“I think we both already know the answer to that one, Jessie.”

“Because that’s what my father wanted,” she said resignedly.

“That’s what your dad wanted,” he confirmed.

“You didn’t ‘fend him off’ like Decker said?”

“I wish I could claim that. But he completely surprised me. The first slice came before I even knew he was there. The second one was more me throwing my arm at him than him swinging at me. I was on the ground before I really knew what was happening.”

“And the gunshot?” she asked. “You didn’t hit him?”

“I wasn’t even firing at him. He was gone by the time I pulled my weapon out. I shot in the air as a plea for help because I couldn’t manage to yell.”

“Well, his little plan didn’t work,” she said, trying to buck him up. “We realized he was using you to get to me, hoping I’d show up at the hospital so he could take me down. I’m sorry. I would have come. But everyone agreed it would be a mistake.”

“That’s okay,” he said, his voice fading so that she had to concentrate to hear him. “You made the right call. But that’s not the only reason he let me live.”

“What do you mean?”

There was a long pause so she repeated the question.

“What do you mean it wasn’t the only reason, Ryan?”

“What?” he said hazily. “Oh, sorry, I think the doctor gave me the pain meds without telling me. I’m feeling…cloudy. What was your question again?”

“Why did Xander Thurman let you live?”

“He wanted me to give you a massage. I mean…a message.”

“What’s the message, Ryan?”

“He said to tell you: You’re wrong. Look again.”

“That’s it? That’s all he said?”

But Ryan didn’t answer. Instead, she heard a long slow, wheezy breath. He was asleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jessie decided to keep the message to herself.

Until she better understood what it meant, there was no point freaking everyone else out about it.

Back in the conference room, Collison was gone and Dolan was poring over old text messages from the Look of Love website. When she came in, he looked up.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yep,” she said. “He’s on the mend—should be back in the thick of it in a couple of months.”

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Not really,” she answered honestly.

“Good, because I could use a jumpstart here,” he said. “If we’re both skeptical that Collison is our guy, despite the strikes against him, then we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for legitimate suspects.”

“That was my thought earlier too before I found that bin under Collison’s bed. I was dreading the possibility of having to wade through all this crap again to see if we missed anything. When I found that stuff, I thought my prayers had been answered. And then, when Matilda caught me, I thought I’d better say my prayers, she scared me so bad.”