Lawson

by Diana Gardin

  “Eli,” Hawke spits. “You fucking asshole.”

  Eli’s brow lifts. “I’m an asshole? You’re a bloody traitor. You let my wife go! You had one fucking job!”

  Hawke bares his teeth at his cousin. He moves closer to me, covering Indy’s other side.

  Making sure she’s blocked from the bullets if they start to fly.

  “Then let us walk away,” Hawke demands. “At least let Indigo walk. This is between you and me, cuz. Doesn’t have to be a bloodbath.”

  Eli’s eyes flare. “Indigo?”

  Two muttered curses through my comm as Thorn and Bain realize Hawke’s mistake. Eli’s eyes flick to me, taking in my tactical gear, before sliding over Ben, who still stands in the doorway. He’s lowered his weapon, but it’s clear we aren’t car thieves.

  “What did you do, little cousin?” he breathes, eyes narrowing as rage mottles his expression.

  “Tread very carefully here, Eli,” I snap. “Cops are crawling all over this place as we speak. Your buyer’s already been arrested, and your crew is next. Put down the gun.”

  Eli’s lip curls. “No, I don’t think I will. What I will do, however, is find my wife. She belongs to me, and nothing any of you can do will stop me from finding her.”

  “Got a shot.” Bain’s words are the only warning I have before a muffled pop sounds and the unmistakable thud of a body falling sounds from just outside the container.

  Eli’s head doesn’t turn, but Ben reacts, turning and hitting Eli in the face with a skilled uppercut to the chin. Eli staggers but doesn’t fall, and he raises his weapon. Hawke and I both throw ourselves over Indigo as a stream of gunfire rings out inside the storage unit.

  The storage container erupts in sound as gunfire mixes with shouting, and the smell of gunpowder and blood wafts across my nose. I land hard, Indigo’s soft body beneath me, her legs tangled together.

  “God,” she breathes, and the sound of her voice is a balm to my soul.

  And then fire slices across the side of my head, a heat so damn searing that it makes me close my eyes, and they don’t open again.

  My last thought as darkness encroaches is that it didn’t happen again.

  Indigo is safe.

  27

  INDIGO

  Frannie’s fingers wrap around mine, squeezing…the way they have every few minutes for the past two hours. The hospital waiting room’s lighting is dim, creating a mood meant to relax those whose loved one’s lives hang in the balance.

  Because, yes, in those precarious moments between the time that he appeared in the doorway of that storage container like some kind of avenging angel and the time that he threw himself on top of me, effectively saving my life, I figured out that I love Lawson.

  Fully, completely, and ridiculously.

  Why I couldn’t have discovered this before he got a bullet lodged in his skull is beyond me.

  Why couldn’t I have said it back to him?

  “He’s going to be fine.” It’s the third time Ben McBride has said this, like he’s reminding the universe that his best friend will come out of this alive or else. “He’s strong.”

  Lilliana Snyder, Lawson’s twin sister, arrives not long after Lawson was admitted. Frannie bounces up from her chair and runs toward her.

  “Lil? Oh my God, what are you doing here?”

  Lilliana freezes, her steps pausing as she stares at Frannie, then around the room at all of us. “Frannie? Do you…do you know my brother?”

  There’s silence in the room as everyone stares at the two women.

  Frannie glances toward me. “Is this Lawson’s sister?”

  Lilliana nods. “Lawson’s my brother. How do you know him?”

  I stand, my body wrung out from exhaustion, but Frannie puts an arm around me and gives Lilliana the quick explanation of how we met. Frannie also explains that Lil is the one who helped her when she first moved to town. Bain and Thorn stand, giving up their seats so that the three of us can sit beside one another.

  “Eli found you,” Lilliana breathes. “Oh my God. Frannie…I’m so sorry.”

  Frannie nods. “I’m still processing, but that’s not important now. Lawson—”

  Lilliana hold up her hands and shakes her head, her long, black hair swinging around her shoulders. “No, that’s not what I mean. Yesterday, we found out that the Underground’s database was broken into. I tried to call you earlier today but couldn’t get hold of you.”

  Frannie stares, her hands covering her mouth. Surprise coats me so thickly that I can’t speak.

  Thorn speaks up first. “So that’s how Eli Ward found her. He figured out that the Underground had her information. But how the hell did he make that connection?”

  We’re silent again, because none of us know the answer to that question. And right now, waiting to hear about Lawson takes precedence.

  Lilliana and Frannie sit in the waiting room beside me in a chair sandwiched between the huge, hulking form of Bain Foxx and Greta Abbott, Jacob’s daughter and Grisham’s wife. Greta, a gorgeous, raven-haired woman who exudes grace and warmth, holds Lillian’s hand the same way Frannie envelops mine.

  I study Lilliana out of the corner of my eye while we wait, just for a distraction. She’s stunning, her creamy, light-brown skin the same shade as Lawson’s, and her light green eyes blinking back tears as she stares with dogged determination at the waiting room door.

  The rest of the NES team, men from both the Delta Squad and Rescue Ops units, end up crammed into the waiting area, taking up way too much space and releasing waves of pure masculine energy. There’s not enough room for them to pace, so they’re practically vibrating with their nerves as they wait for Lawson’s surgeon to return to the room and tell us exactly how the operation went.

  “He’s so strong,” I whisper, leaning my head on Frannie’s shoulder. My next words continue without my permission. “Strong enough to love me even when I was a pain in his ass.”

  Beside Ben, Thorn chuckles. “I’m sure he was a pain himself.”

  I risk a small smile. “Yeah. But I’ll take him being a pain every single day over not having him at all.”

  Thorn studies me, like he’s trying to figure something out. He must get what he was searching for, because his handsome face breaks into a reassuring smile. “Tell him that when he wakes up.”

  We wait. For four more hours, time crawling past us in the slowest possible fashion. People take shifts to go home and shower while others grab food or coffee and bring it back for the rest of us. I’ve chugged down six cups of espresso, but I haven’t eaten a single bite of food, no matter how hard Frannie’s tried to push me.

  Food wouldn’t sit on my stomach right now, not the way it’s twisting and turning and clenching.

  Lawson is strong. I pick up Ben’s mantra and repeat it in my head, over and over and over again. Lawson is strong.

  I jump to my feet and move into the wide, open hallway just outside the waiting area and begin to pace. I can no longer control the nervous, caffeinated energy coursing through my system. Ben follows, leaning against the frame of the arch that separates the waiting room from the hall. He doesn’t say anything, just stares off down the hall when he’s not watching me.

  I’m guessing that if he were lying in that hospital bed, Lawson would keep watch on whoever waited for Ben to wake up.

  I glance up, pausing in my pacing, when something in the air around me changes. A man wearing blue scrubs pushes through the double doors at the end of the hall. He walks toward us, and every single one of my muscles goes taut. My body can’t tell if it’s gearing up to flee or fight, but adrenaline races through my veins, prepared for either action.

  It takes forever for the surgeon to reach us, each step seeming to take him farther away rather than bringing him closer, and time slows down around me as I watch.

  Waiting.

  “This is it,” Ben murmurs, and he takes my hand and pulls me back into the waiting room.

  Everyone stands, t
he energy in the room quivering and pulsing as the doctor stops in the doorway. His surprised expression takes in the room of huge men and anxious women whose eyes lock on him.

  “Who’s Lawson Snyder’s immediate family?” he asks with somber authority.

  Lilliana steps forward. “I am, but…”

  Ben steps forward, moving up beside her and pulling me with him. “We all are.”

  The doctor glances around again, opens his mouth, and then closes it again. He shakes his head, and then a small smile crosses his face.

  And for the first time in hours, I breathe.

  Because the surgeon wouldn’t be smiling unless it was good news, so breath enters my lungs and exits without the sharp pain I’ve been feeling in my chest for hours on end.

  “The bullet is out.” The surgeon announces it and pauses, giving everyone’s collective sigh of relief another smile in response.

  Frannie’s hand finds mine again.

  “It was lodged in his skull, as you know, and we were able to remove it and the fragments around it. He’s very lucky that it didn’t puncture his brain, or we would have been talking about a much more complicated surgery, and very possibly a very different outcome.”

  The surgeon pauses again, and I blurt out: “When can we see him?”

  Lilliana glances at me, but then looks at the surgeon with the same question in her eyes.

  The surgeon turns kind eyes on me. “He’s in recovery. Give it about an hour, and then he can have one visitor at a time. When he wakes up, he can have more.”

  The surgeon turns to go. “This might be the first time I’ve ever seen this many people in this waiting room for one person. Mr. Snyder is a very lucky man.” His eyes crinkle at the corners.

  “If you knew him,” Thorn replies, “you’d know that we’re the lucky ones.”

  The doctor nods before walking away.

  And then the room erupts in cheers. I sink down onto a chair, Frannie’s arm wrapped around my shoulders as she takes the one right beside me.

  “See? I knew it would be okay. He’s going to be just fine, GoGo.”

  I glance up at her, happiness filling my chest and hope lifting my heart. “You’re still calling me GoGo?”

  She grins. “I think it fits. And it gives us an inside joke to tell our kids one day.”

  A tear rolls down my cheek. “Does that mean you forgive me for lying to you?”

  She sighs. “You were just doing your job. I get that now. We can still be friends, though, right? Even though you’re done with this case?”

  It’s my turn to squeeze her hand in mine. “Definitely still friends.”

  Lilliana plops down on my other side. “So you’re my brother’s best-kept secret yet.”

  I glance at her, but the smile in her eyes lets me know she’s friendly.

  She continues. “It’s nice to meet you. I can tell you love Lawson, and even though we don’t know each other yet, that’s the most important thing for me as far as my brother is concerned.”

  I meet her gaze with a steady one of my own. “I do, and thank you.”

  She nods. “I’m sure when he wakes up, he’s going to want to see you first. You go right ahead, okay?”

  Emotion clogs my throat. I don’t know Lilliana well, but Lawson’s talked about her with nothing but affection in his voice. I know that this is beyond huge, for her to offer this to me.

  Nodding, I offer her a true smile before opening my arms and pulling her in for a hug. “Thank you.”

  It’s a few hours later when they let me in the room to see Lawson. It takes a lot of finagling and flirting with the nurses on the Delta Squad’s part before they let someone who isn’t technically family in to see him, but I finally make it past the burly head nurse and open Lawson’s door.

  The room is dim, the only sound coming from the beeping of machines and the quiet whir of monitors. He’s lying there, still and silent, tubes under his nose and going down his throat.

  I lose it then, really lose it. Tears streaming down my face, I walk to the bed and sit gingerly on the white blanket beside him. Knowing that he’s going to be okay doesn’t make it any easier to see him this way.

  My big, strong, confident warrior, lying in a hospital bed.

  My throat clogs, and I can’t find the words.

  But then, I think about what he would do if it were me. And if it were me lying in that bed, he’d be strong. He’d have the words. And so I find mine.

  “I love you, Lawson Snyder.” I pick up one of his hands gently and stroke my thumb over the top of it. “I should have told you that earlier, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t brave enough then. I probably wasn’t even aware of what I was feeling, that what’s been growing inside me for the past month has been love. The real kind. The kind that stays.”

  I lean my head forward, resting it on his chest. “And I swear to you, baby…I will tell you every day for the rest of my life that I love you. You and I are in this together, no matter what. Starting now. As soon as you wake up. So can you hurry up, please?”

  He doesn’t answer, doesn’t move. Doesn’t respond. But somewhere deep inside me, I know he’s listening. And so I just breathe, and I wait.

  It takes nearly the entire day, but by dinnertime the next evening, Lawson finally opens his eyes. I’m sitting in a chair beside his bed, absently stroking his hand while I have yet another discussion with God. Who I’ve never talked to this much in my life.

  In fact, I’m in the middle of begging God to let Lawson wake up when his fingers wrap around mine and squeeze.

  My eyes fly up to his face, and I find his beautiful green eyes staring down at me. There’s confusion there, but there’s also so much emotion shining out of them that words get clogged in my throat.

  “Hi,” I breathe, scooting even closer to him.

  He swallows, and his voice is scratchy when he tries to use it. “Hey.”

  “You’re in the hospital.” I keep my tone low, not knowing how much pain he’s in. “You had surgery after a bullet hit you at the docks. Do you remember?”

  His face is strained, like he’s thinking, but then he nods. His eyes scan every part of me before he answers. “Are…you hurt?”

  It’s a struggle for him to speak; that much is clear. But he is speaking, and he’s awake, and he’s looking at me, and I make the quick decision that I’m going to start talking to God much more often.

  I shake my head. “No. You made sure of that when you jumped on top of me.”

  Relief is stark in his gaze, and my whole heart melts for this man. He’s lying in a hospital bed, but still my safety is his top priority.

  “And let me tell you something else, Lawson Snyder.”

  He nods.

  “If you ever land yourself in a hospital bed again, I’ll kick your ass the second you wake up. I can’t go through this again. Do you hear me?”

  His mouth quirks up in a crooked smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He closes his eyes again, and I slip out of his hospital room to tell the nurses and the crowd waiting that he’s awake.

  28

  LAWSON

  “What did you just say to me?” My voice is croaky from the tube they had shoved down my throat, but my ears should be working just fine.

  “I said that Ward’s in the wind.” Jacob’s voice is calm. “We didn’t get him. Cops brought down the ring that night, of course, and the feds got most of his men and the cars. But there’s been no sign of Ward.”

  “Goddammit!” It hurts when I try to yell, and Indigo squeezes my hand in a silent warning.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I try a quieter tone.

  “It means,” Thorn says, stepping forward, “that we’re going to look out for Frannie until he’s found and brought to justice. When we find him, and we will, she’ll testify to everything she’s witnessed over her years being married to that fucker.” Thorn winces with disgust.

  Indigo nods. “I feel so bad for Frannie. She just settled down here,
and now she feels like she needs to run again. And there’s something else you should know, Lawson. Frannie’s first connection when she came to Wilmington was the Underground.”

  Lawson blinks. “What?”

  “I was just as surprised when Frannie told me. And when Lilliana arrived, she told us that the Underground’s database was broken into. And then later, we found out through Brandon that Eli was with a prostitute who ended up with your name and number and the name and number of the Underground. He looked into it, figured out what the Underground did, and broke into it. I guess he had a hunch that Frannie had help from an organization like that.”

  All of the air I’ve been holding while she’s been telling me this story exits my chest at once, and a light feeling floats through my head. “Fuck me. It was the woman I gave my info to on a napkin outside Brandon’s garage. I should have known that shit would come back to bite me, but I had to help her. Had to try.”

  Indy bends down and brushes her lips against mine. “That’s who you are. Don’t blame yourself. You were helping someone.”

  Jacob shakes his head. “And we’re not going to let Frannie run again. She doesn’t deserve a life on the run, from what I’ve been told. Seems like a good girl.”

  “She is,” Indigo agrees.

  I nod, wincing with the effort. “We’ve handled witness protection before at NES. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

  The rest of the guys, crowded in my hospital room, nod.

  “What about Hawke?” The man’s name leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

  Maybe he helped save Indigo in the end, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t partly his fault that she was in that situation to begin with.

  “He took a plea. He helped us with the case, and he’s cooperating. No jail time. He’ll be on probation instead, and he’ll have to prove that he can be an upstanding member of society.” Russ’s voice sounds just as disgusted as I feel.

  “And he won’t be my informant anymore,” Indigo assures me.