The EMTs came down the stairs then, carrying the stretcher containing Nic. He groaned, and Ella turned her head, her eyes zeroing in on her father. Ella followed the movement for a moment as the two EMTs crossed the parking lot. When the stretcher disappeared into the back of the ambulance, Ella peered at her with wide, round eyes. “Daddy?”
Anna rubbed Ella’s back and forced a smile she didn’t feel, her own heart aching, too. “Daddy’s hurt, but they’re taking him to the hospital. They’re going to fix him right up, I promise.”
Ella nodded, but the worry and fear in her big brown eyes didn’t abate.
Lacey lifted her head. “I saw Daddy. I told Ella to hide. We laid down behind the seats, and we were really quiet.”
Anna hugged Lacey tightly with her free arm, trying her best to be strong. She wasn’t sure she’d stop shaking until they caught Tony. “You did wonderful, sweetie. You’re such a brave girl.”
“Mama?”
Anna pulled back enough to meet Lacey’s upturned face. She was grateful for one thing tonight—that Tony hadn’t found the girls. “What, baby?”
“Did Daddy hurt Nic?”
Tears flooded Anna’s eyes. Of all the things to have to tell a six-year-old.
She stroked Lacey’s hair. “Yes, I’m afraid he did, but don’t you worry. Nic’s going to be fine. He’s hurt, but he’s with people who can help him now.”
• • •
Anna peered down at Nic’s still form in the hospital bed. The room sat in semidarkness, only the light from the bathroom and hallway illuminating the space. Nic lay sound asleep, the head of his bed in a semi-upright position. He now wore a blue hospital gown, his right shoulder bare and covered in white bandages, the arm neatly tucked in a dark blue sling. A blood pressure cuff on his left arm inflated. The whir of the machine and the blip of the heart monitor provided the only sounds in the otherwise quiet room.
The last four hours had passed in a blur of activity. More officers had quickly arrived on scene. She had to give her statement at the precinct, and they’d questioned her, Beth, and both girls. They’d also put out a warrant for Tony’s arrest, and the EMTs had taken Nic to the general hospital on the island, which, thankfully, sat on the north edge of Angel Bay. After examining her and Beth, they’d released her to follow Nic to the hospital.
By the time she’d tucked the girls in at Luc’s and made it here, Nic had come out of surgery. They’d only just gotten him into his own room, but he had yet to wake. The nurse had assured her he’d be fine. The bullet had bounced off his shoulder blade, fracturing the tip, and had nicked an artery but missed his lung. She said he’d spend a day or two in the hospital, being carefully monitored, but he should come out of it fine.
Now, as Anna watched him sleep, the color had returned to his face. The steady rise and fall of his chest went a long way to easing the nausea churning up her stomach. The image of him lying on the floor of her apartment, unconscious and bleeding, refused to leave her mind. Neither would Tony’s warning.
Have your fun with your lover over there, because next time, I won’t miss.
Guilt weighed on her like a ship’s anchor, pulling her down and clogging her throat. Hot tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Nic was here because of her. The blame for sweet little Ella nearly losing her father tonight lay solely on her shoulders. She’d never forgive herself, but she could never be sorry for loving him, either. He’d given her something money couldn’t buy. Something nobody had ever given her.
Strength to believe in herself. To fight back.
Now she needed to give back to him. Over the last several hours, one thing had become crystal clear. Tony’s words hadn’t been an idle threat. Which meant only one thing: she and Lacey needed to move on. Until the law caught Tony, nobody in this town would be safe. If she stayed, Tony would come back, and maybe he wouldn’t stop with Nic.
When Nic woke and realized she’d left, it would break his heart. She was about to do to him the same thing his ex-wife had: walk out on him. Anna would have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life.
The blood pressure cuff deflated and the whir of the machine ceased, leaving them in deafening silence. Needing to touch him one last time, Anna bent and pressed her cheek to his. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to commit his familiar scent to memory, to remember the soft prick of his stubbled cheek against hers. Then she turned her head and kissed him gently, more grateful than she’d ever been in her life for the press of warm skin beneath her lips. “I love you, Nic. Someday, I hope you forgive me.”
She straightened and forced herself not to look back, to turn and leave before she lost the will to do so. She moved on numb legs down the silent corridor to the waiting room, pausing in the entrance. Luc had come with her to the hospital after dropping the girls at his place. An hour or so later, what seemed like the entire town flooded the waiting room. Luc had closed down the restaurant, and he, Sam, and Joe, several of the waitresses, and even a couple patrons had shown up to wait for the doctors to move Nic out of recovery and into his own room.
Luc now sat alone within the small space. Despite how exhausted he must be, his eyes were still wide open, and he appeared to be staring out the windows. A five-o’clock shadow covered his jaw, though, and dark circles lined his lower lids.
As she stepped into the room, his gaze shifted to her. Concern etched lines in his face, making him appear older than his years. “You don’t look so good, sweetheart.”
Anna touched her cheek, wincing as her fingers pressed into a tender spot, where Tony had struck her. Her scalp hurt, too, from where he’d yanked her by the hair. There didn’t seem to be a single bone in her body that didn’t ache with every step. Funny how odd it felt. Once upon a time, this feeling used to be an everyday battle. Nic had given her that.
“Just some bruises. They’ll heal. I’m fine. Truly.” It was touching that Luc cared, but she had no desire to add herself to his list of people to worry about. “I’m heading home. I just wanted to thank you before I left. For giving me some time alone with him. It’s been a long night, and I needed it.”
Luc’s dark gaze moved over her face, intense and searching. “He loves you, you know.”
She stared for a moment at the gold-speckled floor beneath her feet before meeting his gaze again. “I do know.”
Too afraid he’d try to convince her not to leave, she didn’t wait for his reply, but turned and strode for the exit. The love this family had for each other made her chest ache with a soul-deep yearning to be a part of it. She yearned to tell Luc the truth, because she longed for someone to give her a reason not to run.
Except deep down, the truth hit her where it hurt the most. They could give her a million reasons, but only proof that they’d locked Tony up in prison would make her stay.
And when Nic figured out she’d left, he would be hurt and angry, but in the end, he’d be okay, because he’d have them.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re saying good-bye?”
Luc’s voice stopped her halfway across the room. His blunt observation somehow didn’t surprise her. Luc had the same eye for detail Nic did. He must think her a horrible person, leaving Nic at a time when he needed her most. She couldn’t even bear to face him. She couldn’t bear the disappointment her heart told her would be written on his face. Right then, she was no better than Nic’s ex-wife.
“He almost lost his life tonight because of me. Before he left, my ex-husband vowed to come for me and to make sure Nic was dead. Tony’s ruthless, and he’s stubborn and determined. He won’t stop until we’re both dead.” She drew a shaky breath, and wrapped her arms around herself. “I grew up with a father who made sure I knew every single day how much of a burden I was to him and how much he hated and resented me. Nic’s a good father. I’ll never forgive myself if Tony makes good on his word and Ella has to grow up never knowing what a wonderful man her father is.”
Luc didn’t say anything for a moment, and the enti
re hospital seemed to grow an eerie quiet. Finally, the chair creaked behind her. “What about you? Don’t you deserve some happiness in all of this?”
His words lodged themselves in the wounded part of her heart. Hadn’t Nic told her something similar? Nic would stand in front of her and tell her she was giving Tony exactly what he wanted by running.
A stray tear slipped past her defenses, sliding down her cheek. Anna swiped it away and pulled her shoulders back, gathering the last of her defenses. She shook her head. “I don’t matter.”
This time, she didn’t wait for his reply, but strode from the room as fast as her wobbly legs could carry her. If she didn’t get out of there, he’d no doubt try to talk her out of leaving and this time, she might let him. Every step made her heart ache like someone tried to rip it from her chest.
This was best for all of them. Nic would be alive and Ella would grow up safe and happy with a father who loved her. She and Lacey would go as far as they could, and she’d change their names. Again. She’d do whatever she had to in order to keep the people she cared about safe.
Chapter Sixteen
Nic woke to a room full of voices—several people from the sound of it, all talking among themselves and creating a low hum of chatter around him.
He opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. White tiles stretched above him. He sniffed. The vague smell of antiseptic permeated the air. His right shoulder throbbed like someone had tried to rip his arm off, though not as bad as last night, thanks to the painkillers.
The last full memory he had was when he came to on the floor of Beth’s apartment. Watching Tony limp past him, he’d been too dizzy and too damn weak to do much of anything.
The rest was hazy at best. He’d woken in the ambulance sometime later to a burning pain in his chest and a man in a blue uniform standing over him. Later, he woke in a room lit with huge bright lights, then things faded again. Sometime during the night he again opened his eyes to a darkened hospital room where a large, round female nurse pumped something into the IV line in his hand before the blackness took him.
Nic turned his head. There had to be no less than half the damn town in his room. Luc, Sam and Joe, Liz, and both girls stood around a row seat beneath the large picture window. Ella sat on Luc’s lap, her head resting on his chest. Alyssa sat beside her, and the girls held hands.
He was so damn glad to see Ella, alive and whole and untouched by last night’s horror. He had a vague recollection of leaving her and Lacey in his car in the parking lot. He’d been trying to get up and get to them all damn night, but every time he moved, his nurse came back and shoved more drugs in his IV. Ella appeared to have come away from last night’s fiasco unscathed, thank God. The question now, was …
“Where’s Anna?” His throat was sore and scratchy, and his mouth tasted like rubber. His hoarse voice barely made a dent in the room. Nic cleared his throat, and all heads turned in his direction. Relief filled several faces.
Sam smiled. “There he is.”
Liz raced across the space and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You gave us quite a scare last night, Nicky.”
“Daddy!” Ella’s eyes filled with tears. She hopped off Luc’s lap and took off running, her shoes slapping the floor as she sprinted across the room. Liz managed to catch her before she launched herself onto the bed, but Ella leaned out of her arms, grunting in protest and reaching for him.
Nic patted the bed beside his hip. He needed to hold her, too. Maybe if he could get his arm around her the knot in his chest would finally unwind. “It’s okay, set her over here. Just be gentle, baby girl, okay?”
Ella nodded as she took a seat on the edge of the bed beside him. She peered at him with round eyes full of fear as she skimmed her fingers over the arm lying across his stomach in a sling. “Daddy gots a owie?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, Daddy has an owie. I’ll be okay. Promise. Just have to take it slow for a while.” He stroked her hair and winked in an effort to ease her fear. “You’ll take care of me, right?”
Her somber expression lightened. She gave an eager nod.
Nic held out his arm in invitation. “Come here and give me a hug.”
As Ella tucked herself carefully against his side, Luc came to stand beside the bed. A vague weariness hovered in his brother’s eyes. His chin sported a good day’s worth of growth, and dark circles underlined his lower lids. Every time Nic woke last night, Luc had been there, hovering in the background.
“You look like hell, man.”
Luc smiled, the gesture and the look in his eyes one of fatigued relief. “You’re not looking so hot yourself. You scared the hell out of me.”
“This is vaguely familiar, huh?” They’d sat in a similar hospital room, day after day for weeks, watching Gia waste away, hoping and praying for a miracle yet knowing the end result couldn’t be stopped. He’d hated hospitals ever since. The smell alone brought memories he treasured and loathed with equal measure.
“Too much. I hate these places.” Luc nudged the bed with his thigh, another smile springing into his face, this one teasing. “Don’t scare me like that again, huh?”
“You’d have done the same for Liz.” Nic shook his head then darted an obvious glance around the room. He loathed asking the question, but the tangled knot in his chest demanded the answer. “Where are Anna and Lacey?”
He’d figured out enough to know something had gone down. If he was in the hospital, it meant someone had called the cops. Anna wasn’t among the people in his room, though, as he might have expected, and his mind filled with every horror possible, most of them revolving around her ex-husband.
Luc’s chest expanded as he drew a breath and held it, then deflated as he heaved a sigh. “She’s safe.”
Nic blinked, processing, then released his held breath. “So, he doesn’t have her?”
Luc shook his head. “No. She’s fine. Her ex got away, though. Sheriff Decker called this morning. They’ve got a warrant out for his arrest and said to assure you he won’t get far. Tony was hurt, so chances are, he’ll turn up in a hospital.”
Nausea swirled in Nic’s stomach. Luc wasn’t telling him something. He tried searching his memory, but last night was nothing more than vague flashes, none of which included Anna. “But?”
Luc dropped his arms to his sides; regret taking shape in his face. “I think she’s leaving town.”
Alarm scattered through him, tightening his gut. “Did she tell you that?”
“Not in so many words, no. She visited your room last night. When she came back to the waiting room, she thanked me for letting her see you. I got the distinct impression she was saying good-bye. When I called her on it, she kind of beat around the bush.”
Nic shook his head and grabbed the remote attached to his bed, pressing the red button to call the nurse. “I want out of this damn bed.”
As he attempted to sit up, Sam’s eyes widened with alarm. Brow furrowed, she stepped up to the bed. “Oh no. I’m not letting you go chasing after her. That hole in your shoulder could have killed you. What you need is to take it easy.”
He glared up at her. She could be bossy when she wanted to be, and right then, he didn’t need a babysitter. “If he’s still out there, Anna and Lacey are alone, and neither one of them are safe. I need to find them.”
Sam pursed her lips and shook her head. “Then hire the private investigator who found your mother last year, but the only place you’re going is home.” She pointed a stern finger at him. “I’ll tie you to your bed if I have to. Your grandmother will haunt me for the rest of my life if I let anything happen to either one of you.”
Liz laid a hand on his arm and gave him a gentle smile. “We’ll find her.”
Nic relented with a heavy sigh and held out a hand. “Fine. Somebody give me my phone then. Until they catch him, she’s not safe, and like hell am I going to just sit here and do nothing.”
• • •
Four days. How could it be four days since Anna and La
cey disappeared without a trace?
“Fine. Whatever. Just find her.” Nic jabbed the END button on his phone, but resisted the urge to throw the goddamn thing against the wall. The satisfying crunch might ease a jagged nerve. So would breaking the jaw of the son of a bitch who’d put him in this position in the first place.
An equal mix of desperation and worry sank like a two-ton boulder in his gut. Four days had passed since he’d woken in the hospital. He’d hired a private investigator first thing after coming home. Unfortunately, the man hadn’t found her yet.
Luc set the coffee decanter back into the stand and turned with a steaming mug in one hand. “Any leads?”
Nic shook his head. He couldn’t go through another day of this. “The P.I. said he managed to track her to a gas station outside of Seattle, but then she disappeared. If she used a different name and somehow managed to change vehicles, it might take a while to track her down.”
Luc leaned back against the counter, glancing at him over the rim of his mug as he took a sip. “You have to face the possibility she may not want you to find her.”
Nic shot Luc an irritated glance. “She’s not Jen.”
Luc held up a hand. “I’m not saying she is. You’re right. She’s nothing like Jen. Jen was a spoiled brat, and Anna is one of the humblest women I know. I’m only saying if she wanted you to come after her, she would have left a note. Or called. Or said something before she left. But she didn’t, and that says something big to me.”
Nic tucked his chin to his chest, dragging his good hand through his hair. Luc was right. He’d thought of nothing else in the last four days. Had Anna run from him, from them, and her ex-husband had merely given her a reason?
He dropped his arm to his side and blew out a defeated breath.
“Hunting her down is also what her ex has done. From her point of view, it no doubt makes me exactly like him.” He drew his brows together, his gut knotting painfully, and pushed away from the counter. He moved to stare out over the backyard where Dino and Rocco chased each other around the jungle gym. “How the hell am I supposed to let her go knowing he could find her again? The next bullet might be through her. Man, I don’t know how to live with not knowing if they’re okay.”
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