Conflict of Heart

Chapter 24

The spitfire woman's determination finally made sense to Ryker. While it had irked him that Isabella distrusted him, he couldn't hold it against her. Her reasons were valid, and she wasn't in the wrong for assuming the worst. He couldn't blame her either. He knew better than anyone not to trust someone, especially those close to you. They were the real enemies if they turned against you.

He had learnt that lesson the hard way.

He gritted his teeth as he forced the morbid thought aside, and a muscle jutted out along his strong jaw as he glanced around the hospital's café. "Whoever it was knew that we were there. I located the tracker that I had placed on the security guard, but instead of finding a dead body, all I found was a note."

Isabella's dark, soulful eyes stared at him, and she swallowed the dry feeling in her throat. "And what did it say?"

His dark brow pulled into a frown. His hard, hazel eyes returned her gaze. "Better luck next time, Detective."

Anxious knots formed in her stomach at those words, and her heart began to thud in her chest. "So . . . they knew we were there." A shaky gasp left her lips as her eyes widened. "That means that everything they said could have been lies."

"More than likely," came his solemn reply.

Isabella's mind started spinning, and she appeared a little frazzled when she looked at her coffee. She took a large gulp and placed the cup down a little harsher with a grip that visibly shook. "The doctors said that they couldn't find any sign that there was something administered into my mom's bloodstream. Do you think they lied about that too?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

A feeling of utter hopelessness fell over Isabella. Just when she thought they were making progress, it seemed as though life knocked them back a football field. A soft groan left her lips and she bowed her head, cupping her hands behind her neck.

Ryker watched her, could see the slight tremble in her fingers that clasped the dark strands that lay against the back of her neck. He remembered those delicate fingers clutching to his shirt like he was a lifeline. It had churned something deep within him, something he couldn't quite describe.

His eyes lowered to the coffee cups before him. He couldn't remember the last time it felt to be depended on like that. He had lived on his own for so long—been alone for so long—he forgot how it felt to protect someone. It didn't even cross his mind that he had pressed her against the wall to shield her from any possible attack. It had been instinctual, and it was something that unnerved him a little more than it should have.

"So what now?" Isabella's soft voice pulled him from his reverie.

He pressed his lips together, pushing the thoughts aside to focus on her question. "Well, something about that guard didn't add up to me."

Isabella frowned at that and slowly looked up at him, confusion swirling in her deep chocolate eyes. "What do you mean?"

Ryker adjusted his position to lean his face against his palm, a contemplative look on his face. "I had a look into the hospital's HRIS, and I didn't see any security guard with his characteristics. In fact, the man who was supposed to be in his position had gone on leave two days ago and will only return next week."

Isabella frowned at his words, a thought ringing out to her. How could he have managed to get such confidential information, even access the hospital's Human Resource system? But she decided to leave it be. It felt like they were grasping at straws at the moment, and any little bit of information could be crucial.

"He could have been a stand-in though," she suggested, but Ryker immediately shook his head.

"No, they would have organised another guard already there to stand in his place. He didn't even come up on the system."