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Joe checked his phone for the security feed and saw a delivery truck. When he started to open the door Flynn let out a piercing whistle. “Not you, Chevy. Could be a decoy. Let me check it out first.”
Joe sighed but nodded. Letting someone else walk into potential danger in his place didn’t sit well. Flynn cuffed him on the head as he walked by. “My turn to be the hero.”
He unlocked the door and Joe locked it behind him. They’d agreed to the protocol and as much as it chafed, he’d follow it.
There were no front doors on Doc’s, so Joe moved to watch out the front window of the saloon with his phone in one hand and the other on his gun.
Flynn sauntered out like the cowboy he was and tipped his hat at the driver. There wasn’t a tense bone in his body as he greeted the man and shook his hand.
Still, Flynn didn’t give Joe the all safe signal. He’d check the inside of the truck itself before he did that. The two men moved out of Joe’s vision around the back of the truck. He flipped his phone to the security camera feed while the others came to the front of the building to watch with him.
“Is Flynn okay?” Lia’s voice was worried.
Graham answered before Joe could. “He’s fine. Just making sure there are no tricks in the truck.”
On Joe’s screen, Flynn appeared at the back of the truck. He nodded at the camera before he hopped down and helped the guy lower the ramp.
Lia sighed happily. “It must be the big stuff if they’re lowering the ramps. I ordered so many things I don’t know what’s in which delivery. Maybe it’s the exam tables. Can we go out and help?”
Joe and Graham exchanged a smile at Lia’s excitement. “Yes, but stay close.”
They walked outside, with everyone except Lia checking their surroundings. Tessa stayed on the front porch with her phone in her hand while the rest moved to the back of the truck.
A peek inside showed it was indeed Lia’s delivery. Examination tables. Boxes of soap dispensers and toilet paper holders. More boxes of gloves and medical tools. She bounced into the truck and patted all the crates, exclaiming over every piece.
Aisling laughed and handed her a box. “If you’re so excited about toilet paper dispensers, you can carry this one.”
Lia laughed and took the box, dancing down the ramp while he and Flynn grabbed the first exam table. It was wrapped in plastic, which would annoy the heck out of his sister. The plastic made it a little slippery but it they had it hoisted up in no time.
A child’s scream had them all jerking. They set down the table and Joe hollered at Lia to wait, but she was already running for the yoga studio next door where the kid, probably Owen, continued to yell for help.
Ahead of them, Lia had raced through the door before they’d even hit the ground. Tessa yelled out she was calling for backup.
Panic zipped through Joe as the kid’s words became audible through the screams.
Get away from her.
Stop it.
Help.
Joe pulled out his gun as he ran.
Lia called for Owen as she threw open the door to the yoga studio. “Owen. It’s Lia. What’s wrong?”
“Help!”
Lia followed his voice and raced through the house to the kitchen at the back, where she found Rachel unconscious on the floor. Blood leaked from her side to form a small pool.
Her surgeon brain kicked on and she grabbed a towel from the counter as she raced past to slide to her knees beside Owen. “Do you have a first aid kit?”
He nodded, his eyes on his mom’s face.
“Go get it, Owen. Go grab me the kit. Go.” She’d send one of her friends for her own when they arrived, but sometimes seconds counted.
As soon as Owen moved, Lia lifted Rachel’s shirt to check the wound. A small stab wound to the abdomen. Thankfully, it didn’t look as if the blade had hit anything vital. The blood loss wasn’t life threatening and she didn’t think the wound had caused Rachel to faint.
As she studied the wound, a knife cut the skin on the side of her own neck. “Don’t move.”
