Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73

288 Vouchers

Chapter 73

I stood up. My legs felt heavy. The adrenaline that had carried me through the estate, through the hedge, through the car ride-it was draining out of me all at once, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion.

“I’m going to lie down,” I said.

Colton nodded. “Go. We’ll handle the rest from here.”

My room was dark. I didn’t turn on the light. I just dropped onto the bed, still in my dirty clothes, and stared at the ceiling.

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the corridor. The old man’s face. Adrian’s hand pulling me into the dark. The weight of the phone in my pocket as I ran.

After what felt like an hour-maybe more-I rolled onto my side and pulled out my phone.

The screen lit up my face in the dark room. I opened the messages. Found the contact.

My thumb hovered over the keyboard.

I told myself I was doing this because we were allies now. It was practical. And I owed him one.

I typed: Are you okay?

I put the phone face-down on the nightstand, closed my eyes, and let the dark swallow me.

Sometime later, I woke up to silence.

I sat up. The clock on my phone said I’d slept for just over an hour. It hadn’t been restful-more like floating in and out of a shallow, restless doze where every time I dropped off, something jolted me back.

I got up, walked to the kitchen for water, and stopped in the doorway.

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11.42

Chapter 73

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Colton, Ryder, and Ethan were all in the living room. Sitting on the sofa. Not working. Not talking Just sitting there, their faces tight.

They should have been at the police station.

I set the glass down. It made a sound I didn’t intend.

Three heads turned.

“Oh, you’re wake.” Ryder rubbed his temples and said.

“You’re back already?” I asked.

Ryder’s jaw was clenched. He looked at me, and said. “Something came up.”

A cold feeling started in my stomach and spread outward.

“What happened?”

“There’s a problem on the police side. The detective we were working with was suddenly reassigned from the task force this morning. Someone else has taken over.”

He paused briefly. “We looked into his background. He has prior ties to the Westbrook family.”

“The new detective claims the source of the evidence can’t be verified. He’s demanding that we submit a complete chain of custody and a witness protection plan before he’ll proceed. The review process will take at least a week.”

I clenched my fists. “Which means the Westbrooks’ lawyers have an entire week to undermine Dylan’s recording in court. They could argue it was obtained through leading questions, claim it was selectively edited, or simply insist that his voice was imitated.”

Ryder nodded. “Exactly.”

The police review would take at least a week. A full week for Westbrook’s lawyers to dissect the recording, challenge its provenance, argue illegal recording, no chain of custody, no corroborating witness-until it was nothing but noise on a phone screen.

I sat on the edge of my bed in the dark and let that thought settle.

We couldn’t wait. We needed a breach from the inside.

And Adrian was the only person left who could give me one.

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11:42

Chapter 73

288 Vouchers

I picked up my phone, and opened the thread-the one I’d used to text him after I got back. The last message was mine: Are you okay? He’d never replied.

I typed again. Slower this time. Every word deliberate.

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