Page 166 of Five Fingers of Death

She bit her lip, turning away as tears filled her eyes again. “How do you expect me to leave him behind?”

I had no fucking clue. Faking his death wouldn’t be anything like what we did with Kavanaugh. “We’ll work out the logistics. For now, he needs to appear dead. You’re the doctor. Tell us how you want to handle this.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Now that he’s out of surgery…it has to be from complications. If I can bribe one of the doctors?—”

“No,” Jack interrupted. “We have to assume that anyone here is on their payroll. We have to do this alone.”

“Then I’m going to need some supplies.”

40

IZZY

“He’s going to be fine,” Vira said for the tenth time, doing her best to reassure me.

I paced the living room, trying to believe what she was saying. Knight had been the first person to truly understand what I was going through, and even though I needed a reality check, at the time, he gave me what I needed. I gnawed on my fingernail, trying to remind myself that no news was good news.

Patrick stood in the corner of the room, watching me prowl through the house like a caged lion. For a long time, I didn’t like other men in the house, but since my relationship with Jason had grown, I’d become more comfortable around Patrick.

I stopped and turned to him. “Can’t OPS call the hospital?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “They won’t tell anyone here anything Jason doesn’t know.”

His answer frustrated me. I needed updates, and I got the feeling Jason was holding something back. It had been twelve hours since his last call. “Why is this taking so long?”

“Any number of reasons,” Patrick answered. “They’re most likely busy with security.”

“And a five-minute phone call is too much?” I snapped.

“Sometimes,” he said, his eyes narrowing on me.

God, I hated it when these men were right. Yes, I realized there was more going on than I could ever realize, but I was going out of my mind. A gentle knock on the door broke through the chaos in my head and I stormed over, swinging it open.

I sucked in a harsh breath at who was standing there. I couldn’t believe it. “Mom?”

She gave me a hesitant smile, stepping forward to lock her arms around me. I stiffened at the touch, but I wasn’t sure why. She was my mother. I should want her to hold me and tell me everything was okay, but the truth was, I hardly recognized my mother anymore. We didn’t have the same relationship we did when I was younger. This was all new and…hugs were too intimate. Having her in my life again was disconcerting.

I stepped back, putting some distance between us. “What are you doing here?”

Her eyes flicked over my shoulder to where Vira stood with Patrick. Hesitantly, she smiled at me. “I’ve been here for weeks.”

The news hit me like a ton of bricks. “Weeks? But…you were gone. You were?—”

“I was at home. I had things to take care of, but then those plans got delayed. Someone broke into the house and—” She sucked in a breath, turning away from me. “It was bad. Your father got me out, but…it brought up bad memories.”

I flinched at her words. “Of me?”

She shook her head slowly, and I got the distinct feeling that there was more going on than she wanted to share in front of strangers. Thankfully, Vira excused herself, along with Patrick.

“Do you want to come in?”

She nodded and stepped past me. “There are things you don’t know. Things I’ve never told you for a good reason. But…maybe it’s time you found out.”

I didn’t like the tone of her voice or the way she was looking at me. Things I didn’t know…Did I want to know now? I was finally beginning to get my life together. I wasn’t sure I could handle someone else’s problems as well. But I followed her into the living room and hoped whatever she told me wouldn’t set me back. What I wouldn’t give for a meeting with my therapist right now.

I took a seat across from her. The anxiety on her face made it impossible to relax. “Maybe I should get us something to drink.” I stood, but she instantly squashed that.

“I don’t need anything to drink, Isabelle.”

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