“We need a twelve lead.” Greer started wrapping the blood pressure cuff around Mr. Bonetti’s arm.
Sam pulled the supplies needed to start an EKG from the med bag. She raised his shirt and started placing the electrodes on his chest and abdomen with steady hands.
“BP is one eighty-five over one-fifteen.”
Sam studied the monitor. “I’ve got irregular rhythm. No ST elevation.”
“Mr. Bonetti, are you allergic to aspirin?” Greer asked.
They knew the answer, with as many times as they had been to see him, but the question still had to be asked.
“No.” His voice was weak, and he was clammy.
“Renegade EMS.” The relieving EMS crew shouted from the front door.
“In the kitchen.” Mr. Bonetti’s voice was weaker than normal.
The EMS crew wheeled a stretcher in, and Greer started the handoff. Mr. Bonetti was loaded into the ambulance, and it sped off.
If the Marshals forced her and Bella to leave Renegade, she would never be able to work as a firefighter or a medic. Shewould have to give up everything she’d built for the last six years. Now wasn’t the time to sort out her feelings about God. It was time to do what she knew.
Stick to the plan.
Liam studied his computer screen, still running down known associates of the Mob. He’d even looked into the Williamses’ mother, a real piece of work.
A long list of alcohol-related offenses and shoplifting, liquor—all minor stuff. Until shoplifting had turned into breaking-and-entering and burglary. Sheila Johanson should be doing time, but she’d managed to weasel out because the Feds wanted DeLuca and used that to their advantage by leaning on her daughter.
Were Samantha and Isabella better off because of it? In his opinion, yes—they were safer now. The Marshals knew what they were doing. Witnesses who followed all the rules had a one-hundred-percent success rate in relocation. So far, it looked like Samantha and her sister had done exactly that. Neither had social media, and a review of their IP activity showed nothing unusual or concerning.
Sheila Johanson really wasn’t a good mother. No wonder Samantha had insisted Isabella join her in WITSEC. There was no one else to care for her. The arrests dated back to Samantha’s own childhood. Looked like he wasn’t the only one who’d grown up rough.
But that was the only thing that was common. She’d been neglected. He’d been beaten. Which was worse? They both had physical and mental effects. The guilt from that one lie as a teen had rooted deep, shaping every decision since—discipline,control, the need to make things right—all of it born from what he’d let happen to Kayleigh. Luckily, Sam was like him and put her past behind her, moved forward to better things.
Unlike his sister, who’d been in and out of juvie until she turned eighteen and was now in prison.
Sophia’s birth had put her on a better path for a long time. But then she was back to old habits. While she hadn’t directly been involved with her boyfriend’s criminal dealings, the law didn’t care if the drugs were actually hers. It just cared that they’d been found in her possession.
His cell phone screen lit up, pulling him from his thoughts. The phone vibrated against his desk as it started to ring.Renegade Coroner.
He slid the answer icon. “Roberts.”
“Deputy Marshal Roberts, this is Dr. Falleur at the coroner’s office. I’ve got an identification on the burnt body.”
Liam grabbed a sticky note and an ink pen. “Great. Who is it?”
“The man’s name is Dr. Cameron Torres.”
Liam couldn’t say he was shocked. Now that they had a positive identification, they’d have to figure out how Samantha’s landlord had ended up dead in her house and why. He prayed the cases weren’t related to her past in a way that compromised her security.
“Thanks. What about COD?”
“I haven’t completed the report yet. There is a single gunshot wound to the head. Appears to be an execution-style murder, probably with the fire to destroy evidence.”
Liam’s stomach sank. The Mob was notorious for its execution hits. However, there was still no proof that this was related to Samantha and Isabella’s past.
He’d need to talk to Howard about Dr. Torres.
“Anything else you can tell about the body?” Was this a simple execution, or had there been torture before?
