Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 90

Chapter 90

11 286 Wouthers

The restaurant was Adrian’s choice. Small. Not crowded. Our table was by the window

We talked about light things-the community centre was hosting an art exhibition next month, I said. He said he had a pile of old accounts to sort through once he got back. Normal conversation.

By the time we were halfway through the meal, it was fully dark outside. The streetlights had come on, casting a warm glow through the window.

Adrian set his fork down. Picked up his water glass. Took a sip. “When things settle on my end, I’ ll come back.”

I was cutting the meat on my plate. I looked up him when I heard this. “What would you come back for?”

He set the glass down. “To have dinner with you.” He was sitting in the warm yellow light, calm.

I looked down, put the piece of meat I’d just cut in my mouth, chewed, swallowed, and said: “Finish sorting out those accounts first, then we’ll talk.”

He smiled. Didn’t push.

On the way back, the streetlights stretched our shadows long and short on the pavement.

When we reached the safe house door, Adrian pushed it open first and stepped aside to let me in. I went in, took off my shoes. He followed, took off his, and closed the door behind us.

It was a natural motion, as if we’d done it a thousand times before.

The living room light was on, but no one was around. I stopped in the entryway and turned to face him.

He was a head taller than me. Standing close, he blocked part of the entryway light, and my face fell into half-shadow.

“What time are you leaving tomorrow?” I asked.

“Morning. Right after the filing wraps up. Head straight to the airport. If things go smoothly, around ten-thirty.”

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11:45

Chapter 90

He looked down at me. My voice came out soft. “Okay.”

He stepped aside to let me pass. “Goodnight, then.”

I walked past him and stopped. “Change your gauze tomorrow morning before you go The clinic at the airport won’t have the right tape.”

He nodded. Then he reached out and lightly touched the top of my hair. “Goodnight.”

I turned and walked down the hallway toward my room. My face was burning. I awore that my limbs were no longer obeying me, and I’m pretty sure I walked like a malfunctioning robot.

Behind me, from the entryway, came the sound of Adrian’s quiet laughter.

I stumbled, and quickly closed my bedroom door and leaned against it.

I was woken at eight o’clock by a sharp, urgent knock on the door.

I sat up groggy, blanket tangled around my waist, and before I could even swing my legs off the bed, the door was already pushed open.

Ryder stood there.

His face was unlike anything I’d seen before. The lines around his eyes had loosened. His shoulders had dropped.

He held his phone up. His voice was twice its usual speed.

“Got the news. Six o’clock this morning, the investigative division, working with local police, took Dylan into custody at the sanatorium where he was hiding. He tried to slip out through the back mountain trail, but the road was already sealed off.”

He paused. “The filing has been formally initiated, Harper. He’s not getting away.”

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