by Cassie Wild
Briar
“What?” I shoved my hand through my hair, squeezing my eyes shut as I listened to a near-hysterical Daria on the other end of the line. I’d just pulled into the parking lot of the hospital when she’d called, and for the past two minutes, I’d been trying to make sense of what she was saying. I wasn’t having any luck.
Finally, I interrupted, “Daria. You need to calm down. I can’t understand you when you’re talking so fast. Take a deep breath.”
Obediently, she did just that. But when she started to talk again, her voice was just as frantic.
I all but collapsed with relief when Isabel’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Briar. It’s me.”
“Iz.” I leaned back against the car, huddling in my coat against the wind. “What’s going on?”
“We’re idiots,” she said in a brisk voice. “We got off the train, planning on catching the next one heading back to Philly. But I accidentally left my purse at home and Daria is so upset, she left hers on the train.”
I groaned, rubbing my temple. “That’s just great. I guess her credit cards and cash are all in there.”
“Only a couple. She doesn’t carry anything more than the basics around. One of the students in our class was mugged a few months ago, and it made us both paranoid. I’m having her cancel the cards next…but for now, we’re sort of stranded in Trenton at the train station.”
My mind raced as I stared at the hospital. I’d already wasted forty-five minutes fighting city traffic just to get there. Of course my brother would be taken to a hospital on the far side of Philadelphia.
“Okay, I’ll figure something out.” I paused, then added, “I guess I don’t need to tell you to hold tight?”
“No.” Isabel’s voice was brusque. “We’re definitely not going anywhere.”
“Good. I’ll call or text back.” Ending the call, I started to walk toward the hospital. I brought up my contacts and tapped on Cormac’s picture. I gave only a moment’s thought to what Isabel might think. Right now, I didn’t have a lot of options.
Sean was in Florida. Nobody had outright come and told me, but I thought there must have been another attack on the family business. For all I knew, he didn’t even know about the attack yet. Declan and Dad were both on their way to the hospital themselves.
He answered with a drowsy voice. “H’lo?”
“Cormac. I need your help.”
“What’s up?” Just like that, his voice was clearer. In fact, he sounded like he’d bolted an entire gallon of caffeine in the blink of an eye.
“I…it’s Brooks. He’s been attacked. He’s in the hospital and—”
“Where are you?” he demanded. Before I could finish giving him all the information, he barked, “I’m on my way—”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “I need you to go to Trenton, New Jersey. To the train station.”
The tension in the air was palpable. After a few seconds, he asked, “Why, exactly?”
“Daria and Isabel are stranded there. They were trying to get back here, but Daria left her purse on the train, and they don’t have any money. If you don’t go get them, I’ll have to…and…” My voice caught. I couldn’t stop it. “I want to be with my brother. Cormac…please?”
“Alright, baby,” he said, voice low. “I’ll go get them. You want me to bring them to the hospital, right?”
“Please.” A wave of relief washed over me, and I closed my eyes. I had to lock my knees to keep from collapsing, but I managed to stay upright. “Thank you, Cormac. Thank you so much.”
“It’s no problem. I’m going to get off so I can get on the road.”
The line disconnected so abruptly, I didn’t even have time to say goodbye.
Nobody else had arrived yet.
Dad had been at home when I called him. I knew from experience that it would take him over an hour to get to this part of town. I hadn’t asked Declan where he was, but I knew he wouldn’t exactly be taking his time, so either he was just as far out as Dad, or he was in the middle of something important.
Important. Frustration chewed at me.
Important.
The shit he did for my dad. How important was that kind of work?
Was that the kind of work that had put Brooks in the hospital?
I paced at the foot of the bed as I waited for the nurse or doctor to come update me.
A staff member at the front desk had taken pity on me and escorted me back to the bay where Brooks was being held in the emergency department, and now I was waiting on him to either wake up and tell me what had happened, or for the nurse or doctor to show up.
He looked like he’d gotten into a fight with a heroin-addicted Tasmanian Devil—and lost.
His face was almost unrecognizable, and judging by the labored way he was breathing, I suspected he had a couple of fractured ribs. There was a soft splint on his left hand. It had me puzzled…and a little worried. Brooks was right-handed. If he’d broken his hand in a fight, it stood to reason that he’d break his dominant hand.
Unless somebody had broken it for him.
His lashes fluttered, and just like that, he opened them and looked around. As if he’d sensed my presence, he turned his head and met my eyes. Instead of his normal smile, he gave me a pained grimace. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I eased closer and rested my hip on the side of the gurney. “I guess this isn’t a good time to tell you that if you hang with bad company, bad shit just might happen.”
“Ha, ha.” He closed his eyes, a shadow of pain flickering over his face as he struggled to take a deep breath.
“Broken ribs?” I asked.
“Three,” he told me. He looked back at me. “Dad? Declan?”
“On their way. So is your wife, but it will take a little while. She was heading to New York when she got word.”
His eyes darkened. “How did she find out?”
I thought back to what Daria had told me and debated for just a split second before lying. “I don’t know. Anyway, Daria will be here soon. I haven’t heard from Sean yet. He was heading to Florida when I got the call, and I left a message for him to call me as soon as he could, but you know how it is with airlines and phones.”
I’d had too much time to think on the drive over here, as he slept. I could have found a more tactful way to put it, maybe, but the worry and anger got the better of me, and the question escaped me before I could stop it.
“Did this shit happen because of Dad? The work you’ve done for him?”
Brooks’s eyes widened slightly.
I took a step closer to him. “Does this have anything to do with the Castellanos and what happened to you and Daria?”
“Shit,” he muttered, looking away. He started to reach up, but stopped, grimacing in pain. Immediately lowering his arm, he breathed out shallow breaths, his face pale, contorted with pain.
“Briar,” he said after a few seconds. “Look, I don’t know—”
“Don’t lie to me,” I told him, cutting him off when his voice went low and quiet. “If you won’t tell me, fine. But don’t lie.”
He stared at me, eyes unreadable.
Seconds passed, then he went to speak. But before he even finished forming the first word, the curtain was pushed aside and a slim doctor, just an inch taller than me, stepped into the small, curtained-off bay. He started to speak to Brooks, but then caught sight of me and paused. “Hello.”
“Hi.” I read the nametag. “Dr. Hanlon.” I stepped forward, offering my hand. “I’m Briar Downing, Brooks’s sister.”
He smiled and accepted my hand, his eyes dropping to the ID badge I hadn’t gotten around to taking off. “Dr. Downing? Nice to meet you.” He mentioned the hospital I worked at, then Raisa.
“She’s my boss.” I smiled at him.
“She’s an excellent doctor.” He nodded at me then shifted his attention backed to Brooks. “I take it you’re okay with me discussing matters in front of your sister?”
Brooks wave
d a hand. “Fine. Go ahead.”
Hanlon cleared his throat, then looked down at the tablet in his hands. “Well, the X-rays show that you have several broken ribs. Two are simple fractures, but the third is complex, and I want to monitor you for a day or two.”
Brooks’s face darkened, and I could already see the argument forming.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “Behave,” I warned him. Then, shifting my attention to the doctor, I asked, “What’s the concern here?”
Hanlon gave me his full attention. “There are two fractures on his right side, and those, while painful, aren’t an issue. But the one on his left side…” He tapped something on the tablet, then turned it over to me.
I found myself looking at an X-ray and saw the problem almost immediately. Turning it back over to the doctor, I drew in a deep breath, then looked at Brooks. “You’re staying in the hospital until the doctor feels you’re stable enough to go home.”
“I feel fine—”
“I’m sure you do,” I retorted. He was lying through his teeth, and I knew it. I could see it in his eyes. “But a couple of wrong moves and the broken rib on your left side will likely puncture your lung. If that happens, your lung could collapse. Daria is going to be hovering over you for the next several days. You want to scare her to death when she walks in and finds you on the floor, hardly able to breathe because that rib punctured your lung?”
“You’re exaggerating—”
“She’s not exaggerating,” Dr. Hanlon cut in. “You need to be monitored for a few days, until the immediate danger has passed.”
Brooks tried once more to argue.
I leaned in, blocking off his view of the doctor.
“You want me to find Dad, tell him you’ve got busted ribs that may well puncture your lungs, but you’re too arrogant to stay in the hospital, and I’m scared you’ll go home and collapse, right in front of Daria?” Narrowing my eyes, I added, “How do you think he’ll take that? Then I’m going to start yelling at him, because no matter what you say, I know why this happened, Brooks. Now…let me say this again. You’re staying in the hospital. Got it?”
“Shit. Fine. I’m staying in the fucking hospital.” Brooks glared at me. “You can be such a manipulative little bitch.”
“Same goes.” I straightened, knowing I’d won the argument. “If it was me or Sean, hell…even Declan, you’d be doing the same thing that I’m doing.” He looked like he wanted to argue with me. I cocked a brow at him. “You know I’m right, so don’t bother trying to act otherwise.”
I gave him my back and looked at the doctor. “He won’t give you any trouble. I’ll make sure of it.”
Dr. Hanlon grinned at me. “I wish all of my families could handle things as effectively as you just did.”
If he knew just why I’d had such an effective threat, he wouldn’t have made that comment.
But I wasn’t about to enlighten him.
Dad arrived just as they were transferring Brooks to a room upstairs.
I’d moved out to the waiting room so I wouldn’t be in the way and that was where Dad found me.
“How is he?” he asked.
“Sore and irritable.” I paced over to a far corner, one where no other families sat. Dad followed me. I expected he would. Standing there, I stared out the window at the manicured lawn and carefully cultivated grounds. Even in the winter, there was greenery. Crossing my arms over my chest, I said softly, “I heard something happened to Frankie, Dad.”
He went stiff.
Turning my head, I looked at him. “You knew him.”
He inclined his head slightly.
“It’s funny. He knew who I was. I know I mentioned you. Why didn’t he ever tell me that the two of you knew each other?”
“I…well…” Seamus pursed his lips, then shrugged his big, bear-like shoulders. “Perhaps he never thought of it.”
“Maybe.” I shifted my attention back outside, a hot ball of anger settling in my chest once more. “Maybe that’s why you all never told me about what’s going on in the family too. You never thought of it.”
This time, Dad was saved from having to answer by the sound of Declan’s voice, ringing out through the emergency room. I turned slowly and met my father’s eyes briefly, so briefly, before he turned and strode to meet my brother halfway across the waiting room.
Throughout my life, Dad had excelled at avoiding certain questions, and he’d perfected that strategy to an art form.
I didn’t want to upset Brooks, so after Dad rebuffed me a couple of times, I stopped trying.
I wasn’t giving up, but I wasn’t going to push things while Brooks looked so pale and strained either.
At least, I wasn’t going to push around him.
When Declan slipped out of the room, I was on his heels.
Following him to the small area where the vending machines were, I blocked the door so he couldn’t cut around me before asking, “Does this have anything to do with what happened to Frankie?”
Declan went rigid.
Slowly, he turned to look at me, his face utterly blank.
“Excuse me?”
“Come off it,” I said with a snort. “I know something happened at Franco’s and I know Frankie was killed.” That angry, hot knot in my chest expanded and I had to fight to get it under control. “And apparently there is some sort of connection between Dad and Frankie. I didn’t even know they knew each other, but that shows how little I know. Now, tell me some other shit I don’t know—was Brooks attacked because of something that happened at Frankie’s? Was he attacked because of what happened between him and Marcos Castellanos? Or is it just because of the so-called family business?”
Declan’s jaw was tight, and his eyes were unreadable. Save for those two things, though, I couldn’t pick up anything. I might as well have been staring at a blank page in a book. He turned his back to me once more and punched a selection into a vending machine, paying for it with his debit card. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Briar.”
“Don’t give me that shit,” I warned him. “I’ve had it with the lies and excuses.”
He looked back at me, drink in hand. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“How about the truth?”
Taking his time, he twisted off the cap of the drink and took a sip. “Maybe you should talk to Dad if you have all of these concerns.”
“I’ve tried.”
“And?”
“He won’t tell me anything!” I threw up my hands in frustration.
“Ahhh…” Nodding sagely, Declan took another sip before walking toward me. He stopped a few steps away. “Maybe that’s because there’s just nothing to tell.”
I jabbed a finger into his chest. “That’s bullshit. We both know it.”
Declan stroked a hand down my shoulder. I knocked it off, glaring at him.
He heaved out a sigh. “Briar, I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Knowing he wasn’t going to give me anything else, I stepped aside. But as he walked past, I said to his back, “I guess honesty is just too much to ask for from my own family.”
His back went rigid.
But he kept on walking.
Sean called as I was on my way back to the room. I almost didn’t answer. I was so tired of the bullshit from my family, I could have happily ignored them for the next month.
But on the off-chance that Sean might tell me something, I did answer.
After explaining what had happened, I pushed for answers. “Why did you have to go to Florida all of a sudden?” I demanded.
“Taking care of a few things for Dad.”
A pulse ticked in my brow. “Does it have anything to do with the attack on the liquor store, Franco’s?”
I’d thrown him. “What?”
“You heard me. You know what store. The attack, the one that killed Frankie. Dad knew him. I heard one of Dad’s other businesses down there was attacked. Are these two attacks connected?”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, Briar,” Sean said, his voice easy. But there was a note of strain under it.
“You damn well do know,” I snapped. “There’s something going on, and I want to know what it is. I don’t believe in bullshit coincidences, Sean. I’m tired of being lied to.”
“Hell…that’s not nice.”
“Fuck being nice!” I half-shouted. “My brother was attacked. He could have been killed. A guy I’ve known for several years was attacked and killed. I’m tired of all of this bullshit, and I’m tired of the people who have answers not talking to me!”
That startled my smart-ass baby brother into silence, but when he finally did speak, he still wouldn’t tell me anything. “Look, Briar. I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“How about you tell me why you went to Florida.”
“I can’t,” he said, voice weary. “I’m just…taking care of some business matters.”
I clenched my teeth together. “Fine. You just keep taking care of business matters. All of you. Leave me in the fucking dark. I wonder if that’s supposed to protect me…or just piss me off.”
Sean said something, but I hung up, too angry to care what he might have to tell me.
I found Cormac waiting outside Brooks’s room.
I almost went right to him, but the sound of Daria’s voice had me hesitating.
Cormac gave me a crooked grin. “Go on,” he said. “Go see your brother. Make sure Daria knows he’ll pull through. She’ll put more faith in your word than some doctor she doesn’t know.”
Giving him a grateful smile, I slipped into the room and found Daria sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching Brooks’s hand while glaring at Declan and my father.
I came up short as she focused her pretty gray eyes on Declan and bit off, “I heard what you said, Declan, and now you need to listen to me. Get out so I can talk to my husband. That is what you need to do. I don’t have to do a damn thing right now but take care of Brooks.”
Brooks was looking at Daria with bemused eyes.
Declan saw me and turned to give me a grateful look, as if he thought I was going to help him.