Chapter 18
Thomas stood in the clinic’s waiting room, his back pressed against the wall. Caitlyn sat in the chair across from him. Her fingers flew over the letters on her phone’s screen.
“What did you say to Sam?” Thomas asked, his voice a low rumble.
Shame, a cold, metallic taste in her mouth, tainted the fleeting reprieve of finding Daniel alive. She lied to Sammy, another thread woven into the tapestry of deceit that was quickly strangling her life.
“Emergency at work,” she mumbled, the words like ash in her mouth. It wasn’t a complete lie, but the tangled mess of the truth might cause Sammy to question her decision against her better judgment to call the police.
“How long will this emergency last?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.
They both knew Sammy wasn’t easily fooled.
She had a sixth sense for the truth. As her best friend, Sammy deserved the truth, but to do so might put her in as much danger as Sammy’s brother.
In all the years they’d known each other, Caitlyn hadn’t once met Sammy’s twin, and if she’d seen a photo of him, she didn’t remember.
She imagined he would look much like his sister.
“I asked her to keep Owen for the night. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take before I could get there.”
“Did you get Alison involved in this elaborate lie?”
Taking a deep breath, Caitlyn hit send on another message to Sammy, expressing her gratitude again for helping her. The weight of everything over the past several weeks threatened to suffocate her. “No.”
“Good. The fewer people involved, the better,” Thomas said.
Her voice was hoarse as she finally spoke. “It’s my fault this happened.” Yet, here she was, trapped in a web of deceit, her world unraveling thread by thread.
Thomas’s voice, usually a steady rumble, held a hint of surprise. “You didn’t cause this,” he said, his words firm but soothing a tiny part of the storm raging inside her.
Caitlyn squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking past her lashes and tracing hot tracks down her cheeks.
“I did, Thomas,” she confessed. “I kissed him.” Helplessness burned a fiery path through her gut as she lifted her head, met his gaze.
“Silas did this. I know it was him. Someone must have seen us, and it’s my fault. I’m so stupid.”
Pushing off from the wall, he went over in front of her.
Without a word, he reached out, his hand warm against her cold skin.
Her head tilted as he gripped her wrists gently, tugging her to her feet.
Drawing her into his enormous chest, she sank against Thomas.
He wasn’t the kind of comfort she usually sought, but right now, she needed this lifeline.
As he wrapped his arms around her and leaned his head against hers, the scent of his cologne and steady rhythm of his heartbeat against her ear offered a sliver of solace.
His embrace was like a solid barrier against the world falling apart around her.
“He’s going to be okay,” Thomas murmured. “Stop blaming yourself.”
Caitlyn buried her face against his chest, the fabric absorbing the fresh wave of tears welling up on her lashes. A choked sob escaped her lips. “What if I hadn’t returned?” She sniffled against his shirt.
“No what-ifs,” he stated firmly but with a gentleness that soothed the raw edges of her fear.
Thomas prayed aloud while he rubbed her back in slow circles, mimicking how one soothed a babe.
More tears spilled over her lashes. As the tension ebbed from her shoulders, a fragile sense of calm settled in its place.
Finished with the prayer, he reassured her. “It’s a good thing you forgot something and turned back.”
A flicker of hope ignited in the darkness of her lingering fear. “Is he going to be mad I brought him here?”
Thomas chuckled, a low rumble that vibrated against her ear. “Yeah,” he admitted, “but he’ll get over it.”
Shortly after, she brought Daniel to the clinic near Hanover and called Thomas.
It was past two in the morning, and the doctor hadn’t returned yet with a report.
They wanted to ship him to the hospital in Carlisle, but Thomas took the doctor aside and spoke with him to change his mind.
Thomas must have known why Daniel wanted to avoid the cops because the nurse on duty wanted to call the cops too.
Thomas assured them the proper authorities were on their way.
By law, the doctor had to report someone with a gunshot wound, but she brought Daniel here because Antonio’s wife, Daralyn, worked the night shift as a nurse for the clinic.
Daralyn helped members of the Ghost Riders in the past, but Daniel’s wound was beyond Daralyn’s skills.
He left her little choice, and she wanted to keep him alive.
Thomas stepped in to handle the doctor and the police.
“Why doesn’t Daniel want the police involved?” Caitlyn demanded, backing away from Thomas. “You said he wasn’t a charity case. Is he a criminal?”
“That’s not my story to tell.” Thomas let her go and scratched his beard. “Pops at the house? If Silas did this, maybe you should stay with Sammy tonight. Or what about Casper’s place? I’ll text you when he wakes up.”
“It’s already too late for me to go home, and I can’t leave. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I slept over with Sam.”
“Yeah, that’s probably best.”
They fell into a prolonged silence. Thomas was keeping something from her. She needed to wait to hear it from Daniel. Whatever it was, she hoped it explained why Daniel didn’t want her to call the police. Why did she listen to him and not wait for an ambulance?
Where was the doctor? Why was it taking so long?!
She needed to clean the blood out of her car. Was Silas at the house waiting for her? Sam assured her Owen was fine, and Cole stayed later than usual. Caitlyn paced in the waiting room.
“Pray with me?” Thomas asked, holding out his hand for Caitlyn to take.
“Of course.” Her grip on Thomas tightened.
Would God hear her after what she’d done?
Having the man she was falling for almost die because of her actions was a suffocating weight to carry.
As Thomas bowed his head in prayer, a silent plea for Daniel’s recovery, Caitlyn repeated the sentiment with a fervent plea of her own.
He asked God to protect them, Cat, Owen, Pops, and the Daniels family.
When he finished, Caitlyn pulled away, her eyes wide. “What about Sammy and her family?”
“She has Owen with her,” Thomas said, and Caitlyn sank back down into her vacant chair. On the wall, a television ran infomercials with no sound and captions at the bottom of the screen.
“Silas knows he’s there when he’s not with Pops,” Caitlyn said, her chest tightening and making breathing hard. “Owen knows better than to go with him.”
“I’m sure he’s safe. Isn’t Cole there with Sammy?”
Caitlyn wrung her hands and nodded.
“It’s not Owen and Sammy I’m worried about.” Thomas leveled his gaze. “If Silas did this, he’ll hide out for a while until he thinks the air is clear.”
But the clinic was on the edge of town, tucked away in a less-than-desirable neighborhood.
Caitlyn could almost feel the threat of danger on the horizon.
Silas wasn’t one to accept failure. If he intended to kill Daniel, he’d see the deed done.
And what of Sammy’s brother? She grew almost nauseous enough to become ill.
“Did you notice if anyone followed you?”
“No. I made sure not to come here on a direct path. If someone followed me, hopefully, I lost them. You’re avoiding my question.”
Thomas peered over at the young woman sitting behind the reception desk, a magazine in her hands.
The clinic was empty apart from the two of them.
Thomas walked toward the reception desk, his eyes flicking around the room.
He scanned the walls, the floor, and the ceiling as if searching for something.
Caitlyn followed his gaze and looked back at him.
What was Daniel hiding? Why would Thomas protect him like this? Why had she?
Even if Silas followed them here, this place had cameras. Security cameras. That was what Thomas was seeking. Did he think it made it safer from Silas and to protect them if they stayed in the areas with cameras?
This whole thing was a mess. Because of her, Daniel was fighting for his life on an operating table. Maybe she should have let the doctor ship him off to the hospital.
The woman behind the desk looked up, her eyes widening slightly when she saw Thomas approach. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then quickly shut it again.
“Any updates on Daniel?” Thomas asked, his voice firm but gentle.
The woman picked up her phone and made a call. A minute later, she hung up and gestured toward the hallway. “He’s in the last room on the right,” she said. “They just put him there a few minutes ago. I’m sure the doctor is on his way to speak with you shortly.”
Caitlyn returned to the waiting area, away from the window. Staring at the floor, she avoided eye contact with Thomas and hugged herself tightly.
As if on cue, the doctor appeared. He wasn’t old like most doctors Caitlyn saw, or maybe it was because her doctor was nearing retirement age that Caitlyn had this assumption of doctors being aged with white hair.
He wasn’t the same doctor she saw Thomas speaking with upon his arrival.
This man might have been an intern. His white medical coat said Sanyal.
“Your friend is well. The bullet missed the heart by a few inches. It appears he has scarring from a prior gunshot wound.”
A wave of confusion overcame her, and she asked, “Was it bad? When he was shot before?”
Thomas lowered his chin, listening as Caitlyn neared. The doctor continued, but neither man answered her question.