by Jaycee Clark
The kids looked undecided, but finally conceded.
He got them into the rental car he was using.
The boy was favoring his right arm. “Ryan?”
“Yes, sir?”
“You okay?” His eyes were round and bright, as were Tori’s. Shock more than likely.
“My shoulder hurts,” Ryan admitted.
Ian ran his hand over it. Dislocated, from what he could tell. There were scrapes along his forearm and hands.
“Just hang on. I’ll have you at the hospital in no time.”
Ian climbed behind the wheel.
“You helped us,” Tori said.
“Yes.” He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway.
“Why?” Ryan asked.
Because Kinncaids stick together. Ian shook his head; he couldn’t very well tell them that.
Cop cars pulled up to the hotel. Ian looked in the rearview mirror. Spotlights shone on the correct door.
Smart men.
“Who are you?” Tori asked.
“You both ready to see your dads?” he deflected the question.
“Yes,” they both answered.
“Good. They can’t wait to see you. They’re waiting for us at the hospital.” Or they should be by now.
“Thank you for helping us,” Ryan said. “What’s your name? We need to tell our parents your name.”
Ian laughed. “Rob Roy.”
“’Kay.” Ryan settled back into the seat.
Ian saw him reach over and take Tori’s hand.
Quickly, he maneuvered through the traffic to the hospital. When he pulled up at the ER, he saw all the media vans. Damn. He turned the car around and found a quiet side entrance. Scanning the area, he saw, amazingly, no reporters.
Ian put the car in park and withdrew his phone from his pocket. “Can you two get inside okay?” he asked them.
Ryan and Tori nodded.
Ian dialed Morris’s number. On the second ring it was answered.
“Lieutenant Morris. There are two kids on their way to the ER I think you’ll be interested in.” Ian flipped the phone back closed.
“Come on, you two.” He helped them out of the car. Yeah, definitely shock. Tori was shivering. Damn it, he wished he at least had a blanket.
“You two, take care,” he told them both, walking them across the street.
“Thanks,” they mumbled.
“Go on, I’ll watch you from here.”
Ryan stopped and looked back at him.
Ian met his gaze and said, “I promise you, you will never have to worry about that woman ever again.”
Ryan held his stare a moment longer, then he turned and took Tori’s arm. The two walked side by side along the sidewalk. Ryan was one great boy.
Ian wished he could walk them inside and make certain they were all right, but that was out of the question.
He watched until they disappeared into the side door, then he slid back into his car, started it and drove away.
The buttons were smooth on his phone as he dialed Aiden’s number.
• • •
Gavin, Brayden and Aiden were in the ICU waiting room again. And like before it was deserted.
“Does he ever tell you anything?” Bray asked. “The man never did speak much. What damn lead?”
Taylor was doing better, thank God. He and Bray had arrived half an hour ago. Gavin had been in Taylor’s room until the nurses came in to check vitals and change the bag of fluids hanging from the I.V. stand. He passed Morris in the hallway. The man followed them around like the plague.
When he arrived from Taylor’s room, Aiden was lounged in a chair, letting Bray spit and stew.
Gavin knew Aiden wasn’t nearly as blasé about the entire event as he played. One only had to look into those eyes to see the banked worry and fury.
“He said he’d call as soon as he found something.”
Bray continued to mumble and pace.
Aiden looked up at him. “How’s Taylor?” he asked.
Gavin nodded and took a deep breath. “It looks like she’s really going to make it, probably even a full recovery, all things considered.” He rubbed the back of his neck. He’d grilled her doctors and the nursing staff and felt a small weight finally lift from his chest. But even then the fury he’d reined in for the last two days only grew, and roared to life again. “We just need to get the kids, and I’ve never felt more helpless, more useless in my entire damned life.”
The chair he kicked went flying. Both his brothers looked at him, their expressions all too alike.
Aiden opened his mouth to say something but the ring of his mobile cut him off. All he said was hello and yes, then handed the phone to Bray.
Gavin stared as his twin blew out a breath he’d been holding. Smiling, Bray covered his eyes with his hand, and fell into the chair behind him. “Oh, thank God. Thank you, God.”
Bray nodded a couple of times, and choked out, “Thanks, bro.” He handed the phone to Gavin.
“Yeah?”
“The kids should be arriving in the ER there at Sibly now.” Ian’s voice slid a large part of the weight off his chest.
All Gavin could do was nod. “How are they? Are they okay? What of Nina?”
A sigh huffed through the phone. “The cops should be taking her into custody as we speak. She’s a little worse for wear. Tori had a few bruises, and she’ll probably be in shock. But she’s fine.” The pause stretched.
Gavin swallowed. “Ryan? Is he okay?”
The silence stretched.
“Answer me, damn it.”
“Ryan is pretty beat up. I’m sorry, Gav. I hurried, but I wasn’t in time to stop her from laying into him. He saved himself more or less. Dove out of the door like he was sliding into home. Banged his head and shoulder pretty bad.”
Gavin’s knees weakened. Walking to the nearest chair, he dropped into it.
“How bad is he?” Gavin closed his eyes, his breath stopping in his lungs.
“It could have been worse. Lots of bruising, and from his breathing, I would have to say he probably has a couple of bruised if not cracked ribs. I think he dislocated his shoulder and got a concussion when he dove through the door.”
Gavin looked up at the ceiling trying to catch his breath. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block the black images dancing viciously in his head.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t sooner, Gav. But he is fine. Will be better soon with you by his side.”
What had Jesslyn said? Bruises fade and love heals?
Forcing air into his lungs and past the lump in his throat, he managed to answer his brother. “Don’t apologize to me. If not for you, they might not even be coming here. I owe you. If you ever need anything. Anything . . .”
He heard the smile in his brother’s voice. “I’ll know where to find you. Now get downstairs. They should be there by now, if someone hasn’t waylaid them in the hallways.”
The line went dead in his ear.
Gavin tossed the phone back to Aiden just as the door burst open. Morris stood there and motioned them to follow.
“The kids might be downstairs. We got a call earlier saying they were here.” The man checked his watch. “We’ve also found Fisher and her accomplice.”
Gavin saw his brothers’ smiles and felt a small one turn up the corner of his mouth.
Chapter 21
Gavin and Bray rushed to the ER, along with several policeman, doctors and pediatric specialists. Everyone was notified and paged.
Where the hell were the kids? Gavin looked around.
An ambulance pulled up. Media vans still camped outside. The doors whooshed open.
“Daddy!” Tori yelled from behind them. Everyone turned to see Tori rush to get to her father. Bray caught her up and held her tight. Gavin heard her crying, saw his brother’s tears. Thank God.
He looked back down the hallway to see Ryan leaning against the wall, a nurse beside him. Chills raced through him as he looked at his son
.
Gavin shoved several people out of the way.
“Ryan?” He wanted to grab him up in a hug, but Gavin was afraid he’d hurt him. Damn Nina Fisher to hell.
“Ryan?” he asked again.
His son blinked as if trying to focus. His pupils were dilated. Shock. “Dad?”
Gavin didn’t know if he sobbed or laughed and he didn’t care. He reached out and gently gathered his son to him. “Yeah, Ryan.” Dad. “It’s me. I’m here.”
Bruises fade. Love heals. Gavin stood and cradled Ryan against his chest.
Ryan’s lips were busted. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s upstairs.”
“Dr. Kinncaid.”
Gavin followed a nurse to an exam room. He didn’t want to let Ryan go, but they needed to check him out. Gavin could see a bruised bump forming on Ryan’s forehead above his eyebrow. His cut eyebrow.
Carefully, he laid Ryan on the bed. Gavin held his hand. Wires were attached and X-rays were quickly taken.
Thank God, he had his child back. His brother had his child back. That was all that mattered. That was all that mattered.
If he could take away all the pain, change it all, Gavin would, but he couldn’t.
“Where’s Tori?” Ryan looked around. “Tori? Where’s Tori?”
“Shh . . .” Gavin grabbed his hand, held it between both of his. “She’s with her dad. She’s fine.”
Ryan nodded and closed his eyes. “My shoulder hurts.”
“I know, we’ll give you some medicine to take the pain away then we’ll fix it.”
Gavin just watched him, couldn’t take his eyes off of this brave, amazing boy. People worked around him, orders were given and followed. Minutes passed.
“Where the hell’s my grandson?” Gavin turned as the curtain ripped back. His parents stood there.
Gavin could only shake his head at his dad as tears filled his eyes. His parents walked to the bed.
His mother’s hand squeezed his arm, and his father nodded. For the first time in years, Gavin felt like sobbing like a baby. Taking an enormous breath, he quelled the emotions running through him by swallowing hard.
“Oh, poor baby,” his mom said, reaching a hand out towards Ryan.
“Look, just look what she did to him, Mom,” Gavin said. The tears fell anyway. “I didn’t stop her. I promised him he would always be safe. I swore to protect him and that she’d never hurt him again. And look.”
Gavin bit down until he was sure his teeth would shatter.
His mom wrapped her arm around his waist, hugging him. She whispered, “It’s going to be fine. He’s a strong little boy, incredibly strong, and so is his mother. This is just a dark time for your family right now, but it’s going to pass.” She leaned up on tiptoe and brushed a tear away. “It’ll pass.”
“Right, she’s right. My Kaitie lass has always known what she was about.”
Gavin nodded at his father’s words, not looking up when he heard his father clear his throat.
“Pops?” Ryan opened his eyes.
Jock moved to the other side of the bed. “Yes, Ryan, it’s me.”
“Thought I heard your bark.”
They all grinned at that, except for Jock. The old man’s jaw muscle worked, and he only patted Ryan’s hand. Gavin noticed his father’s eyebrows were doing the vee thing they did when he was trying not to cry.
Jock turned his attention to his wife. “Kaitie, can’t you talk to someone to get him moved to a private room? Too much damn noise down here.”
“Of course.” She rubbed Gavin’s back and turned to walk away.
Gavin grabbed her hand. “I’ve already got rooms for both him and Tori on the fourth floor. As soon as they’re finished down here, they’ll be moved. We’re waiting for the pain meds to kick in. His shoulder’s dislocated.”
“Is Tori okay?” Ryan asked.
“Yes, Ryan. She’s fine,” Gavin told him again.
“She tried to shoot her, but she missed. Missed me too. I dove into the railing.” He gave a small smile. “Those baseball guys make it look easy.”
Gavin didn’t want to think about that—what it meant. Instead, he said, “You did great.”
“Is Tori really okay? You’re not lying to me, are you? Where is she?” Ryan’s eyes were glazed, probably from a concussion, but still they searched frantically around.
Gavin laid his hand on Ryan’s chest. “She’s fine, Ryan. She’s with her father.”
Ryan looked as if he were trying to compute that, when another doctor came up. Gavin’s parents stepped outside to the waiting room. He stayed by Ryan’s side while the doctor went through the rundown of his son’s injuries. Concussion, contusions, abrasions, two bruised ribs and one dislocated shoulder.
Gavin bit back the oath on the end of his tongue.
Dr. Lopez was a nice pediatrician. She talked to Ryan about what hurt, what procedures she would take and how bad it might hurt. Not hiding anything, she told him what meds she was going to give him and that the first batch would make him relax. They couldn’t let him sleep just yet because of the concussion. Ryan listened to every word.
When she was finished, she said, “We’ll relocate your shoulder, just pop it back into place, and then we’ll move you to a room upstairs. Any questions?”
Ryan nodded. “Where’s Tori? Is she okay?”
Dr. Lopez smiled. “You know, she asked me the same thing about you. I’ll be right back.”
Ryan turned to him. “What did she mean by that? Is Tori okay or not?”
This was going to be a problem. Again he assured his son. “Ryan, she’s . . .”
“Ryan!”
Gavin glanced up to see his brother holding Tori. She squirmed out of Bray’s arms and hurried to the bedside. Giving a sidelong glance at Gavin, she climbed up onto the bed to sit beside Ryan.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Oh, look at you! She is just mean. Mean! I should have stayed. I never should have—”
“You still talk too much,” Ryan muttered. But he’d relaxed, Gavin noticed. “Are you all right? They never told me.”
Her smile was hollow. “Of course. I’m fine. Though Daddy says I have to spend the night here in the hospital.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“I hate hospitals.” She leaned over and touched his cheek.
“Yeah, me too.”
Gavin noticed Ryan’s breathing was easier and the lines around his mouth weren’t so tight. The pain meds they’d fed into Ryan’s I.V. were starting to work, thank God. About damn time.
Looking to his twin, Gavin started to ask—
Bray answered Gavin’s unspoken question. “She wouldn’t calm down. I finally had to bring her down here to see that he was okay.”
• • •
The next day, Gavin wheeled Ryan into the ICU room. He’d told him that Taylor was still sick, hooked up to monitors and machines so that the doctors would know immediately if anything needed to be done.
Gavin himself wasn’t sure this was such a good idea, but Dr. Petropolis had come at midnight to talk to the kids and again at eight this morning. Between talking to the police, the doctors and their parents, the kids detailed everything that happened in the last couple of days. Every time Gavin so much as thought about it, or heard another word uttered about it, he was so pissed off he couldn’t see. In any case, Dr. Petropolis now had one new patient and had recommended for the kids to spend time together. They needed the reassurance, and Ryan and Tori both needed to see Taylor was alive. They’d been through several traumatic experiences.
Traumatic.
Sounded so damned tidy. Traumatic. She also recommended family counseling once Taylor was up and about. Gavin figured they would all need it and vowed to do whatever he had to to make certain his family healed.
“Is she going to wake up?” Ryan asked.
“Sure, she is. They’re keeping her medicated right now so that she’ll get plenty of rest. She needs to sleep.”
&nb
sp; And he needed to see her light brown eyes again. Gavin needed to see those dimples peek at him from the corners of her mouth.
He sat back as Ryan started talking to her, much as he had that first night. Their son told her story after story. Gavin would let him talk for a while, but not too long. Ryan needed his rest too.
“And then this horse came and . . .” Ryan stopped.
“What?” Gavin asked him, brushing a strand of hair back off his wife’s forehead.
“She squeezed my hand, Dad.” Ryan smiled. “She squeezed my hand. Mom’s gonna be okay.”
Gavin looked down at her, the hand holding his faintly tightened. He looked at his son. “Yes, she is, Ryan. Yes, she is.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Nina Fisher sat in a jail in D.C. It was the same as all the other damn cells she’d been in, though maybe there were more guards. She was still waiting on transport back to Texas, where she was now incarcerated for life.
Yippi-fucking-who. Endless days of monotony and submission. Anger burned bright in her for the injustice of it all.
The slot in her door opened and her meal tray came in. Solitary sucked. Eat and breathe in this freegin’ cement hole. Every damn thing was made out of cement.
Made it hard to find readily available metal objects.
Sighing, she got off the mattress and limped over to the door. Her knee, or what was left of it, hurt like a bitch. Damn the sonofabitch who pulled that trigger. On a muttered oath, Nina grabbed her tray off the small ledge.
Sludge. It was all sludge. No damned variety. Nina tossed it on the small outcropping that was supposed to be a mini table or desk or some such shit. She wasn’t hungry, not really.
Not that there was anything else to do. Hell, might as well. Nina dug in. All of it finger food, not even a freaking fork. Like she’d stab herself with a fork.
No, thank you. She’d find another way.
Halfway through the meal, she realized there was something in the salad, something under the lettuce. Picking it up, she carefully shifted her body to block the camera’s view.
A plastic bag.
Hot damn! She could see the pale blue powder. Oh, yes. Someone loved her after all. As naturally as possible, she slipped the bag out from under the lettuce and dropped it down the front of her jumpsuit.