Page 66 of Target Acquired

“Once he wakes up, I can get him a message. He can focus on healing and you’ll be out of here, out from under the threat of more therapy that you don’t need, but you must convince your father.”

Could she? Did she have a choice? She’d been dodging her father for years, avoiding him and his abuse. The thought of William straightened her spine. “Yes. Yes, I can do it.”

“You’re sure? It could be very dangerous for you. If he truly tried to kill you once . . . He knows you, Eliza, and if he thinks you’re faking—”

She lifted her chin another notch. “If that’s what it takes to be with William, then I can do it.”

He stood. “Very well. I’ve been communicating with your father since you were admitted, of course, and once I realized your situation and connected all the dots, I let him believe that he’s convinced me you tried to kill yourself. I’ll contact him and ask him to come see you so you can convince him. It will have to be his decision to allow you to come home.”

“Yes, it will have to be his decision,” she murmured.

Dr. King said his goodbyes and left her alone with the other empty bed. She still didn’t have a roommate despite the overcrowding, and she wondered if that was her father’s doing. Keeping her isolated, unable to tell anyone her story. Protecting himself. Keeping her from William.

A flicker of doubt sent a shudder through her. Could she do this? Convince him she’d seen the light, so to speak?

She pulled her journal and pen from under the mattress and wrote page after page, detailing everything. Not that she was likely to forget, but if she had to tell this story to anyone, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to. And if she didn’t live to tell it, then maybe one day, her words would find their way into the hands of someone who could tell it for her.

SIXTEEN

From the corner of her eye, Kenzie watched Cole and James fill their plates, wondering at the intense conversation they’d just finished. Part of her wanted to think it was about her and Cole but figured she was being silly. Cole had made it clear that she was nothing more than a coworker.

But there was a small part of her that wondered if that was true. The more she thought about it, the more she thought she’d seen something else in his eyes in that moment.

Something like fear.

He’d been burned badly by his ex-girlfriend. What if he’d just said all of that because he was afraid of what he actually felt for her?

She snorted. She was delusional.

No. Wishful.

“Hey,” Jesslyn said, sitting in the empty seat next to her.

“Hey.”

“You look very serious. What’s going on?”

Well, she hadn’t planned to make this evening all about her, but she didn’t want Jesslyn to feel slighted again either. And maybe Jess would have some good insight into everything. “Other than someone trying to kill me, finding out more about the night my mom died, and a very complicated relationship with Cole?”

“Oh my.”

“Oh, and don’t forget the team doesn’t really want me on the team, and I wonder if one of them is behind all the attempts to get rid of me.”

Jesslyn blinked. “That’s a lot.”

“Yeah. It is. Sorry I dumped that on you. I seem to be doing that a lot even when I order myself not to.”

“I’m honored you’d share, Kenzie. I know we really haven’t had a lot of heart-to-hearts and I want to change that. The truth is, I was a little jealous when you and Lainie became friends so quickly.” She glanced away. “I need to apologize for that.”

Kenzie nearly fell out of her chair. “What? Jealous? I never would have guessed.”

The woman let out a small laugh. “Well, thanks for that, but you probably noticed I didn’t make a huge effort to get to know you, so again, I’m sorry about that and hope you’ll forgive me—and give me another chance to get to know you better.”

Kenzie reached over and squeezed Jesslyn’s hand, then released it to pick up her candy bar from the table. “Nothing to forgive, but if you need the words, I forgive you. And while we’re on apologies, I didn’t mean to shut you out earlier. I had vented to Lainie and felt like I’d taken up enough time with my issues that I just wanted to get out here and enjoy the fellowship.”

“And here I am insisting you go through it all over again. I’m batting a thousand tonight, aren’t I? I’m sorry. Again.”

Kenzie gaped. “No. Not at all. The last thing you did was insist. You simply asked. The truth is, I’m very focused on myself right now and need a distraction, so tell me about you. How’s your work going?”

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