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“Goddammit.” Adam stares at Stefan like he doesn’t know how to help, and that’s when I remember I do.
It isn’t love that drives me to react. It’s instinct. I sink to my knees and go through the motions of applying pressure to the wound and examining him for other injuries as I issue orders to Adam.
“Get me some towels and call 911. Now, Adam. Go.”
He staggers to his feet and does what I ask. Stefan regains consciousness, clearly confused as he tries to speak.
“Don’t talk,” I tell him. “You have a neck wound. Help is on the way.”
Every second feels like a lifetime as I contain the bleeding and wait for the ambulance to arrive. At some point, Mom comes outside and totally loses her shit. Adam carries some of the ammo back into the house and returns with a zombie-like stare when the paramedics arrive to haul Stefan away. Mom rides in the ambulance, and I drive Adam in my truck.
“What the fuck happened back there?” I ask him. “The rifle exploded.”
“I don’t know.” He scrubs his hands over his face. “The ammo was really old. I found it in Grandpa’s house when we moved him into the nursing home. I thought it would be okay.”
“Jesus.” I give him a sidelong glance. “The cops will probably get involved, and they’ll want to see it. What did you do with it?”
“Fuck the cops,” he snarls.
Neither one of us says anything else. We park and go inside the hospital, where Mom is already waiting, tears streaming down her face. She’s shaking, and Adam, being the dysfunctional son he is, offers her his flask from his pocket. She drinks it all.
The doctor comes a few hours later to tell us Stefan is stable after surgery to repair his wound, but they’ll have to keep him for a while. Just as I suspected, the cops show up to interview us about the incident. Adam explains everything, and being that the local police know the Nichols name, they don’t question it further.
When they finally call us back to see Stefan, his anger lands squarely on me the second he lays eyes on us.
“What the hell is he doing here?” he demands. “If it wasn’t for you, this would never have happened.”
“If it wasn’t for me?” I stare at him in disbelief. “How is this my fucking fault?”
“You sabotaged me,” he accuses. “What happened with that rifle was a fucking setup. There’s no way in hell that was a goddamn accident.”
I glance at Adam, and neither he or Mom have a word to say in my defense. And I’m so fucking tired of this bullshit dynamic.
Mom dips her head, avoiding my gaze. “Madden, maybe you should go back to the house. We can visit later.”
I stare at her, wondering why I should have expected anything else. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be gone by the time you get home.”
When I walk out the door, Adam follows.
“Wait, don’t leave,” he says. “You can stay at my place tonight. Get some rest before you head out on the road again.”
“I’m good.”
“Come on,” he argues. “Quit being a fucking pussy. Dad will get over it.”
I stop and turn to face him. “You didn’t say a goddamn word. Not one fucking word about the ammo. You want things to be like old times? Well, guess what? I’m done being your fall guy. I’m getting the fuck out of here. I don’t know why I even came back.”
His jaw works as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “It’s not like that. I’ll tell Dad when he’s calmed down. Don’t leave things like this. Just stay tonight.”
He looks pissed that I’m leaving, and I can’t figure out why. Considering his dad is lying in a hospital bed in the other room, he doesn’t seem all that fazed by it. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with him, but he’s acting like someone I don’t even recognize right now.
“I have something at the house for you,” he tells me. “I didn’t get a chance to give it to you earlier. I meant to send it to you when you were in Bethesda.”
His acknowledgment catches me off guard because last night, he acted like he didn’t know I was even back in the states. And now he’s telling me he did. I don’t know what to make of it, but at this point, I don’t care, either.
“Mail it to me if you want,” I call over my shoulder as I walk away. “I’m not staying here another night.”
Chapter 67
Madden
We’re about halfway through the long drive back to Nevada when Ace finally breaks our silence.
“You could turn over the hard drive to the detective on the case,” he says. “They should know who Adam really was. And once they do, I can’t imagine they’d try to pursue further charges. Not with all that evidence on the table. It would be a way to protect both of you without making Bianca come forward.”
