[19]

Belinda screamed and dropped to the floor. Haley darted to her side and fell to her knees. “She’s been shot!” Richie’s gun had discharged as he’d gone down and the bullet had struck Belinda in the chest.

Officers descended, medical personnel rushed forward. Haley pressed against Belinda’s bleeding chest. The woman who’d been Richie’s hostage sat on the floor, covered in blood and brain matter, weeping. Haley would have loved to comfort her, but right now, she was doing her best to make sure Belinda didn’t bleed out. “I need a doctor here, now!”

A woman in her midthirties dropped beside Haley. “I’m Katherine Green. I’m a surgeon. Keep the pressure there.” She looked back over her shoulder. “I need a gurney!” Two orderlies raced down the hall. She glanced at the still-crying woman. “Is she hurt?”

“No,” Haley said, “just traumatized.”

And then Christina appeared from nowhere to grab Lisa’s upper arms and gently propel her to her feet. “Come on, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

Steven stood near Micah’s room, his phone pressed to his ear. His eyes snagged Haley’s for a brief moment and a silent message of support passed from him to her. She nodded.

Dr. Green’s gaze dropped to Richie’s faceless body. She grimaced and turned back to Belinda. “Hang on, honey, we’re going to get you some help.”

Belinda’s eyes flickered, then settled on Haley. “Take care of my boys for me.”

“I will until you’re back on your feet.”

Belinda reached for her hand and Haley let her grab it. “If I don’t make it, you take care of them.”

“Not making it’s not an option.”

Her eyes fluttered, her lips moved.

Haley leaned closer. “What?”

Belinda whispered again and Haley did her best to hear her. She finally squeezed the woman’s hand as they lifted her onto the gurney. “Fight, Belinda, fight for your boys, you hear me?” Blood bubbled from her mouth and Dr. Green pushed Haley aside.

And then they were rushing Belinda down the hall toward the elevator that would take her to surgery. Haley looked down at her bloody hands, dropped her chin to her chest, and uttered a prayer for Belinda.

And her grandfather.

She made her way to the sink, slathered her hands in the sanitizing soap, and scrubbed. And scrubbed.

Gentle hands settled on her shoulders, then one reached around her to pull paper towels from the holder. She took them from Steven and dried her hands.

“I told Christina I had you covered,” he said. “She’s staying with Micah.”

“There’s really no need to keep Micah’s family covered now, is there?”

“You never know.”

“Richie’s friends?”

“Maybe. Probably not, but I think we should keep an eye out for a few days.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“As for you . . . the threat of Richie is gone, but I’m not so sure you’re in the clear too.”

“I know.”

“Richie had an agenda. He wasn’t about to give up Belinda, and I believe he would have killed you to get you out of his way, but—”

“But it’s possible he wasn’t the only one interested in seeing me dead.”

“Yeah.”

“Right.” She drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly as she nodded.

“About your grandfather . . .”

She stilled. “I don’t know why they brought him in.”

“Maddy said he had come down to tell her he had a migraine and asked for some more medication. She went to get it, and when she came back, he was on the floor, having convulsions. She hollered for McCort and called 911. When they got him here, they did a brain scan and found a small tumor on his brain. Apparently he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Oh no,” she whispered. She pressed her palms to her eyes. “I haven’t even had a chance to get to know him. I really don’t want to lose him.”

“Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

She shook her head. “No, if he’s unconscious, I need to do what I can do. I just need someone to let me know when he wakes up. Until then, I want to go see Zeke and tell him about his mother.”

“At the teen center?”

“Yes.”

“All right. I’ll take you there, then bring you back.”

She looked him in the eye. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you seem to care so much?”

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “You make it easy to care.” He shrugged. “I just do.”

She held his gaze a moment longer. “Thanks.” She stayed put for another few seconds, then nodded. “All right, then. Let’s check on Duncan, then we can go.”

Ten minutes later, relieved that Duncan was improving with each passing hour, she pulled the keys to her Hummer out of her front pocket and tossed them to him. “You can drive. I’ve got to think about how I’m going to tell Zeke I let his mother get shot.”

After checking the vehicle for any explosive devices, Steven crawled behind the wheel and let the engine purr to life. He had to admit, at any other time, driving the big tanklike vehicle would have thrilled him, but he was worried about Zeke’s reaction to the impending news. He knew Haley blamed herself for having to deliver it. “How did she get past you?”

“She took me by surprise. I had my back to her with my attention on what was going on outside the room and watching the door in case Richie got past you guys. She simply came up behind me and gave me a hard shove. I bounced off the wall and slipped to the floor. And out the door she went.” She shook her head. “I haven’t made a dumb rookie mistake like that in . . . forever.”

“You had no reason to believe she would try to leave, did you?”

“I did at first. She was worried about Zeke, but I thought I had her convinced he was all right and that Laila would make sure nothing happened to him.”

“She didn’t come out because she was worried about Zeke. She was worried about Richie’s hostage.”

“And you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

She shot him a tight smile, then glanced back out the window.

“My brother died when he was twelve,” Steven said. “I was eighteen.”

Her head whipped around. “What?”

“For a long time I blamed myself, but time has allowed me to come to the conclusion that there wasn’t anything I could have done to prevent it. It doesn’t lessen the hurt, of course, and the guilt still manages to creep up on me. But in my head, if not my heart, I know it wasn’t my fault.”

“What happened?”

“We were out riding our bikes. I was eighteen and supposed to be watching out for him.” He gave a little shrug. “We grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with sidewalks that led out to the main road. We were riding down to the corner drugstore when a man lost control of his Suburban, going an estimated eighty-seven miles per hour, and crashed into my brother.” He took a deep breath. He’d seen it happen and couldn’t do a thing about it. “That man blew a .15 on the Breathalyzer.”

“Drunk.”

“Plastered. My brother had gone ahead of me, daring me to a race.”

“Just a boy being a boy,” she whispered.

“But I used to think it should have been me.”

“You still do, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

He grimaced. “Sometimes. If I think about it too long.” Which he made sure never to do.

“And the driver walked away?”

“With a broken wrist and twenty-five years in prison.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I am too.” He drew in a deep breath. “He’s up for parole.”

“Are you going to fight it?”

“With everything in me. He’s a murderer. He’s staying where he belongs.”

Steven stopped talking, wondering why he’d confided that. It wasn’t that he kept it a secret, he just didn’t talk about it. Ever. But Richie’s death and Belinda’s getting shot wasn’t her fault and he wanted her to feel better. If talking about Michael would help, he’d do it. That fact alone was something he was going to have to do some serious thinking about. It meant he cared about her.

“Why do you suppose God lets things like that happen?” Haley whispered.

“That’s one question I don’t ask. I just have to focus on the fact that God is perfect and sovereign in every way. And that in the end, he will serve justice to those who deserve it. It’s my job just to believe that. And trust it.” He fell quiet a moment. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the teen center and pulled to a stop. With a glance around, Haley climbed from the Hummer and quickly made her way inside the glass doors. Steven walked in behind her and immediately his mood lightened. Teens were everywhere. Laughter, music, and sheer fun emanated from the place.

“Haley! Haley’s here!” A young girl threw herself at Haley and was caught up in a hug.

“Hey, Madison, how’s the dance routine coming?”

“We are killing it. And guess what?”

“What?”

“Some rich dude that Donnalynn knows paid for us to leave a day early and come back two days late so we can tour New York and not just get there, perform, and leave. We’re leaving early Friday morning instead of Saturday!” She grabbed Haley’s hands and jumped up and down. “We get to see a play on Broadway! And go to the Statue of Liberty and see Times Square and . . . and . . . everything. And the school is letting us go and they got us a chartered bus to ride on that has a bathroom and every—”

“Madison, girl, let Haley get a word in.” Michelle bustled over and gently took the girl by her shoulders and moved her out of the path. “She’ll get back to you in a minute. I’d like to have a word with her.”

“Madison?” The blasting music had stopped and a woman peered around the edge of the door that was obviously the dance studio. “Where’d you go? Come on, honey, we need to run through the number again.”

Haley gave Madison another hug. “I want to hear all about it, but I need to talk to Cupcake here, okay?”

“Oh sure. You’re still coming with us, right? Even though we’re leaving early?”

Haley hesitated. “I’m going to do my very best to be there.”

Madison bit her lip, then a smile bloomed across her face. “You’ll be there. I know you will. I need to get back to practice. See ya. Coming, Donnalynn.” She darted away, her enthusiasm shimmering around her.

“All right, baby girl, what’s wrong and who is this?” Michelle asked.

Steven was impressed by her ability to read body language and pick up on tension. Haley looked up at him. “This is Detective Steven Rothwell. He’s . . . a friend. Steven, this is Michelle Cox, also known as Cupcake.”

“Cupcake?”

“She loves them. And she wants to die in a vat of frosting.”

Steven raised a brow and looked at the woman. “You want to die in a vat of frosting? Why?”

She patted his arm. “It’s a long story, darlin’.”

He shrugged. “Not a bad way to go when you think about it.”

“I agree.” She looked at Haley. “I like him. Now, what’s going on, hon?”

“I need to talk to Zeke,” Haley said. “Is he in the gym?”

“Zeke’s working his magic with the little ones. They love him. That boy’s got some mad basketball skills. Does he play with his high school?”

“I’m not sure,” Haley murmured. “Might be a good thing to find out.” She drew in a deep breath. “Speaking of a long story, I just came from the hospital. Zeke’s mother was shot and is in critical condition. I came to take him to be there when she comes out of surgery.”

Michelle gasped. “Oh no. I’ll gather the others and we’ll have a prayer for her. But you go get him now and take him over there.”

“Thanks.”

Haley truly didn’t know how he was going to take the news of his mother, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She had to tell him.

Zeke ran over to her, sweat glistening on his forehead, his shirt rimmed with wet around his neck. “What’s up? Is Micah okay?”

“Micah’s all right for now. Zeke, your mother’s been shot and—”

“Shot?” He stumbled and Steven grabbed his upper arm to steady him.

“She’s still alive,” Haley hastened to reassure him, “she’s just in surgery. I came to get you—you’ll be there when she wakes up.”

Zeke gripped his head with both hands and paced in a circle. “I don’t believe this.” He dropped his hands and spun to face her. “It was Richie, wasn’t it? He shot her, right?”

“Yes.” She’d spare him the details for now. “Come on and we’ll take you to her.”

“Thought you were going to keep her safe.”

Haley winced. “I—”

“It wasn’t Haley’s fault,” Steven said. “Richie had a hostage in the hallway. Your mother pushed around Haley to try and talk to him. The sniper got Richie and his gun went off, wounding your mother.”

Of course Zeke would want to know who shot her. She sent Steven a grateful look.

Zeke swallowed hard and looked at the floor. “I’m ready.”

Haley stood with Zeke while Steven checked the Hummer before nodding. “All clear.” He held up her keys as she walked closer. “You want to drive?”

“No, you can.”

She climbed in the passenger seat, fastened her belt, and shut her eyes. A headache was forming behind her eyes, her side ached with a renewed fervor, and now she had to drop Zeke at his mother’s side and check on her grandfather. It was a fifteen-minute ride to the hospital. She rummaged in her purse and found the ibuprofen. She took two, then checked her phone. No messages. She sent a text to Maddy.

Any news on my grandfather?

Maddy

Still the same

came the immediate response.

What about Zeke’s mother?

I checked on her ten minutes ago. Still in surgery. Micah is sleeping and Duncan is fine.

She told the guys the latest and heard Zeke sigh.

Her hands were tied for now. There was nothing else she could do at the moment. Haley leaned back against the headrest. The only way to keep the headache from blooming into a full-blown migraine was to shut her eyes until it eased. “Are you watching the mirrors?” she murmured to Steven.

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if I close my eyes for the ride?”

“Of course. I’ll be able to warn you if anything seems off. I’ve got you covered.”

“Thanks.”

She immediately slipped into a light doze, having trained her body years earlier to rest when she had to. Sometimes she could still do it. Sometimes not. Today she had no trouble doing so with Steven and Zeke’s soft conversation flowing around her.

When the Hummer pulled to a stop, she opened her eyes and noted the time. He’d given her twenty-five minutes. She caught his gaze.

He smiled. “I got Zeke’s permission. We called and his mom’s still in surgery and will be there for a while. He and I agreed that a few extra minutes wasn’t going to change anything.”

True enough. “Thank you.” Haley had to admit she felt refreshed. Much to her relief, the headache was almost gone.

He’d parked in the law enforcement spot close to the entrance. He climbed out of the Hummer while she scanned the area and saw nothing that worried her.

She checked her mental to-do list: (1) Get Zeke to his mother’s side. Or at least in the waiting room. (2) Ask Maddy for another update on her grandfather. (3) Find Hugh McCort and get answers about the money in his son’s account. (4) Check on Duncan and see how he was feeling. (5) See if she might be one step closer to solving her own cold case.