THE UNIT ON NINTH
(Damian's POV)
Claire Devlin had one condition before she would open the unit, and it had nothing to do with money.
"You stand in front of me while I do it," she said on the phone. "Not behind me. Not beside me. In front."
Then she hung up.
Elena was three steps away in that corridor with her back to the wall. She had heard the name and she was watching my face.
"Go home," I said. "Sleep."
"She wakes up in a few hours and she'll ask for me." She didn't move. "Do what you have to do."
I left her there. It was the first time I had walked away from her and felt it in my chest like something torn.
At six forty she sent three words.
She woke up.
I read it at a red light on Ninth and typed one line back before I could weigh it.
On my way.
Then I put the phone face
