While Nurse Smiles took Reese’s vitals, Brantley rummaged through the bag until he found Reese’s phone still tucked into the pocket of his jeans.
“I’ll see if I can get ahold of her,” Brantley told him as he took the phone with him out into the hall, then back to the waiting room.
He was surprised to find RT and Z both there. They’d clearly gone home, showered, and changed and now looked far more alive than Brantley felt at the moment.
They were instantly on their feet when he appeared, their eyes hopeful.
Realizing no one else knew Reese was awake, Brantley gave them the good news.
“Thank God,” Z said on a rough exhale, even as he pulled out his phone, began tapping out a message, probably giving Cindy and Hugh the news.
“He’s askin’ about Madison,” Brantley explained, hating the words as they slid off his tongue. “Said those guys were there for her.”
Z’s eyes jerked up from his phone, studied Brantley’s face. “He was havin’ dinner with Madison?”
Brantley nodded.
“Why?”
RT frowned, plowing right over Z’s question. “There for her how?”
Preferring to answer the second question, Brantley shrugged as he focused on the phone in his hand. He pulled up Madison’s number, dialed.
“Max is a mob boss,” Z noted. “There’s no tellin’ who might be after her. I’m sure he’s got a long list of enemies.”
“It went to voicemail,” Brantley said, ending the call without leaving a message.
“I’ll call Max,” RT stated, strolling out of the waiting room and into the main hall.
RT disappeared around the corner, phone to his ear, leaving Brantley there to pace, running a hand over his hair. Now that Reese was awake, all the pain and frustration from last night returned.
“Hey.” A firm hand landed on his shoulder. “I know Reese’ll have a damn good explanation for this.”
Brantley looked into Z’s eyes, held his gaze. “I’m not sure he does.”
“You two havin’ problems?”
He hadn’t thought they were. Hell, for the past six months, ever since Juliet Prince had been dealt with and they’d started working for Sniper 1 Security, Brantley’d thought they were settling into a nice routine together. Never in his life would he have imagined Reese to be chatting it up with his ex-girlfriend, much less going on dates with her.
“Give him a chance to explain,” Z said firmly.
Brantley nodded because it was the right thing to do, not because he was in agreement.
“Any chance you’ve given the rest of the team a call?”
Brantley’s gaze slammed into Z’s.
Ah, hell.
*
Baz answered his phone on the firstring.
“Hey, boss man. What’s up?”
“Reese is in the hospital. ICU. Here in Dallas. He was shot last night. He’s awake and alert now, but I don’t have any updates on his condition.”
Because Brantley was speaking so fast, his voice low, it took a second for Baz to process the information.
