Chapter 1 - The Glass Between Them.
.The hospital room fell into a sterile silence.
Cold white light washed over the walls, the steel rails, and the black smartphone resting on the windowsill.
Mara Ellis lay almost motionless beneath a thin blanket, a rigid neck brace holding her head straight.
Bandages covered her shoulder and one side of her forehead, and faint dark stains marked the outer layers.
Beside her stood a man who looked completely out of place among the machines and pale curtains.
Cal Mercer was thirty-eight, broad-shouldered, heavily tattooed, and dressed in a fitted light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled above his forearms.
His dark hair was slicked back, his beard was trimmed close, and every hard line in his face softened when he looked at Mara.
He touched two fingers lightly to the back of her hand.
"I'm here."
Mara's eyelids fluttered.
"They said it was an accident."
Cal did not answer immediately.
The heart monitor kept a calm rhythm that did not match the tension in his chest.
"Do you remember what happened?"
Mara swallowed carefully.
"Enough."
Her voice cracked on the word.
Before Cal could ask another question, laughter drifted through the glass wall separating the room from the hallway.
Three young men stood under the bright ceiling panels outside.
Dylan Rourke leaned closest to the window in an expensive gray shirt, while Trent Bell and Mason Pike stood behind him with the easy confidence of men who expected doors to open for them.
Dylan glanced into the room and smiled.
"Relax, nobody's going to remember her name."
Trent laughed.
Mason covered his mouth, but the smile in his eyes remained.
Cal's hand stopped moving.
The concern in his face did not turn into shouting.
It turned into something much quieter.
Mara noticed it first.
"Cal."
He looked toward the glass.
Dylan raised his brows as if the entire room belonged to him.
For one long second, the two men stared at each other through the window.
Then Dylan turned away, still smiling.
Cal reached for the black smartphone on the sill.
His tattooed fingers closed around it.
Mara caught his wrist weakly.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Cal looked back at her.
"I won't."
That answer frightened her more than anger would have.
He unlocked the phone and selected a contact saved under a single letter.
The call connected almost immediately.
A woman's voice answered.
"You only call this number when something is wrong."
Cal kept his eyes on the hallway.
"Nina, bring me everything."
There was a pause.
"Everything on who?"
Cal watched Dylan disappear around the corner.
"Dylan Rourke, Trent Bell, Mason Pike, and anyone who made tonight disappear."
Nina's voice changed.
"Give me one hour."
Cal ended the call.
Mara stared at him.
"Who is Nina?"
"Someone who knows where people hide paper trails."
Mara closed her eyes.
"My statement is already gone."
Cal's expression tightened.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"A nurse told me there was no incident report under my name."
Cal looked toward the hallway again.
The three men were no longer there.
A hospital administrator now stood at the nurses' station, speaking quietly to a security officer.
The administrator glanced toward Mara's room.
Then he quickly looked away.
Cal understood the message before anyone said it aloud.
Someone had already started cleaning the story.
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
"Mara, I need you to tell me exactly who brought you here."
Her eyes opened slowly.
"That's the problem."
May you like
She took a shallow breath.
"I don't think the person who brought me here wants me awake."
