April felt all the blood leave her face even as she tightened her grip on Violet. “Those poor babies,” she whispered.
“We’ll find them,” Ethan said. His voice had suddenly changed to something resolute and almost unforgiving. “The governor is putting together a special task force as we speak. The best of the best. All branches of government are getting involved. If any one of those kids are still out there, we will find them.”
April nodded. “I hope so. I can’t imagine something like that happening to Violet.” There was no doubt in her mind now that Ned was planning the same kind of fate for her niece. April had gotten her out of there just in time.
“Me neither.”
Martin returned then and stopped in the doorway. “What’s going on here?” He asked, eyeing Ethan warily.
“Nothing,” Ethan said, letting his shoulders drop. “I was just leaving.” And he did without so much as a goodbye.
“What was that about?” Martin asked April, sitting in the chair next to her.
“He came to thank me.” April wanted to say more but decided she probably shouldn’t. Ethan wasn’t supposed to tell her as much as he did, and given all that he’d already risked and lost, she didn’t want to get him in any more trouble by running her mouth.
“Good. You know, if it wasn’t for you, Ned Dynam would still be alive and hurting people. A lot of people have a lot to thank you for.”
“I just wanted to protect Violet.” April wished she could’ve done more, but at the end of the day, her goal had always beenselfish and unilateral. Her niece was all that mattered to her in that hellhole.
“Still,” Martin said. “You helped take down a very dangerous man, and the city of Dallas owes you a great debt of gratitude.”
April was glad she could help, but now, the only thing she wanted was for Tanner to make a full recovery, and for Violet to have a long and happy life with her dad.
***
They sat in the waiting area in a comfortable silence for a while before April heard movement in the hallway. Caden, Luke, Garrett, and Blake came in, along with Skyla, Orly, Hallie, and Reese. A few minutes later, Pam and Peter followed, with Faith and Sienna in tow.
The women sat in the chairs closest to April and Violet, while Martin gave everyone the few updates they had on Tanner and Echo’s conditions. They were both still in surgery, and the nurse hadn’t been able to tell them much.
“I thought you guys should know,” Caden said, turning to Pam and Peter, “border patrol stopped Dale Wilson at the Mexican border. He had over fifty thousand dollars in cash on him.”
“Ned paid him off,” April said. It wasn’t even a question.
“Looks that way. The man has a serious gambling problem,” Caden said. “He owed some very dangerous people a lot of money.”
“He always did ask me for advances. Almost every paycheck,” Peter said. “I suspected as much, but he was good at what he did, so I didn’t want to pry.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” Pam asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Caden said. “He’s out of your lives now. I don’t even think we’ll need you to testify.”
“How’s Violet doing?” Skyla asked April. “I can help her if she needs me to.”
April looked up at her with her head cocked to the side. “Help her?”
Blake nodded. “Yeah, April. I don’t think we’ve had a chance to tell you, but all our women have gifts, and Skyla can heal people.”
“What?” April wasn’t sure why this surprised her. She’d always suspected there was more to Tanner’s friends than he let on, but she didn’t want to say something and stick her foot in her mouth again.
Blake nodded. “It takes it out of her but yes, she can. So, if Violet is hurt or needs help -”
“Ned has done this to her before,” April explained. “She just needs to rest.”
“She’s so little,” Hallie said, wrapping an arm around Caden as he pulled her into his arms. “How in the world did she stop all those bullets? And what kind of monster fires at a child?”
“A rare breed, that’s for sure,” Blake said as he held his hand out to Skyla, pulling her in close.
“She’s like a real-life superhero,” Skyla said softly, hints of awe and concern in her tone.
