He blinked, looking stunned. “Okay.”
With that, she opened the door and they went into the room. Ryder faltered just over the threshold. Raising his hands to the back of his head, he sighed.
“Christ.”
Viv sat back on Markus’ bed. “Yeah.”
Closing the door behind him, Ryder took a tentative step into the room. A loud knock on the door made them both spook.
“What?” Ryder flung the door open. “Am I getting kicked out already?”
Instead of a nurse or doctor, though, Officers Lopez and Harrison stood there.
Viv stood up on a gasp. “Hi. Hello.”
“May we come in?” Officer Harrison asked.
“Yes. Please. Did you find out anything new?”
The two of them eyed Ryder.
“This is Markus’ best friend.” Viv walked up to Ryder and put a hand on his shoulder.
Her heart raced. She didn’t know if it would be better to use his real name or a fake one. Like with Markus, she wasn’t sure whether he had a record or not.
“We went to the address,” Officer Lopez said, “and found something.”
Again, they both looked at Ryder. Apparently, Officer Harrison decided she didn’t care that he was there.
“A large cache of drugs,” she said.
“Really?”
Viv covered her mouth, wanting them to think she was horrified rather than smiling with glee.
Officer Lopez shrugged.
“You were right. He’s Dagger Rossi. The news outlets are breaking it right now, so it’s no secret anymore. He’s already in custody.”
His shrug might have suggested that he’d doubted Viv, but she didn’t care. Mr. Romano had been arrested!
“This is good.” She lowered her hand to the base of her throat. “What now?”
“Nothing,” Officer Harrison said. “We were in the neighborhood and thought we would stop by and share the news, tell you thank you, and you’re all good.”
Viv looked from her to Officer Lopez. She waited for more, but it didn’t come.
In the end, she only nodded and said, “Thank you.”
She took “all good” to mean that they had chosen to overlook her breaking into Mr. Romano’s office.
“Call us if you need anything.” Officer Harrison nodded at Ryder and, with that, they left.
Ryder raised his eyebrows at Viv. “No way. So it worked? You showed the police the email?”
“Yeah.” She shook her head in amazement. “It worked out after all.”
“What exactly did you tell them?”
“Nothing about you, and nothing about the diamonds.” She gasped. “The diamonds! They must still be in Markus’ car. I don’t even know where it is now.”
Maybe that was for the best. The diamonds had brought strife into their lives.
“Actually,” Ryder stuffed his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “I have them.”
“What? How?”
“I went to the impoundment yard and looked around in the car.”
“They just let you do that?” She shook her head. “Oh. Right.”
He broke into the yard. Duh.
“But how come you found them?” With a glance at the door, she lowered her voice. That nurse who had warned Ryder to be gone in ten minutes could be back at any moment. “And the police didn’t?”
“They were sewed into the seats’ linings.” He gave Markus an appreciative look. “You know…” He grew solemn. “If Markus doesn’t wake up…”
Her chest tightened.
“I don’t like to think that way.”
“But you have some, right? You’ve had to think about what you’ll do if he doesn’t.”
“Yeah.” She looked at the floor. “I’ve thought about it.”
“The diamonds belong to you.”
She snapped her gaze up. “What? No, they don’t.”
“Yeah, they would. I have my share. Markus would want you to take his.”
She pressed her lips together to keep back a sob. They started shaking, though, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“That’s considerate of you.” Tamping down the emotion, she stood straighter. “But I can’t take them in good conscience. They’re stolen goods.”
“You’re a sweet girl, Viv, but here’s the thing. We don’t even know where they’re originally stolen from. Like, where did Dagger get them? There’s no returning them to their original owner.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “But still…”
“I would sell them for you and give you the money. Then you could do anything with it. Give it all to charity. Get yourself a nice house. Whatever you want.”
She looked at Markus. Ryder was right. He would want her to take the diamond money, to use it to give their child a good start at life. Would it still be dirty money if she used it for a good purpose?
“Maybe we can revisit the topic,” she said, still not completely sold.
“Of course.” He backed toward the door. “I guess I should go get official visitation or whatever that douche was yelling about.” He rolled his eyes, then turned to Markus. “Stay strong, buddy. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Ryder,” Viv said.
He gave her a big hug, and as he turned for the door, she saw him wipe at the corner of his eye—a move he was probably trying to hide.
Finally, after a stream of visitors…
“It’s just us again.”
Viv crawled into bed next to Markus. The thin space only allowed her to lay on her side, but that was fine. She wanted to put her arm across his chest, anyway.
“Can you hear me?”
She delicately touched his lips and found them warm as always. It seemed he was only in a deep sleep and could wake up at any moment.
Viv closed her eyes and sank into his warmth. “I’m here, Markus. I’m waiting for you. Everything is falling into place. Now I just need you back.”
Chapter 23
Viv
Viv opened her eyes to morning light filtering through her curtains. Reaching across the bed, she checked the time and killed the alarm due to go off in ten minutes.
Flopping onto her back, she stared at the ceiling. Her dreams, like most nights, had been full of Markus. In the one she’d had right before waking, they were walking hand-in-hand down the beach. Though she couldn’t remember what they were talking about, there had been tons of laughter.
She smiled slightly but couldn’t ignore the deep pain underscoring the dream. Today marked eight weeks that Markus had been in a coma.
It was also his birthday.
For two months, nothing had changed. The doctors kept saying the same things they always did, that the future was uncertain and he could wake up at any time.
As the discussions had continued, though, optimism had begun to fade. A few days earlier, Doctor Hanson had mentioned that one day soon, they would need to talk about how Markus might be different when—or if—he woke up.
She meant he could have suffered brain damage, and that, well, could really mean anything. Changes to thought patterns and rationalization. Changes to personality, even.