Page 35 of Where Secrets Lie

“And Uncle Hez. He does really cool stuff at the Justice Chamber. I want to be like him when I grow up.” He paused and looked up at her again. “Will he be okay?”

She decided to play it straight with him. “I don’t know. The very best doctors are treating him right now, but we won’t know anything until tomorrow. We should try to get some sleep tonight, and maybe we can visit in the morning if the doctors say it’s all right.”

“Okay.” He rolled over and curled up with his back touching her. That was how he always slept when night terrors drove him into bed with her, ever since he was a toddler. Five minutes later, he was snoring quietly.

Jess lay awake, staring at her shadowy ceiling. Simon’s words echoed in her head. He wanted to be like Uncle Hez and fight bad guys. Bad guys like her.

She was doing the right thing, wasn’t she? Her mother deserved the justice she never received in life. So did Mimi Willard and all the others victimized by the Legares over the decades. TGU was the monument to that injustice, and Pierre Legare was the parasitic paragon of the Legare bloodline. It would be entirely fair to destroy them—and irresponsible not to. Otherwise, they’d just keep hurting people forever.

The well-rehearsed arguments rolled through her mind, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they wouldn’t persuade the little boy sleeping beside her. She imagined the skepticism in those intelligent blue eyes. He wouldn’t see a noble Fury meting out justice. He’d just see someone who was helping the men who attacked the uncle he idolized.

Simon’s eyes weren’t the only ones needling her conscience. She’d felt another set of eyes watching her, especially since she came back to TGU. That gaze was so real that she sometimes instinctively glanced over her shoulder. But she knew the eyes weren’t anywhere nearby.

They were in a little church in northern Italy. She went on an art tour of the area in college, and she saw dozens of churches. They all had crucifixes, of course. On some, Jesus looked up to heaven with a beatific expression on his face. On others, he hung his head and seemed almost unconscious. Buton one medieval crucifix he stared straight at her with enormous brown eyes, which seemed to follow her as she walked around the church. His gaze unnerved Jess, and she left the church after only a few minutes. But those eyes never stopped following her.

She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to stop picturing hypothetical debates with shrewd boys and wooden Messiahs. She focused on relaxing her muscles one by one. It would be out of her hands soon. The moment Savannah signed the loan documents, the final countdown would begin.

And none of them would be able to do anything to stop it.

Chapter 20

In the ICU Savannah blocked out the whoosh of the compression devices on Hez’s legs and prayed for him as she clung to his hand. He looked like he’d been in a car accident. Half of his head had been shaved, and a white gauze bandage covered the incision. It was nearly dawn, and she hadn’t slept a wink, but her tired lids fluttered as she watched the rhythmic up and down of his chest.

She must have dozed off for a few seconds, and she bolted upright with her heart pounding. She blinked the blur out of her vision and focused on his face again. His glassy eyes were open and wonderfully blue, not the black of the dilated pupils he’d had before. “Hez, you’re awake.” She scooted closer to the bed. “How do you feel?”

He licked peeling lips. “Like I was hit by a truck. Was I hit by a truck?”

“You had a brain bleed, and the doctor had to drain it.”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “Seeing your beautiful face makes me forget all about the way my head is pounding.”

She touched her hair, disheveled after spending the night slouching in a hospital chair. “I think you’re delusional. Ihaven’t so much as run a comb through my hair, and I’m sure my eyes are swollen from crying.”

His fingers tightened on her hand. “I’m sorry I scared you. Did an accident cause the brain bleed?” His lids fluttered as if he was having difficulty keeping them open.

The doctor had warned her that he might not remember what had happened. “Not exactly.” Hez didn’t need to know more than that. She was sure Nora would update her if the news changed, and right now, he needed to rest without worrying about what was happening at the Justice Chamber.

The doctor swooped in, accompanied by a nurse. The doctor removed the stethoscope slung around his neck. “Someone’s awake in here. Let’s see how you’re doing.” He gestured for Savannah to move out of the way, and she retreated to a corner of the room and watched Dr. Moore check Hez’s pulse and then his pupils before taking him through a battery of cognitive tests. Hez remembered his name, could identify how many fingers the doctor held up, and was able to answer simple math questions.

Dr. Moore tested the muscle strength in his arms and legs and seemed satisfied. “What do you remember, Mr. Webster?”

Hez’s forehead wrinkled, and he glanced at Savannah. “I was at your office, right? I—I can’t remember exactly why.” The confusion in his voice held a trace of panic as well.

“Perfectly normal. Those memories may or may not come back. If your condition stays stable, we’ll move you to a room on the neurological ward later today, so try to get some rest. Your recovery is really remarkable.”

Savannah followed the doctor out of the room. “So no brain damage?”

“He seems very coherent and present. It’s possible he might still suffer some side effects. We’ll monitor his blood pressure closely, and we’ll be on the lookout for blood clots, seizures, or infection. Muscle weakness too. But let’s not borrow trouble. Right now he looks good.”

She thanked him and went back into Hez’s room. His eyes were closed, but he opened them at the squeak of her chair on the floor as she settled next to him. He blinked several times, and she could see him mentally processing what he knew and didn’t know.

She took his hand again. “I only went to talk to the doctor because I thought you might have brain damage. Your first words were that I looked beautiful, and we both know I look awful. But he reassured me and said you’re in great shape considering what you went through yesterday.”

“You always look beautiful.” Hez reached out an unsteady hand and snagged a strand of her hair to run through his fingers. “I love you.”

Her eyes burned, and she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I thought I lost you,” she whispered. “That kind of fear has a way of showing you the truly important things. I’m not going to let my fear control me any longer, Hez. When you’re recovered, I want us to get married. Like right away. As soon as you can totter down the aisle and say your vows.”

His eyes sparkled, and his grip on her hand tightened. “Like right now? I can manage that much.” He tried to sit up and winced.

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