Chương 4
She shook her head.
“You redirected.”
He looked annoyed.
“Are you always this difficult?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because people lie when the truth is uncomfortable.”
“And you think you know the truth?”
“No.”
Her answer came immediately.
“I think I know when someone is avoiding it.”
Rafe stared at her.
The hospital room was quiet except for the distant sounds of footsteps and machines.
“You are very confident for someone who knows nothing about me.”
“That is because I know something about people.”
“That is a dangerous belief.”
“It is.”
She adjusted the edge of her sleeve.
“I have been wrong before.”
The honesty surprised him.
Most people who challenged Rafe tried to appear impossible to defeat.
Tessa admitted weakness without hesitation.
It made her harder to dismiss.
The door opened again.
This time it was June.
She entered carrying two cups of coffee.
“I brought peace offerings.”
Rafe looked at the cups.
“You cannot drink coffee this late.”
June handed one to Tessa.
“I brought one for the person who actually listens.”
Tessa accepted it.
“Thank you.”
Rafe frowned.
“You two have known each other for five minutes.”
“And yet she has already earned my respect.”
June sat in the chair near the window.
Rafe looked at her bandage.
“How bad?”
“Small cut.”
“You should have stitches.”
“I have three.”
He went quiet.
She noticed.
“Rafe.”
“What?”
“You are doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you pretend anger is easier than fear.”
He looked away.
June sighed.
“You have done it since we were kids.”
Tessa looked between them.
There was a history there that did not belong to the headlines.
Not the stories about money.
Not the stories about violence.
Something older.
Something private.
“When our parents died,” June said softly, “he decided being scared was something other people were allowed to do.”
Rafe’s jaw tightened.
“June.”
“What?”
“Not now.”
She stopped.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she knew him.
Tessa noticed that too.
June was the only person in the room who could make Rafe uncomfortable without trying.
A nurse entered and checked his chart.
“You will be staying overnight.”
“No.”
The nurse looked up.
“Yes.”
“I have responsibilities.”
“You also have a bullet wound.”
“I have people who need answers.”
“You have doctors who need you to stop arguing.”
The nurse walked out before he could respond.
Tessa covered a smile with her coffee cup.
“Do not.”
“I did not say anything.”
“You were thinking loudly.”
“That is impossible.”
“You make it possible.”
For a moment, the room felt almost normal.
Then Rafe’s phone began ringing.
He looked at the screen.
The name there changed everything.
Malcolm.
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
The voice on the other end was low.
Rafe listened.
His expression slowly hardened.
“No.”
A pause.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“I am coming.”
Tessa reached for the phone before he could stand.
“No.”
Rafe looked at her hand covering the device.
“You cannot be serious.”
“You are staying.”
“My employee was found.”
“Found where?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Rafe.”
He looked away.
“Found how?”
“Alive.”
The word should have been relief.
It was not.
Tessa saw it.
“You are worried.”
“No.”
“You are.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“He was found unconscious.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned warehouse near the docks.”
“By who?”
“Police.”
“Then why are you going?”
“Because he works for me.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the answer.”
Tessa lowered her voice.
“No.”
Rafe looked at her.
“No?”
“No.”
“You do not know me well enough to tell me no.”
“You are right.”
She stood.
“I know you well enough to know you are about to walk into something because you feel responsible for everyone around you.”
His expression changed slightly.
“You think I am wrong?”
“I think you are injured.”
“That is different.”
“No.”
She pointed toward the door.
“It is the same problem.”
June watched them both.
“You know, I have spent years trying to tell him that.”
Rafe looked at his sister.
“You are not helping.”
“I know.”
She took a sip of coffee.
“It is refreshing.”
The corner of Tessa’s mouth moved.
Rafe noticed.
He noticed everything about her now.
The way she tapped her thumb against the cup when thinking.
The way she never raised her voice when she was angry.
The way she looked directly at him when everyone else looked at his reputation first.
It bothered him.
Not because she was wrong.
Because she was seeing too much.
The next morning, Rafe left the hospital against medical advice.
Tessa found out because she was reviewing his discharge notes and saw his signature.
She stared at the paper.
Then at the empty room.
Then she closed her eyes.
“Unbelievable.”
A nurse nearby looked over.
“Family?”
Tessa paused.
“No.”
The nurse smiled.
“Friend?”
Another pause.
“No.”
The nurse looked at the signed form.
“Then why do you look offended?”
Tessa had no answer.
Because the truth was inconvenient.
She was not angry because a patient ignored instructions.
She was angry because a stranger had walked into her life for one night and somehow made her care whether he survived.
Across the city, Rafe stood inside the warehouse where Victor Salazar had been found.
The building smelled like rust and old rain.
Malcolm stood beside him.
“You should not be here.”
Rafe looked around.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Maybe because everyone is right.”
On the concrete floor, police markers showed where Victor had collapsed.
Rafe crouched carefully despite the pain.
“What do we know?”
Malcolm handed him a file.
“Victor was attacked.”
“By who?”
“Unknown.”
“Anything else?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“There is one thing.”
Rafe looked up.
“What?”
“Victor had this in his pocket.”
He handed over a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a small piece of paper.
A handwritten message.
Rafe read it once.
Then again.
His expression changed.
“What does it say?”
Malcolm asked.
Rafe folded the paper slowly.
May you like
“It says the attack at the hotel was never meant for me.”
The warehouse became silent.
