Lucas and I a hard, accusing look like we'd deliberately stressed his patient out. Lucas just gave his mom a frustrated glare, then stalked to the door with angry steps.
"I asked you to look after him," Sandra muttered as I slowly got to my feet. "I told you to keep him safe. And this is what you do? Don't think I didn't notice he was carrying."
I paused, arching a brow at her. "For once, this has nothing to do with me. Your brother was housing a Guild arsenal below your house, and Lucas somehow knows how to shoot with impressive accuracy. Either you spill some secrets, or we will uncover them ourselves."
Sandra all but hissed at me. "Drop it. If you care about my boy at all you won't keep digging." Her face was ashen and her hands trembling, but her gaze was hard and focused.
"Okay, I think Sandra needs to rest now," Nurse Bryce prompted, indicating that I should leave. We definitely shouldn’t have been discussing the Guild in front of him, that was for sure. Not that he gave any flicker of understanding.
I continued staring down at Lucas's mom, but she just flicked her eyes away from me, pausing briefly on a framed photograph of a military man, then stared out the window in a clear dismissal. Ballsy bitch. I could see where Lucas got his sass from, that was for sure.
With an internal sigh, I continued out of the room and caught up to Lucas near the foyer, where he was pacing with anger and frustration.
"What is her fucking problem?" he spat when I joined him. "It's not her mind, not today. That was a deliberate, barefaced lie. She knows so much more, and she's not telling us. Why? I'm her son! If she can't tell me—"
"Then the threat for her silence has to be pretty severe," I cut him off, giving him a pointed look. "Come on, let's go. She gave us enough."
Lucas hurried to catch up with me as I headed out to the parking lot. "Wait, what? She didn't give us anything!"
I flashed a quick smile at him as we reached the car, and Lucas headed straight for the driver's seat once more. Zed was going to kill us if he checked the garage security feed... and yet somehow that got me all tingly.
"Yes, she did," I replied, sliding into the passenger seat. "Let's head to your house."
Lucas buckled his seat belt but didn't start the car just yet. "I don't get it. Did she say something after I left?"
"Just told me off for not looking after you," I answered in a slightly dry voice. She wasn't totally off base with that accusation; my whole presence was putting Lucas in danger. Chase had him in his sights, and I wasn't stupid enough to think my deranged ex was satisfied with the damage he'd already inflicted. Nope, Lucas would be next for Chase to try and "cross off" because I just knew he was keeping Zed for last.
"She's wrong," Lucas growled, starting the car and rolling us out of the Sunshine Estate parking lot.
I just gave a shrug as I pushed guilt aside to focus on more pressing issues. "Well, anyway. Before I left, she gave me a clue, and I'm pretty sure it was intentional. On her dresser there's a framed picture of a guy in military uniform. Do you know who it is?"
Lucas shot me a confused frown. "Huh? Yeah, of course. That's my dad. Allegedly. I'm starting to question if that was all made up, though. The whole army man died in combat before you were born just seems a bit convenient now, doesn't it?"
I ruffled my fingers through my hair, then gave him a soft smile. "A bit, yeah. But I think she was deliberately giving me a starting point. What do you know about him?"
He grimaced. "Fuck all. His name, Nicholas Porter. That's about it."
"That's a start," I assured him, reaching out to weave our fingers together. "Don't worry, Gumdrop, we've got this."
He shot me a sharp look, then grinned. "I used to think that was the worst nickname possible, but I'll take Gumdrop over Zeddy Bear any day." He raised our linked hands and kissed my knuckles. "Alright, so we're heading to my house?"
I nodded. "We sure are. I want to have another look around. Last time we were there we were so focused on your uncle's secrets none of us stopped to wonder what your mom might have