Chapter 8 - The Medic’s War
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Twenty minutes later, the fake nurse had been dragged down to the estate basement for questioning by Marco's team.
Elias and Marin stood on the high balcony overlooking the dark ocean. The cool sea breeze blew Marin’s dark hair across her face.
"Potassium chloride," Elias said, leaning his elbows against the stone balustrade. "You identified it by smell."
"It has a faint metallic bitter scent when mixed with saline," Marin said, staring out at the white waves crashing against the rocks below. "I've seen it used before."
"Where?" Elias asked, turning his head to look at her sharp profile. "Where does a nurse see political poisonings and tactical breaches, Marin?"
Marin was silent for a long moment. She pulled her coat closer around her shoulders.
"Kabul," she said softly. "Six years ago. I was a combat flight medic with an elite forward surgical team. We were attached to classified special operations units."
Elias watched her intently. The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.
"What happened?" he asked quietly.
"Our forward operating base was compromised by an insider," Marin said, her voice dropping into a flat, emotionless tone that hid a mountain of old grief. "My entire team was wiped out in twenty minutes. I was the only survivor because I was under the floorboards fixing a suction line for a wounded sergeant."
She turned to look Elias dead in the eyes.
"When I got back to the States, I didn't want the guns. I didn't want the war. I wanted a quiet room, a sick patient, and a simple life where nobody betrayed anyone."
"And then you took a job in my house," Elias said, a faint, bitter smile touching his lips.
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"And then I took a job in the home of the biggest crime syndicate leader in the state," Marin agreed dryly. "My luck has always been terrible."
Elias stepped closer to her, his hand reaching out to gently touch the edge of her jaw, his thumb brushing over her cheekbone. "It wasn't bad luck, Marin. It was fate. My mother needed a guardian angel... and I needed you."
