Her mind drifted sideways, catching on a detail—something that didn’t quite fit.Wait…the man at the diner.The one who’d almost smiled at her.
He wasn’t a customer.He’d ordered coffee, never ordered food.She’d noticed him because he’d stood out to her.Maybe because she still found herself looking for the man who’d been following her.The man in black, the one Gabe and Mike had spotted in the cameras.Always staying out of range of most of the cameras.Keeping his face averted.This man wasn’t him.Yet she knew he was in the diner because of her.
“There was a man in the diner.He was one of yours,” she whispered.“A guard.”
Gabe lifted his head, startled.“You remember that?”
She nodded, slow and aching.Maybe she should ask for some pain medication, except she didn’t want to go back to sleep.“I thought he was following me.”
“You’re not wrong.He was making sure you were never alone.”
The quiet between them stretched, brittle and sharp.
“They think the shooter was on the roof across the street,” Gabe finally said, voice clipped.“Probably a professional.He could’ve killed you, Nica.I could have lost you and it would have been my fault.Because some maniac blames me for something that happened years ago.”
She saw it in his face, the guilt he wouldn’t speak aloud.It settled on his shoulders like a mantle, weighing him down.It wasn’t his fault, but she knew she’d never be able to convince him otherwise.
“You think this was him,” she said.“The same man who’s been calling you, the whole Melissa Carpenter thing.”Though she might still be a little foggy headed, she could read her husband easily.
Gabe looked away.“Of course it was him.This is about me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.You know it too.And I should’ve seen it coming.Should have seen that he would try to take away the one thing that means everything to me.”
She reached for him, weak but determined.Her hand barely lifted off the sheets before he caught it again, held it against his chest like he was afraid to let go.
“You couldn’t have known he’d do something this extreme, this final,” she said.“We’ve been careful.”
“Not careful enough.”
Outside the hospital window, the sun began its ascent in the sky, the long night finally passing into a new dawn.The peace of the recovery room felt too thin, like it could shatter at any moment.Nica’s heart pounded harder, despite the meds in her IV.Fear clawed at her ribs—not just for herself, but for the man in front of her.
“If they were willing to shoot me,” she said slowly, “what’s to stop them from coming afteryounext?”
Gabe didn’t answer.
A cold weight settled over her chest that had nothing to do with the bandages or the pain.She knew this man—knew the way he thought, the way he worked.He wouldn’t back down.Not now.Not after this.But the threat was escalating.The rules of this twisted game had changed.And whoever was behind this… they’d made it personal.
Nica fought the fog of sleep clinging to her thoughts, forcing herself to stay awake.“He’s not going to stop, is he?”she murmured.
Gabe’s jaw tightened.“No.”
Her vision blurred again, but not from pain.“Then we can’t wait for him to make the next move.”
Gabe leaned closer, his forehead brushing hers.“You’re barely awake from surgery, and you’re already planning counterattacks?”
She tried to smile, though it wobbled.“You married a Boudreau, remember?I’m not exactly the shrinking violet type.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too.Now, I’m going to go back to sleep.Why don’t you head home?Get a shower, a change of clothes.I’ll…see you later.”
“I’d rather stay here with you.”
“I’ll be fine, I promise.I have no doubt either you or my overprotective family has a guard posted outside my door, so nobody’s getting in that isn’t completely vetted and cleared.Go, take a shower, maybe catch a couple hours’ sleep.When you come back, we’ll come up with a plan, because we aren’t going to let him win.”
Gabe studied her face, and she held his gaze for a long moment before letting her eyelids droop.She needed him to go home, because she had plans to make, people she needed to talk to, because she was done letting this man win.But inside, fear twisted.Not for herself but for the man she loved.
