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Niall frowns. “I know. But this is important. We need to figure out the motive behind this. Who was the intended target.And we need to know if the threat could follow us to Texas. If the women—” He stops. Exhales heavily. No doubt he’s thinking about his wife, Jade, who went through enough of her own trauma. And his little boy, Declan, who’s only a few months old. Worrying if they’re in danger.

“I’ll stay here,” Dante announces. “And Cole and Leo already volunteered.”

“I want to be here,” I add. “I should be?—”

A low moan sounds from inside the hospital room.

Heart stalling, my attention jumps to the small body still curled on the bed.

“Shit.” Instinct demands I go to her. Make sure she’s okay. But rationality says she’s fine. That I should stay in the hallway and finish our meeting.

“What are we going to do about Tatum?” Niall asks. “We don’t know if she was the initial target, or if they’ll come back for her to finish?—”

A growl rumbles up my throat. “They’renotgoing to hurt her again. No fucking way.”

“Of course not.” Dante follows my gaze. Then he looks back at me again. “Obviously, it’s not safe for her to go back to her house yet. But we could send her to Sleepy Hollow. Have her stay at HQ there. She might feel more comfortable staying in New York than?—”

“No.” It’s immediate. Forceful. At Dante’s raised brows I explain, “As great as everyone is there, she doesn’t know them. And after everything she’s been through, do you really think she’ll want to be stuck in some unfamiliar place with a bunch of strangers?”

“Coming back to Texas is an option, if you think she’ll agree,” Dante replies. “If?—”

Tatum moans again; followed by a pained whimper. She twitches in her sleep. Then she rolls over and curls into a protective ball.

Fuck.

What am I doing out here when Tatum’s in there alone, suffering?

“I have to—” But I don’t bother to finish. My legs are already moving.

As I slowly approach the bed, I let my gaze drift across Tatum’s body. She looks so small on the bed, hunched up like she’s trying to hide in her sleep, her features pinched in pain—fear?—as she dreams.

I shouldn’t wake her up. But when she whimpers again, I reach out before I can stop myself. Resting my hand lightly on her shoulder, I pitch my voice low as I say, “Tatum. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

She moans again, and it feels like there’s a shovel in my chest, scraping everything out of it.

“Tate,” I croon, “It’s okay. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe.”

She settles, and for a moment, I wonder if I’ve soothed her back to sleep.

But a second later, her eyes fly open, wide and scared. Disoriented.

I yank my hand away, worried my touch will trigger her. “Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You were just… Shit. It’s Erik. I was just outside your room and I heard you?—”

Tatum blinks. Her features twist as she visibly works to bring herself out of her dream. Or more likely, nightmare.

Recognition flares in her eyes, my lungs start to work again. “Erik,” she whispers. “Are we…” She pushes herself up and glances around. A relieved sigh escapes. “We’re really safe. Aren’t we?”

“Yes.” I reach behind me to drag a chair over, then sink into it. “You’re safe. We’re at the hospital, and two of my teammates are right outside, standing guard.”

“Are you okay?” Her gaze sweeps across me, assessing. “Once we got here… everything was a blur. I know you saw a doctor, but…”

“I’m fine. How are you feeling? How’s your head?”

Her forehead creases. “Not bad. Better than on the island, really. Just a little—” Alarm flashes across her face. A shudder shakes her body. “Theisland. What’s going on? Did your team?—”

Without thinking, I cover her trembling hand with mine. “Cole, Rylan, and Leo are still there. So are the police. They’re investigating right now.”

“What about… the people there? The screaming.”