“Damn thing acted like a fucking vest.” He still couldn’t believe that shit. “She was holding her laptop with her right hand, cradling it against her chest like this.” Gabe loosened the bag’s drawstring opening and pulled out the damaged device. “Bullet penetrated the screen but got lodged here, between the keyboard and the back panel.”
A wide-eyed Zade took the computer from Gabe. Turning it this way and that to study the bullet’s effect, he shook his head in disbelief. “Jesus.”
Matt rested his hands on his hips. “Wait. So she wasn’t actually hit?”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Gabe glanced back at the closed door behind him. “Got the wind knocked out of her. Chest is bruised all to hell. But the scans showed no internal bleeding.”
“She was really fucking lucky,” Matt stated the obvious.
The other men murmured their agreements. They were all well aware that a bullet didn’t have to enter a person’s body to do serious damage.
Damage Gabe couldn’t even fathom his Elle having to endure.
“I should’ve seen it coming.” He clenched his jaw shut. “I should’ve been right next to her, and I should’ve…”
“Don’t do that to yourself, man.” Matt shook his head. “Regrets and what-ifs are a waste of time. Trust me.”
“Turner’s right, Dawson,” Nate agreed. “You could’ve been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Elle. Wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”
“Other than you could’ve been the one to get shot, instead.” Kole stared back at him. “And I could be wrong, but I’m willing to bet you weren’t carrying a hunk of metal strong enough to stop a damn bullet.”
Gabe’s eyes moved down to the computer in Zade’s hand. He could still feel the soul-wrenching fear racing through him when he realized there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable.
“What now?” Nate’s question ripped him out of his own personal hell.
“Doctor’s supposed to be getting her discharge papers, so we should be good to go shortly.
The other man nodded. “I reserved the room across the hallway from mine, just in case.” He handed Gabe two plastic keycards. “Room six thirteen. Double queen. But we can go straight to the airstrip from here if you’d rather.”
“She’s had a hell of a day.” Gabe wanted to get Elle out of town as soon as possible but mumbled a curse when he checked his watch and saw it was almost midnight. Rubbing a hand down his face, he told them, “We’ll stay the night and fly out first thing in the morning.”
“Copy that.” Nate tipped his chin.
“Have her put together a list of things she needs from the house,” Zade suggested. “We can run by there now, throw whatever she needs in a bag, and meet you at the hotel.”
“Sounds good.” He dug into the bag for her purse. Unzipping it, he pulled out her keys and held them out for Zade. “I’ll text you the list. Make sure you lock up when you’re done.”
Zade’s eyes fell on the keys. “Uh…shouldn’t you maybe ask Ellena first?”
“King’s right, Dawson.” Kole’s expression turned leery. “I’m not so sure she’s gonna appreciate us going through her things.”
“Don’t make me pull rank on you assholes.” With the four men staring back at him expectantly, Gabe drew in a calming breath and silently counted to ten. “Just head to her house and wait for my text. Let me worry about my wife.”
Matt rubbed his jaw with a smirk. “Damn, man. I still can’t get used to hearing that.”
Yeah well, you’d better get used to it.
Gabe cleared his throat, because shit. Thoughts like that were bound to get him in trouble.
“I’ll take a look at this.” Nate took the computer from Zade’s hands. “With any luck, the motherboard’s still intact. If it is, I should be able to recover the data that was saved on here. If not, I’m sure I can find a way into the program’s backup system.”
Of course, he could. The guy was a flippin’ genius when it came to computer shit.
“That reminds me.” Gabe slid his hand into his back pocket, pulling out the ‘missing’ bullet. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger, he held it out for Nate. “See if you can get anything off of this.”
A slow smile formed on the guy’s face. “You sly dog. I can’t believe the cops didn’t ask about it.”
“The Sgt. in charge knows Jake.”
