Face Your Fears

Chapter 6

"Let me guess," I said flatly, my eyes narrowing at the unsettling man that had just claimed he went way back with Hadley. "You and Hadley used to be best friends in high school, right?"

The man flashed an amused smile. "Why, how did you know?"

Okay. That was it.

I'd had enough of this shit today. I didn't need every creep this city had to offer coming up to me, telling me they knew my wife and that they were best friends. This was not normal. Why were things that were not normal following us around like the plague?

"Right," I said slowly. "Whatever. If you don't mind, I have more important things to do than stand around here talking to you."

I made to follow after the group of nurses that had just wheeled Hadley away, but a hand suddenly gripped my forearm and then I was being dragged down a small hallway that lead to the bathrooms.

"Oi! What the - !"

"Listen well, Archer Morales," the man said, shoving me up against the wall, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. Looking down at the hands gripping my shirt, I noticed with a sinking feeling that he had the same tattoos that the other man and Hadley had. "Things are about to get ten times more complicated for you and for Hadley and for your unborn child. You'd do well to heed my words."

"Look, I don't even know - "

"Listen to me." He gave me a firm shake. "Do you want your wife and child to die?"

"What are you on about?" I demanded, shoving the man away from me. "Can't you just leave me and my wife alone? What did we ever do to you? Or are you in league with that creep with the mismatched eyes?"

The man's unnerving black eyes narrowed, his eyes twisting into a harsh line. "No, you daft idiot. I'm trying to help you. I'm one of the good guys."

Oh, I had a very difficult time believing that.

"Really?" I said harshly. "One of the good guys? Please, tell me more."

The man ignored this comment.

"If you really love Hadley like I think you do, then you'll do what I say. You can't stop what's coming for you, or for her. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your baby, would you?"

I glowered at him, rage boiling in the pit of my stomach.

He just had to hit that soft spot, didn't he?

"No," I snapped. "But I fail to see how this has anything to do with you."

The look that came over the man's face was one I didn't think I would ever know how to describe. He looked regretful, upset, worried, distraught, and so much more. It made him look a thousand years old, as if he had seen more sorrows in the world than anyone else in the world could ever begin to imagine.

"This has everything in the world to do with me," he muttered, not meeting my gaze. "I'm the reason you both are in this position in the first place."

What?

"How did you manage to work that one out?" I asked hesitantly. "I don't even - "

"Excuse me, sir."

The man and I both turned to look to the end of the short hallway where a nurse in purple scrubs was heading our way, a grim look on her face.

Oh, shit. This couldn't be good.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I'd already reached the nurse and was gripping her firmly by the shoulders, practically shaking her.

"Is my wife okay? Is everything alright? Is the - "