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“Hey!” Fletch pushes to his feet and balls his fists tight. “Watch yourself, Malone.”
“You can shut the fuck up, too.” I don’t stand to challenge him. I don’t even give him the satisfaction of glaring back. I rest my elbows on my knees and let my head dangle. Because then the chain around my neck dangles too, and the ring on the end glitters under the harsh fluorescent lights above.
It was bought to rest on my heart. To be the mate to Minka’s. But we’ve lost hers now, and I’m not sure we’ll ever get it back.
“I’m done with you, Fletch.” I shake my head and sigh. “I’m done with all of this. Because you stood back and would have watched her die. And for what? Your pride?” Finally, I peer across and meet his eyes. “Because you have hurt feelings?”
“Don’t bring that here, Arch.” He takes a step closer in threat. “Don’t bring it up unless you wanna tell the whole class what’s on your mind.”
“Fuck you.” I look between my legs again and watch my wedding band swing. “As soon as she’s out safe and I’m back on the clock, I’m requesting a transfer.”
“Wait.” Tim shoves forward in his seat and nearly bumps Aubree to the floor. “What the fuck is going on?”
“He’s a coward. And he was never my friend.”
“You’re dancing on a line you can’t cross back over,” Fletch snarls. “Watch your step, Malone.”
“You already crossed it when you chose to stand back and watch my wife die.” With an exhale of fatigue, I push up to stand. Not to go to him, but to head toward the door. “The second you couldn’t put our shit aside and do the right thing when Minka needed it, that’s when you approached our line and set it on fire.”
“I was first at the bank doors!” he barks.
When I keep walking, he grabs my bad shoulder and tugs me back around. “I was first there, asshole!”
“You were wrapped in Kevlar, and Minka stood between you and a gun. She would lay her life down for you, Fletch. She wouldkillto protect you. To protect your family. But she was bleeding to death and needed help, and the best you had to offer was fifty feet of space and a shield keeping you safe.”
“You have no fucking clue what I was doing,” he sneers. “Zeroclue where I was or what I was doing.”
“I know you weren’t with me.” I shove his hand off and throw it so his torso twists with the momentum. “I know that a month ago, you’d have been withme. You’d have hadmyback, no matter the price. But tonight, when shit really mattered, I couldn’t rely on you.”
I open the door to reveal a hall bustling with noise and movement. Doctors going one way, nurses going another. Machines beep and chime and make so many noises, I have no clue how the hospital staff know which way to go. Then I twist back to Fletch and look him up and down with disgust.
For the first time in my life, I see him as a coward, and not the man I considered my brother.
“I can’t trust you to protect me when we walk through a door, Charlie. And that’s dangerous for us both. So now it’s time for us to go our separate ways.”
Spinning away and leaving Tim, Aubree, and Fifi to watch me with gaping mouths, I move into the hall and catch a nurse as she darts from one room to the next.
“Detective Archer Malone.” I show her my badge and hope she hasn’t been briefed thoroughly enough yet to know her patient is my wife. “I’m following up after the Copeland First National hostage situation. Do you have information yet on the injured?”
She studies my badge for a beat. Reads each number. Makes certain it’s not a gumball machine toy. Then she hugs her files to her chest and nods. “Earl Anthony Eisenberg is in OR two right now. He’s in critical condition, albeit stable. Rodney Calder has already been bumped down to rest for the night. A couple of stitches in his leg and a bandage. Jocelyn Daley is in Labor and Delivery for monitoring, but last I heard, she’s fine. Baby’s still baking away in the womb.”
“Good… thanks.” I lift a hand and scrub it through my hair. “And Minka Mayet? She was in surgery.”
“Nice try.” She pats her pile of files and steps away. “Mayet’s still in surgery, and you’re still her husband. I’m under strict instructions to wait for the doctor to give you an update.”
“But it’s been hours!” I charge forward and reach out, but I don’t grab the woman. I don’t touch. Because if Minka was awake, she’d lecture me on body autonomy and not touching people without their consent. “It’s been too long, Nurse. There has to be news by now.”
She firms her lips and lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “Do you have news about the gunman from the bank?”
My brows pull tight as I frown in confusion. “No, I don’t… I’ve been here.”
“Well…” she starts along the hall to leave, though she peers over her shoulder. “I know as much about your wife’s surgery as you know about Parker Slade’s whereabouts. But if you want to help,” she stops by a door and sets a file in the holder by the handle. “We’ve gone through a lot of blood tonight. So you could head downstairs and donate a little. Who knows, maybe some of yours will be used for Doctor Mayet’s surgery.”
She lies. Everyone knows that stuff goes through testing and is administered anonymously. But she winks and takes off through the door before I can call her out on it.
So I turn to the next nurse who passes. “Detective Archer Malone.” I flash my badge once more and catch the woman’s attention. “Do you know what’s happening with Parker Slade’s daughter? What’s her condition?”
“Mr. Malone, I can’t—”
