Chapter 50
CHAPTER FIFTY
kole
“Stay still,” Nolan gritted out, pulling the needle from my head. “I can’t stitch you up if you keep moving.”
“I told you to help Dani first,” I growled. “I’m fine—”
“Let the doctor work,” Harry said gruffly.
“Dani is fine,” Nolan assured me, starting to stitch me up again. “You saw it yourself. She’s warming up. She doesn’t have any bad injuries. The cuts on her legs only needed to be bandaged, not stitched. You are bleeding from your forehead. How’s the pain?”
“Fine.” I was sure he didn’t believe me, but I really didn’t give a shit. My head was fucking throbbing from the hit I’d taken. At least my mind was finally clear.
“Do you know what you were hit with?” Nolan asked, concentrating on the stitches.
“Something fucking hard,” I muttered. “Are you almost done? I want to see Dani.”
“She’s still debriefing with Susan.” Harry scrubbed his beard. “You didn’t see their faces?”
“I didn’t see them at all. I was cooking and got knocked out the second I turned around.”
He frowned. “You didn’t hear them come in the house?”
I couldn’t exactly tell him how I was in a basement gym that no one knew existed except Dani.
I’d already cursed myself a thousand times for being down there.
But the doors were locked, and from what we’d learned from the previous victims, all of them had been taken and killed when they were out of their homes.
“I had music on,” I answered him, my lie flowing smoothly.
“Did you see the note?”
Nolan swore at me when I jerked my head. “What note?”
“Susan has it. I’ll have her bring it—”
“What did it say?”
Nolan sighed. “I’m almost done. Stay still.”
Commotion from outside the room stole our attention, and when I heard Dani’s voice, I nearly jumped off the table.
“One more damn minute. I’ll sedate you if you don’t hold still,” Nolan threatened. “You need treatment, and I still need to make sure you don’t have any internal injuries.”
I leveled him with a glare. “Try it and see what happens.”
“You can’t do this,” Dani was saying. “I’m not leaving until they’re found.”
Harry pulled back the curtain, peeking his head out. “Is there a problem?”
Dani pushed past him, her eyes finding mine immediately.
When I’d left her in the other medical room, she’d been wrapped in blankets.
Now she was wearing a pair of purple scrubs, reminding me of the night she’d been attacked at the police station.
We were spending far too much time at this clinic.
Nolan finally finished and stepped back, pulling his gloves off.
I jumped off the bed, staggering a step when a wave of dizziness hit me. I shook my head, the pain nearly stealing my breath.
“What’s going on?” I forced out.
Susan folded her arms. “I’m sending the interns home.”
“I’m not going,” Dani hissed, a storm growing in her eyes. “I’m staying until they’re caught—”
“That is not your choice to make,” Susan cut her off. “There’s a helicopter coming in three days. You’ll be on it.”
Nolan muttered something about his work being done before scurrying out of the room.
Dani was glaring daggers at Susan as my pulse thrashed.
Harry pulled out his pack of cigarettes, avoiding everyone’s eyes as he backed up to make a silent exit.
He wanted no part of this argument, just like everything else that would make his life harder.
When the three of us were alone, Susan glanced at me, a frown on her lips. “You can go home.”
“I’m not going anywhere without Dani.”
“This conversation isn’t over,” Dani snapped. “The killer wants me. I can lure him out. You need me.”
I bit my tongue until I tasted blood. I wouldn’t argue with her in front of the therapist, but there was no way in hell she would be acting as prey to catch those bastards.
“No. We have new information.” She hesitated. “I was going to inform everyone at the station tomorrow. That blood that was found in the woods? When there was no body? We found out who it belonged to.”
“The blood Riggs found?” I stared at her. She used belonged, meaning the person was dead. “Who was killed?”
She cleared her throat. “Someone who worked at the factory. Who had no business being in the woods.”
Understanding dawned on Dani’s face when she glanced at me. Not a worker, but an inmate. Someone who was in the prison that had no free access to this town. I rubbed my temple, wishing the excruciating pain would go away so I could think straight.
Susan’s gaze swung back to Dani. “Do not make your life harder by fighting me. You’re leaving and that’s it.”
“No.” Her voice was strong even after the night she went through.
“I know why you want to stay,” Susan sneered. “Don’t want to go back to the lovely life you had before this. Believe me, it can be much worse if you don’t listen to me.”
I frowned, my eyes darting between them. What the hell did that mean?
Dani’s face flushed. “You have no right to talk about my past,” she hissed furiously. “You’re breaking—”
“I’m doing nothing wrong. You’re not my patient. I’m under no obligation to keep your secrets.”
Dani’s eyes filled with fury. “This is a mistake.”
“It’s my decision.”
“I know what this town is. A social experiment about reform.”
Dani’s admission had my stomach plummeting. Interns were not supposed to fucking know that. Susan’s lips parted in shock, her eyes cutting to me.
“Kole didn’t tell me. He had no idea I knew,” Dani said, taking the attention off me.
“Natalie told me before she was killed. She warned me. I know that factory isn’t just a place where boxes are made.
It’s also a prison. Everyone here except you and interns are inmates.
And I’m guessing this entire place is about to get shut down.
It’s why the interns are getting sent away. ”
Susan pressed her lips together, the silence growing heavy.
“Is that true?” I asked quietly.
“She shouldn’t know about any of this,” Susan said, her voice rising. “It could ruin everything.”
“The murders are ruining this. There has been so much time and energy spent on this town.” Dani’s voice softened. “I believe this could change reform for the better. I would hate to see this all burn because of this. I can help.”
“Being here has not wiped out your past,” Susan exploded, her usual stern demeanor absent. “You forget what you are—which is not a forensic psychologist like you’re playing here.”
Dani stiffened. “I want to catch the killers in this town.”
“You’re leaving. By force, if necessary.”
She strode past me, slowing slightly. Her words were barely a whisper. “You have one of worst rap sheets here. But her…be careful who you share a bed with.”
She disappeared, her boots clicking on the floor as she left the clinic. My heart beat a notch faster when I faced Dani. She wasn’t meeting my eyes, a slight flush still on her cheeks.
“You want to tell me what she was talking about?” I questioned gently.
“No.”
“Nothing you say will change my mind about how I feel when it comes to you.”
Her gaze finally found mine, her blank expression only adding to my curiosity. “Don’t push this, Kole.”
“Have I ever pushed for anything?” Silence met my question.
I stared at her, trying to think through the pounding headache.
Dani never was one to talk much about her past. But now that I thought about it, she hadn’t told me anything about the last few years of her life.
She skated over things so seamlessly I never caught on.
“The killers left a note,” she said, abruptly changing the subject. “Harry let me read it.”
“What did it say?”
“I’m being labeled a murderer, yet I’m not the only one in this town,” she recited in a monotone voice. “Killers walk free here, so why shouldn’t I?”
“He’s talking as if it’s only him,” I said thoughtfully. “We know there’re two. He knows what this town is—full of convicted criminals. Probably because they’re inmates too.”
“At least two,” Dani muttered, her gaze cutting to my new stitches. “How is your head?”
“Fine.” I let her continue to keep the conversation going the way she wanted. “Are you okay?”
She assured me the entire way to the clinic that she wasn’t hurt, but since she’d only been wearing my shirt, the blood from the cuts on her legs was visible.
I wasn’t sure how much she fought against them before fleeing the house, and she didn’t give away many details.
Her cheek was already bruising which was enough for fury to slide through me.
Whoever these assholes were, they were going to fucking suffer.
“How much sway do you have with the people in charge of Winterlake?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“Not as much as Susan. I just work here.” I blew out a long breath. “If they want interns to leave, I have no pull to change that.”
She frowned, a muscle in her jaw ticking. “I can’t leave. I won’t.” When I didn’t respond, she raised an eyebrow. “You don’t agree?”
I sighed. “It’s not safe here. They were in our fucking house. They could have killed you.”
Her eyes darkened. “I know how to protect myself. They want me. And I have a feeling it won’t stop until either that happens, or we catch them.”
“I’d rather the entire town shut down than risk your life.”
She went still. “You want me to leave?”
The hurt in her voice made my heart pang.
“I don’t want you to leave. I want you safe.
” I crossed the room, gently grabbing her hands and pulling her close.
“I’m not a prisoner here. My contract was only for three years.
I stayed because I enjoyed the quiet life here.
If the interns go…then I’ll leave too. I want to be with you, Dani. For longer than your internship.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “I thought you didn’t do relationships.”
“I’ll do anything for you.”
Silence blanketed the room as she froze. Her guard was up as always. She didn’t know what to make of my words, which I’d been expecting. But I couldn’t deny it stung a little. I was all fucking in with her.
Nolan appeared, pulling the curtain back, giving me an annoyed look. “Can I finish examining you now?”
Dani cleared her throat. “I’ll wait in the lobby.”
I tightened my hold when she moved to walk away. “Don’t leave without me.”
“I won’t,” she muttered. “I’m too tired to fight for my life again tonight.”
Her attempt at a joke fell flat when I glanced at her injuries. I almost lost her. I had no idea why the murderers were targeting her, but I did know they wouldn’t touch her. It didn’t matter what I had to do—she’d be leaving Winterlake alive.