Chapter 288

Chapter 288:

“Well,” he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “You look like you’ve been through a war p>

“He’s divorcing me,” Eliza said, her voice hollow. “Weston answered. He said Dallas is done p>

“Weston says a lot of things,” Vance reached down and offered her his hand. “Weston has the emotional intelligence of a teaspoon p>

“He saw photos,” Eliza said, taking his hand and pulling herself up. “They think I was downstairs with Anson p>

“I know,” Vance said. “I saw the performance from the window. Very convincing. If I hadn’t tracked the nurse’s keycard usage and known you were locked in here, I might have believed it myself p>

Eliza stared at him. “You tracked the keycard p>

“I told you,” Vance said. “I like data. Nurse Halloway accessed this room ten minutes ago and no other room since. It was a trap p>

“Take me to him,” Eliza said. The despair was hardening into something sharper. “Now p>

𝗗о𝘸𝘯l𝗼𝗮d P𝗗𝗙𝘴 𝖿𝘳𝘦е о𝘯

“Weston is guarding the door like a pitbull,” Vance warned. “And Zane is back with a lawyer p>

“I don’t care,” Eliza straightened her spine. “I am going to walk into that room and make him listen p>

Vance studied her for a moment. Then he smiled — a genuine one, for once. “That’s the spirit. That’s the Koch fire p>

He gestured toward a supply closet in the corner. “A direct approach is suicide. But there’s a shift change in ten minutes. The floor staff will be distracted.” He opened the closet and pulled out a set of folded pale blue scrubs and a disposable surgical cap. “These will be too big, but that’s the point. You’re not Eliza Koch anymore — you’re just another exhausted orderly pushing a linen cart. The hallway connects to a service corridor with a staff entrance directly into his bathroom p>

“A disguise,” Eliza said, taking the scrubs.

“The oldest trick in the book,” Vance shrugged. “But it bypasses the pitbull. Get changed. I’ll create a diversion p>

Eliza didn’t hesitate. She stepped behind the privacy screen and changed quickly. The fabric was stiff and smelled of industrial bleach.

“Thank you,” she said, emerging with her hair tucked under the cap.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Vance said. “Fix him. He’s insufferable when he’s heartbroken p>

Eliza slipped out of the room as Vance turned toward the corridor and began loudly demanding to know what had happened to a missing patient file.

Dallas flinched, his body tensing with a pain that had nothing to do with his injuries. He had been staring at the ceiling, replaying the frantic, desperate sound of her voice on the phone — a sound that warred with the image of her smile in the parking lot.

“Get out,” he rasped, his voice raw. “You liar. Get out p>

“I am not a liar!” Eliza’s voice was a furious whisper. She didn’t let go, her grip a desperate anchor. “You are the one who lied! You said you were in Siberia. You said you needed space.” She pointed a trembling finger at his suspended leg. “Is this Siberia, Dallas? Is this a business trip p>