Trying to be gentle, he shoved her behind him, so he was between her and the man.
Who writhed on the floor, blood pouring out of his shoulder. The one part of his body he hadn’t been able to hide behind Lia, making it the only target for Gard to shoot at. Fire licked around the guy, but he seemed more pained by the bullet wound.
He swore and groaned and squirmed there on the floor. He didn’t appear to have a gun or any other weapon, but next to him on the floor was a knife.
Covered in blood.
He swore and whirled to Lia. She’d stumbled back into the table but was holding herself upright with one hand against it. The other hand clasped her side. Blood leaked out between her fingers.
For one horrible moment, everything inside of him froze. Instinct, training, everything evaporated and there was only a bone-deep, mind-numbing terror at the sight of Lia’s blood.
“I’m okay,” she said, but she said it through gritted teeth. And that poked through the freeze. Everything shuffled back into place.
Act. He had toact. Save.
Her gaze met his, clouded with pain, but coherent. “Sammy?”
“She’s good. Now let’s get you good. You need an ambulance.” Gard still had the gun pointed at the man. The guy had shoved himself against the cabinets and was sitting up, cursing up a blue streak as blood oozed from his shoulder. Fire crackled around them and the smoke was getting thick enough to start to become a problem. The man’s gaze was on the knife. He reached out.
In quick moves, Gard strode forward and kicked the knife far away from the man. He could feel the heat from the fire, smoke stinging his eyes and throat.
Likely the guy was going to suffer burns if he didn’t get out of the way.
Gard felt nothing about that observation.
Gard moved over to Lia without looking away from the man. He couldn’t carry her and hold his gun ready to shoot. He couldn’t really put his arm around her waist and help her walk without hurting where she was holding herself.
“It’s okay,” Lia said, her voice sounding thready at best. “I can walk.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but if she could get to the front…
“Walk out the front door. Royal’s brother-in-law should be waiting for you, okay? Tell him to send in someone to arrest this asshole once backup arrives.” He eyed her speculatively. “Lia…”
“I got it,” she said. She was ashen at this point, but she pushed off the table and walked out of the room, clutching her side. Just like he’d asked her to.
The fire kept growing up the side of the door. Flames licked the ceiling now. Gard pulled his shirt up over his nose to try and block out some of the smoke that was making his eyes water.
“A lot of drugs for as small-time as you guys are,” Gard told the man on the floor.
He looked even paler than Lia, turning a pasty kind of gray. “Small-time.” The guy snorted. “You have no idea, buddy.”
Gard smiled at him, but it wasn’t nice, though it was hidden behind his shirt. “Good. That means we’re going to find out, and you won’t see life out of a cell for a very long time.”
Gard heard sirens now. The sound of voices outside the back door. Firemen, he hoped. He didn’t want to just leave this guy here, even with the gunshot wound, but he needed to get to Lia and—
Beckett strode in from the front, gun drawn, badge hanging from around his neck. He surveyed the kitchen.
“Stand down, Fairhurst. Go take care of your family. I’ve got it from here.”
Gard gave one last look at the man who’d hurt Lia. And Sammy. And Dani, no doubt. “Don’t be gentle,” he told Beckett.
And then he was jogging outside. There was a fire truck, and two ambulances parked outside, along with a row of patrol cars, all with their lights flashing. The group that had been partying was mostly being arrested, though Gard wouldn’t be surprised if a few had made a run for it.
He couldn’t care about that when he saw Sammy running toward him. She reached him and threw her arms around him, and he held on tight.
“You’re supposed to be long gone, kid.” He looked around, trying to find Lia in the crowd. She should be with the ambulances. One was pulling away. Was she in it?
“When the police cars got here, Deputy Campbell said it was okay if we stayed,” Sammy said, still holding tight to him. “Theparamedics wouldn’t let me sit with Lia. They just took her away. What happened, Gard?”
