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“What in the fuck happened?”
Misty, who’s watching Trouble check over her daughter with her hand at her mouth, tears running a river down her cheeks, looks up.
“Derek….” She stops and darts her eyes around, her body going stiff.
“Derek did this?” I demand heatedly.
Her eyes slam back to mine. “What?” she shrieks. “No! We were all going for a walk when someone stepped out from behind a car. They pointed the gun at us. Derek shouted at them to put the gun down, but a split second later, they pulled the trigger.” Her eyes move back down to Brittney. “They shot my baby. What kind of person shoots a child?” Her gaze moves to Thea. “And Thea could have been hurt too.”
“Where’s Derek now?”
Her head tilts back up. “H-he ran after whoever it was.” She points behind her down the street. “They went that way.” Her eyes squeeze shut. “Oh God! What if he gets hurt too?”
I turn to Emo, but he’s already taking off in the direction Misty pointed. I’m about to follow him when JW stops me.
“Take Thea to Eden, will you? Give the women a rundown of what happened.”
The deadly look in his eyes and the way his body is solid stone give away the immense rage that’s flowing through his veins. I want to go after the person that did this, but as it was his sister who could have been hurt, I leave him to it. If it were Maisy, there’s not a damn thing that would stop me from hunting the person down and beating the fuck out of them, and only then putting a bullet between their eyes.
JW pulls Thea away and pushes her to me. She tries to cling to him, but I put my arm around her shoulders and hold her still.
“Don’t leave me,” she cries, reaching out to her brother, but he’s already gone.
I turn her to face me. “Thea.” I say her name, giving her shoulders a slight shake to get her attention. When her frightened eyes latch on to me, I soften my expression. “He’ll be back, okay? He’s the sheriff. They need to catch the person who did this.”
Her bottom lip wobbles. “But what if he gets shot too?”
I gently grip her chin and force her head up when she looks down at her feet. “Your brother is tough. There isn’t anyone who can hurt him.”
There’s no way I can guarantee that, but JW’s smart and is the sheriff of Malus for a reason.
“I need to move her to my office,” Trouble says. “The bullet didn’t enter her. It was just a deep graze, but it still needs stitches.”
I tuck Thea to my side. She stays stiff but doesn’t try to pull away from me. From what JW’s said,
she’s not a big fan of people touching her. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but she’s staying glued to my side until I get her in the house.
“I’m going to take Thea to Eden. Follow me and we’ll all go together. I don’t want you three out here unprotected.”
Trouble wouldn’t have a problem taking care of himself, but he’d have Brittney and Misty to worry about as well.
He nods, and carefully scoops up Brittney. The girl whimpers, the sound sending a jolt of pain through my heart. I keep my eyes peeled on our surroundings as we walk back to the house.
I tap on the front door and shout to the ladies, “It’s Judge!”
A moment later, the door opens to both the women’s worried eyes. The moment Eden sees Thea, she bolts forward. Thea allows Eden to pull her into her arms and collapses against her chest. JW isn’t the only person Thea idolizes.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Remi whispers, her eyes locked on Brittney in Trouble’s arms. “What on earth happened?”
I give a quick summary of what transpired, and a couple minutes later, we’re out the door heading to my car. It’s a tight fit with so many people, but we manage because we sure as fuck aren’t leaving anyone at home with a shooter on the loose. Misty tries to murmur soothing words to her daughter, but she keeps getting choked up. I can’t imagine the horror she must be going through right now. The wound could have been a lot worse. I hope like fuck JW, Emo, or Derek finds the fucker who did this. That’ll be the last mistake they’ll ever make. I’m already looking forward to putting them down.
Handing Elijah to Eden, Remi runs ahead, and using her key, unlocks the door to the office. She immediately goes about gathering what Trouble will need to patch up Brittney. Remi doesn’t have medical training, but she’s been here enough to know the basics. Since Jenny, who was a part-time nurse, died, Remi’s been helping Trouble and Susan.
Brittney’s cries have dulled to whimpers, but you can still see the pain in her eyes. Even grazes from gunshot wounds hurt like a bitch.
I step out of the room to where Eden and Thea are waiting in the hall.
“How is she doing?” Thea asks, her arms tucked tight around her waist.
