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“Eli,” I said as I glanced over my shoulder at him. I had to call his name several more times before he looked up.
“We need to call Brennan’s family. Can you pull up his father’s or mother’s phone number and give the phone to Memphis?”
Eli numbly removed his phone from his pocket. His hand was shaking as he scrolled until he found what he was looking for. He handed the phone to Memphis and said, “Zane is his older brother. He works downtown so he’ll be the closest. Zane’s husband, Connor, teaches at a school in Queen Anne.”
Memphis grabbed the phone and dialed. He explained the situation to whoever answered and after several more seconds, he hung up and handed the phone back to Eli. “Eli, call Dom,” I said.
Eli managed a nod and then dialed the phone. “Dom?” he said, his voice breaking. “Can you come to the hospital? It’s Brennan…”
I missed the rest of whatever Eli said to Dom, but by the time he hung up he was crying. I forced myself to ignore his distress as I focused on the road and minutes later I was pulling in to the emergency department parking lot.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Eli
“Baby, drink this for me, okay?”
The can of soda felt cold as Mav pushed it into my hand. I wanted to tell him I wasn’t thirsty, but I was too tired, so I did what he said and drank. I kept taking sips until he told me it was enough and put the can down on the table next to the chair I was sitting in.
“Is he dead?” I whispered.
Mav hesitated and I knew it was because he was trying to decide whether to tell me the truth or not.
“I don’t know,” he finally said. “If anyone could have gotten him here alive, it’s Ronan.”
“He was doing CPR,” I said.
Mav sighed and put his hand on the back of my head. He rested his forehead against mine and said, “He’s going to make it.”
“They were after me,” I said when Mav released me. “Those guys,” I added as I remembered the two dead men lying in pools of blood. “They thought Brennan was me.”
Mav nodded. “It looks like they were looking for something in your apartment and Brennan walked in on them when he was bringing Baby back to your place.”
“The flash drive.”
Another nod. I felt numb inside as I remembered the look of terror in Brennan’s eyes as he’d tried to draw in breath. And the blood. So much fucking blood.
“Eli?”
I looked up when I heard my name being called and I felt my stomach drop at the sight of Zane Devereaux, Brennan’s older brother. He was an older version of Brennan with his tall, fit body, black hair and green eyes. I climbed to my feet and began shaking as Zane hurried up to me.
“I got a call from someone using your phone. They said Brennan was in an accident.”
I couldn’t stop the sob that got caught in my throat and as tears filled my eyes, Zane’s face fell.
“Zane?” Mav said as he put his hand out to steady Zane who looked like he was going to collapse.
“Where’s my brother?” he asked.
“They’re working on him right now,” Mav said.
“What happened?” Zane asked and I could tell by the way his voice broke that he was barely keeping it together.
“He was shot,” Mav said.
Zane froze and then the phone he’d been carrying in his hand hit the floor. Mav grabbed him by the arm and helped him into a chair. “Shot?” Zane whispered. “How is that possible? He was taking Baby back to Eli’s apartment.”
“It happened at Eli’s apartment. Two men had broken in and Brennan walked in on them.”
Mav didn’t expand any further and Zane didn’t seem particularly interested.
“Where is he? I need to see him,” Zane said in a rush as he stood.
“Mav,” I heard Memphis call and I saw Mav follow Memphis’s gaze towards a set of double doors that had opened to reveal Ronan. He spotted us and began striding our way. I nearly threw up when I saw the blood covering his shirt. When Ronan reached us, Zane let out a gasp as he saw the blood.
“Is that…is that Brennan’s blood?” he asked in horror. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Brennan!” he began screaming as he started heading for the doors Ronan had just come through.
“Are you Zane?” Ronan asked as he stepped in front of Zane. Zane stilled and managed a nod.
“Brennan’s alive,” he quickly said. “He’s in surgery. His surgeons have already managed to stop the bleeding and they’re giving him blood to replace what he lost at the scene.”
Zane visibly relaxed somewhat and I felt my own fear subside a little bit.
“He’s going to be okay?” Zane asked, his voice sounding small.
“The bullet hit his kidney so they might end up needing to remove it, but he can live a normal life with just one. They’re still assessing to see if there is any more damage, but it’s looking really good.”
