Chapter 4. You Gave Him That Opening

“Evelyn. Is he next to you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you get away from him right now?”

Only then did Evelyn realize how tightly she was gripping the phone. Its edge pressed painfully against her bitten arm. On the stretcher, Leo stirred.

“We're transferring a patient. I'm going to the hospital too.”

“I'm asking about you. Not the patient.”

Olivia's voice rose. They had worked night shifts together and made sure the other remembered to eat. Even today, she must have been waiting, assuming Evelyn wasn't answering because of the disciplinary notice.

“Where are you hurt?”

Evelyn looked from the marks around her wrists to the gauze against the inside of her left forearm. The bite throbbed beneath it.

“My arm. A little. I'll have it seen at the hospital.”

“Don't tell me ‘a little.’ See a doctor, then tell me.”

Evelyn said she would. Once she had answered, she suddenly wanted to cry. She closed her eyes, but the image of the boy's lips made her open them again.

She asked the nurse for the address. They had crossed the sea to Valdora and were on an island off Port Ravena. Evelyn gave Olivia the country and port names separately, then explained that the facility was a converted quarantine station. She could hear her friend writing it down.

“I'll report it here and notify the local authorities too. Call me when you get to the hospital.”

“Okay. And the envelope in my drawer—”

“I'm not throwing it away. Come and get it yourself.”

Evelyn looked outside the room. Dane was there, with armed guards behind him.

“I will.”

When the call ended, she heard the stretcher moving again. Remembering Olivia's last words, Evelyn finally managed to move her feet.

She asked for fresh gauze, and the nurse came over. Evelyn held out her arm, but it was shaking so badly she had to support her elbow with her other hand.

“I thought you weren't afraid.”

“Who said that?”

As Dane approached, Evelyn turned her arm toward the nurse. Even the touch against the dressing made her shoulders rise.

“Of course I'm scared. I can see your hand from here too.”

She tipped her chin toward the nearby sink. Dane stood with the bloodied back of his hand under the water. As the nurse examined Evelyn's wound, a guard behind them asked who she had called.

“I told a friend.”

Evelyn answered for herself.

“If you have any more questions, ask me.”

Dane told the guard to carry the transfer team's bags. Evelyn put her coat over her treated arm and went back to Leo. Only when she glanced back did she realize Dane was still at the sink.

It was time to move the boy onto the transport stretcher. Leo opened his eyes, then clutched her sleeve as unfamiliar people came near. Evelyn lowered herself toward the side he was holding.

“We're going to another hospital. I'm coming with you.”

When Dane approached, the boy's arm stiffened. He stopped. No one could tell him how long he would have to stay there.

Marco returned Evelyn's bag first, then brought Dane a jacket. As Dane took it to put it on, Evelyn's gaze landed on the holster inside.

He looked down at the jacket. His expression suggested he remembered what she had told him earlier. He took out the handgun and handed it to Marco.

The guards all lowered their eyes.

“I'm going to see the boy.”

That was all Dane said. Evelyn returned to the stretcher without answering. If saying that was what allowed him to move, getting the child out came first for now.

While they waited to leave, Marco's phone rang.

He looked at the screen, then approached Dane. Between their lowered voices, Evelyn heard the name of her hospital.

“Are you talking about me?”

Marco covered the phone. Evelyn held out her hand.

“Show me.”

He looked at his boss. Dane told him to give her the phone.

The article carried the identification photo Evelyn had used at the hospital.

It said a doctor under investigation over a child's death had cut off contact. The hospital foundation said it had also submitted evidence to the authorities over alleged problems with the use of research funds. There hadn't even been a finding yet, but the headline already said she had fled.

Evelyn read the text beneath the photo again. The people who had just been promising to let her leave quietly were now calling her disappearance an escape.

“I've never even managed the research funds.”

Dane came closer to look at the screen. Evelyn didn't give the phone back.

“This wasn't even in the papers Adrian Cross sent me.”

It was the first time Dane had heard the name.

“Who is he?”

“The surgeon who performed the operation he's trying to blame on me.”

Evelyn paused for breath. Trying to explain the child's death, the records she had found, and why she was here reading this article all at once, she lost track of the order.

Dane started to reach out, then saw the rope marks beside the screen. Evelyn pulled the phone closer to herself.

“He used your disappearance as an opening.”

“You gave him that opening.”