Chapter 10 Harper
Harper
I’d just finished checking charts when the overhead speaker cracked to life.
“Code Gray, ER. Code Gray.”
My stomach dropped. Security threat.
The hallway snapped awake—nurses ducking into rooms, orderlies pressing patients back into beds. I moved toward the nurses’ station, scanning for the source. That’s when I saw him.
Carter.
Not in jeans and a ball cap this time. Black tactical gear, radio in his ear, every line of him wound tight. He shouldn’t have been here, not like this. But the second his eyes found mine, the world narrowed.
“What’s going on?” I asked, meeting him halfway.
“Possible sighting,” he said, low and clipped. “Guy with the red rose tattoo. Same ring we shut down months ago. Your hospital might be his target.”
A rush of ice slid through me. “Why here?”
“Because someone inside is helping them,” he answered. “And because they know you were there that night.”
The walls pressed closer. Before I could form words, shouts erupted down the hall. Two security guards wrestled a man in scrubs who fought like he had nothing to lose. The compass rose ink glared on his wrist.
Carter shoved me back against the wall, shielding me with his body as the scuffle spilled closer. “Stay behind me.”
His voice left no room for argument, and for once, I didn’t want to argue. The heat of him, the controlled violence in his stance—it should’ve scared me. Instead, it steadied me.
The man broke free, sprinting down the hall. Carter pushed off the wall, ready to chase, but his gaze cut back to me first. Just for a breath, just long enough to leave me dizzy.
“Harper—”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, though my pulse was a drumbeat. “Go.”
And then he was gone, a shadow tearing after danger, leaving the scent of salt and steel in his wake.
I leaned against the wall, my hand pressed to my chest, trying to catch up with my own breath.
I’m fine. No. Not even close.
Because if the ring was back, if Carter was in their crosshairs… then so was I.
And something told me this time, we were both in deeper than before.