31. Nova
CHAPTER 31
NOVA
M an, I look rough.
I lean in closer to the mirror, as though that might change the look of the bruises blooming on my cheeks. My right eye is black and bloodshot, my lip split at the corner.
I’ve definitely looked better. But have I looked worse? It would be nice if I could remember. Gripping both sides of the counter, I lean my head down and take a deep breath. I escaped, but that doesn’t mean this fight is over.
And even though sleep is the last thing I want, I know Elliot is right. Running into a situation without being as prepared as possible is foolish. I can’t risk my life that way, and I won’t risk theirs.
Bootsteps in the hall have me straightening and opening the bathroom door. Elliot, duffel bag in hand, Echo at his side, opens the room right across from mine and heads inside.
Since he leaves it open, I cross the hall and stand in the doorway. Echo rushes over to greet me, so I lean down to pet him. “Hey, boy, it’s good to see you too.” He spins in a circle and rubs his body against me for more love that I will gladly give.
“You should be resting.” Elliot sets his bag on the bed then turns to face me. His expression is shielded, those walls I first noticed put back in place. I know I put them there, and it makes me even angrier at myself.
How different things would look if I’d just taken him up on his offer to stay?
Would there be affection in his hazel gaze if I’d stayed?
“I was headed that way when I heard you come in.”
He nods. “Riley is on monitor duty tonight. He’ll keep eyes on everyone.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” I tell him.
He nods then unzips the bag and withdraws a pair of shorts, which he sets on the bed. The cold distance is exactly how he acted before—well—everything. And it breaks my heart not to see the man who’d kissed me so passionately two days ago. I can’t be surprised though—it’s my fault. I put that anger there.
“I’m sorry, Elliot.”
“I told you, you don’t need to be.”
“I do, though. I was trying to stay true to who I was being told I was, and I ignored who I’d become.”
“As I said, you were doing what you thought was right.”
“But I chose wrong. I listened to obligation versus how I really felt.” How do I make him see that he’s who I want? Who I’ve wanted all along?
“You still didn’t choose me, Nova,” he replies, turning to face me. He crosses both arms, and what’s left of my heart breaks.
He’s so closed off. What was I expecting? He offered me forever, and I threw it back in his face.
“I’m sorry,” I say again because they’re the only words I can put together right now.
“I am too,” he replies. “But it is what it is. I need to get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.” Grabbing his shorts and a small canvas bag I’m guessing are toiletries, he heads toward the door. I step out of the way, and he moves across the hall and into the bathroom. “I’m glad you’re okay, Nova. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
The door closes with a soft click that might as well have been deafening.
* * *
“There’s nothing here,” I say in frustration as I survey the mess in what was my apartment. Now everything is in disarray, with clothes in a pile on the floor, dishes on the countertops, and books pulled off the shelves, their pages checked for hidden messages.
So far, we’ve got nothing.
“You’re good at hiding stuff,” Riley offers, surveying the mess we’ve made. “I’ll give you that.”
Elliot is in the front closet, going over every nook and cranny in case I somehow managed to hide something in the wall.
We even checked the air vents. Nothing. Not a single shred of paper or a thumb drive. And since Elliot told me that Gibson got a team out to Ivan’s place and they found nothing, I know we’re running out of time.
Brett will come for me. And Ivan will back him.
Unless he puts a bullet in Brett himself.
“I don’t get it. Why would I hide that folder on Brett here, but not anything else?”
“Maybe you were in a rush with the Brett folder,” Elliot offers. “If he didn’t make contact with Brett until after you were on assignment, it’s likely you snuck away to hide that file.” He sighs. “But I’m in agreement; there’s nothing here.”
“Do you think he came back and found it?”
“Nah,” Riley brushes it off. “We would be able to tell because he wouldn’t have bothered to put anything back.”
“Who could tell with the mess I left behind?” I eye the blood staining the carpet in my bedroom.
“I can,” Elliot replies.
“He has a freaky memory,” Riley replies. “Always has.”
“Good to know.” I head back into the kitchen. I’m just turning when I see something move out of the corner of my eye, just outside the window. I rush over and peek through the glass, nearly jumping out of my own skin when I see a slender man duck back, eyes wide with fear.
He turns and rushes down the fire escape. I rip the window open. “Hey! Wait!”
“Nova!” Elliot calls behind me, but I’m already racing down after the man.
He hits the pavement and takes off down the alley with me right behind him. Still aching from the fight yesterday, I’m moving far slower than I would like, but the man running doesn’t seem to do a whole lot of cardio, and by the time we’ve made it to the alley, he’s wheezing.
He turns and takes a right, so I follow. The end of the alley is just ahead, and the man slows then turns to face me.
“Easy,” I tell him. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I kn—” His dark eyes widen further, and he rips a knife from his jacket as Elliot and Riley bound into the alley behind me.
“Easy!” I yell.
“Drop it now, or I’ll drop you,” Elliot growls, weapon raised at the man. Riley is directly beside him, his own weapon trained.
“Wait!” I yell, stepping between them. I’ve got a feeling in my gut, a gnawing understanding that not everything is as it seems. I turn toward the stranger. The beanie low on his head and the tattered sweatshirt lead me to believe he’s homeless.
He’s gaunt, his skin pale. But he doesn’t look angry or out of control. No, he looks scared. “Do you know me?” I ask.
“You told me to be careful,” he whispers. “I tried to be careful. But when I saw them take you up, I knew I had to give you a distraction. So you could escape. I’m sorry. I messed up.”
“You do know me?”
His gaze darts to me then back to Elliot and Riley.
“I was shot,” I tell him. “I nearly died and lost my memories in the process.”
“Nova, get back here,” Elliot growls.
“She ain’t going nowhere with you!” the stranger yells, holding up his knife. He takes a step forward, clearly wanting to protect me. But why?
My heart racing, I try to stay between the Hunts and this man. “Tell me what I told you.”
He looks back at me. “You told me to be careful, and I was careful.”
Hope. “You’re not trying to hurt anyone, are you?”
“I’ll hurt them if they hurt you.” He bares his teeth. They’re rotting, and he’s missing a few on the bottom.
“They aren’t going to hurt me.” I turn around. “Put them away, please. Trust me.”
Both Elliot and Riley look at me like I’m insane.
“Please,” I say again.
Begrudgingly, they lower their weapons.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Riley mutters.
“I do.” Shifting my attention back to the man, I ask, “What’s your name?”
He lowers the knife just a bit. “You really don’t remember me?” He looks almost hurt, and I feel a wave of guilt knowing I caused him distress.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even know who I was until recently.”
“Milo,” he replies. “We’re friends.”
I smile. “I believe you.” I take a step closer.
“Nova.”
“It’s fine,” I tell Elliot. “These are my friends too. Elliot and his brother, Riley. Elliot saved my life.”
Milo looks past me to Elliot and narrows his gaze. “You did?”
“I did.”
A heartbeat later, Milo is shoving the knife back into his pocket. “I’m sorry. I had to protect her. I thought you worked for that other guy.”
“What other guy?” I ask.
“Not here,” he says. “Eyes everywhere.” He points to the top of the buildings then waves for me to follow him as he turns and heads toward a door on the back of the brick building.
“Nova,” Elliot warns as I start to follow.
“He might have answers,” I insist.
“Stay here,” Elliot tells Riley. “Call for backup if you don’t hear from me in ten minutes.”
“You got it, be safe.”
As Milo tugs on the handle, the door opens with a creak, and he heads inside first. I follow with Elliot right behind me. The door closes, plunging us into a dim backroom. A cot sits in one corner, a sleeping bag on top.
There’s an electric cooktop and a kettle as well as a few milk crates with cans of food.
“Do you live here?” I ask him.
He nods. “You got it for me.”
“I did?”
“Yeah.” He surveys Elliot. “You’re sure he’s okay?”
“I’m sure.”
“He looks like one of them soldier types.”
I smile at Elliot. “He is a soldier type. But a good one.” I turn back to Milo. “What were you going to tell me?”
He eyes Elliot one final time then heads over toward an old metal cabinet and reaches behind it. He tugs on something and removes a thumb drive with a piece of tape stuck to the back.
“What is that?”
“I kept it safe for you. Just like you asked me to. I made sure no one got it. I told you, you can trust me. I’ll always be there for you.” He hands it to me, and I stare down at it, praying it’s the lifeline I think it is.
“Do you know what’s on this?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. But you told me it was important I didn’t give it to nobody but you unless time ran out.”
I turn to Elliot. “This is it.”
“What do you mean, when time ran out?” Elliot asks Milo.
“She told me that someone might be coming for her and that, if they did, she wouldn’t be back to get the drive. She told me that, if I hadn’t heard from her by her birthday, then I was to take it to the police station and give it to Lieutenant Crew. But only to him. Not the captain. You said explicitly, not the captain.”
“I told you that?” If I didn’t think I could trust the captain, then was he lying when he spoke to Gibson? Was he the man I talked to on the phone?
“Yes. You were adamant that I not trust him.”
“You said you were going to protect her,” Elliot says, moving closer. “Who were you protecting her from?”
“Those men. The ones that showed up right after you gave me that.” He points to the drive. “They were really angry. I could hear them yelling, and I went to look, and they were making such a mess. I started to stop them, but you made me promise to keep that safe no matter what. I didn’t want to risk letting you down, so I stayed away. They destroyed all your pretty things.” He looks so sad for a moment; then his face lights up. “But wait! I saved something!” Milo rushes over to the corner and rummages through a bunch of stuff he has there. When he emerges, he’s holding a black photo album. “I got this out of the trash for you. I couldn’t get the rest of it. But I got this.” Slowly, as though it’s made of fragile glass, he offers me the album.
I take it from him and open it, my heart aching with grief as I study the images. An older woman with red hair like mine is smiling out of a photograph, her arm around me.
There’s another with a younger me standing between that same woman and a man with dark hair. My parents.
I close the album and hug it close. “Thank you, Milo.”
He beams at me, pride evident in his expression. “You’re welcome.”
“Can I ask you, when is my birthday?”
“May seventeenth,” he says. “You didn’t have nobody else to celebrate with you, so you’d have me over for cake. It was such good cake.”
Emotion burns in my chest. A friend. I did have a friend. “I must have snuck the evidence out of my apartment right before Brett shot me.” I turn toward Elliot. “I must have known they were coming for me.”
“And you moved it to where Brett couldn’t get it.”
“Do you know him too?” I ask, turning back to Milo.
“Met him once. Not impressed. You promised not to tell him I was here.” He points to a scar over his right eye. “He gave me this.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart falls.
“Don’t be.” Milo waves it off. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was worried about you. You know you’re like my sister,” he says. “We’re family.” He smiles, and I return it.
“Thank you for this,” I tell him, holding up the thumb drive. “You just saved my life.”
“I’ll always protect you, Nova,” he says with a wide smile.
“We got company!” Riley sprints into the room, weapon raised. “They must have been watching the apartment.”
“We have to go!” Milo yells. “Come. You have to come.” He grabs my hand and yanks me through another door. We emerge into a large empty room that looks like it was once a restaurant. Behind us, heavy boot steps and yelling have the adrenaline in my veins surging.
Elliot and Riley block the door, but we don’t stop there. Milo keeps tugging, pulling me further and further through the building.
We emerge onto the street, and Elliot pushes past us, hitting the unlock button for his truck, which thankfully is parked right on the street.
A gun fires, and the bullet whizzes past us.
Milo stops running and pushes me forward. “You have to go!” he yells. “You can’t have her!” he bellows, spinning to face the men with guns.
I turn and take his hand, trying to tug him with us. “Come on. You’re coming too?—”
A gunshot echoes along the street, and Milo stiffens.
“No!”
He turns slowly toward me, eyes wide as he stares back at me, fear and shock warring for control over his expression.
“No.” Emotion burns in my throat. “No!”
He sinks to his knees. I try to pull him up as more gunshots are fired in our direction.
“I’ve got him.” Elliot scoops him up and places him in the backseat then jumps into the driver’s side.
Riley turns and fires—once, twice—before jumping into the truck. I get into the backseat and rip my sweatshirt off to apply pressure to Milo’s chest. “We have to get him to a hospital,” I insist.
“It’s—it’s okay.” Milo smiles, eyes growing heavy. “You’re okay. That’s what matters.”
“You matter too,” I tell him, tears blurring my vision. “We’re friends, remember? Family.”
He smiles, though it’s distant. “Family,” he repeats. “I won’t forget the day the pretty detective wanted to be my friend. You saved my life that day. I’m only glad I got to save yours too.”