Chapter 6 - The Web of Steel
Clara’s fingers moved with split-second instinct. She scooped the leather notebook and the red-stamped flash drive out of the compartment, shoved them deep inside the large pockets of her scrub pants, and kicked the hidden drawer shut just as Julian stepped past Marco into the room.
The steel lock clicked shut beneath the desk.
Titan placed himself directly between Clara and Julian, his teeth fully bared, a sound vibrating out of his chest that sounded like a grinding machine.
"Easy, boy," Marco warned, stepping forward, his hand resting on his holster as he looked nervously at the mastiff.
Julian stopped five feet inside the doorway, his eyes sweeping over the room. He took in Clara kneeling near the desk, Titan’s aggressive posture, and the open penlight in her hand.
"Nurse Vance," Julian said, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. "Care to explain what you're doing in a sealed crime scene?"
Clara stood up smoothly, wiping dust from her knees, her face a mask of professional composure. "I came to look for Mr. Castellano’s paper medical history. Dr. Harrison needed his baseline liver enzyme panel from five years ago before administering the next antibiotic phase."
"And did you find it?" Julian asked, taking a step closer.
Titan let out a sharp, deafening bark that shook the dust from the bookshelf. Julian froze, taking a involuntary step back.
"No," Clara lied, keeping her voice completely level. "The desk drawers were already emptied by security. I was checking to see if anything had fallen underneath."
Julian stared at her. The silence in the room stretched until it felt like a wire pulled to its breaking point. He looked at the floor, then at Titan, and finally back at Clara’s scrub pockets, which bulged slightly under the weight of the book and drive.
"You're very dedicated to your patient, Clara," Julian said, dropping the title Nurse Vance for the first time. "Almost unusually dedicated for someone who was hired three hours ago to deliver plasma."
"I don't leave patients until they are safe, Mr. Castellano," Clara replied smoothly. "And right now, my patient is downstairs alone. If you'll excuse me."
She walked toward the door. Titan backed up with her, step for step, keeping his body between Clara and Julian the entire time.
Julian didn't try to stop her. He simply watched her leave, his dark eyes reflecting the cold grey light of the dawn breaking through the broken windows.
As soon as they turned the corner into the stairwell, out of earshot, Marco grabbed Clara’s elbow. His face was pale, his jaw set hard.
"What did you pull out from under that desk, Clara?" Marco whispered fiercely.
Clara stopped, looking into the security chief's eyes. She saw fear, duty, and deep conflict, but she didn't see treason. She remembered Adrian's words: Don't let Julian touch the key.
"Something your boss didn't want his brother to find," Clara whispered back.
Marco stared at her. Slowly, he released her elbow and stepped back. "Downstairs. Now. If Julian realizes what you have, he won't use guards to take it from you. He'll use the men he brought in from the city two hours ago."
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"What men?" Clara asked, her stomach dropping.
"Six operatives sitting in black SUVs down at the main gate," Marco said grimly. "Men I've never seen before in twelve years of working for this family."
