I grimaced as I dropped my eyes down to my lap. I plucked at a stray thread on the blanket. My stomach was in knots just thinking about Sal being in trouble. God knew his job was dangerous, but that didn’t make me feel any less nauseous.
“I need to see you, Sal.”
I needed to see with my own eyes that he was okay.
“I know,caro. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
That wasn’t good enough, but I’d have to deal with it. I wasn’t going to lay a guilt trip on Sal. He didn’t need that on his shoulders on top of everything else. “Just hurry, please.”
I blinked when my eyes filled with tears as I hung up.
Sometimes I hated being married to a man in law enforcement. It might be one of the hardest things a spouse could ever do. Every day, I had to watch Sal go off to work, never knowing if he was going to come home that night.
I might work in the police department, but my job was so far from dangerous it was ludicrous. I was in more danger of getting a paper cut than getting shot. Sal faced it every single day.
I jumped when the walkie-talkie on the coffee table squawked.
Eddie’s voice came through a moment later. “Lany? You still up?”
I grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the communicate button. “Yeah, Eddie, I’m up. Did you need something?”
“Is Sal back yet?” Eddie asked. “Did he get a chance to talk to my uncle?”
Oh man.
Instead of answering, I set the walkie-talkie down on the coffee table. I grabbed my cell phone and slid it into my pocket and then got off the couch, taking my blanket with me. This might take a while and I was still cold. I suspected I would be until I was wrapped in Sal’s muscular arms.
I headed to Eddie’s room, rapping gently on Eddie’s door with my knuckles when I reached it. “Eddie, can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
I opened the door and stepped inside. After closing the door behind me, I walked over to sit down on the end of Eddie’s bed. I wrapped my blanket around me before lifting my eyes and meeting Eddie’s curious gaze.
“So, Sal called. He’s going to be a little late getting home. There was an incident when he went to go see your uncle.”
Eddie’s eyes widened. “Did he shoot my uncle?”
“No, but there was a shooting. Sal told me someone started shooting at them while he was talking to Vinnie.” I drew in a shaky breath. “Isabella was shot protecting your uncle. She didn’t make it, Eddie.”
Eddie’s brown eyes filled with tears. “Isabella’s dead?”
I pretty much wanted to do anything else than confirm Eddie’s questions, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. I nodded.
“And my uncle?”
“He’s okay.”
Eddie’s lips thinned as he glanced away. I dropped my eyes, trying to give the man a little privacy. No one wanted another man to witness them falling apart.
“I need to call Uncle Vinnie,” Eddie said after a couple of minutes. “Can I use your phone?”
I handed it over without comment.
If someone in my family had been shot at, and maybe died, I would want to hear from them, as well. It was why I wanted Sal to come home so badly. I needed to know he was okay, and the only sure way to do that was to see him.
When Eddie tossed the phone to the space on the bed right in front of me, I realized I had zoned out and totally missed his conversation. I picked the phone up and slid it back into my pocket.
“What did your uncle say?”
