“She did, but it sucks that her doing what was right cost you everything you wanted.” He glanced over her shoulder at Bobby. “I’m glad you’re getting some of it back, though.”
She looked behind her at Bobby for the first time, smiling. “Me too.”
“I want you to know I’ve never regretted being the one assigned to keep you safe,” the marshal said. “You have an amazing family, and you’ve turned into an amazing woman.”
She pressed her lips together hard, still struggling to hold back the flow of tears that pushed to be free. “And you did it. You kept us safe. Helped me achieve everything I wanted.”
Donovan stared up into her eyes, and she saw an urgency there that the rest of his body could no longer produce. “You get the ending you wanted. Your mother bought this life for you. It just took time to find you again.”
There was no stopping the tears now, despite everything she did to prevent them. They didn’t care that she was trying her best to be brave. “You’re going to be there to see it all the way to the end.”
He said nothing as he closed his eyes, his body slipping a little down the brick wall.
The ambulance came around the corner before she could press him on it, the siren breaking the Savannah quiet as red lights bounced off the walls. Two paramedics rushed out, racing to the back for their bags and the gurney, then moving toward her with the focused efficiency of people whose job it was to take over exactly this kind of moment.
They rushed to his other side, but she didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to step away from him, worried it would be the end.
“Ma’am.” The first paramedic, a woman with close-cropped hair and calm eyes, touched her shoulder, not pulling her away so much as suggesting it was time for her to move. “We’ve got him. You need to let us take it from here.”
“He was shot below his vest,” Delaney said, still not moving. “Entry point is here.” She indicated the area without lifting herpalm. “He’s been conscious, but his breathing is rough, has been for the last few minutes because he refuses to stay quiet.”
The paramedic nodded, pulling at Delaney’s shoulder a little harder. “Got it. Thanks. Now you have to let us get to him. Please.”
Reluctantly, she moved her hand, standing and stepping back away from the man who had fought to keep her safe for the past fifteen years. Bobby was right there, his hand at her back, and she was grateful for it in a way she could not express while she watched the paramedics work. They moved with swift, practiced motions, talking to each other in the clipped shorthand of people who communicated in emergencies for a living. Vitals were read off, requests for supplies made, and a vocal report of what they were doing given as they did it.
She fought the urge to wrap her arms around herself, her hands still covered with blood. “I’m going with him.”
“Delaney—” Bobby said, turning to look at her as the medics worked.
But she cut him off. “No argument. I’m going with him.” She turned to look at him, and whatever he saw in her face settled the matter, because he didn’t finish the objection. “You need to go with Leon and get the answers we need.”
“I don’t like us separating like this. It’s not smart.”
“But it’s right,” she said.
He growled as he reached down, snatching a rag from the medic and handing it to her. He then glanced over her shoulder. “Gage, Grim, I need you.”
Delaney looked over as a powerfully built, dark-haired man glanced at Bobby and then headed over, leaving the others to deal with Leon and his crew. On the other side of the one she remembered as Dane, another man, just as brawny with shaggier hair, gave a curt nod as he followed Gage over to join them. Grim seemed younger than she first thought, with dark,watchful eyes and a kind smile. There was a stillness about him that differed from Hawk’s stoic immovability, more like someone who had learned the value of being underestimated.
Gage reached her first, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What’s up?”
“I need you two to follow her,” Bobby said. “She wants to go with the marshal to the hospital, and I need to find out what that idiot knows.”
The one called Grim gave a curt nod as he glanced over at her. “No problem. I’m Nash Anders. This is Samuel Garner. People call us Grim or Gage. You can call us either.”
She gave another nod. “Nash.” All the different call signs was getting a little much for her.
He accepted her choice with a smile. “We’ll be right behind you.”
She glanced back at Bobby, wanting to ask him to come with her instead, but she knew he needed to follow his own course. He would think getting Leon to talk was the chief priority, and he was probably right. They needed to get to Matteo to end this entire nightmare.
“Be careful,” she said as the medics wheeled Donovan to the back of the ambulance.
He touched her face briefly, tracing her cheekbone with his thumb gently, the contact warm, which told her he had the same wants as her. But necessity trumped wants right then. “Always,” he said, which was not remotely true, and they both knew it.
She took a deep breath and followed the paramedics.
The inside of the ambulance was all white light and organized urgency as the paramedic worked over Donovan with focused efficiency while her partner drove. Delaney sat against the side wall, holding Donovan’s hand, which was cold, as she did her best to stay out of the way while remaining close. She glided her thumb in small circles against his knuckles the way her motherhad done to her when she wasn’t feeling well, an ache pressing down on her chest.
