6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Carys
S ofia takes Lucas from my outstretched arms, and I slip on my sandals. “Holding off on their pay worked, huh?”
Jay chuckles and drops his phone into his pocket. “The project manager is very excited to present the progress they’ve made. We’re cooking with gas, literally. The natural gas hookups were installed yesterday.”
“I’m glad to hear things are finally starting to fall into place over there.” I kiss Lucas on the head and grab my purse. “You’re good with his schedule?” She is, but I can’t help asking. She’s the person who helped me figure out a routine.
Sofia’s lips twitch. “I got it. You’re a short drive away, and my husband is never far from his life force.” Her tone is teasing. But the other day she threatened to throw his phone across the room if he checked it one more time while they were talking.
“Please. If I had to make a choice between you and my phone, I’d still pick you, babe. No worries.” He tugs her into a side hug before giving Lucas a quick kiss on his temple. “You look good with a baby in your arms.”
She wags her finger at him. “Someone else’s baby. We’re not having any more.”
Jay chuckles and leads the way out of the house. We both climb into the rear seats, and Dominic slides into the driver’s seat. Now that Jay’s taken on a more formal role organizing the hotel and casino, my security has fallen to the locals we’ve hired. Dominic is quiet but efficient, and the rest of his rotating crew is similar. Bringing in new staff made me nervous, but since I’m building a life here, I have to commit to the place and the people.
“We’re booked into a hotel not far from the facility in Michigan. Gonna feel a bit different.” Jay gives me a side glance. “No glass partition at visitation.”
My heart kicks. We’ll be able to touch. A thrill of anticipation shoots through me. “Seeing him with fewer restrictions will definitely seem like we’re a step closer. We leave in three days?”
“That’s right.”
Dominic drives across the dirt and sand acting as a parking lot for the build, but there’s only one other car. Is the project at another standstill? I smother a sigh of frustration. “What’s going on? Where is everyone?” In front of us, the building is a concrete skeleton. Better than a foundation, which is what we had a couple weeks ago, but we must be falling behind.
Jay’s brow creases. “What am I missing, Dominic?”
“Today is a holiday.” He gets out of the car. “Only the manager will be here to show you around.”
“I need to update my phone with local information.” Jay takes it out of his pocket. “Why wouldn’t he have told me when I asked? We could have come any day.”
“Probably better this way,” Dominic says. “Otherwise, it’ll be very noisy.”
That’s true. The site doesn’t have the same sense of urgency and pace when it’s quiet. “Where are we meeting him?”
“In the lobby.” Jay nods toward the framed entrance.
As we walk to the roughed-in door, the wind swirls the sand at my feet. In the distance on either side of our hotel and casino are other hotels, but we’re the first casino on this island in Cape Verde. A feather in our cap if we can get the damn thing up and running. Initially, the construction sped along, but then we hit roadblock after roadblock. At least the outline of the buildings is here, and I can identify the size and scope of each section.
A man comes out of the front, and Jay grins. “Adiel! Thanks for meeting us. You could have mentioned it was a holiday.”
“No problem. No problem.” He waves off Jay and extends his hand to me. Dominic is a few steps behind us, and the two men exchange a nod of acknowledgement. “I’m happy to show you the great progress we’ve made since the permits have come through. So much government red tape.” He ushers us into the building.
We follow him around the construction site as he recounts everything that’s been done in the last few weeks and what his team is planning to have completed in the weeks to come. We pore over plans and discuss whether we need to move the completion target.
“No.” Adiel smiles. “We can make the original date. With the red tape gone, we’ll have no problems.”
Jay and I exchange a glance behind Adiel’s back. Is he blowing smoke up our asses, or is his claim accurate? “No problems,” I clarify. “We’ll have to start marketing and promotions on an international scale soon to drum up interest. If you can’t make the date, now is the time to be cautious, not confident.”
Adiel’s face clouds. “Yes, of course. When do you need a firm yes?”
Jay whips out his phone and scrolls through various emails we’ve had with our team. “You’ve got about four weeks.”
“Lots of time.” Adiel’s expression clears, and he gathers the plans into a neat pile. “I will have a solid date for you in one month.”
I smother my smile with my hands. His reaction isn’t funny, but when it’s not Adiel’s skin on the hook, nothing appears to be pressing. He has a month—he’ll take the month. Schooling my face, I meet Adiel’s gaze. “Great.”
We walk to the front of the building to Dominic, who has been keeping watch. He was right about the site being quieter. The eeriness is probably my imagination because I expected the build to be a bustle of activity.
We’re almost at the exit when a familiar smell assaults my nose. “Is that…”
“A gas leak,” Jay confirms, his hand on the small of my back, ushering me toward the door. “We gotta get out.”
My foot hits the sand, and I half turn to ask Adiel about the shutoff valve. A deafening roar rises behind us, and then I’m lifted off my feet, flying through the air. Like any moment when something bad happens, time slows, narrows. Jay disappears from my side. It’s like there’s a hand square in the middle of my spine, propelling me farther and farther from the building. Every bone in my body loosens and vibrates with the tremendous force. Am I going to die? I’m rotating, out of control. I don’t want to die.
Finn. Lucas. I’m so sorry.
The ground rushes at me unchecked. I hold out my hands to break my fall and brace for the impact.
I wake up to Lena peering over me. “Where am I?” When I try to move my head, it explodes in agony.
“Hospital. Someone blew up your hotel.” Her expression is resigned. “More trouble following you around. You’re lucky to be alive.”
A crease forms in my brow when I attempt to remember what led me here. Hotel. Looking over the plans. Jay . “Jay was with me. Oh, God. Jay!” I struggle to sit up. Sharp beeps fire in the room, and a nurse rushes in.
“You’ve got to stay calm,” she chides as she checks the wires coming out of my body attached to machines. “You’ve had a nasty accident.”
“Jay’s okay.” Lena’s palm is on my chest. “Adiel got the worst of it, and he’s still alive.”
I ease my hand across my forehead. “Sofia has Lucas?”
“Yes. Everything is taken care of. You need to look after yourself.”
My right wrist is heavy, and I dig it out of the covers. “Shit,” I mutter. “I broke my wrist?”
“Doctor says you’re lucky it wasn’t both. You must have tried to break your fall.”
My hand shakes when I press my fingers to the bridge of my nose. Better my wrist than my face. “Where’s Jay?”
“Next room. They’re releasing him today. Minor scrapes and bruising. He didn’t lose consciousness, so he was able to call for an ambulance for you, Adiel, and Dominic.”
“Dominic?” My brain is fuzzy, and I forgot about him. “He would have been farther away.”
“Got hit with debris. A concussion, but otherwise minor injuries. Adiel has a concussion and two broken legs.”
“A bomb?”
Lena shakes her head. “An explosion of some sort. Jay says you both smelled gas just before you were knocked off your feet.”
“There are gaps,” I admit. “The last thing I recall is Adiel saying he’d have a firm completion date for the build in a month.” I swallow. “How long have I been in here?”
“Not long. Maybe two hours?”
“I was out the whole time?”
“They put you under while they set your wrist. You don’t remember coming in?”
“No,” I whisper. “Is my face okay?” I search for any signs of trauma with my fingers.
“Your face is as lovely as ever. A few minor scratches. No scarring or bruising,” Lena assures me.
Jay appears in the doorway. There’s a bandage on his forehead and another on his cheek. He may not be so lucky with the scarring. “You’re awake.”
“You’re alive.” I smile in spite of my pounding headache. That brief moment of panic about his safety still lingers underneath my good humor. He’s been my rock since Finn went into custody, and I can’t imagine being without him.
“The only part of me that suffered substantial injuries is my life force.” He gives me a wry grin and holds up his phone. Spiderweb cracks obscure the screen. “Hard to read.”
“Your wife will be pleased,” I tease.
“Because I’m alive or my phone isn’t useable?” He lifts an eyebrow and comes over to stand beside my bed. My smile widens.
“Do I need to remind you two of the seriousness of what happened?” Lena puts her hands on her wide hips.
The smiles drop off both our faces, and I scowl. She doesn’t. We could have died if we’d still been in the building. Any way I look at the accident, we had a lucky escape. “Are the police on site?”
“They are, yeah. Preliminary assumption, based on both of us smelling gas, is there was a leak. Then something ignited the gas.”
“Someone,” Lena says. “Mark my words, it won’t be something but someone.”
I frown. “Adiel, Jay, Dominic, and me. We were the only ones on site. None of us was in a position to ignite the gas.”
“Doesn’t take much if there’s enough. A spark. But yeah, I’m not convinced about the cause of the explosion,” Jay admits.
“How bad is the building?” I wince at the thought of the progress we’ll have lost.
“Hard to say.” He scratches the back of his head. “I was busy looking after all of you until the ambulances arrived. I’ll have to assess when the investigation is over.”
We’ll have to check into it when we get home from visiting Finn. My gaze lands on my cast. My heart kicks. “We leave in three days for Michigan.” Panic tinges my voice.
“I can go. Explain what happened. Keep him from murdering people to escape on his own.” There’s humor in his voice, but there’s no way that plan will work.
“If he thinks I’m hurt, he’s not going to listen to your assurances I’m okay.” I plop my head onto the pillow and immediately regret the sudden movement. Is this how Finn felt when he woke up in Switzerland? There’s no question he’s tougher than me. A broken wrist—no knife or gunshot wounds—and I’m spent. My body is filled with lead. I can’t believe I had the nerve to tease him back then.
Jay sighs and stuffs his damaged phone into his rear pocket. “He’ll lose his shit either way. When he left, he told me I had one job, and where you’re sitting means I’ve let him down.”
Lena looks between us. “Are you going to tell him there was an explosion?”
“You couldn’t have known this would happen,” I assure Jay. The photo of the ocean on the wall at the foot of the bed reminds me of our house. It’s a holiday here. I should be home with my family. “I don’t want to tell him, but as soon as he sees me, he’ll know something happened.” My wrist rests against the covers, a stark reminder. “No way to hide this with makeup.” I take a deep breath. “If I don’t show up, he’ll think you’re downplaying my injuries so he doesn’t kill you. No glass partition, remember?”
“A long-sleeved shirt?” Jay’s expression is hopeful.
“If it truly was a gas explosion,” Lena says. “Accidents happen. He can’t blame Jay for that.”
Jay and I stare at each other. She’s assuming Finn’s reasonable. “I’ll try a long-sleeved shirt, but he’s going to see the cast right away. The real question is what I should tell him.”
“Gas leak,” Jay says. “That’s all we know. The explosion knocked you off your feet.”
“Leave out the concussion and hospital stay.” I read his train of thought. The lie sends a spike of panic across my chest. Will he realize I’m withholding information? “I want to hire extra security for the house and for us. That’ll be his first question. Might as well get on top of that.”
“I can call a few local companies,” Lena offers. “Set up meetings for the next couple of days.”
Jay gives her a grateful smile. “Thanks. I gotta get a more useable phone tomorrow.”
When she steps out into the hallway, I sigh. “I just hope Finn doesn’t do anything stupid after he sees me.”
He grimaces. “We’re getting him out. He has to sit tight and have faith.”
“Neither of those are his strong points.” I shift in the bed and groan. “Hopefully, my body won’t be as sore in a few days. Selling the lie I’m fine will be impossible if I still move like this.”
“I’ll contact Evander and see whether we’re any closer to a date. Maybe I can find a way to get him reassurance we’re coming for him soon.”
I cover my face and take a deep breath. “I’m really tired,” I admit.
“I’ll leave you be. Dominic and Adiel are down the hall.”
“Thanks, Jay. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Have I ever told him that explicitly? Bonuses and gifts, sure, but the actual words?
“Feeling is mutual, Carys. You’re one of my people, and I feel awful I didn’t protect you.”
“Maybe we got too relaxed.”
Jay’s eyes narrow, and he purses his lips as though something I’ve said has triggered a thought. “I guess we’ll see what the police turn up. Accident or planned attack?”
My body heats and then cools in a rush. If I’m a target, that means Lucas is, too, and I’ll do anything to protect him. “Accident,” I say. “It must have been an accident.”