Looking up at him, I quickly hold my finger in front of my lips to encourage him not to wake the kids. I know it’s hard to contain your emotions when you’re caught off guard. But that’s the last thing we need right now.
“When?” he asks, his voice lowered.
“Right before you got here.” I hand him my phone and wrap my arms around myself in an attempt to squelch my jumpy nerves. “Nick, who else knows this number? I only gave it to a select group.”
“I know.” He puts the phone down and stands, reaching for his own. He quickly hits a few keys on his cell before pulling the device to his ear. “Hi. I hate like hell to ask you this, but is there any way you can cover the rest of my on-call shift?”
I watch in silence, wondering if he’s speaking with Allison, the office manager.
“It’s Kat. I need to be here with my family tonight. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Nick looks down at me before reaching for my hand. “Thank you. I owe you for this.” He hangs up the call and immediately starts to dial another number.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Holden Knight.”
Oh, god. How much does my husband love me to have to ask Holden for a favor? Then it hits me. “Nick?”
“Yeah?”
“Does the office have my new number?”
He holds up his finger, indicating the caller he’s attempting to reach has picked up the line. “Hey, Colton? It’s Nick Barnes. Kat got another text. Yes. The new one.” Observing in silence, I wonder how it is he has Colton in his contact list. Then it hits me. I was right. He’s been calling him for updates, just not sharing any of this intel with me. “Thank you. I’ll bring it by in the morning.”
Good grief. At this rate, I’ll have to get a phone that only Nick can reach and have everyone important contact him.
“How do you have Colton in your contacts? Have you been staying in touch with him?”
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t you shared that with me?” I ask, feeling a little surly.
“There hasn’t been anything to share. They don’t know anything.”
I try to consider his words as I slump back into my pillow. I’m so relieved he’s staying, but then I recall how that’s possible. “Nick? Did you give anyone at work my new number?”
“Yeah, why? I felt like they needed to have it in case something happened, and I was stuck in a case and needed them to call to tell you I’d be late or something.”
Ugh.I think we’ve found our unknown number. As I look up to see if Nick has spotted my epiphany, I find he’s walking toward the bedroom door. “Where are you going?”
“I need a minute, Kat.”
My heart suddenly feels like it’s breaking. How is this happening? This is supposed to be our safe little life here at this magical lake house, but instead, more vultures are coming at us. I’ve brought so much strife to his world.
“Please don’t worry, kitten. I just need to wrap my head around this. Get some sleep. I’ll join you soon.”
“Okay.” I slump back into my pillow and try to rest in the knowledge he’s here with me. That I’m not keeping anything from him. Well, except maybe my concerns about Holden. Closing my eyes, I try to list the people in my mind who have my new number. My horrifying version of counting sheep.
Nick
Pouring two fingers of scotch, I walk to my desk. Dropping down into my chair, I reach back to rub the achy muscles in my neck. It had been a long day at the office before coming home to this nightmare. I’d had a difficult surgery and then received multiple consult calls from the emergency room. None of those cases required alerting the OR of an impending case, but they took more time than usual.
The ER is a busy place. The providers are constantly juggling their cases, always staying focused on the sickest. It’s frustrating to be sitting idle, waiting to have a broken bone fixed because the nurses are not available to pull medication and assist, yet, someone with a life threat takes precedence.
I take another sip, relishing in the burn as it trails down my esophagus, the warmth calming my rattled nerves. I hate that I had to call Holden. But there wasn’t any way around it. I’d half expected him to tell me no. He’s so fucking rigid and unaccommodating with his schedule. But there was no hesitation.Was it because I said it was for Kat?
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered about the true extent of their relationship. It doesn’t seem normal that he would’ve been wiping her tears away in that damn parking lot if they were simply casual acquaintances. But I trust my wife. I’m not going there.
Reaching behind me, I retrieve my cell phone and open the audio I’ve played about a million times since I forwarded it from Kat’s phone. As I play it on repeat, I try to conjure up who could possibly be doing this. There are only a handful of people that have Kat’s new number.
