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“She's right.” Lacy's eyes filled with tears. “Eric didn't want to give Nelson the drugs. Nelson forced him. He threatened to hurt Eric if he didn't cooperate.”
Alec silently conceded that may have happened. During their interview with Nelson he was quick to point the blame at Eric. Of course the guy had not admitted to blackmailing or threatening anyone. Still, it would be nice to have proof. “You're sure Nelson was blackmailing Eric to getting the drugs?” He kept talking, while maneuvering around Jillian to get her out of the way, but she was not helping.
“Nelson stole the percocets from Eric the first time.” Lacy crossed her arms over her chest as if she were cold. It seemed that now that she'd started talking, she couldn't stop. “I took them for Eric, only because he was injured. Not to sell.” Her eyes flicked to Jillian, pleading for understanding. “Our mother just lost her job just after we moved here and we were broke. I wanted to help Eric get a scholarship. But then Nelson saw Eric taking them and forcefully took the remaining pills from my brother. Then Nelson threatened to get us all in trouble if he didn't get more narcotics. I didn't know what to do. Eric is one of the best players on the team.” Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I just didn't know what to do.”
“It's going to be okay, Lacy.” When Jillian stepped toward the nurse, Alec grabbed her arm. The woman had flat out admitted to stealing narcotics. They would have to sort out the truth from the lies later. For now, he didn't want Jillian to get in the way of their arrest. She tried to shake off his arm but he held on tight. “I promise, Lacy. We'll find a way out of this. I'll help you.”
Tears spilled down Lacy's cheeks. “I'm sorry I framed you, Jillian. I needed time to get away. When Daniel died, I knew I couldn't do this anymore. I never suspected anyone would believe you were guilty. I just couldn't find a way out…”
Alec felt bad for Lacy, but he couldn't let that stop him from taking her in. He hadn't known about Jillian being framed for the theft. Yet it didn’t seem as if Jillian harbored a grudge against her colleague.
Rafe stepped around them and approached Lacy. Before the nurse realized what was happening, his partner had both of her wrists pulled behind her back and handcuffs snapped around them. “You'll need to come down to the station with us. I am sure if you cooperate, the judge may go easier on you.”
Lacy didn't put up a fight. In fact, she looked completely defeated.
A movement caught Alec's attention and he noticed Eric had stepped out of the front door of the house. He kicked himself for not asking Lacy to bring her brother out here. He dropped Jillian’s arm and stepped forward, keeping Lacy and Jillian behind him.
“Let my sister go!” Eric shouted.
“Stay back,” Alec warned. He took another step forward, willing Rafe to get Lacy into the squad. With an abrupt movement Eric pulled a gun from behind his back and aimed it directly at Alec.
He froze. He could have reached for his own weapon, but feared that would only make Eric do something drastic. This kid was a football player, not a gang member. Taking a slow breath, he kept his hands up where the kid could see him. “The violence stops here, Eric. Don't make this worse than it needs to be. I promise we will let your sister go if you drop the gun.”
“Eric! Don't do this!” Lacy broke into sobs. “Stop, please, put the gun down.”
“You heard your sister.” Alec slowly, carefully edged closer to the boy, praying Eric might not notice. “Put the gun down, Eric. We will keep you safe from Nelson. No one needs to get hurt, here.”
“He's right. It's over,” Lacy said, pulling herself together for her brother’s sake. Eric stared at his sister as if unsure what to do. “Please, Eric. It's over,” she repeated.
“I can’t go to jail.” Slowly, he raised the gun. Alec knew what he was about to do before the barrel got close to his temple.
“No!” He rushed forward, grabbing the gun pulling it away from the teen’s head. But Eric didn’t let go. They wrestled for a moment and just when he thought he’d gotten control of the weapon, the gun went off, two shots in rapid succession.
A flash of pain blinded him, blazing a fiery path across his chest and down his leg.
His last conscious thought was of his daughter.
Shannon.
* * *
Jillian watchedthe events unfold as if in slow motion. Upon hearing the sound of gunfire, her heart lodged in her throat. Had Eric been shot?
But then she saw Alec's body going limp, falling to the ground.
“No! Alec!” Hardly realizing she was screaming his name, she bolted forward. In some corner of her mind, she heard Eric crying in the background and Rafe kicking the gun away and calling on his radio for backup, letting the dispatcher know there was an officer down.
She worked instinctively, ripping his uniform shirt open, searching for wounds. Instead of finding flesh and blood, she found the surface of a Kevlar vest.
For a moment she closed her eyes in relief. But then realized Alec was still unconscious. Had the bullet managed to penetrate the Kevlar? She felt along the thick material, finding a crease across the Kevlar made by the path of a bullet. Understanding the force of being shot in the chest at close range was enough to stop his heart, she checked for a pulse. It was there, faint and too fast. Intent on taking the vest off so she could examine the skin underneath, she belatedly noticed a dark wet stain on his uniform, along his upper thigh. With a sinking feeling, she touched the stain and looked down at her fingertips.
Blood.
No. Dear, Lord, please…
Understanding Alec had been hit below the vest, she quickly unbelted his pants and shoved the material out of the way to assess the damage. There was so much blood, she knew his femoral artery must have been hit.
Balling up Alec’s uniform shirt she pressed it over the seeping wound, leaning on her hands with all of her weight to help slow the blood loss.
