“Joe?” I ran back to him and dropped to his side as he rolled onto his back, grimacing.
“Lay still,” I said, then searched his chest and abdomen, completely confused. “I don’t see any blood.”
“There damn well better not be,” he grunted. “I’m wearin’ a bulletproof vest.”
“What?”
“After all those visions of Malcolm shootin’ me in the chest, I’d be stupid not to wear one.”
I looked up at James.
“I could see he was wearin’ a vest under his shirt, so I was tryin’ to draw her fire from you, hopin’ Jed would take her out.” He shot an appreciative glance at my best friend. “Looks like Neely Kate had it covered instead.”
“How’d you know Jed was here?” Neely Kate asked.
“Please,” he grunted. “That man is tied to you like a ball and chain. There’s no way he’d let you come here on your own.” Before, James would have said it as though it was a life sentence. Now, there was a wistfulness in his voice.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and I knew I should apologize to James for accusing him of trying to kill Joe, but the truth was he’d taken a huge gamble with Joe’s life. I was furious with him, especially since he had no remorse whatsoever. But if I was being honest with myself, I was furious with him for everything he had done in the name of love. I’d expected him to treat me like a grown-ass woman, and in the end, he’d treated me like Joe had done in the beginning—like I was an inept child, incapable of making a rational decision. Maybe I would have stayed with him, or maybe I would have walked away, but now we’d never know.
Soon the building was swarming with sheriff deputies and EMTs. They arrested Carson and loaded up James and Joe onto stretchers, but Kate was declared dead on the scene. I could see that Neely Kate was upset by that, but I had a feeling it had as much to do with the fact she’d lost the sister who’d always wanted to please her as the fact that she’d been the one to kill her. I didn’t pretend to understand, but sometimes you loved who you loved, no matter how awful they might be.
Just as they were loading Joe into his ambulance, Neely Kate got a call that made her as white as a sheet. I was terrified something had happened to her granny, but then she turned and looked up at Jed. “Claire was just rushed to the hospital, hemorrhaging. They’re worried she’s losing the baby.”
She was still holding Hope, so I took my daughter and gave her a shove. “Go. We’ll meet you there.”
As she and Jed sprinted for his car, I prayed that Neely Kate wouldn’t lose anyone else tonight.
Chapter 37
Thankfully, Joe had thought to bring Hope’s car seat, so I was able to follow his ambulance directly to the hospital. I didn’t plan on letting my baby out of my sight for a very long time.
The EMTs had checked Hope over in the ambulance that came for Joe, and they’d declared her relatively physically unscathed other than a few welts on her right arm and leg. The EMT had suggested with no small amount of disgust that Kate had pinched her to make her cry.
Joe was admitted right away, and after a quick examination that revealed he had deep bruising and possible broken ribs, they whisked him away to x-ray. Carrying a sleeping Hope in the baby wrap I’d found in Joe’s car, I went off to look for Jed and Neely Kate and found them in the otherwise empty labor and delivery waiting room.
Neely Kate looked pale and scared, huddled in her chair. Jed sat next to her, his arm wrapped around her in consolation.
“Have you heard anything yet?” I asked as I approached.
Neely Kate shook her head. “No. They said she was hemorrhaging because her placenta tore. But we don’t know if she’s okay or if the baby…” Her voice trailed off and tears filled her eyes.
“We’re going to think positive, okay?” I said, in a cheery voice. She nodded, but I could tell she couldn’t quite let herself believe it yet. “Before we left for Carmichael’s, I had a vision of Hope. Several, actually. In one of them, Hope was sitting up and looking in a mirror. You were behind her, and you were holding a baby, Neely Kate. You were holding Daisy.”
Her eyes widened, filling with hope, but then they glazed over. She was protecting herself in case I was wrong.
I understood. I wished I could do more for her, but the only thing I knew to do was to sit beside her and hold her hand. She sent a long look to Hope, and tears started coursing down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry I let Bobby take Hope. The monitor lost its signal, and when I went up to check on her, she wasn’t there. So I screamed, and Witt came runnin’, and as soon as he came inside, she must have rushed to her car and took off. She didn’t even have Hope’s car seat! Witt tried to chase her down, but by the time he left the property, she was out of sight. He called Deputy Miller, and while we were waiting for him to arrive, Witt searched the house. He found a blanket and some food in the basement. She’d holed up down there. Waiting.”
I shuddered at the thought. Had she been down there before to scout the area? I’d noticed some moved boxes the other day, but I’d written it off. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kate had. “You have nothing to apologize for. It’s not your fault. It very well could have happened to me. What I don’t understand is why Muffy didn’t alert you. That dog is beyond devoted to Hope.”
“We think she was drugged,” Neely Kate said, wiping her face. “In any case, Randy showed up right after Carmichael’s men, and he arrested them for attempted kidnapping since that’s why they were there.”
“They found Bobby dead in her car a few miles from your house,” Jed added. “Looks like Kate convinced her to bring her Hope, probably for some sort of compensation, but then Kate killed her. Or at least that’s our guess since both women are dead.”
Neely Kate blinked hard and shivered. Jed tightened his grip on her.
“Sounds like Kate,” I muttered, still horrified that that woman had touched my child. That she’d pinched her hard enough to leave marks. I turned a worried gaze to my best friend. “How are you doin’?”
“I don’t deserve this baby,” she said with fresh tears. “Maybe this is God’s punishment for my past and for failin’ Hope.”
“You did not fail Hope,” I said in a stern voice. “You saved her. No, you saved all three of us. I can never repay you, Neely Kate, but I’ll spend the rest of my life tryin’. So no more guilt. It’s time to focus on your baby now.”
“I can’t lose this baby too, Rose,” Neely Kate said, her voice breaking. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she…”
“It’s a good thing you don’t have to consider it,” I said in a stern voice. “She’s going to be just fine. Let’s trust my vision.”
My eyes locked with Jed’s, and for a man who so rarely advertised his emotions, he wasn’t doing much to hide them now. They were full of naked fear.
“How’s Joe?” Neely Kate asked. “Is he okay?”
“They think he has a few broken ribs and a lot of bruising, but he’s going to be okay,” I said reassuringly. “He’s in x-ray now.”
“And Kate?” she asked.
She already knew Kate was dead, but there were still plenty of unknowns. Like what would be done with the body. Like what, if anything, would happen to Neely Kate.
“The sheriff knows that you shot her in self-defense,” I said. “Joe assured me that they’re not going to press charges, if that’s what you’re worried about. He said they’d question you later.”
They’d agreed to put it off as a courtesy due to the sensitive nature of the situation. Joe might not work for the department anymore, but there were plenty of people there who still accepted him as one of them.
“No,” she said, sounding like she was lost. “That’s not why I’m upset.”
She’d killed someone, and there was nothing I could say or do that would make her feel better. I knew she’d killed a man before, but this was her sister. Kate had been a dangerous woman, and I had little doubt that she would have found a way to kill me if she’d survived, but I still felt the
weight of what Neely Kate had done to protect me. Would she hate me for it later?
“How’s Skeeter?” she asked, looking like she wasn’t sure if she should broach the subject.
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “I haven’t asked.”
Jed’s gaze lifted to mine again, and I could see his guilt. Did he feel guilty for not checking on James himself?
I cleared my throat. “I think he’s goin’ to jail for a long time, Jed. He made a deal with the ATF and the DEA a long time ago, but he was supposed to get Carson Roberts to that meetin’ tonight to fulfill his end of the bargain. Instead, he ditched it. They got Roberts anyway, in the end, but he didn’t do his part.” Then I added, “Because of me.”
Jed hung his head. “Shit…”
“Kate sent him a text that said she had Hope. He left to come save her…and me.”
“He still loves you,” Neely Kate said softly. My face flushed, and she added, “I’m not asking if you love him too. I’m just pointing out a fact.”
“He may love me,” I said, “but he doesn’t want me. He told me so.”
“If he’s goin’ away, he’s tryin’ to protect you,” Jed said in a gruff tone.
I turned to him in surprise.
“We’ve known men who’ve been in prison for years. Their family comes to see them in that dark, grimy visitation room, but they can’t touch each other. Can’t really be a part of each other’s lives. He doesn’t want to trap you in a pointless relationship, and he doesn’t want his daughter seein’ him behind bars. He’d rather let Joe raise his child than for her to bear the pain of having a father in prison.”
My throat was thick with emotion, but I managed a nod. I couldn’t imagine trying to maintain a relationship under those conditions, and selfishly, I didn’t want Hope to endure it either. She was so young, so innocent.
We stewed in silence for a few moments, and then a man walked out of a set of swinging double doors. He was wearing jeans and T-shirt, so it was obvious he wasn’t hospital staff.
Jed jumped to his feet, and Neely Kate scrambled up after him while I anxiously watched.
“Brian,” Jed said, his voice deep with emotion. “How’s your sister?”
Brian scrubbed his hand over his head, looking like he was close to tears. “She’s going to be okay. They saved her.” He paused to gather himself, all of us hanging on his words, and then added, “And they saved the baby too.”
Neely Kate burst into tears, then turned to me and threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me and Hope tight. I squeezed her right back.
Jed reached out and pumped Brian’s hand. “That’s great news.”
“For all of us,” Brian said. “Do you want to see the baby in the nursery?”
Neely Kate spun around to face him. “Yes. Please.” She gave me a questioning look.
“Go!” I said, giving her a little push. “Go meet your baby. Take lots of pictures.”
Brian led them through the double doors, and I took Hope back to the ER.
Joe was back in his room, lying down on his propped-up bed, his eyes closed. I tried to be quiet as I slowly closed the door behind us, but his eyes opened, and he gave me a relieved smile. “I know this is irrational,” he said with a grimace, “but I’m terrified every time either one of you leaves my sight. Scared I’ll never see you again.”
“I know the feeling.” I held our sleeping daughter tighter.
It filled me with raw panic to think of what I’d seen earlier—my vision coming true. Watching Joe get shot in front of me…the memory filled me with panic, even knowing what I did. I couldn’t imagine my life without Joe. I couldn’t imagine Hope not having him for a father. My mind strayed to the visions I’d had of Hope. All those happy future memories. I still wanted them to come true, and Joe was very much a part of that.
I had no idea why I hadn’t seen myself in those visions. Maybe I’d been thinking about Hope’s relationships with other people, not just me, and so that’s what I’d seen. Or maybe something would happen to me next week, and she’d still have to grow up without me. For now, I was ready to let the future unfold as a mystery.
“They said I have three broken ribs,” Joe said with a grimace. “I’m not supposed to pick up Hope for several weeks.” I knew that part was already killing him.
“We can prop her up on pillows,” I said. “And you can hold her hand. She’ll love that. She just wants to know you’re there. She just wants to feel you there.”
“I almost lost you tonight,” he said, his voice tight. “I almost lost you several times. Why didn’t you tell me about Kate?”
I let out a sigh as I lowered into the chair next to his bed. “She said that she would kill Hope. What else was I supposed to do?” I expected him to argue and tell me that I should’ve called him anyway, but he simply nodded. We both knew if the roles had been reversed, he would’ve done the same thing.
“How did Skeeter Malcolm get there?” he asked. The distant look in his eyes told me he was scared of the answer.
“Kate called him,” I said. “She told him that she’d kidnapped Hope, and he came to save her.”
He nodded again and then asked, “He said exactly what you saw in your vision. Has he decided to lay claim to her?”
I shook my head. “No. He thinks you’re the better father, and he expects he’s going to prison for a long time. He doesn’t want her to know he exists.”
Surprise filled his eyes, and he nodded, looking grateful. “How do you feel about all this?” He looked uncertain. And scared.
“I’m tired,” I said with a sad smile. I knew it wasn’t necessarily the answer he was looking for, but it was the best description I had. “And I just want to go home with you and Hope and Muffy, so we can all love on each other for the rest of our lives.”
He smiled softly. “I want that too.”
I gasped, feeling like a bad dog mother. “Where’s Muffy? Neely Kate told me she was drugged.”
“She’s at home,” he said, “and not at all happy about it. She was pretty groggy when I got there.”
“Neely Kate and Jed told me what happened.”
His eyes hardened. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to look for Bobby down there.”
“Why would you?” I asked. “She left the back door open. We all thought she ran away.”
“That’s exactly what she wanted us to think,” he said, “and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.”
“It’s okay,” I said reassuringly, but he shook his head.
“No, it’s not. But I promise you never to make that mistake again.”
“I know,” I said. He would probably beat himself up over that for a long time to come. “Will they let you come home tonight?”
He laughed. “Let them try to stop me.”
“Neely Kate’s baby is okay,” I said, “and the mother is too. Jed and Neely Kate went to see her right before I came back to your room.”
He looked relieved. “I don’t think Neely Kate could have handled losing another baby.”
“I know,” I said.
Something shifted in his gaze, and he reached for me, flinching at the pain in his ribs. “I can’t believe Kate thought that she could just kill you and hand our baby over to our sister,” he said, his voice breaking.
“I can,” I said, kissing his hand, then pressing it to my cheek. “She was insane.”
“Still…” He pushed out a heavy sigh.
The door opened, and I turned, expecting a nurse or doctor to give us a report, but instead, it was Dermot wearing a sheepish look.
“I hope I’m not intrudin’.”
The ER had strict visiting rules. It was surprising they’d let me bring Hope in, let alone allowed a visit from Dermot. But I had a feeling he hadn’t asked. Or that he had some connection who’d allowed it.
“No,” Joe said as he waved his hand, giving another pained grimace… “Come in.”
“I thought you both might like an update.”
“We found Levi.”
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’s fine. Tired, hungry, and a bit dehydrated. We gave him some food and water. He ran when he saw my car this afternoon, but we decided to go back later, especially after I heard about Hope’s abduction. We thought Hardshaw might be responsible, and if so, Romano might have some information, so we went back to the barn and snuck up on him. It didn’t take long to realize he didn’t know anything about anything. He was running scared because he knew Margi had been murdered. He figured Hardshaw had done it and worried they would come for him next because she’d been posing as his sister. Turns out Margi was involved with Hardshaw, but she was desperate to get out. She told Levi she had something of theirs, something she’d hidden and never intended to give it back. Seems like a fit for the guns. Apparently, she hated Hardshaw bein’ here too.”
“She should have come to one of us,” I said, shaking my head. “We could have helped her. Randy would have helped her.”
“The representatives from Hardshaw were arrested in the raid at the church tonight. Skeeter and Carson Roberts might not have been there, but they were caught on camera workin’ out the details of future shipments and payments.” Then he winked at me. “Or so I hear from the rumor mill.”
He wasn’t fooling me. He had sources.
“But,” he continued as a weary smile spread across his face. “Hardshaw is pretty much destroyed, and they’ll never bother us again. Denny Carmichael and his men were caught up in the big sting, thanks to you, and they’re currently in jail. Rumor has it a judge is issuing a search warrant to search his property even as we speak.”
I sucked in a breath. “They’ll find his meth lab.”
“One can only hope,” Dermot grunted. “And you and I both know he’s killed plenty of people there, or had them killed. One more thing, the Collards were at the church, practically arm in arm with Hardshaw. Guess kidnapping your niece and nephew wasn’t the only piece of business they did with them. Now they’re behind bars too.”
It All Falls Down: Rose Gardner Investigations #7 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 33