Tristan had left her.
He’d left her after he’d done something to her body, and then just walked away.
All that she’d felt after Peter’s dart struck her, all her feelings for Tristan, all her wants, all her desires, all of it crumbled.
It didn’t leave a shell behind; she became the shell, and all at once, that shell filled with stupidity.
She’d trusted Tristan before and found it misplaced. When would she learn?
It had been a stolen palm and a jammer almost every time they met, but she knew the score. Stealing led to bolder and bolder crimes. Tristan had been angrier and angrier with her lately, more impatient and more demanding, especially after she’d told him it was their last job together. Chairwoman Wilson was all but in a holding cell. She’d told him as much on the roof.
He’d left her there, pinning the evidence to her coat to be done with her. She was the only outsider who knew about the AAS, and she’d already admitted to Shaw that she had been at the scene.
Tristan had always said he’d protect his people no matter what.
He’d only saved her so that he could frame her.
If Shaw didn’t suspect her before, he certainly would suspect her now.
Lila’s heart-rate monitor increased its pace, and she ripped the clamp off her finger. “When can I get out of here?”
“Now, if you wish.” Helen pulled out her IV. “I just need to finish the paperwork.”
“Commander, how many people know what happened to me?”
“Not many. We’ve tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible. You know how the press gets.”
Lila nodded. The press was so very predictable.
And predictable could be useful.
“I’ll fetch Sergeant Norwood from the lobby,” Commander Sutton said. “We’ll bring around the car after we check it for… After we make sure it’s safe for you. Give me half an hour.” She patted Lila’s hand and turned to leave.
“Wait. Who’s going to be on the door after you’re gone?”
“Lieutenant Nathaniel Randolph. He’s a good—”
“I know of him. Leave him guarding the door after we depart. This door. No matter who occupies the bed. No matter what my mother says against it. And relieve Sergeant Tripp from his current assignment.”
“Chief?”
“You have your orders.”
Sutton nodded and left the room, bound for the lobby.
Helen followed her out.
Lila, alone in the room, shoved away the flyer.
Chapter 21
Lila did not remain alone for very long.
She had just t
aken a sip of water when the door opened. A man entered, dressed in a pair of pale blue scrubs. A surgical mask had been tied around his face, obscuring his mouth. One eye bulged slightly.
Tristan locked the door behind him and pulled down his mask. It caught on one ear and dangled to his shoulder.