Page 59 of Unraveled

Her eyes drifted away, and her expression turned thoughtful. "I haven't heard anything from the police yet."

He levered himself onto one elbow and propped his head on his hand. "I'm sure they're working on it."

She nodded a little and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.

He lifted a brow. "Something on your mind?"

She shook her head, and he framed her face with one hand. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

She rolled her lips inward, then took a deep breath. "I just... what happens when it's over?"

He didn't pretend not to know what she meant. "What do you want to happen?"

She lifted one shoulder, her gaze fixed on his chest.

Her question about the future filled him with hope, but he refused to push too hard. He'd already told her he loved her tonight. If he admitted he wanted her beside him every night for the rest of his life, she'd probably bolt.

Instead, he settled on the only answer that mattered.

"All I want is you. Wherever you are, that's where I want to be."

Blue eyes lifted to his, luminous in the pale moonlight. "Okay."

A smile curved his lips. "Okay."

She lifted her chin, offering him her mouth, and he met her halfway, pouring every word he couldn't bring himself to say into the kiss.

CHAPTER

THIRTY

Audrey kissed Carter goodbye, then closed the garage door behind him as he reversed out of the driveway. She immediately headed upstairs to her room and peeked out the window to make sure he was gone before she grabbed her phone from her nightstand.

She had thought about it off and on for the past twenty-four hours, and something about the situation just didn’t sit well. Audrey brought up the home screen on her phone, then selected the number for the VA. After making her way through the automated system, she tapped her nails impatiently against the nightstand as she waited for the call to connect. Three rings later, Stella’s honeyed voice floated over the phone.

Relieved that it was Stella who answered, Audrey let out a little sigh. “Hey, lady. It’s Audrey.”

“Oh,” Stella breathed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good, thanks. Still a little sore, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

“That’s good. When are you due back?”

“If everything goes well, probably another week or so.” Sooner if she could swing it. She hated sitting around with nothing to do. “I actually have a favor for you in the meantime, if you don’t mind.”

“No problem,” Stella replied readily.

“If possible,” Audrey said slowly, “I’d like to keep this just between us. I don’t want anyone to think I’m working off the clock.” She used the excuse that would hopefully make sense and not rouse any suspicions.

“You got it,” Stella replied. “What do you need?”

What Audrey was about to do was a horrible idea, not to mention completely illegal, and she mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that Stella wouldn’t ask too many questions. “Well, since I’ve got some time off, I offered to take a look at something for a friend’s father. I was wondering if you could check the system for a patient…”

She already knew Tripp’s file was in the system, but what about Keane’s? Though she knew he had been in the military at one point, he may not have utilized the VA. All she knew was that she needed to get her hands on his chart to see if there was some kind of link.

Was there anything outstanding in their medical history? Were they a rare blood type? All she really needed was to determine if Keane was in the system. If he was, she would have Stella print off a copy for her so she could pick it up. While she was there, she could make a copy of Tripp’s file in the data room. She didn’t want to involve Stella any more than absolutely possible, and this was the safest way.

“Okay…” She heard the hesitation in Stella’s voice, and Audrey bit her lip, hating to drag her into this without any evidence of what exactly she was looking for. “Patient name?”