The frown on Colt’s face deepened, the lines became even more pronounced. “No, he didn’t. He rang and said he needed to call in his favor. That a woman’s location had been compromised and he needed her taken to safety. He told me he thinks his team has a leak somewhere, meaning he couldn’t take care of it himself. He briefly ran through some basics about her, but that was it.”

Colt continued to scroll through the information and I heard the moment his breath caught.  I saw his eyes widen letting me know he had reached the medical records.

“Holy shit. How is she still alive?”

I could hear the shock and disbelief in Gabe’s voice, and I could completely understand it as it was the same question I was silently asking myself not too long ago. To save them the time and confusion of reading the medical jargon, I briefly summarized the information for them, my voice steady and not betraying the turmoil I felt inside about it.

“According to the records they had only been together for six months before she had witnessed some of his dirty deeds and criminal activity, including the murder of a city official. Up until that point she had been clueless of his true identity. When she tried to leave him and he found what she had seen, he decided to attack her in the alley behind her work while she took out the trash as was her routine. He stabbed her six times in her chest. Miraculously it missed everything vital with the exception of a lung. Fortunately, her boss had gone looking for her, and upon finding her in the alley he managed to get emergency services there in time to keep her alive and get her to a hospital for emergency surgery.”

A choking sound came from Gabe as looked at me startled. “Six times?”

It took great effort but I swallowed down the growl that rose in my chest. “Yes, according to what she recounted in court at his hearing he said, and this is a direct quote, ‘it was one for each month he wasted on her.’”