Chapter Sixteen
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AT THE HOSPITAL in Tulsa, Colton wouldn’t let Shelby out of his sight. Which wasn’t easy since the doctors kept insisting he get x-rays while they stitched up the cut on her leg.
Thank God she was alive. As he sat in the chair in the exam room and watched her watching him, he felt the dragon raise its head and laugh at him.
I shouldn’t have come back.
Someone was trying to kill him and Shelby was getting in the way.
Shelby eyed him from the gurney. “Stop it.”
A miracle she could see again.
A squat nurse with serious eyes stood next to him and handed Colton a gauze pad soaked in alcohol. He touched it to his eyebrow and the dragon welcomed the sting. “Stop what?”
Shelby flinched as the doctor finished the stitching and plastered a gauze bandage over her wound. She’d refused a numbing agent.
Such a Shelby move—refusing to show pain. “Blaming yourself for this,” she said.
Every cell in his body screamed for the sweet release of a good bender. Or another few hours spent between Shelby’s legs.
Like that was ever going to happen again.
He’d brought this whole thing down on her. The worst thing he could do was stay.
But leaving? Out of the question. Not yet anyway. Not with this madman running around.
Bastard.
He’d been so close to taking the guy down. If he hadn’t knocked his head into the cabinets and went lights out for a few minutes, he could have killed the guy. The impact, though, had left him dizzy and he’d barely prevented the guy from killing them all.
Sabrina was in surgery; her prognosis was poor. Two slugs point blank to her chest. How did anyone live through that?
He had. Six bullets had carved through his upper body and left him on life support for weeks. He still had some tiny pieces of shrapnel floating around his spine. Somehow, he’d managed to claw his way back from death.
The Devil isn’t ready for you in hell yet, Jack Claiborne had told him.
For once, the old man was right.
So Colton had continued to create a personal hell on earth. I’m my own devil.
“It’s my fault, Shel.” He tossed the bloodied gauze pad in the trash, accepted a second one from the nurse. His head wound was wrapped because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Stupid cut over his brow wouldn’t either, but it wasn’t as deep.
The metallic taste of blood on his tongue made him wish for a bottle of bourbon.
Local law enforcement had been over every inch of the driveway and side of the house in the past hour. Their conclusion? A car bomb.
He’d already figured that out.
“I saw those footprints outside. I checked every inch of my truck, the bushes, everything. I don’t know how I missed the explosives, but I did.”
Now Sabrina was going to die and Connor would follow suit, at least emotionally, and didn’t that suck the big one since Connor had just come out of his PTSD shell.
All because Colton had missed a fucking brick of C4.
Although the ten million pieces his truck was in and the hole in the side of the house suggested it was more than one.
“We’re done here, Ms. Claiborne,” the doctor said. “You shouldn’t have much of a scar—I’m known around here for small stitches.” He gave an egotistical smile as he patted Shelby on the shoulder. “We’ll call in a prescription for you, and you should follow up with your family physician in the next day or so.”
Shelby gave her Miss Oklahoma all-teeth-and-sweetness smile that had won her more than a few points with judges through the years. “Thank you so much, Dr. Allen. A girl never likes to have a scar. I’ll tell Daddy what a sweetheart you were about all of this. He’ll be thrilled to hear your folks are fans of his show.” She touched his arm. “Would you be a doll and look at my husband for me while you’re here? Please?”
She batted her eyes and Colton rolled his. He’d already refused treatment at least three times. “I’m fine, Shelby.”
“Sugarbeet,” the nurse said, handing him yet another gauze pad. “You need stitches in your head as well as that eyebrow. Get your butt on the exam table and let the doctor do his thing.”
The blast had thrown Colton backward into the kitchen against the cabinets. He didn’t know how, but he’d gotten several deep gashes, probably from flying debris. The cut on his lip stung but was the least of his injuries.
Being slammed into the cabinets had bruised up his back. It had been awhile since he’d been in this much pain.
“Come on, Colton.” Shelby allowed the doctor to help her off the gurney. The nurse held the wheelchair for her and she sank into it. “You’re no help to any of us if you’re bleeding on everything.”
“Listen to your wife,” the nurse chimed in, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the chair.
Did he have a choice?
Grumbling under his breath, he climbed up onto the gurney, wincing at the pain in his back. He needed to get to the house to hunt for clues. He needed to get Shelby to a safe house. He needed to be upstairs outside the OR with his friend.
How could one man be in three places at once?
Colton needed one of Beatrice’s miracles.
The doctor started to give him an injection of lidocaine to numb the skin around his eyebrow. Colton twisted away. “No meds. Just sew it up.”
Dr. Allen, young and full of himself, chuckled. “Tough guy. Gotta be in front of your wife here, huh? I get it. I’d be the same way.”
He winked at Shelby and it was all Colton could do not to strangle the man.
“My husband was a Navy SEAL,” Shelby volunteered, her clear gaze full of adoration as she nailed Colton with her sugary sweet smile. “Believe me, tough doesn’t begin to describe him.”
Shelby had made sure to tell everyone he was her husband, not her ex. And although he never mentioned his military service to the general population, she was more than happy to in this situation.
Bonus points. That’s what she was doing—earning them by flirting with the doctor and trying to make Colton more likable since his surly attitude could alienate more allies than the current president.
He started to reprimand her, but couldn’t. When she looked at him like that, his anger and irritation evaporated.
Pride. That’s what he saw in her eyes. She was proud of him.
He didn’t deserve it.
“Oh, my baby!” Martha came flying into the room, Reverend Jack on her heels.
Martha swept Shelby into a hug, saying all the things that mothers did to their kids after an accident, even when they’re grown adults. Jack dropped a kiss on the top of Shelby’s head before he came at Colton, finger pointed.
“You”—his finger jabbed at Colton’s face—“better have one damn good explanation for this, boy.”
Dr. Allen had just started sewing. He stopped with the needle in Colton’s brow and looked star struck. “Reverend Claiborne?” A geeky smile lit the guy’s face. He motioned for the nurse to hold the needle, took off his glove and held out a hand. “God bless you, sir. I’m a huge fan.”
Jesus H. Christ. Colton almost jerked the needle out and jumped off the table.
Jack, ever the showman, lowered his finger and shifted seamlessly into his pastor role, shaking the man’s hand. “Of course, of course. Thank you, doctor, for taking care of my little girl!”
“It was a pleasure,” Allen replied. “She’s going to be fine. Out of all of them, she had the least severe injuries.”
Jack turned the stink-eye on Colton and growled, “Lucky for you.”
The doctor pulled his glove back on and resumed stitching. “I’ll have Mr. Bells cleaned up here in a minute. He could use some x-rays, though.”
“Can you keep him overnight?” Jack asked, hope clearly evident in his voice.
“I’m not staying.” Colton glanced over to see Shelby staring at him while her mother hovered around her. “I need to get Shelby somewhere safe.”
Jack planted his feet and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “We’re taking her home.”
The needle smarted as it bit into his skin. He took his gaze off Shelby to look her father in the eye. “Your home isn’t safe.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
The nurse, unwrapping the gauze from Colton’s head while the doctor sewed on his eyebrow, frowned at Jack.
The man was no stranger to cussing. Claimed it was his one and only vice.
Colton was pretty sure ol’ Jack had more than one.
But he did love his daughter.
Colton loved her too.
He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. If he left her, she’d be easy pickins for the killer. On the other hand, it was probably Colton’s presence that had drawn the killer to her in the first place.
Nobody messes with my family.
Shelby might be his ex, but she was still the only family he had. Her, Connor, and the other SFI team members. He owed them all.
“She needs 24/7 security, Jack. You can’t provide that. I was wrong to let her go home, that’s on me. But now,”—he shook his head and Dr. Allen balked—“I’m taking her to a safe house and assigning a security detail.”
Of course, exactly who was going to be on the detail was a mystery. Connor needed to stay with Sabrina. There was no one else Colton trusted within spitting distance. His phone had been buzzing with calls and texts from Beatrice since he’d arrived at the hospital, but he had yet to answer them.
He’d already asked for a team of five of her best to fly to Oklahoma and do what he hadn’t been able to—protect Shelby.
“Security detail?” Jack scoffed. “Do you know how many parishioners I have in Good Hope? Pert near the whole damn town. All I have to do is say the word and I’ll have dozens of people watching after her, right along with her mother and I. We don’t need your security detail. We have God.”
Colton started to jump off the gurney but the nurse grabbed his arm. “You stay right where you are, sugarbeet,” she said low near his ear, “or you’ll have more to worry about than this cut in your skull.”
“Daddy,” Shelby said, wheeling herself toward the door. “Why don’t we discuss this outside while the doctor finishes sewing up Colton?”
“No,” Colton growled. “You’re not leaving my sight.”
“There are two detectives outside, waiting to talk to me.” She patted his leg before rolling on by. “Theo and a couple others from my office are here too. I’ll be fine. Especially once I get out of this damn wheelchair. I need a walker, Momma.”
Martha said she’d find one as she held the door for Shelby.
Colton didn’t care if the entire Okie National Guard was out there. “Shelby…”
Shelby wheeled herself out. Through the open door, Colton saw Daniel standing by, Bible in hand. His face lit up when he saw Shelby.
Jack leaned forward to get in Colton’s face. “You stay away from my daughter, now, y’hear?”
Colton felt the nurse press her fingers into his sore back, a quiet but effective rebuke not to attack the minister or say anything he was going to regret.
Too late. “Shelby knows the killer, Jack. I’m sure of it. Did you ever stop to think it might be one of your parishioners?”
The thought actually struck home and genuine surprise showed on the man’s face. “How dare you.”
Oh, he dared all right. As Jack spun on his heel to leave, Colton grabbed his arm and stopped him. “You take her to the parish and anything happens to her, I’ll be coming for your ass, Reverend. Y’hear?”
Jack shook off his hand and left without another word.
AN HOUR LATER, Shelby was so dog-tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Her dad had commandeered a conference room at the hospital and dozens of folks from his parish filed around.
Jaya, Salisbury in her lap, sat across from Shelby with an organic drink of some flavor while Jack and Martha greeted another family coming through the door to check on Shelby.
“Oh good,” Jaya said. “Betty Ralston brought a pot of her chili. Maybe that will wake me up. That stuff could grow hair on Ziggy Newman’s bald head.”
It wasn’t even eight yet. Chili for breakfast. Yum. “You should go home,” Shelby said. “Get some rest. I’m fine. Really.”
Jaya had brought Shelby clean clothes—which consisted of loud, patterned leggings and a fuchsia pink shirt—and then she’d combed out and re-braided Shelby’s hair. “Go home? No way, little Miss Troublemaker. Tara’s handling my stuff at the spa, and I’m sticking to you like glue.”
Jaya wasn’t the only one. Colton eyed Shelby from across the room where he’d been forced to keep his distance by her dad. He’d gotten stitched up, but the cuts and bruises on his face did nothing to hide the gray pallor of his skin or the dark circles under his eyes. He kept favoring his right side, rubbing his lower back every once in a while.
An older man with cropped gray hair and a stealthy, cloak-and-dagger air to him had arrived several minutes ago, drawing Colton aside. The man wore casual pants and a white shirt, sans tie, with a biker jacket over it. He kept sending surreptitious glances her way.
There’d been no word on Sabrina yet. Shelby felt sick to her stomach every time she thought of the poor woman. Connor too. He’d been a mess after 12 September. If it hadn’t been for Colton talking him off the ledge more times than Shelby could count, Connor probably wouldn’t still be around.
“You want some chili?” Jaya asked, shooting to her feet and plopping Salisbury in Shelby’s lap. “Something to drink?”
Her stomach was empty but the thought of spicy food at this time of the morning made her guts twist. “No thanks. I’m good.”
Jaya leaned over and ruffled Salisbury’s ears. “How about you, rag-a-muffin?”
The dog wagged his tail and licked her face, making Jaya laugh. From Shelby’s peripheral vision, she saw Colton roll his eyes.
As Jaya melted into the crowd, Theo appeared with Jocelyn and Denbe on his heels. He’d been present when Shelby had given her statement to the detectives, taking notes and supplementing the questions with his own. Since then, he’d been making phone calls and plying her with more questions.
“You look exhausted,” Theo said. “You should get some rest.”
Jocelyn, hands on hips, nodded. “I second that. What’s everyone doing here, anyway? Are all these people your friends?”
As if Shelby having friends was slightly surprising. She petted Salisbury, now on alert and staring at Theo. “I didn’t want to leave until I found out whether Sabrina’s going to make it. Most of these folks are friends of my mom and dad.”
“Where are you going to stay now?” Denbe asked. He was covertly eyeing Jaya through the crowd.
Hmm. Denbe was not at all Jaya’s type, but Shelby never stopped trying to fix her friend up with someone. Jaya was a spitfire, but Denbe was no slouch in the humor and snappy comebacks department. If he stayed on his toes, Jaya might not eat him alive.
“Daddy wants to take me home to the parish.” Shelby lifted Salisbury and pushed herself to her feet. Her leg wobbled, but she needed to stretch. Every muscle in her body was tight and achy from being thrown several feet in the air and having half a dining room table land on her. “Colton wants to take me to a safe house. I’m not sure where I’m going yet.”
Even though she couldn’t walk normally, at least her eyesight was back. She’d take every miracle she could get.
“I can get you in any one of a dozen safe houses in the area.” Theo had his phone out and began punching numbers. “Let me see what I can do.”
“That’s really not…” But he was already walking away, speaking to someone on the phone.
He blamed himself; she could see it on his face. They all did. Theo would barely look at her, and had told the detectives he should have had FBI protection on her.
Just what she needed—another person who felt guilty about her getting hurt.
“Any leads?” Shelby asked her counterparts. She’d seen photos on Jaya’s phone of the house and even though she’d lived through the bombing, it still shook her to the core to see the destruction.
Jocelyn and Denbe shook their heads. “Forensics is gathering evidence,” Denbe said. “Could be days or weeks before they can process it all.”
She didn’t have weeks. Neither did Colton.
Regardless of what he said, he was on a deadline and now their little mission had endangered two of his coworkers. His boss had to be livid. If Shelby knew him, all that talk with the fellow in the corner involved a plan of some kind.
She wanted in on that.
Jocelyn sucked down some coffee. “I know you told the detectives you had no idea who did it because you’re keeping a hat on things involving that case you were investigating, but it’s related to your shooting, isn’t it?”
Absolutely. “Seems like the most likely scenario.”
“A serial killer who switches from sniper rifle to car bomb?” Denbe smiled as Jaya made her way back to them. “Doesn’t fit the profile.”
Shelby took the moment to introduce her best friend to her fellow agents. Denbe poured on the charm; Jaya smiled politely, but didn’t so much as blink.
Another one bites the dust.
“The boss has everyone working on this, pulling suspect files,” Jocelyn said as Denbe moved Jaya aside to ask about the chili. Shelby heard them arguing whether chili was a soup or not. “We’ll cross reference those with snipers and military suspects. Something’s got to give on this case sooner or later. The guy will make a mistake.”
Shelby kept seeing the man’s eyes through the ski mask. Her brain tried to fill out the rest of his face. Who was he? Definitely someone she’d met before.
Or was he? Maybe she just wanted it so bad, she was imagining things. Her brain was such a mess right now, she had a hard time trusting it.
She scanned the people in the room. She’d heard what Colton had said to her dad through the hospital room door. Could the killer be here, pretending to be a fan of her father’s? A friend of her family?
A shiver went down her spine.
“Shelby?” Daniel stepped out of the crowd and smiled down at her. “I’m sure you’re tired of this question, but how are you?”
“Daniel. Hi.” He was the last person she wanted to talk to. She needed to focus. Who in this crowd knew anything about Connor’s rescue mission or could link the three dead vets to Colton? “I’m doing okay, just a little shook up.”
Her eyes sought out Colton. Another man entered the room, glanced around, and Colton hailed him. They exchanged handshakes and the older, gray-headed man with Colton said something to the new guy that made him grin good-naturedly. At least the twitch of his lips seemed like a smile. This guy was tall and lean with long, dark hair and eyes that looked nearly black when his gaze followed Colton’s to land on her.
Yep, they were definitely making a plan.
As if Jaya felt the new guy’s intense stare too, she craned her neck to look around Denbe. One brow went up and she glanced at Shelby, the question in her eyes clear as day.
Who is that?
Daniel said something, pulling Shelby’s attention away from Colton and his posse. “I’m sorry, what?”
Daniel put his hand over hers on the armrest. Salisbury growled.
He swiftly drew back and Shelby grabbed the dog.
“Sorry. He’s very protective.” Just like his temporary owner.
Who was currently narrowing his eyes at the intern pastor.
“Yes, well,” Daniel stared at Salisbury, brows drawn. “I have to get back to the church. Elton Walker passed away yesterday and I’m helping his widow make the necessary arrangements for the funeral. You’ll let me know if you need anything?”
“Of course.” Shelby gave him a smile. “Thank you, pastor.”
Daniel looked like he wanted to pat her shoulder, but opted to avoid Salisbury and simply nodded at her before walking away.
Colton and the other two men went back to their huddle. She wanted to walk over to them and demand to know what they were up to. Her mom had located a walker with a pouch hanging on the front for a patient’s water, cell phone, etc. Shelby deposited Salisbury in it and started making her way through the crowd.
“Where are you going?” Jaya called behind her.
“I need to walk around.”
It was slow going. Everyone wanted to chat with her, hug her, ask about her leg.
By the time she got close to Colton, she was trembling from the exertion. He came toward her to help, but her father appeared at her elbow.
“I told you to stay away from her.” Her dad put a hand on her walker, stopping her progress. “You’re lucky I’m even allowing you in this room.”
The noise of conversation dropped a notch. “Daddy, don’t make a scene. I need a break and Colton is going to take me to check on Connor and Sabrina. We’ll be back shortly.”
His hand didn’t release. “Over my dead body.”
Shelby flinched. She’d been close to death a couple times now. The saying grated on her nerves. “I hope that doesn’t happen any time soon.” She lowered her voice and laid her hand over his. “But outside of you and Mom, there is no one in this world I trust more than Colton. I’m a grown woman, and while I love you with all of my heart, if you don’t take your hand off my walker, I will make a scene in front of your parishioners they won’t soon forget.”
She gave his hand a pinch for emphasis.
He must have seen the determination in her face. He released her walker, but he didn’t back off. “That man is the reason we’re in this situation.”
“We’re not in a situation. I am. And the only way I’m going to figure it out is if you let me do my job. That job involves Colton.”
The gray-haired man stepped forward, extending a hand to her father. “I’m Zeb and this is Nickelback. We’re from Rock Star Security. Colton’s asked us to help him keep an eye on your daughter here. I assure you, she’s in good hands.”
Her dad shook hands with him, but Shelby had the feeling it was because so many people were watching, not because he really wanted to. “Like I told Colton, we take care of our own. Shelby’s coming home with her mom and me.”
“Right now, I’m going to the OR waiting room to see Connor,” she said, starting for the door. “I want to see if there’s any news on Sabrina.”
Jaya stepped up and joined her, squaring off across from Jack. Denbe stood behind Jaya.
“Don’t worry, Pastor C,” Jaya said, her gaze straying for a moment to Nickelback, then back to Shelby’s dad. “I’ve got this. Shelby needs to stretch her legs and so do I. Denbe—Agent Feldon—will go with us. The bodyguards can tag along too. You stay here and take care of your flock. We’ve got Shelby.”
Her father’s gaze darted between Colton, Jaya, Denbe, and Shelby, then landed on Zeb and Nickleback. “Fifteen minutes. I want her back in fifteen minutes.”
Shelby saw Colton biting the inside of his cheek. Sweat dotted his forehead. Zeb nodded. “You got it, sir.”
Her new entourage in place, Shelby lifted her chin and started for the door.