Leaving At Last Chapter 07
An hour and a half later:
[Still mad?]
[I’ll admit I was wrong, okay?]
[I don’t want things to be like this between us.]
[Talia said you’re going on a trip. Good. Be safe.]
[I’ll pick you up when you get back.]
The next day, my parents drove me to JFK.
After I got through security, I waved to them and turned toward my gate.
…
When Briar finished his shift, there were still no new messages on his phone.
He pushed open the door to Talia’s office.
“Has Blair replied to you at all?”
Talia looked up from a patient chart and shook her head.
“No.”
“Even when she was mad before, she never ignored me, too.”
Briar’s voice was sharp.
“What exactly did you say to her that night?”
“Nothing much.”
“I just thanked her for taking the blame for my mistake.”
Briar’s expression shifted.
“Who told you she did it willingly?”
Talia shot back, “If she didn’t do it willingly, then what? Did someone force her to confess?”
But Briar said nothing, his face grim.
A thought flickered through Talia’s mind.
The pen slipped from her hand and clattered onto the desk.
“You forced her to take the fall?”
“Why would you do that?”
Briar pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a long, shaky breath.
“I know you, Talia.”
“If you thought you were responsible for something like that on the operating table—”