Bullets impacted my SUV and a window shattered. Something hissed. I tried to protect both of our heads, my hands clamped against his snow-covered hair.
The truck burst down Nineteenth Street, jerking a right on Albert Avenue.
Sirens trilled in the distance.
“Bernie?” I couldn’t feel my hands, but I leaned down, trying to see if he was breathing. His blood darkened the already red Santa coat, seeping into the white fur. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” While my body had frozen, my head spun, and my heart rammed wildly against my ribcage. Fear fuzzed the moment while snow billowed all around us. “Bernie?” I leaned down and placed my hands over the blood, trying to find the wound. “Hold on. Just hold on.” Where were they?
Red and blue spun through the billowing snow as police cars slid to rapid stops. I recognized Bud Orlov the second he leaped out of his car. Bud was a solid bear of a man with blond hair, black eyes, and seriously wide shoulders. He’d provided cover for me before, and I’d gotten him shot.
He was the first to reach me, his gun in his hands. He was wisely wearing gloves. “Shooter?”
My nose ran, and I wiped it on my sleeve, getting ice on my face. “Red truck, lifted, no plates. I think just one shooter, wearing a mask. No plates,” I repeated. “I didn’t see plates.” Were there plates? I’d looked, right? “Yeah. No plates.”
The ambulance screeched to a stop and slid several feet, nudging a patrol car. Then the paramedics were out and taking care of Bernie.
Bud holstered his weapon and set his hand beneath my elbow, lifting me to my feet. “You hurt?”
I looked down at the snow, ice, and blood covering me. There was a fair amount of dirty gravel as well. “I don’t think so?” The world morphed in and out, narrowing from the edges. I gulped, and Bud’s face wavered before splitting into two distinct parts.
I’m pretty sure he caught me before I hit the ground.
Chapter 15
Ihad just finished giving Detective Pierce my report when Aiden burst into the examination room. His gaze swept me head to toe. His expression was ATF agent hard, meaning he had no expression, but those blue eyes sizzled. “You hurt?”
I gingerly touched the bandage on my head. “No. Maybe a slight concussion, and I’m freezing.” I’d huddled beneath several warm blankets, and I’d checked out okay for frostbite, but I couldn’t get warm.
Aiden turned to Pierce. “Suspects?”
“Not yet,” Pierce said, still leaning against the wall.
Aiden’s temper swelled through the room, heating every inch. “Any idea if Anna was the target?”
Pierce cut me a look, his green eyes as pissed as Aiden’s. “Not yet. I’d say it’s fifty-fifty between Anna and Bernie, considering he’s caught up in a murder investigation right now, and she’s, well, Anna.”
I frowned but didn’t have the energy to berate him for the comment. I still couldn’t feel my feet, although the heated slippers the nurse had put on me would soon help, I was sure.
Dr. Springfield walked inside the room, scanning through a tablet in his hands. He’d let his white beard grow for the holidays, while his hair had always been a little shaggy. He looked me over. “Your MRI came back fine. You might have a small concussion, but the rest of you checks out. Keep an eye on it, and if you get dizzy or nauseated, come back in.”
I clutched the heated blanket with my still shaking hands. “How is Bernie?”
Springfield set the tablet aside and walked toward me, looking more like Santa than anybody I’d ever seen. “Bernie is out of surgery and is going to be okay. The bullet went through the upper part of his shoulder, and we had to stitch him up. His blood had too much alcohol in it, so we had to be careful.” Sorrow filled his eyes. “Let me take a quick look at the stitches.” He dragged on blue gloves and gently removed my bandage. “Ah. That’s a nice job. The new doctor is working out well.” He replaced the bandage.
I swallowed. “You’re in the Kringle Club. I’ve been meaning to speak with you.”
He patted my shoulder, his touch light. “How about we speak when you aren’t in a hospital bed?”
Aiden and Pierce nodded in unison, short quick lifts of their chins. Tough guy nods.
I could feel Aiden’s tension from across the room, and my heartbeat quickened in response. My legs shifted restlessly beneath the blankets. He looked perfectly calm to anybody who didn’t know him.
I knew him well. He was three steps away from losing his temper, and if there had been somebody around to hit, he would’ve already put them flat on the ground.
I wished the shooter was present because I’d love to see Aiden kick his ass.
Pierce ruffled his hair with his hand. “You’re sure you didn’t hit the shooter when you fired?”
“I’m not sure.” My eyelids started to feel heavy. “I think I just hit the truck, but I can’t guarantee it.”
