He knew she’d show up somewhere. She was on the clock—he knew her schedule as well as he knew his own. And these were herfriends,too. Madison was going to be freaking, even if she’d never let that show.
It took him a moment, but he finally saw her on the edge of the crowd. That was enough—now he could focus on what he really had to do. He turned to the man at his left. MacNamara had an extremely harassed look on his face, and a snickering blond woman behind him. “What happened?”
He listened as the other man gave the rundown. “Hell, I was eight blocks away and didn’t know a damned thing was going on. Lake was with me. We were putting together bookshelves for the wifey while those two hot ladies puttered in the den withthe kiddies. All of this was going down—and I was being all domesticated. I could have helped out.”
Dom just grunted. He didn’t doubt that. MacNamara was lured away by Heather’s family—to tell Jake exactly what had happened. All at once. There were beautiful womeneverywhere.And every last one of them was talking—at once. To Jake. Calling him by name and demanding his attention.
Dom was not wading into the middle of that mess. He just wasn’t.
Dom just listened to what the women were saying—trying to piece together some sort of a timeline. To find a place to start. They still had people on scene now. He thought Dodson was coordinating that part of things—with Miller and Naylor to help. Someone would have to get back out there. Lake couldn’tfullytake responsibility for this one—not with his wife’s damned family involved. Somehow. Lake’s wife was a Coleson by biology, even if she hadn’t known that until very recently.
It was time to get the answers.
Dom checked the crowd one more time—there she was. Madison was with two of her lab techs, giving them instructions. She wassafe.Dom turned to the man at the door—the head of security here at FCGH. “Youtext me the minute Madison tries to leave this building. I want to know where she is at, at all times. And I don’t trust the rest of them to tell me.”
His dad nodded, hesitated for a moment. “Stay safe out there, son. Watch your back. And make sure you come home to your family for Sunday dinner, understand?”
Understood.
Dom was going to do his best to do just that.
He headed to the door, aware of a certain woman’s light brown eyes on him as he walked by. He looked at her. Saw the fear and worry in her face. It damned near destroyed him.
19
She’d gottento the hospital as fast as she could, her crews were just minutes behind her. Madison was doing her best to keep things together here. This was Powell. And Powell’s family.People Madison had known for years. She’d kissedallof Powell’s brothers at one time or another—and then had to rate them for the rest of their friends so they would know. Mac and Alex and Brandt had been more than willing to help her out with that. And Melissa, Powell’s mother, was wonderful. She coddled all of Powell’s friends whenever their paths crossed.
Thank God Powell’s family had escaped without major injuries.
Madison didn’t know what else to do—so she supervised the second-shifters as they processed each of the Colesons who had been out there at the scene. She couldn’t believe the things Hope’s family was saying. But they had been out there tonight. And people were alive because of it. She still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. Just bits and pieces from the people around her.
All she really knew now was that Heather, Daniel, and Gunnar had been seriously hurt tonight. So bad the chopperhad been called in—toHughes Heights,the most exclusive neighborhood in this part of the state.
There were far more questions than answers now.
It took too long. She felt it, they did. But eventually, they were upstairs in the surgical waiting room.
Powell was there, curled up in a chair. Next to her mom. Waiting.
They were all just waiting. But Powell looked okay. She looked okay. And that meant…her baby was probably okay, right?
Madison sank down next to Powell. Powell’s brother Alex was on his mother’s other side. Mac was pacing. Agitated. He was on his phone, giving updates or something. And angry. There was so muchangeron his beautiful face.
There was duct tape on his ankle. Tape covered with glitter and pink and purple hearts. Madison almost asked why, but…at the expression on his face as he pulled it free and just stared at it, before he tucked it into his pocket, she stopped.
There was just…something in Mac’s blue eyes…when he looked at that tape she just didn’t understand. Madison finally looked away when the baby cried nearby. She turned.
There was a baby there. Madison just stared for a long moment. At that baby girl. At Heather’s baby girl.
Powell held Heather’s baby as she slept. That beautiful, precious little girl who only existed now because of what Steve Wilson had done to Heather that night. That baby was the spitting image of Hope, right down to the sweet little grin. She had a little hat on her head, just like the one Hope wore all the time. She was wrapping one little fist in that hat. Powell just held her close.
There was another baby there, too. Madison looked at her, until she recognized that precious baby girl.
Hope still held Commander Rodriguez’s baby close. Hope was just rocking, a terrified look on her face. Hope looked so…frail and confused. It hurt to see the younger woman hurting like that. Hope had been through extraordinary hell in the last month—and nowthis? Why?
“What’s the word?” Madison asked, when Powell’s older brother Alex came back in with Bonnie. Alex looked more upset than Madison had ever seen him before.
“Heather is holding her own. The bullet hit something in her leg. And she was bleeding badly,” Alex said, quietly. He seemed to be sticking close to Hope’s family, as well as his own. “She is stable now, though. In recovery. Dr. Stockton said she should be okay.”
