Page 55 of Torch
“I have business to deal with. You said you had information, doc, so let me have it.”
“I do. If you don’t take a break, you’re going to keel over right in front of him, and that’ll damage your position of power. Please. Take a break. Leave him stewing. He’s not going anywhere, is he?”
Cammy joined me, and then Tori.
“She’s right, Reacher, and she’s a doctor. She can see more than we can, but it’s clear even to us that you’re dead on your feet.”
“Let’s call it for now, brother.” We all turned to see Stitch in the doorway, and he nodded at me, mouthing the words ‘thank you’.
Twenty-Seven
Stitchcalledabreak,and dragged us all from the room, locking Micro inside.Micro. We’d been friends for a few years, closer than friends. Brothers. How the fuck was this possible? I know I’d asked myself a million times, but I was no closer to an answer. He was Leif’s son? And apparently that made him Lissa’s brother? What the fuck?
I don’t think I’d ever known that little fact about her, in fact, maybe nobody really did, except for Ice, the Pres, and the VP. Clearly it wasn’t a big problem for her, but apparently Micro had been here in the club purely to fuck with us. He’d lasted for two years, or had he? Had he been working against us for so long, that there were a thousand more things he might own up to, that we’d never realise were him?
Grace practically led me back up to my room, because I was almost in a daze. Seeing him sitting there, tied, and at risk of death was bad enough, but the fact that he was so unapologetic, and defiant, it just all proved the point I kept wanting to deny. He did this. He did all of it. Killing, raping, attacking, kidnapping, the list just went on.
“Torch, sit down.” I was standing by my bed, and how the fuck did that even happen? I stared blankly at Grace, and she lifted her eyebrows.
“Now, Mr North. I don’t have all day to pander to you.”
Whoa. I sat, and it wasn’t because I was being submissive, or some lame shit like that. It was just that her tone of voice broke through the cloud of whatever the fuck I was wallowing in.
“That’s better. Take a breath for me, and just try to push the emotions aside. I’m not Lissa, but even I can see you’re drowning in your pain right now.”
I let her take my hand, but I had to force myself to concentrate on her touch, so I’d feel it.
“I’m so fucking screwed up by this. How could it be him? How the fuck has one of my closest friends been stabbing us in the back this whole time? Stabbingmein the back. Fuck.”
“It looks to me like he felt he had a good reason for it, but you saw what I saw, right? A lot of it is bravado. He’s afraid, Torch. He knows he won’t survive this, and he always knew it was going to come to this.”
“Babe, I know you’re trying to help, but his actions can’t be justified, especially what he did to you, and Elise, and Lissa. Fuck. His sister. What if he’d… Jesus. If my brain goes there, I’ll lose my fucking mind.”
“You need to rest for a bit, just like the others do. The emotional toll this has taken on each of you shouldn’t be ignored.”
I sighed, falling back to lay flat on the bed, dragging Grace with me, so I could hold her against my chest.
“I’m surprised Reacher and Stitch wanted to call it a day already. Surely they’re not thinking of letting this go?”
Grace shook her head, lifting it so she could look at me.
“Reacher was close to exhaustive collapse, Torch. He’s been running on fumes for days, with Ally being in the hospital. This is too much on top of that, and with his heart… I mean, it’s just a lot for anyone to handle right now, but there’s no rush. Everyone’s safe again now.”
What the fuck was she saying about Reacher’s heart? Was he sick? Did we have a President about to fucking die on us?
“Stop looking at me like that. I can’t tell you anything, and I shouldn’t have looked at his medical records, but he looked drained when he was in with Ally, and I was nosy. I’m ashamed of myself for that.”
“But his heart, babe?” She shook her head.
“He’s fine, as long as he takes care of himself. Tell me about Tommy. Who’s he, and why is he in danger?”
Fuck me. I had no fucking clue about that, did I?
“I don’t know, babe. He’s a good guy, or at least that’s what we all believed, but then clearly we’re a gullible bunch of fuckers, right?”
“Torch, stop focusing on that part of it. There will be plenty of time to pick apart every moment of your friendship, and blame yourself for everything, but the blame belongs firmly on his shoulders. He’s the one who chose to hurt people. All you did was treat a man like a brother, when you were given no reason not to.”
I shrugged grumpily. “Yeah.”
