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There was something in the man’s tone…
It clicked.
Kimball had a thing for Heather. Jarrod would lay odds on that.
Jarrod’s mind ran warp-speed. That could be an asset for their side. Or it could cause Kimball to go over the edge. It was a fine line they were walking now.
“I remember. It was at this hospital,” Heather said. She shifted a step. Closer to her twin sister. “When Eastman had my sister and my nieces. And I asked you for help.”
“Yeah. I wanted nothing more than to help you; I didn’t mean to act like I wouldn’t. I was trying to be reassuring. I went out looking for that teenager, did you know that? Went to the campus and tried to ask around. That girl…only a few weeks younger than my girl, too. And I couldn’t imagine… After I left here, I went looking for her. I swear I did. I remember looking at that beautiful little baby in your arms. Remembering my own. She was so small like that, too. Dainty. From day one. Only weighed a bit over five pounds. Dark haired, too. She’s gone now. Eighteen years old. OPJ killed her. No. I killed her.”
“I’m so sorry you lost her. My girls are my world. My girls and my sisters, my nieces and nephews. My family.”
“Your ex here and me—we drove OPJ into this county. For years now. And then OPJ killed my girl. That’s…I’m getting my just punishment. Can’t deny that. Wilson…he’s going to get his, too. For what he did to you—what he did to Hope. I know about that night, you see.”
Jarrod saw Heather flinch, but she never took a step back. “You know about that.”
“I found the reports those bastards in Wichita Falls made disappear. I got copies of them. Found originals, too. And your girls—they’ll be so much better off without him. I know they will and I want you to understand that. I know that he hurt you that night. You and our little Hope. I saw the photos. Of the bruises. Found where the reports were buried in the system that way. Bell told me Wilson was going to finish what he started with Hope that night. I wasn’t going to let him hurt our little Hope tonight. I just wasn’t. So…I did what I had to do with Bell and I went hunting for Wilson. To end all of this pain. For all of us. I couldn’t let Wilson hurt those girls. And then Hallie and me…we got to our little Hope then. And Madison.”
Our little Hope? There was something in Kimball’s tone that was different when he mentioned the younger Coleson. Jarrod just couldn’t figure out what it was.
“What about Hope? Tell me about my sister. Please? I know she was working tonight. But she hasn’t answered my texts or calls. Has something happened to her? Is she in that ERT van now?”
“Steve tried to hurt Hope tonight, Heather. Hope was shot,” the blond doctor said, panic in her tone. But she didn’t move. “She and her friend Madison are out there somewhere. And Hope is hurt.”
“I didn’t mean to shoot Hope. And Wilson, Costovia, they are the ones that hurt your girls. Not me. I shot Wilson tonight and the bullet passed through him. It hit little Hope. But she and Madison were running away when I last saw them. I want you to know that I never would have hurt her on purpose. Ever. You make sure our little Hope knows that.”
Our little Hope…again.
“I appreciate that,” Heather said. But Jarrod heard her voice hitch. The fear…
“You deserved better than what Wilson did to you. I want you to know that. A real man doesn’t ever hurt a woman that way. Force her like that. There are better men out there than him, I want you to know that. I should have protected Maribeth better. I should have. I couldn’t protect my girl, but…I could protect our little Hope tonight. And I did. Maybe…maybe that will be enough to clear my soul of some of the stain.”
96
Heather looked at the man on his knees in front of Sol Kimball. Steve…didn’t look so powerful now. His face was pale, and there were obvious marks forming on his skin. There was a massive cut over one eye. She’d seen that type of injury before. He’d been pistol-whipped.
There was blood all over his shirt. She suspected he’d been hit at least twice.
And if she wasn’t mistaken, Steve had wet himself the instant Kimball’s gun had pressed to the back of his head like that. Like she’d had her own .38 at his head once before. She wasn’t lost to the sick irony in that.
“I really need to know. Steve was going to hurt my sister tonight. Because of the grudge he has against her. For…what happened that night fourteen months ago? Or is it something else?”
“There was an order, I think, for them to take out one of the forensics teams out on scene tonight. It didn’t matter which one. But this pig shit wanted to hurt your sister specifically. So he…was after two birds with one stone, kind of thing. What he doesn’t realize—he’s as expendable as any of the rest of us to them pricks out of Wichita Falls. They are pissed over that choir shooting. Costovia, Callahan, and Bell weren’t told to do that. They just did it on their own. And it brought too much attention their way, considering who Lake’s wife is related to and everything. I heard them discussing it while we were watching Hallie and that Barratt girl that day. They couldn’t afford to screw up again. But that’s what they did that day. Both days. Damned screwups.”
Kimball nudged Steve with one foot, then spit at him. “I could use a cigarette right now. Wilson and the rest in that van—Bell, Costovia, that other guy, never did learn that one’s name, he was newer, I think—they did screw up. Because I made sure of it. Turned the van into the ditch when Barratt’s limo hit us. I saw them coming. Wanted to help Hallie the only way I really could.”
“If you did that on purpose, you did help her. I know you want to help her now. I know you didn’t hurt Hope on purpose.” She truly believed that. There was such a broken, hurting look on his face, Heather hurt for him. He’d lost his daughter. She couldn’t imagine that pain.
He nodded.
Steve shifted. Pulled his knee up a little. Moved his left arm. He was going to do something. Very, very soon. She somehow doubted he was as injured as he appeared.
What he was…was shrewd. He was weighing his angles. And he knew this wasn’t going to end well for him. Steve wasn’t the one with the power now. And Kimball was sharing Steve’s secrets. Ruining everything for Steve now.
Steve’s blue eyes met hers. There was such rage, such hatred there, her hand tightened on her weapon, where it rested at her side. Only Daniel and Jake had their weapons ready. They were keeping the number of weapons visible minimal. They just wanted to deescalate Kimball first.
Steve was staring at her now. And she knew—he was well aware of what was going on around him. And he was plotting something. “Heather—you bitch. This is all your fucking fault. You ruined everything.”
