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“For a moment.” Eli kept the pressure on. His arm muscles trembled with the effort. “You had access to the invoices and the donations. But I never really suspected you.”
“I knew. From your face… when I asked about Jesse.” His mouth contorted with pain. “But you still apologized to me. Why?”
“Because I was wrong. I meant every word I said to you on the porch.” Tears pricked his eyes as a prayer winged from his heart. He didn’t want to lose his brother. Not like this. Not when they’d found each other again and had begun the hard work of healing old wounds. “I should’ve protected you better. And treated your mistakes with kindness and compassion. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t… don’t be.” Dalton's skin grew paler by the second. He was losing too much blood. “You were the best brother. So perfect. You did everything right. I couldn’t measure up.”
“That’s not true. You’re braver than me. Fearless. You literally flung yourself at an armed man to stop him from committing suicide.”
He smiled weakly. “Yeah, but I got shot.”
“It’s okay. We’ll have matching scars.”
Dalton huffed out a laugh and then grimaced.
Sienna appeared at Eli’s side. She dropped the phone on the floor next to his knee. “Dispatch is on the line and an ambulance is en route.” She brushed the damp hair away from Dalton’s forehead with a gentle touch. “Hang in there.”
“Doing my best.”
She met Eli’s gaze. “Ruby may still be alive, but there isn’t much time if Gideon has initiated his escape plan. I have to try to save her.”
Panic sent Eli’s pulse skittering. He wanted to order her to stay and wait for backup, but it was a selfish desire. Like Dalton, Sienna was fearless. She put others before herself every time. And her sister’s murder haunted her. Harper’s death had created its own scars on Sienna’s heart, and she lived with regrets about it every day.
If Ruby died while Sienna stayed here waiting for backup, she’d never forgive herself.
Eli knew all of this without being told a word. Sienna was a part of him, and he understood her better today than he had five years ago. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She leaned over and kissed him. It was fleeting and softer than a feather, but the emotion behind it could’ve powered the entire city.
Then she was gone, the sound of her footsteps pounding on the stairs before fading into the night.
Dalton attempted to sit up. “Go with her!”
“NO!” Eli shoved him back down and reapplied pressure to his wound. “If I leave, you’ll bleed out before help arrives.”
“You… can’t…. let her go alone.”
“She isn’t.” Eli sucked in a breath, pressing harder on his brother’s gunshot wound. Fear wanted to steal his words, but he knew the truth buried in his heart. “Sienna isn’t alone. She’s going with God.”
Then he prayed. For Ruby. For Dalton.
And for Sienna, the love of his life.
TWENTY-FIVE
Icy needles of rain pelted Sienna’s face as she raced toward the warehouse at the end of the block. Paint peeled from the facade and metal bars covered the windows. On the left side, a truck bay door was partially open, the bottom of a white van barely visible. Someone was definitely inside.
Sticking to the shadows, she circled the building, searching for a back way in. Her breath came in ragged puffs and her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. Every inch of her clothing was wet. She was frozen to the bone and didn’t have a game plan formulated on what to do once inside the building, but kept moving forward anyway. If there was a chance to save Ruby’s life, she had to take it.
There! A side door. Sienna tested the knob and discovered the door was unlocked, the wood warped by time and the weather so that the latch didn’t catch anymore. She paused. No sound emanated from inside, but it was hard to hear over the sound of the rain. Sienna purposefully flexed her fingers around the handgun to loosen her muscles. She needed to be prepared for anything.
Darkness beckoned as she slipped inside the warehouse and eased the door closed behind her. Sienna gave her eyes a moment to adjust. Cranes and boxes littered the space. Long industrial assembly lines had been pushed to one side. Voices filtered from her right. Water droplets coated the floor as Sienna moved in that direction, using whatever she could find as cover.
The rear of the van came into view. Luis Greer stood hunched over inside, arranging boxes in the back with the skill of a professional mover while other men moved back and forth, handing him items. Sienna recognized some of them from her tour at Fresh Start. Her stomach churned. Gideon hadn’t just used his charity as a cover for his drug trade, he’d also used it for recruiting workers. The man was a monster.
But where was Ruby? There was no sign of the young woman.
