by Regan Black
He’d worked through all of this, learned to reframe and appreciate the good, normal life he’d started out with. Yes, the accident had changed everything, especially his mother and the family dynamics. He’d sorted out those twisty layers with a counselor during his college years.
Grief changed people and some people, like his mom, broke under that pressure. He drifted, lost and lonely, using Lara as a touchstone. Lara had simply adapted, growing from a happy baby to a happy toddler to a happy kid who had no illusions about her mother’s weaknesses. Still, she’d become a fairly well-adjusted adult, even if she had taken an unorthodox approach to uncovering the plight of inner-city homelessness.
His sister had always had a big heart and now it was his job to get her, and her heart, home in one piece. Parking the delivery van in the designated loading zone behind the soup kitchen, he cut the engine. Rosie had arranged for them to make the delivery today.
He should say something. Maybe she would. The silence stretched between them. He was sure she could hear his pounding heart. “Thank you.” He gave her hand another squeeze.
She raised their joined hands and pressed her lips to his knuckles. “You’ll have her back soon.”
With a determined nod, they climbed out of the cab and went around to the back of the truck. After unloading crates of produce, they walked into the soup kitchen. They were a few minutes early and he hoped Lara was already here.
“You holding up?” Aubrey asked when they went back out for the next load.
“I didn’t see her.”
“We will.” Her smile eased the worst of the doubts.
Leo slid a crate of onions onto the steel worktable in the kitchen. Aubrey would probably be shocked if she knew how his attention was split. Yes, he wanted his sister back, but he was equally concerned about Aubrey’s feelings for him, beyond the undeniable sexual chemistry.
“If she runs again...” He couldn’t finish the thought.
“She ran out of that park because she had to,” Aubrey reminded him. “Meeting here was her idea.” She patted his arm. “Take a breath.”
He obliged, then kissed her lightly on the lips. “Thank you for being here,” he said. “For helping a worry-crazed brother.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome. Let’s keep moving.”
That was advice he could get behind. He believed in Aubrey. She’d shocked him by so willingly involving Grant, but she didn’t show any regret over that choice.
“When we get her back, can I wring her professor’s neck?” he asked in a whisper on the way back to the truck.
“No,” she said, smothering a laugh. “Warranted or not, I’d still have to arrest you for assault. Besides, we don’t know the whole story.”
Leo knew Lara, and he was almost certain Whitten had manipulated her big heart for his own glory.
When the truck was unloaded, he and Aubrey stuck around to help Rosie and her team while they waited for Lara to show up. He lost count of how many people they served before Aubrey nudged him. “She’s here,” she whispered, carrying a refill of stew to the serving line.
It was all he could do not to bolt out of the kitchen to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.
Aubrey popped his ribs with her elbow. “Stick to the plan.”
He nodded and served stew to those in line for lunch. When Aubrey moved to the bathroom per the plan, Leo checked his watch. He’d wait five minutes and then move to the delivery van. Aubrey and Lara would meet him there and they would all drive away.
Simple and secure.
He couldn’t call it easy. Nothing would feel easy until all three of them were back in the hotel suite. Maybe not until they were back in Cincinnati. Of course, Aubrey wouldn’t join them there. But that was a problem to solve after Lara was out of danger.
He heard a crash in the dining room followed by raised voices. He exchanged a look with Rosie, but held his ground, speaking kindly to the bearded man in front of him. He would follow the plan. A woman’s shriek punctuated more shouting, and the original plan evaporated from Leo’s mind.
“Call the police,” he snapped, dashing out of the kitchen and scooting around and between people as quickly as possible. In the dining room a man in a long, battered trench coat was shouting at a group of women about the “new girl.” He hadn’t come through the food line. His dark hair was a mess and his beard scraggly, but Leo’s attention locked on to his shoes. The guy’s shoes were too nice. Cross-trainers, wet from the weather, but the uppers were mostly clean and the laces looked new.
“Hey!” Leo raised his voice just to get the other man’s attention. It took all his willpower not to search the room for his sister. She’d specified meeting in the bathroom, but what if this altercation changed her mind or scared her off? He held his palms out wide. “Can I help you with something?”
The bearded man’s eyes weren’t glassy from substance abuse or shadowed by hard circumstance. No, his gaze was too sharp and far too calculating for Leo’s comfort.
“Come on over and talk to me.” Leo waved him closer. “Let the ladies eat.”
“Ladies?” The other guy snorted.
“The next words out of your mouth will be respectful,” Leo warned.
“Or what?” The man shrugged off the worn coat and stood tall. The wild hair and beard were a ridiculous contrast with the clean sweater, jeans and shoes. He stalked toward Leo.
Leo shifted, drawing his attention away from the hallway where he hoped Lara and Aubrey were making their exit. Both he and Aubrey had keys to the truck, as a contingency.
The jerk charged at him. Bent at the waist, Leo angled his hip and threw his weight into the move. The man went up and over, landing on the floor with a splat.
Leo ran for the hallway just as Aubrey and Lara stepped out of the bathroom. Per the plan, Aubrey had given Lara a change of clothes and a Phillies ball cap. His sister looked almost like the college student he remembered. Almost. The sorrow in her eyes was new and hit him harder than the attacker in the dining room.
“Go, go!” He urged them out the back door.
He fished the van key out of his pocket as Aubrey threw open the back door. They only had a few yards to cross from the building to the van. The plan was to be cool, walk out, get in and drive away.
The shouts following him convinced Leo the plan was blown. He gave Aubrey a look and she nodded once. Stepping outside, she rushed forward, Lara on her heels and Leo bringing up the rear. They hadn’t taken more than two steps when the sharp report of a gunshot confirmed Leo’s worst fears.
His first instinct was to drag Lara and Aubrey back into the building, but that gave the man behind him too many options, including potential hostages. He pressed closer to Lara, protecting her with his body, and shoved both women ahead of him. “Go!”
Lara cried out and stumbled to her knees. Leo swore, apologizing as he tried to help her up.
A pop and hiss had him turning toward the street. Smoke was filling the delivery lane, blocking them from the shooter’s view.
Aubrey had the side door open and turned to help Lara into the shelter of the vehicle. He assisted Lara from his side, his hand coming back red. He couldn’t process what he saw. Wiping the sticky blood on his jeans, he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
The rear and side mirrors showed a bank of thick fog, so Leo drove straight ahead and away from the chaos. At the side street, he turned away from the flashing lights of the PPD, who’d responded to Rosie’s emergency call.
He caught Aubrey’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “How bad is it?”
She winced, her mouth pulled to the side. “Take us straight to the ER,” she said. “Lara’s hit.”
Leo glanced at the dried streaks on his palm. “How bad?”
“Not so bad,” Lara said, her voice tight with pain. “Aubrey’s hit, too.”
“What?�
� He’d thought things couldn’t get worse. For a moment the past and present merged. He wasn’t a safe bet. Couldn’t do a damn thing right to keep the people he loved safe.
“Leo,” Aubrey snapped. “It’s not serious.” She met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “But hurry.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice.
* * *
Aubrey ignored the sting in her side. “I’ll tell Grant to meet us at the ER.” It took her two tries to get the text message sent. She’d been grazed by a bullet meant for the woman sitting beside her. “You must have stirred up some hornet’s nest.”
“Apparently so,” Lara said through clenched teeth. “When the professor missed our last scheduled meeting, I found another way to upload the information I’ve been gathering.”
Aubrey smoothed her hand over Lara’s face. According to Grant, the professor claimed Lara was the one who’d gone AWOL. She stared into the girl’s eyes, which were the same color as her brother’s. “We’ll get it all figured out.”
“Thanks, Officer Aubrey.” Lara’s eyelids fluttered. “That’s what Mary-Tea calls you.”
“How bad is it?” Leo called back over his shoulder.
“I’m fine,” Lara answered. “It’s a flesh wound.” Her voice was steady, but pain was etched around her mouth and eyes.
Aubrey gave a start when Leo laughed. “If this has been a theatrical farce from the beginning, I’ll kill you, sis.”
Aubrey’s cell phone rang and seeing Grant’s number on the display, she answered. “Lara’s been shot.”
“We saw it,” Grant said. “We’re holding the shooter and I expect him to cooperate.”
“Good news,” Aubrey allowed. “We’re on our way to the ER. Lara needs a hospital more than a conference in the back room of your club.”
Grant snorted. “You make it sound so unethical, Aubrey. I’m on your side. Put me on speaker?”
“Sure.” She shifted closer to the cab so all three of them could hear. “Go.”
“Leo?” Grant’s voice filled the vehicle.
“Present.”
“We can debrief at the hospital unless they release Lara right away.”
Aubrey didn’t expect it to go that way. Lara was bleeding pretty heavily and she didn’t see an exit wound.
“No one is following you,” Grant continued. “Whoever hired the shooter won’t make another move right away.”
“You sound confident,” Aubrey said. How could he be so sure? She gasped, bracing too late as Leo turned for the hospital.
“I am. I’ll explain more in person,” Grant replied. “Are you okay?”
“We’re here,” Leo said, pulling to a stop in front of the emergency room doors.
Aubrey disconnected the call, sliding her phone into her pocket. Whatever Grant had uncovered would have to wait until they were done here. These days there was no way to keep any gunfire out of the news or the police blotter. The red tape of bullet wounds and reports would be plentiful as soon as they walked inside.
She’d stick with the facts. It was the only way she knew. Though she hadn’t wanted Grant involved, she was grateful for the backup. She’d never expected anyone to try and kill Lara.
Unanswered questions plagued her as she and Leo waited for Lara to be treated. Aubrey’s effort to preempt what might be a career ending incident involved calling Hulbert and giving him a brief report. Then it was a matter of waiting for the officers who’d caught the case to find them at the hospital.
Officers Small and Woodson had spoken with Leo and Lara first, catching up with her while a nurse treated the wound from the bullet’s track across her ribs. Woodson took notes as she explained she’d been volunteering at the soup kitchen with Leo when the shooting started.
“Butler. He’s been a pain in the ass around here, searching for his sister.” Small said.
“He’s also the man who helped customers exit a store during a robbery last week,” she replied, inexplicably annoyed with her fellow officers.
Woodson frowned. “He said he found his sister by volunteering at soup kitchens around town.”
“More effective than posting flyers,” she said with all the sarcasm she could muster.
“And you were there volunteering, too,” Small stated.
“Yes.” Her jaw clenched hard enough to make her teeth ache. “Helping Rosie while I’m suspended beats twiddling my thumbs at home.”
“Aubrey.” Small patted her shoulder. “We’re on your side.”
Once the nurse finished and gave her discharge instructions, Aubrey hopped off the gurney. She wanted to walk out of here and just go home. If she did, she wouldn’t know what Lara had found out, or what Grant planned to do about it. This was her city after all, the place she called home and where she intended to stay.
“Thanks,” she said. “I don’t mean to be defensive. Never thought I’d have to cope with gunfire without my service weapon.”
Her fellow officers murmured sympathetic responses. The emotional layers were hers and had no bearing on the report they filed. So she kept her feelings locked down. From this point forward, whatever Lara had to say was probably best handled by Grant and his PPD connections.
Leo and Lara would go home, she would return to duty when her suspension expired and the world would keep on turning. The happy glow in that picture of her future had dimmed considerably in recent days because of Leo. She wanted a life and love and a partnership beyond her career.
Spotting Leo down the hall, she looked away, listening to Small. “The shooter was delivered to the precinct,” he was saying. “Rice is taking his confession. The guy is in the mood to talk.”
“Good.” That would make all of this easier for the Butlers and for her.
“Any chance you could make an ID?” Woodson queried.
She shook her head. “My attention was on Lara. When the gunshots started, I was focused on getting her out of harm’s way.”
Woodson patted her shoulder. “Let us know if you think of anything else, all right?”
“I will.”
Small followed his partner to the exit.
“Are you all right?” Leo wrapped her in a gentle hug. “Did they grill you?”
The tenderness was temporary and that made it sting worse than the antiseptic solution the nurse had applied. “I’m fine.” Nothing inside Aubrey was any match for the warmth of his touch or the sincerity in his gaze.
Whatever came next, she couldn’t deny that what they’d shared was real. Her every instinct about Leo had been on target. Maybe her intuition wasn’t as far off-kilter as she’d thought. If only the revelation brought solely happiness, rather than trailing a shadow of impeding loneliness she knew would come when he was gone.
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “How’s Lara?”
“On the mend. The bullet wasn’t embedded too deep, so they took it out with a local anesthetic.”
“Wow. That’s wonderful news.” Leo looked different, more handsome than ever without the stress and worry lining his features. “Has she spoken to Grant?”
“Grant was hoping you’d join us for that.” Leo walked backward, tugging her along for a few paces. “They moved her upstairs already.”
“Good.” She let him keep hold of her hand all the way to Lara’s room, locking away the sensation for later. The gesture swelled in her heart, becoming bigger than it should be. When they reached the room, Lara was sitting up in bed and Grant was in the chair beside her. They were both smiling.
“Aubrey.” Lara extended her hand. “It’s nice to officially meet you.”
“You, too.” The girl’s grip was strong, steady. Aubrey had expected her to be out of it with painkillers. The younger woman had backbone in spades. “Leo’s told me so much about you.”
“He exaggerates.”
Aubrey didn’t think that was
an accurate assessment, but she let it slide. “How are you feeling?”
“Like an idiot that took a stroll through a shooting range.” Her gaze fell to her hands and she smoothed the wrinkles from the cotton blanket that covered her from the chest down. “I’m not just talking about today. The intention was to spend three months on the street and three months working on the paper afterward. I was going to get research credit.”
“We heard,” Leo muttered.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” she said, her eyes filled when she looked at Leo. “This wouldn’t have been your ideal plan for me, but I didn’t just dive in unprepared. It just turned out I wasn’t prepared enough.” She glanced at Aubrey. “You know how it is out there.”
“I have a better idea than most,” she said. “What you did took remarkable courage.”
“Not really. I had backup and a time limit.”
“Your professor is a jerk who used you,” Leo barked.
“Maybe.” She sat up straighter. “To make the most of it, I cut all ties and tried to blend in, but a few people recognized me from the start.”
“Why take such drastic measures to help?” Grant queried. “You were already volunteering with great organizations and on your way to graduating with honors on schedule.”
Lara turned to him and cocked an eyebrow in challenge. “You’re the last person I’d expect to ask me that.”
“My reputation precedes me?”
“Yes,” Aubrey and Lara replied in unison. Then they exchanged a smile.
“I don’t do much to help the homeless directly,” Grant said.
“You helped the guys I brought over,” Lara said. “It’s your reputation for employing people who give a damn that gets around.”
Grant arched his eyebrows, his fingertips tapping together.
“This is about you,” Leo said. “You didn’t do it for the research credit.”
Lara’s gaze met Aubrey’s. “Mary-Tea was the catalyst,” she admitted. “Not Whitten. She came into the soup kitchen with a black eye and she wouldn’t tell me how she got it.”
It wasn’t unusual for a victim to be vague on details. People were hurt or attacked and, much like Leo, weren’t convinced the police would budge enough to help. “I know where Mary-Tea spends most of her time,” Aubrey explained. “She’s well liked. Unless she’d been drawn away from her usual haunts, someone should have seen something.”