Chapter 4 - The Safehouse in the Pines
The tires crunched against gravel as the sedan rolled into a dense grove of pine trees fifty miles outside the city limits. The cabin was hidden behind overgrowth, completely dark and silent under the canopy of swaying branches.
Rachel carried Ethan inside, tucking the exhausted toddler into a small cot in an inner pantry where no stray light could penetrate. Ethan clung to her scrubs for a moment before drifting into heavy, innocent sleep.
She returned to the main room where Kane was lighting a single oil lamp. The dim golden light cast long shadows over his weathered features, accentuating the scars crossing his neck and jaw.
""Sit down,"" Rachel said, her professional nurse training overriding her terror. ""If your stitches rupture, you'll bleed out before sunrise.""
Kane complied silently, sitting on a wooden bench while she cleaned his wounds with iodine and wrapped fresh pressure bandages around his ribs. She noticed intricate military insignias tattooed beneath the scar tissue on his shoulder.
""You were his security detail,"" Rachel realized aloud, checking his pulse. ""The private contractor firm.""
""I was paid to protect him,"" Kane admitted softly. ""I failed the day his safehouse was ambushed. Daniel took a bullet through the shoulder, but he made it into the woods. He entrusted me with his wedding ring, telling me that if I ever ended up in your hospital, I had to give it back to you. Because it meant the perimeter was broken.""
Rachel’s heart pounded against her ribs. ""How did you end up in my ICU?""
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""They poisoned my fuel line and ran me off the highway two nights ago,"" Kane replied. ""I thought I was dying. I woke up with your boy sleeping on my chest.""
A faint click sounded from the front porch. The door handle began to turn slowly.
