He Bet My Life and Lost Me Instead novel · Chapter 16 of 32

Chapter 16: The Margin

Sam's POV

I didn't sleep.

Nina lay on her side with her back against my chest, breathing slow and a little rough.

I counted every breath until the window went gray.

At five I slid out from under her arm and dressed in the dark.

She stirred. "Where are you going?"

"Lab. Go back to sleep."

"You're not rescuing me."

"I'm running an errand," I said. "You can ask me about it later."

She smiled into the pillow.

I locked the green door behind me.

The lab was a low brick building behind Stroger Hospital.

The chemist I'd called twice that week was already in, eating a cold egg sandwich over a microscope.

He pushed a sheet across the counter.

"You wanted the stickers."

"I wanted who bought them."

"Label rolls like this don't come off a store shelf."

He tapped the page.

"This lot was ordered through a supplier in Elk Grove. Paid for by wire, every month since March."

"From whom?"

"Brennick Partners."

I read the name twice.

Brennick Partners was the firm on the letter that had been put in Nina's hand yesterday. It was the firm that was supposedly defending Lydia's good name.

"They're funding her pharmacy," I said.

"They're funding something with a label maker," the chemist said, and wiped his fingers on his pants. "Don't quote me."

I took the sheet.

Outside, I sat in my truck with the engine off.

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