Chapter 6. The Woman Who Made the Boss Move Out

Dane was still on the other side of the corridor.

He was on the phone. As Evelyn approached, he asked the caller to repeat the time and place, then ended the call.

“The police contacted me. They want me in tomorrow.”

“They contacted me too.”

While Evelyn confirmed when she would speak to the investigator, Dane took a call from the dock. Asked whether he would return with guards aboard, he told them to arrange passage for Leo and the medical staff first. The two of them prepared to give their accounts at separate addresses.

The attending doctor called them over. The plan was to review and adjust the overlapping medications and arrange continuing care with a child and adolescent mental health specialist. When Dane asked how long the treatment would take, the answer was that they couldn't say yet.

He looked at Evelyn. She offered no different answer. Dane turned back to the doctor and wrote down the next appointment.

When they went in to see Leo, he was staring at the ceiling. He turned when Evelyn called his name. As Dane tried to approach, the boy gripped the edge of his blanket.

Dane stopped with a chair between them.

“I'm here, Leo.”

The boy's eyes went to Evelyn's bag.

“Leaving?”

Evelyn sat beside the bed. She swallowed the promise that rose to her lips—that she wouldn't leave.

“Right now, I've come to talk to you.”

He tugged on her bag strap. Evelyn moved her sore arm to the other side and met his eyes. Leo looked down at the lifting edge of her dressing too.

“My arm hurts too. Be careful with this one, Leo.”

He let go. Evelyn rested her good hand on the bed. After a while, small fingers touched it.

Dane was watching. When Evelyn looked up, he met her eyes.

“Come outside for a moment.”

Evelyn spoke first.

***

“His next specialist appointment is in 6 days. I'll assess his living environment until then. The medical team here will handle his treatment.”

Evelyn entered the next appointment in her phone. Dane had Marco give her the dock's contact number. He didn't interrupt while she called the captain herself on her own phone.

“I'm not withdrawing the report.”

“And I'm still going in for questioning tomorrow.”

Evelyn looked into his eyes. Dane told the man gathering the voyage records to leave in his orders.

When she sent Olivia the length of her stay, her friend called.

“Just because that boy wants you doesn't mean you have to keep staying.”

“I want to care for patients too. I can do that here.”

“What about when you have to answer questions about your own case?”

“I'll go myself. Forward the calls you've been taking for me to my number.”

Her friend ended the call, saying she was going into surgery. Evelyn arranged the handover time with the nurse and told Leo who would be with him next.

***

Once his observation at the hospital was complete, Leo boarded the boat with the medical staff. Dane put the appointment leaflet in his jacket and sat across from Evelyn.

The sea she had seen that morning was brighter now. Port buildings and ships that had been invisible at night receded behind them. This time there was no cloth over her eyes and no rope around her wrists.

Dane sat opposite her. When the boat turned, Evelyn tilted toward the window. He started to rise, then saw her brace herself against the seat and stayed where he was. The marks around her wrist rubbed against the seat back. She wanted to hide her hands, but then he might not see what had been done to them.

Leo was nodding off beside the nurse. Evelyn thought she was going back because of him, then remembered telling Olivia that she wanted to care for patients. No one had made her say that. As the unfamiliar port grew distant, she kept her bag on her lap.

Dane turned toward the sea. The face reflected in the window belonged to the same man who had held a gun that night. In daylight, she could see the shadows beneath his eyes too.

“You can't possibly trust me.”

“I don't.”

He gave a brief laugh. Afterward, his hand moved toward his side, then dropped.

“Quick answer.”

“Better that you don't get the wrong idea.”

Leo drank some water beside the nurse. A sheet with the address for Dane's questioning protruded from his jacket. Evelyn checked the reminder for her own interview and moved to sit beside the boy.

When they reached the island, Marco led the way toward the basement again.

Evelyn stopped at the stairs.

“Leo needs a different room. One with a window.”

Marco looked at Dane. After studying Evelyn's face for a moment, Dane pointed upstairs.

Guards stood in the second-floor corridor. Of the 2 rooms facing each other, one was empty. Daylight came through a gap in the curtains.

“This would work.”

At Evelyn's words, Marco spoke.

“Then we can't clear the area outside the young master's room. The boss's bedroom is across the hall.”

Evelyn looked at Dane. Now she knew exactly whose space would have to change for the child's sake.

***

On her second morning on the island, Leo came upstairs with the nurse and covered his ears in the corridor. A guard's radio was crackling. Evelyn sent the boy back and turned to Dane.

“Even if he gets this room, the corridor noise will keep waking him.”

Marco gestured between the 2 rooms. The arrangement let them protect both the boss and the child from the same position. Dane called to the guard by the stairs instead of answering Evelyn.

“I'm moving rooms.”