Without lifting her head, Bella's eyes wandered the room. “Dad,” she whispered with wide frightened eyes.
“Dad is gonna be fine, Bells.”
“He…was shot,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Yeah, he’s in surgery, but he’s gonna be fine.”
Bella closed her eye and exhaled. “Mom?” she mouthed more said.
“You’ve been out for a while. Mom went to go find the doctor. Bella…what happened? What do you remember?”
Bella covered her eyes with her hand.
“I remember everything. Donna, can you turn off some of these lights, please?”
“Do you know who shot at you?” Donna asked before walking over to the light switch. She turned the knob to dim the light. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah. It was two women, but I didn’t recognize either of them. They pulled into the driveway like they were using it to turn around. Then one just pointed a semi-auto out the window and opened up. One was a middle-aged woman. I think she was white. The other one, the one with the gun, was a white girl with green and blonde hair.”
“What?” Bella gasped.
“Ummm…I couldn’t see the make of the car.”
“It’s okay, Belly. You should get some rest.”
“What?” Bella asked with a frown. “Didn’t you just tell me that I’ve been out for hours? Why the hell would I need sleep? I’m trying to give you a description. Now, listen, the older one said something before the young one started shooting. No…wait. She asked a question.”
Bella’s brow wrinkled as if she was trying to remember.
“Oh, yeah. She asked, ‘Do know what broke the heart of Jesus? When we didn’t answer, she answered for us. She said, ‘The betrayal of a friend.’”
Donna dropped her head in shame and worked to keep the tears that were pooling in her eyes at bay. Sadly, she was unsuccessful.
“What’s wrong, Sis?”
Donna didn’t respond. She couldn’t. As soon as the first sob escaped, she found herself outright balling. Bella grabbed the handrail and rolled over enough to caress her head.
“What is it, Donna? Please, tell me,” she encouraged.
“I know who it was,” Donna admitted.
“What?” Bella breathed.
Donna looked up and faced her sister. “I worked those women in my last undercover investigation.”
“What investigation? And, if you say something like you can’t tell me, I’m gonna get up and beat the hell out of you.”
Donna swiped the tears from her cheek and gently pushed at her sister’s shoulder, urging her to lie down. Thankfully, she didn’t put up a struggle and relaxed against her pillow.
“Long story short…I was detailed to a federal task force assigned to take down a religious cult. We did, but I got made at court.”
“A religious cult?” Bella grimaced with disbelief.
“The Blood of The Chosen.”
“Church people shot at us?”
“Bella,” Donna whispered. Her faced heated from the overwhelming guilt she was feeling. “They thought you were me. They were trying to kill me.”
