Closure (Partners in Crime Book 5)

Chapter 5

Blake entered the hospital, angry he couldn't get in earlier. He walked down the hall to where Ford's room was but stopped short when he heard voices.

"You've been late six days this week Nicole. What's going on?" A man asked.

"It's been a tough week, I'm sorry, I really am." Nicole answered.

"What if there is a call right away and you aren't here? Who's going to be responsible for that?"

"Me." She mumbled. "But I can explain-"

The man held up a hand, cutting her off, "If you are late two more times this month, I'll have no choice but to ask you to step down from your position and do something else for me."

Blake knew he shouldn't be listening, but when he saw the sheer horror on Nicole's face he stopped.

"I'm sorry. I won't be late again."

"Good." The man turned and walked the other direction.

Nicole turned and stared directly at him. He watched her shoulders slump. "Eavesdropping Tanner? Trying to find something else to make fun of me for?"

"No, I just-"

"Shove your nose into someone else's business." She told him angrily, then stalked off.

Blake turned and tried to follow her, "Nicole, I came looking for you."

She stopped, "Well here I am."

Boy, was she mad. Blake took a step back. Was it just a couple days ago that he thought she had turned into a beautiful woman? "I need to go into Norman Ford's room."

Nicole sighed, "I'm a paramedic remember? That's something you need to ask a nurse."

"Right, I just thought-"

She was already gone.

Blake sighed and went to the nurses station to talk to one. They said one would be by to take him to see Ford. Ford was under protection and even though Blake was a cop Ford had strict visiting hours and this time wasn't one of them.

He walked down to the cafeteria since they told him it would be awhile. He mentally reviewed what he knew about his case so far. A small, tightly-knit group was smuggling weapons into the US and bringing them to Colorado. There had been two sightings of the weapons, when Blake found them and when his partner Matt Proger had found a few discarded in the river bank. No prints had come off them and the only lead they had so far was Ford.

And he wouldn't talk.

Blake took his coffee and walked back around the hospital. He chose to take the stairs because he didn't want to run into Jenna or Nicole again.

In the far back stairwell, he thought he was alone, until he heard muffled sniffles. A lost child maybe? He slowly climbed up the stairs and stopped when he saw a small figure on the floor, knees hugged up to her chest, crying.

Nicole.

She looked up when she heard him and her eyes widened, "What are you doing here?"

"Avoiding you."

"Obviously not." She retorted, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Blake sighed, "I was trying to, but I guess this stairwell is taken."

"It is. Go away Tanner."

"Are you okay?" He asked. Maybe he didn't like the woman, but he wasn't going to be rude. He scoffed at himself. Who was he kidding? He liked her.

"I said go away."

"You're not helping your career sitting here crying." Oops. He had treaded onto unwanted ground.

"Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows."

"I never said it was." He replied calmly.

"Go away." She told him again.

"No." Blake sat down next to her. Maybe instead of being annoying he could try for a gentlemanly move. "What's wrong?"

Nicole looked at him and scooted away. She turned away from him and didn't answer for a while.

He waited.

"It's been a bad week." She mumbled.

"May I ask why?"

"It's none of your business."

"It helps to talk."

"You sound just like Cole." Nicole muttered.

"Men know what's up." He flashed her a smile, trying to ease the tension.

"You're not going to stop bothering me, are you?" She asked, annoyed.

"Nope."

Nicole groaned. "Fine. This was the week me and my fiancé met." 

"What's so bad about that? Wedding jitters?"

She glared. "No. He cheated on me just over a year ago. I found him kissing another woman in this very hospital. And I keep running into him and he won't stop bothering me, and I'm not getting enough sleep, and then you show up, then Greyson is mad at me, and I'm...just lonely and tired."

Blake blinked at the overload of information. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You just want me to take you to Ford's room early." She jumped up. "I don't know why I told you this anyways. Goodbye." She ran up the stairs and Blake heard the door slam.

So much for being polite, God.