While putting on a protective vest, Tory slanted a glance at the police officer. “I’m glad you’re here. I know the people coming into the courtroom go through security, but half the audience are members of his gang.”
“What surprises me is that they’re behaving.” Officer Sims hit the first floor button on the elevator.
“That’s so they won’t get kicked out and banned from the courtroom.” Cade stepped out into the lobby then signaled for Tory and Officer Sims to follow him toward the back of the building where the reserved parking lot was.
While Cade jogged to the SUV, Tory stayed back with Officer Sims inside near the double door. “Mederos’s gang members are there to intimidate the jury, judge and me. You know the saying, if looks could kill, I’d be dead by now.”
“Too bad we can’t throw them in jail for their thoughts.” Officer Sims peered out the glass part of the door. “Morgan has pulled up and is getting out. Ready?”
“Definitely ready to go home and get some rest.” The second she said the word home, she was glad Cade hadn’t heard her. In the few days she’d spent there, she’d come to feel at home at his ranch. Even the threat left in the barn last night hadn’t totally taken that sensation away.
Officer Sims opened one of the double doors, stepped outside and motioned for her to exit the courthouse too while Cade came around the front of the armored SUV.
Her police guard moved closer to her as she strode forward, her gaze trained on Cade. She focused on the strong slant of his jaw, the exhaustion he was trying to hide from her, and realized her feelings concerning him were rekindling.
Crack!
Cade flew toward her, his body slamming into her.
Another crack reverberated through the stillness.
SIX
Cade cushioned Tory as much as he could as they both crashed into the concrete walkway, but the collision forced air from his lungs. No time to process the pain assaulting him, he shielded Tory while drawing his gun and searching their surroundings. The shards of the glass window on the door behind them littered the area.
Officer Sims lay sprawled on the sidewalk, a gunshot hole in the upper part of his chest not covered by his protective vest. He moaned, his eyelids sliding closed.
“Tory, are you all right?” Cade asked her as he looked for the assailant while pulling his cell phone free.
“I—think so,” she said as she tried to breathe.
He made a call to 911. “Officer down at the courthouse’s north entrance in the reserved parking lot. Need backup and an ambulance. Two shots fired so far.”
After reporting the incident, Cade checked the area between him and the car. If they stayed low, the SUV could block another attempt. “I need you to follow me, then I’m coming back to see about Sims.”
Wincing, she raised her head and looked at the fallen officer. “Is he alive?”
“I hope so.” He lifted off Tory enough to allow her room to move to a crouching position while still being between her and where he thought the shot might have come from. “There’s a rooftop on the building behind the courthouse. The shooter might be there. I’m going to use the armored SUV to shield you. Get inside and stay down.”
Her gaze still glued to Sims, she nodded slightly.
Using his body as a buffer, he ran low with Tory behind him to the car. He opened the front door and assisted her inside while the sound of sirens pierced the air as though coming toward them from all directions.
Cade went back to see if he should move Sims closer to the SUV, but when he assessed his position, the officer was hidden from the line of sight from the building behind the parking lot. As Cade felt for a pulse, patrol cars flooded the parking lot, forming a barrier while two paramedics came from the courthouse with a gurney.
“I can’t find a pulse,” Cade told the EMTs.
Cade moved away to allow them to work on the fallen officer. He shifted his focus to getting Tory out of harm’s way. Since the two earlier shots, there hadn’t been any more. Most likely the assailant escaped, but even with that in mind, he used the cars as a barrier between him and a possible location of the shooter while he made his way to Chief Paul Drake crouched behind his car and talking on the radio.
“I’ve got two teams searching the office building. So far nothing but two shell casings on the roof.” Paul rose to examine the building behind the courthouse. “How’s Tory?”
“She said okay, but everything was crazy.”
“Stay with her until we get the area cleared. How’s Sims?”
“I don’t know. Not good. There were two shots, but he only has one gunshot wound. The second one—” Cade glanced toward the shattered entrance door window into the courthouse “—is I’d say somewhere inside.”
Paul watched the two paramedics transfer the police officer to the gurney. “We’ll check for it.”
Cade headed toward the driver side of the SUV to be ready to take Tory to the ranch as soon as the police chief gave the go-ahead. He quickly slipped behind the steering wheel and looked at Tory crouched between the dashboard and the passenger seat, her head bowed, her left hand clutching her right upper arm.
“Tory, we should be able to leave soon.”
As she raised her head, he saw the blood leaking through her fingers.
* * *
“The bullet must have grazed me. I didn’t realize it at first. It isn’t too bad. How’s Officer Sims?”
“On his way to the hospital. Like you’ll be in a few seconds.” Cade called out to Paul and told him to have the patrol cars moved.
Tory thought of sitting in the passenger seat, but the effort to wiggle free of the small space she’d wedged herself in seemed enormous at the moment.
Cade leaned toward her. “Let me see the wound.”
When she removed her hand, blood seeped even more from the injury, the red staining her navy blue suit jacket growing. “See, it isn’t that bad.”
“Stay put. I’ll help you when we get to the hospital.”
“Good because I wasn’t going anywhere.” She tried to make the quip sound light, as though pain wasn’t radiating down her arm, but she didn’t succeed.
His look of concern deepened as he threw the SUV into drive. She rested her head against the passenger door, remembering the time she’d argued with Cade about wearing a protective vest in the courtroom. She’d wanted to present a confident bearing to the jury. Finally they had agreed she would wear one when she went to and from the courthouse but not while the trial was in session.
Please Lord. Take care of Sims. He was there because of me.
What would she do if something had happened to Cade? Michelle was the only family she had left. She’d lost her parents and husband. She didn’t want her daughter to lose Cade even if Michelle never knew who he was.
“We’re here.” Cade glanced at her, the same expression of worry still in place. “Don’t move. I’ll come around and help you.” When he opened her door, he laid his hand on her back. “I’m going to put my arm around you to assist you. Let me do the work. You protect your injury.”
In less than a minute Cade cushioned her against him, then walked slowly toward the emergency room entrance. Her legs wobbled, and Cade practically carried her into the reception lobby. A nurse brought a wheelchair that Tory eased into and started to wheel her away.
“Wait.” Tory looked back at Cade. “Don’t let Michelle know I was shot. I need to tell her myself.” She dreaded that conversation. Her daughter would only keep demanding that she quit her job. She might, but not in the middle of the Mederos trial.
“I won’t, but I’m letting Uncle Ben know. He’ll have to tell her something when you’re late tonight or she’ll worry.”
What if she had to stay overnight? Michelle would freak if Tory had to, because Derek had died in a hospit
al.
* * *
At midnight Cade pulled up to his ranch house, two deputy sheriffs guarding it now. Tory sighed.
Home, safe at last. The thought stunned her.
After Cade parked in the garage, he looked at Tory, his jacket covering her because hers was ruined. In the dim light, he assessed her.
She closed her eyes in relief. The day could have ended so much worse. “I hope that Michelle is asleep. I’d rather tell her in the morning.”
“You’ll have a little extra time since the trial won’t resume until the afternoon.”
“I’m so glad that Officer Sims’s surgery was successful.”
“He should recover. Stay put. I’m helping you out of the car.”
“I can walk into the house by myself. If Michelle’s up—”
Hand on his door handle, Cade frowned. “You’re weak from blood loss. This isn’t up for discussion.”
“Fine. I don’t have enough energy to argue with you, but I’m walking inside on my own.”
He muttered something about difficult women under his breath and climbed from the SUV. If she wasn’t so tired, she would’ve smiled.
When Cade opened her door, he leaned in to support her weight as she rose from the seat. “See, this isn’t so bad.”
His close proximity sped her heart up. She could smell his coffee-laced breath. When his arm went around her to hold her against him, she couldn’t seem to breathe in enough oxygen. Afraid she would become lightheaded, she forced deep gulps of air into her lungs.
The door to the kitchen crashed open, and Michelle stood in the entryway. “What’s taken you...” Her words sputtered to a halt, her eyes growing round as she took in her mother against Cade, one of his jackets around her. “What’s wrong?”
“Let’s get inside, and your mom will tell you everything.” Cade moved forward, whispering to Tory while her daughter backed away, “Sorry Michelle is up.”
“I probably won’t sleep worrying about tomorrow anyway, so I might as well get this over with.” Tory mounted the step into the kitchen and disengaged from Cade. “Let’s go into the living room where it’s comfortable.” She shrugged off the jacket slowly and handed it to Cade.
When Michelle’s gaze lit upon the white bandage around her upper arm, Tory hadn’t thought her daughter’s eyes could get any wider. But they looked like giant saucers, along with her mouth opening and closing silently, like a fish.
As Tory slowly made her way to the living room and sat on the couch, she tried to come up with the best way to tell Michelle what happened. Please, God, give me the right words.
Michelle took the chair across from her while Cade sat next to Tory. He covered her hand on the couch between them and gently squeezed it. She wasn’t alone. He was here. Some of the worry melted away. She was alive. Officer Sims was too. She was thankful for that.
Michelle opened her mouth, and Tory immediately cut her off. “When I left the courthouse today, there was a shooting. I was nicked in the arm. The doctor said I would be fine. If it had been serious, he would have kept me in the hospital.” She glanced at Cade. “He was there to protect me and keep me safe.”
Michelle’s gaze bored into Cade. “Not safe enough. You were shot.”
“None of this is his fault or mine, for that matter. I wish I could protect you forever from the evil in this world, but I can’t.”
“But you could have been killed.”
“Yes, I could have but I wasn’t. I’m learning I can’t dwell on what-ifs and maybes. If I worry about every possibility, I would become paralyzed with fear. I refuse to live like that, afraid to do the right thing, afraid to live my life for what I was meant to do. I feel the Lord wants me to fight evil the way I know best, through the law.” Again she threw a look at Cade. “He fights it by being a law enforcement officer. If no one stepped up to do those jobs, evil would win. I won’t let that happen. Ever.” She turned her hand over and clasped his, the warmth of his palm against hers calming.
Michelle’s eyes filled with tears. “But what if I lose you?”
“There’s always that possibility no matter what I do. Don’t let fear rule you, or you’ll never live up to your potential.”
Her daughter swung her attention from her to Cade then to Ben. “You sound just like Ben. I knew something was wrong, but he wouldn’t tell me. In fact, he said very little.”
“That’s because I asked him not to. I wanted to be the one to do that.”
Ben’s cheeks reddened. “I won’t lie, which meant I didn’t say much.”
Michelle rose and came over to Tory, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. “Then I won’t lie. I don’t know if I can do what you want, but I’ll try. I’m going to bed.”
Tory waited until she heard the sounds of her daughter’s footsteps fading as she moved up the stairs. “What have you done with Michelle? She didn’t fall apart like I thought she would.”
“She asked me how come I wasn’t worried about my nephew. I told her my worrying wouldn’t change anything other than stress me out, then I challenged her to a chess game. She’s good.”
“Derek taught her. It’s good she found someone to play with. I have no idea how to.”
Cade stiffened for a few seconds, then relaxed again. “He was a good father to her.”
Her gaze met his. “Yes.”
“I’m glad. It makes me feel better about what happened all those years ago.”
Ben rose and walked to the entrance into the living room, glancing toward the staircase. “Okay, before you two go to bed, tell me what really happened today. I wanted to listen to my police scanner, but I couldn’t.”
“After the gunshot, things are fuzzy for me. When Cade tackled me, I hit the ground so hard the breath was knocked from my lungs. I don’t think the whole incident took more than ten minutes, but for most of that I was hunkering down in the car.” She waved her hand at Cade. “You’ve got the stage. I’d like to know too.”
Cade recapped what happened from the first shot to the drive to the hospital.
“What are Officer Sims’s chances of recovering?” Ben asked as he paced from one end of the room to the other.
“Good. He shouldn’t have to stay in the hospital long.” Cade lounged back and laid his arm along the couch behind Tory. “I know you, Uncle Ben. What are you thinking?”
“Did the first shot hit Tory and the second the officer?”
Tory tried to replay the brief scene in her head, but her mind was fuzzy. “I don’t know. What do you think, Cade?”
“I was in react mode, but I don’t remember seeing the gunshot hitting Sims so it might have been the second one. So you think Officer Sims was the target?”
“Maybe. Of course, you were probably blocking Tory by that time, but if he wasn’t at least one of the targets, why did the man fire at the officer? After firing his first shot, time was of the essence for a quick, clean getaway without any witnesses.”
“So when we’re looking for the assailant, we need to consider why the police officer was shot. Besides guarding you, how does he tie to you and the judge?”
“He’s had his share of arrests. Some of them could be tied to me since I would have prosecuted a lot of them. Officer Sims has been on the force for seven years and is exceptional.”
“Then I know what I’ll be doing. I need to add Officer Sims into the mix and review your case files again. We’ll concentrate on any that had all three of you involved. Did Sims ever arrest Mederos?”
“No. That doesn’t mean he didn’t bring in one of the gang members. A couple of them have gone to prison, and I seem to remember him on one of those cases about three or four years ago.”
Uncle Ben headed for the hallway. “I’m going to bed. Unless you want me to take the first watch, Cade.”
�
��No, I’m too wired. I don’t know if my brain will shut down anytime soon.” After his uncle left, Cade twisted toward Tory, his arm on the back cushion sliding down along her shoulders. “When you get up in the morning, you can help me with the case files, if you’re up for it.”
“I will be.” She sighed. “I wanted Carlos to testify tomorrow, but I want his testimony to be over in a day’s time. When you were talking to Paul outside my ER room, I made a call and delayed his transport until Friday. What if that was the reason for today? It would give Mederos another day to locate Carlos.”
“I suppose that’s possible. The best strategy would be to take Carlos out of the picture.”
“My case hinges on his testimony. If he doesn’t appear, I don’t see getting a conviction.”
Cade brushed a few strands of hair from her face, then traced her mouth with his forefinger. “You need your sleep. When this is over, we have to talk.”
His feather light touch riveted her attention fully on him. “About what?”
“About how I can be in Michelle’s life.”
“You promised me you wouldn’t say anything.”
“And I won’t. But after these past few days together, I can’t just walk away without being a part of her life in some way.”
Anger, tamped down years ago, burst to life. “I won’t let you disrupt her life, then move on when you feel like it.”
He studied her a long moment. “Who said anything about moving on?”
“Tell me how many moves you’ve made since you left the army.”
“This is my sixth one. Without family ties, it’s easier for me than for others.”
“So once you’re tired of being around, it’ll be easy for you to leave. There’ll be another place that’ll need you. That makes it convenient for someone who doesn’t want to commit.”
He pulled away, tension vibrating between them. “I committed to you once. I committed to my country, to protect the people of Texas. I don’t have a problem doing that. Maybe you’re really talking about yourself.” He shot to his feet, his hands curled tight. “It didn’t take you long to take the easy way out. It makes me question how committed you were to me fifteen years ago.”
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