Page 97 of Detectives in Love

“The bends, Newt. It all comes down to the bends…”

I look at him, trying to figure out if he’s serious or just out of it.

“Xavier, you need to rest. You’re completely shaken…”

He lets out a low chuckle, his hand finding my waist, arm curling around my back.

“No, listen. You said it yourself—the bends is a diver’s disease,” Xavier murmurs, leaning in until I can feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. “And I kept thinking—how does a guy who spends all day in a lab end up with the bends? It happens when the pressure of inhaled gases drops too fast, right? So the answer isn’t water—it’s depth.”

“Underground labs?” I say, frowning, and Xavier nods.

“Exactly. High-pressure chambers, deep underground. They build them that way for safety—if something goes wrong, the system locks everything down, seals the doors, cuts the lab off from the rest of the facility. Wakefield’s death was just an accident. He was working late in one of those labs when something went wrong—a gasoline generator failed, the room filled with exhaust, and the lockdown kicked in.”

I try to keep up. “But why didn’t he call for help?”

“The bends, Newt. You said it yourself, he had it bad. One of the side effects is—”

“—passing out,” I finish.

“Exactly. Wakefield blacked out and suffocated,” Xavier says, voice low, almost triumphant, even as he keeps shivering.

“But Xavier—what about the frostbite? He was ice-cold, remember? In the morgue?”

“They must’ve frozen him after the fact. To cover up Rishetor’s secret project. Probably dunked the body in liquid nitrogen or some cryogenic solution. He couldn’t have frozen inthat Blue Lab. I sat in there for twelve hours—no protective gear—and I’m still here. Wakefield, in a suit, wouldn’t have frozen that fast.”

“Twelve hours?!” I stare at him, horrified. “Are you out of your mind?”

“It was an experiment, Newt. What wouldn’t you do for science?” Xavier flashes a grin—way too pleased with himself.

“And no one noticed? How the hell did you even get in? Or out?”

“You don’t want to know,” he says with a low chuckle. “Considering their security’s about to find out, it’s probably best you don’t know anything when Willand shows up. Oh—and I found the underground lab where Wakefield died.”

I just gape at him, because clearly he’s not done.

“There are three gasoline generators down there. One of them was broken—probably the one that killed him. I tampered with another, just to see how fast the exhaust would build up and how quickly I’d start feeling it… Turns out, pretty damn fast.”

“Are you completely insane?” I sit up, staring at him like he’s lost it. “First you freeze yourself half to death—now you’re testing how fast you can suffocate?”

Xavier just shrugs. “I felt fine. The shaking and dizziness only kicked in on the way home…”

“Xavier, do you even realize how dangerous that was? If you’d stayed in there a little longer, you wouldn’t just be dizzy—you could’ve passed out and suffocated, just like Wakefield. And even if you made it out, that kind of exposure can cause real damage—internal bleeding, neurological issues—”

“Don’t be mad, Newt,” Xavier says gently, reaching for my shoulder. Before I know it, he’s tugged me closer—practically on top of him.

My heart pounds, but I force myself to stay focused. I let out a heavy sigh. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

“I don’t need that. I’m fine,” he murmurs, his cold hand brushing my cheek. “They’ll just tell me to rest. Come on, lie back down.”

Our eyes meet, and something in me snaps. I throw off the covers, march over to the wardrobe, yank out a sweater, and toss it at him.

“Put this on.”

He catches it, frowning. “What is it?”

“My sweater. Just put it on. You need to warm up.”

Xavier scoffs. “Yeah, this isn’t gonna fit…” But he still hauls himself upright and starts fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.