Contents
Chapter Fourteen
Overview
Adam confronts Holland in the Professor’s ruined office, revealing he shares January’s tattoo and claiming he was sent to protect her. Gabe returns, contradicts Adam, and a gunfight erupts. Adam is shot but alive; Gabe is wounded and escapes with Holland. Trust fractures deepen as loyalties remain ambiguous.
Summary
In the Professor’s ransacked house, Adam Bishop appears and approaches cautiously. He claims January sent him to protect Holland, admits his professor persona was a role, and proves his connection by revealing a tattoo matching January’s and Gabe Cabral’s. Holland, shaken by the deception, demands proof and keeps her distance.
Gabe enters from the garden, shoving Holland behind him and ordering her to run. Adam and Gabe each insist the other is lying about January’s orders. Tensions escalate as both draw guns despite Holland’s pleas to stop. Accusations hint Adam may have seduced January while working near Holland.
A shot explodes through the standoff. Gabe grabs Holland and drags her toward the exit as her hearing rings. She sees Adam slumped on the floor, shot near the heart but still breathing. Gabe, also bleeding, claims Adam fired first and urges immediate escape.
Realizing Gabe is wounded, Holland forces him to set her down, then lets him pull her to the door. With Adam alive and likely to recover, Gabe insists they leave before he wakes. Holland and Gabe flee the scene, trust shattered and alliances unresolved.
Who Appears
- HollandCaught between Adam and Gabe’s competing claims; demands proof, witnesses a shootout, and flees with wounded Gabe.
- Gabe CabralClaims January sent him; confronts Adam with a gun, is shot, and escorts Holland out before Adam revives.
- Adam BishopReveals matching tattoo, claims January’s partnership; draws a gun, is shot near the heart but remains alive.