bennett.

He wanted to step into the situation and take over. To bark out orders. To demand to see security footage from the hospital. To talk to the doctor himself. To ask the police to station someone outside Sadie’s room twenty-four/seven.

But Trevor knew he couldn’t do that. It would be too aggressive, make this seem too personal.

Even more thoughts ran through his mind.

Could Sadie really have been getting to know him with ulterior motives? Had their initial meeting been orchestrated? Could she work for an enemy of the US?

Trevor found it hard to believe. She’d given no indication of deceit.

The opposite, really.

She’d seemed authentic and genuine—something rare and refreshing in his world. It was part of the reason he’d been so drawn to her.

He wasn’t sure how he would navigate his way through this.

The only good news was that he’d sent that text Bennett had found.

But why had she used a burner with no other contacts?

That detail only seemed to prove Larchmont’s theory.

Detective Bennett turned toward Trevor as they waited for the nurse to return. “What do you do for a living, Mr. McGrath?”

“I work in private security,” Trevor answered.

“You mean like . . . cyber security or something?” Sadie stared up at him.

“I’m a bodyguard, actually.”

“Do you work nearby?” A hint of caution edged the detective’s voice. “I don’t recall seeing you around.”

“I work for Stealth Tech, a national company.” Trevor used a cover name for the organization, knowing Larchmont had already covered all the bases as far as setting up an online profile, complete with references and testimonials. “I was in the area having a little downtime when I saw what happened to Ms. Carrington.”

“I see.”

But Trevor didn’t like the way the detective eyed him. The man was suspicious and could be a problem. Trevor needed to try to stay on his good side.

“So you’re really a bodyguard?” Sadie suddenly said. “Can I hire you?”

Trevor hesitated as he remembered what Larchmont had said. He hated to deceive Sadie any more than he already had. But this was the perfect opportunity.

“Before you say no . . .” She clearly took his silence as a rejection. “I mean, I realize I don’t know for sure how I can pay you. But certainly, I have some money.”

“I’m not worried about money.”

“Oh, wait . . .” She frowned. “You said you were here on vacation, didn’t you? I’m sure you probably don’t want to work.”

Trevor shook his head again, realizing he was really botching this up. “It’s not that either. I guess I’m still just trying to process everything. I have a few more days in town, so if you need my assistance, I’d be happy to provide it.” He glanced at Detective Bennett. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Detective Bennett nodded. “Actually, it is. Someone tried to run her over. Since she was the only one in the parking lot, we can only assume she was targeted. Once whoever is responsible figures out they weren’t successful, there’s a chance they’ll try again. That very well could be what happened with the mixed-up medicine as well. Someone could have hacked the system.”

Trevor knew that was true. He’d already thought about it.

But that didn’t stop his muscles from tightening.

He couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt Sadie.

And he couldn’t imagine Sadie not telling the truth either.

However, if she had assumed a false identity, then what else was she hiding?

He’d given that jacket and hat to Larchmont. Maybe Trevor would receive an update soon.

Trevor had a lot of questions.

Like a storm popping up out of nowhere on a cloudless day, nothing was as it seemed.

* * *

Sadie’s heart beat harder.

The request to hire this stranger had slipped from her lips before she could stop it.

Yet another part of her thought the idea made sense.

This man had saved her once. He’d proven at least some part of him was noble.

There was still so much Sadie didn’t know about herself and about what had happened and why. As much as she’d like to think she could leave the hospital and resume normal life, she knew that wasn’t possible—not in her current state, which may or may not change within the next few minutes, hours, days, months, or ever.

She prayed she had the money to cover whatever his expenses were.

Perhaps she could sell her SUV if she had to. She didn’t know.

The doctor had already told her they’d keep her in the hospital for observation at least through the night. Then tomorrow hopefully some of her memories would return and she’d know more about herself. What her career was. If she had coworkers or family.

What did she do for a living?

She tried to guess but no ideas popped into her mind.

Nothing was certain right now, and everything felt off-kilter because of it.

Maybe the detective would have some answers for her soon.

Dr. Conroy came back into the room. Did a few things on the computer. Let out a grunt.

“What is it?” Bennett asked.

“I have no idea how those orders got into the system.”

“Don’t you have a way of tracking things?” Bennett shifted, still looking annoyed.

“We do. And according to this, I put in this order. But I didn’t.”

She didn’t like the sound of that.

“Who else could have done it?” Bennett asked.

“That’s what I need to figure out. No one has access to my badge or sign-in.”

“If you didn’t do it, then obviously, someone else does have access to those things,” Trevor added.

Conroy turned away from the computer, his expression grim. “You’re right. Kate, don’t give our patient any medications without talking to me first. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Then the doctor turned to Detective Bennett. “I can ask one of our IT guys to figure out how this was done. But it’s beyond me how this could have happened.”

“I definitely want to talk to someone. Just give me a minute.” Bennett turned back to Sadie, shifting as he stood beside her bed. “I’m going to continue looking into things. In the meantime, you get your rest. Heal. Maybe some memories will return. I’ll check in tomorrow. But if anything comes up in the meantime, here’s my card.”

He placed it on the table beside her bed before stepping from the room with Conroy, leaving just her and Trevor.

Sadie glanced at Trevor and saw him shift awkwardly. She couldn’t blame him.

This was a strange situation for him to be in. He was an innocent bystander who’d been pulled into the sudden mess of her life. He probably had other plans. Now his day had been taken up with her, and the rest of his vacation had also been hijacked. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked him to stay.

Yet she couldn’t bring herself to withdraw the request either.

As he gazed at her, a strange rush of attraction swept through her.

Attraction? She had no right to feel attracted to this man. She didn’t even know him.

She didn’t even know herself.

She remembered that text on her phone. Running a few minutes late. Can’t wait to see you.

It could have been to a boyfriend for all she knew. Though she wasn’t wearing a ring, that didn’t mean she wasn’t married or in a serious relationship.

What if she had a husband? What if she had a child? Or two?

But then, why wouldn’t she have any contacts in her phone and only one text?

Any attraction she felt to this Trevor man needed to be squashed immediately.

There were too many unknowns.

Just then, her phone rang on the table beside her.

She stared at it a minute, her pulse speeding.

Someone was calling her.

A loved one? A friend?

If so, why did she feel so much trepidation.

“Should I answer?” She glanced at Trevor.

“Definitely. Put it on speaker, if you don’t mind. This could be someone with answers for you.”

With shaky hands, she grabbed the phone.

The number on the screen didn’t have a name attached to it—not that she’d expected it to.

She hit Talk and then Speaker. “Hello?”

Then she waited to hear who was on the other end.