Chapter 48
Vigil
A ringing sliced through the SUV, jarring him from his thoughts, making him flinch. Kate didn’t stir, and he tightened his arms around her protectively.
“Dr. Hampton. It’s Zach Steele. A young woman was kidnapped and administered GHB. Can you come to the mansion and check on her? At first look, we don’t know if she was assaulted, or if they only used the drug to contain her.”
Fear crushed Nick, a physical weight on his chest, almost stopping his lungs as the word assaulted reverberated through his skull.
Each syllable twisted a knife in his gut.
Assaulted? God, no. Not his Kate. Please, God, not that.
His arms tightened reflexively around her, as if he could shield her retroactively from harm. Bile rose in the back of his throat.
“Oh my god, yes, of course! I’ll head over immediately. Is she awake?” Dr. Hampton’s voice was horrified, but steady. She was a rock.
At Zach’s inquiring look, Nick spoke, forcing the words past the constriction in his throat. “Her eyes are fluttering open occasionally, but she’s falling right back under. Her pulse is strong.” He focused on that last part. Strong. She was strong. She would get through this.
“We estimate it’s been about four hours since she was dosed,” Zach added.
“Good. If she wakes up enough, give her water to drink. Nothing else. I’ll be there in no more than twenty minutes.” A click signaled Dr. Hampton had hung up.
Twenty minutes. Nick could survive twenty minutes. He pressed his lips to Kate’s forehead, a gentle kiss, a promise. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything else hurt you.
When they arrived at the mansion, Nick carried Kate to her room and laid her on the bed with excruciating care, as though she were made of spun glass.
The plush comforter beneath her seemed too ordinary, too everyday for what they’d been through.
He arranged her carefully, his hands lingering on her shoulders, reluctant to break contact.
Zach went to work drawing a blood sample for testing, each movement efficient and clinical. Nick’s jaw clenched when the needle pierced her skin, even though it was necessary.
“I’ll have Logan run this. We might need the evidence, although I’m sure Dr. Hampton will pull blood too.” Zach smirked. “And I need to have him pick up our trash. I want to have a little chat with them.” With that, Zach left the room, leaving Nick alone with Kate.
The silence pressed in, broken only by Kate’s soft breathing.
Nick stood for a moment, simply looking at her, before he couldn’t stand the distance anymore.
He lay on the bed facing her, close enough to touch, needing to touch.
He folded his fingers around her hand, bringing it to his heart, ensuring his fingertips touched her pulse.
The rhythmic beat soothed something wild and frantic in his soul.
Nick had no idea how much time passed before Kate stirred—time became meaningless, measured only in heartbeats and breaths—her eyes fluttering open.
His own heart pounded, a drumbeat of hope and fear, as she woke.
She looked at him, her eyes filled with confusion and fear, and something inside him cracked.
He wanted to take that fear away, to absorb it himself so she wouldn’t.
A wave of guilt washed over him, cold and bitter, knowing he had endangered her. This was his fault. His world, his problems, had touched her and tried to destroy her.
“Nick?” she whispered, her voice little more than a whisper, rough and small, her eyes unfocused. “What happened?”
The sound of his name on her lips undid him. She remembered him. She knew him.
He took a deep breath, trying to find the words to explain, his throat tight. “I’m sorry, Kate. I should never have gotten you involved in this. I should have protected you.” The words tasted like ash. He should have protected her. He’d failed her.
She reached up, her hand brushing against his cheek before falling back on the bed. The touch was feather-light, barely there, but it seared him like a brand. “I’m really tired, Nick.” Her eyes fluttered shut again.
A surge of dismay, sharp and painful, closed his throat. When would she fully wake? She’d spoken this time, though. She would be okay. She had to be okay. He couldn’t contemplate any other outcome.
He lay there watching her breathe, studying the rise and fall of her chest, the flutter of her pulse in her throat, the way her lashes rested against her cheeks. Memorizing her. Thanking whatever deity might be listening that she was here, that she was alive.
Zach returned, escorting Dr. Hampton. He sat up, trying not to disturb Kate, every movement slow and deliberate, and extended his hand to the woman.
“Doctor, thank you for coming so quickly. Kate did partially wake a few minutes ago, and spoke, but then went out again.” His voice sounded strange to his own ears—too formal, too controlled, when everything inside him was chaos.
“Hmm, Zach showed me the drug vial. Based on the amount missing, she may have been given a second dose. So, first, I’d like to check her arms and see if we can verify that.”
A second dose. They’d drugged her twice. His hands curled into fists, nails biting into his palms.
Nick stepped aside as Dr. Hampton moved over to the bed and sat on the edge before gently pushing Kate’s sleeve back to study her arm.
Zach lightly tapped Kate's right elbow, where a small band aid now rested. “This one's mine. I pulled a vial for Logan. The site was clean.” Nick’s eyes tracked every movement, unable to look away although watching someone else touch Kate made his skin crawl with the need to intervene.
Dr. Hampton nodded. “I see one point here.” She picked up Kate’s other arm and repeated the process. “Yes, this looks like a second spot. I don’t see any others.”
Relief and rage warred in Nick’s chest. No other injection sites. But two doses. Two.
She sat back for a moment before looking at Nick and then Zach. “If you would excuse yourselves for a few minutes, I’ll check Kate for assault.”
The word hit him like a physical blow. Nick’s heart stuttered, the rhythm going erratic.
He knew it was possible—Zach had mentioned it on the phone to the doctor in the car, but the reality of that fear now hit home with the force of a sledgehammer.
The room tilted. His vision narrowed. He froze, unable to move, his feet rooted to the floor, his eyes glued to Kate as if looking away might make it real.
“Come on, Nick. We’ll wait in the hall until Dr. Hampton is done.”
Nick numbly allowed Zach to guide him out of the room into the hall, his legs moving without conscious thought.
The door closed with a soft click that sounded like a gunshot.
He stared at the wood grain, his mind conjuring images he couldn’t bear, scenarios that made him want to put his fist through the wall.
“I know you’re scared, but take a breath and think for a minute. It’s unlikely she was assaulted. Her clothing is intact, and those guys had some training. I’m pretty sure taking her was a job.”
Nick’s eyes flew to Zach’s, desperate to believe him, grasping at the words like a lifeline. He struggled to push the assault thought aside to focus on Zach’s words, forcing air into his lungs, forcing his brain to work through the red haze of fear and fury.
“A job. This saboteur? Yes, of course. They hired the maintenance guy to scare Kate in the spa first.” The pieces clicked together, his analytical mind seeking refuge in logic, in patterns, in anything that wasn’t the terrible alternative.
“Yes. It makes the most sense. Logan is picking our trash up and will hold them. I’m going over to the station as soon as we hear about Kate to interrogate this guy. Logan will allow me access to him. I’ll find out what he knows.” Zach’s tone was grim, determined.
Good. Nick wanted answers. He wanted names. He wanted to make someone pay for taking Kate.
The doctor’s voice carried through the door, snapping Nick’s attention back, his muscles tensing. “You can come back now.”
He almost fell over his feet rushing to Kate’s side, stumbling in his haste, dropping to his knees next to the bed hard enough that pain shot up his legs. He didn’t care. He searched the doctor’s face, trying to read the verdict there before she spoke.
The doctor smiled at him, and the terror eased fractionally. “I get the impression she’s not just a hotel guest.”
“No, she’s mine.” Nick’s voice was uncompromising, fierce, as he picked up her hand again, cradling it like something precious and fragile. The possessive declaration surprised him with its intensity, but it was true. She was his. Somehow, without him noticing, Kate had become his.
“In that case, let me reassure you. She was not assaulted,” Dr. Hampton said gently.
Nick bowed his head as relief swept through him so powerfully his entire body shook with it.
His shoulders sagged, the terrible tension finally releasing, and he had to blink hard against the sudden burning in his eyes.
Thank God. Thank God. He pressed Kate’s hand to his lips, breathing against her skin, grounding himself in her reality.
“I pulled some blood and will have a report written up for law enforcement. But I’m sure it was GHB, as the vial indicates.”
She paused, her eyes steady on Nick’s. “Given her size and weight, two doses was a bit high, but it explains why she is unconscious. Normally, one dose makes a person compliant—unaware, but awake. Two doses could easily push her into unconsciousness.”
The clinical explanation helped. Facts. Science. Things he could understand and process.
Her expression softened. “However, she'll be fine. It may take her a while to burn through it and wake.” She rested a reassuring hand on Nick’s arm. “Sleep is the best thing for her right now.”
Fine. The word echoed in his mind, a benediction, a promise. She would be fine.
“Thank you, Doctor.” A rush of relief filled him as he absorbed the doctor’s words, letting them sink in, replacing the fear with something lighter. Kate would be fine. She needed to sleep off the drug. She would wake up. She would be okay.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, his lips brushing her skin, a whisper of contact.
He needed the touch, although she slept and couldn’t feel it.
He needed to reassure himself: she was real; she was here; she was his.
An unfamiliar warmth spread through his chest, expanding until it filled every corner of his being.
A connection. A bond. A love that went beyond money or status, beyond anything he’d ever known or understood.
He realized in that moment, with crystal clarity, that he had fallen in love with her.
Completely. Irrevocably. The knowledge should have terrified him—vulnerability had never been his strength—but it felt right.
It felt like coming home. He couldn’t imagine his life without her, couldn’t picture a future where she wasn’t beside him.
And as the sun set over the gulf, painting the room in shades of amber and gold, casting Kate’s face in soft light, he knew he would do whatever it took to make her his. He would move heaven and earth, burn down the world if necessary, to keep her safe and by his side.
Forever.