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“How?” He crossed his arms. “Scans don’t lie.”
“But terrorists do. Think like a psychopathic criminal instead of a doctor looking at the facts. Can you do that and let me help you through this?”
Help him? He didn’t ask for help. People frequently offered, and once in a great while, he accepted, but he never asked. Julia was his responsibility. She deserved a life and happiness and… to find love.
And so did he.
He pulled in a ragged breath and stared at the divine messenger of hope and reason, begging him to listen. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Rosalie didn’t smile, but her eyes brightened as she led him to a table. Paul, Wulf, Grady, and Easton filed in.
Easton kicked the wall. “I swear to God, if this Karl or Malgor or whatever name the dickwad goes by, put that tumor in Julia’s scan to scare us, I’ll shoot him in the head.”
“Get in line.” Cannon sank into a chair. “Do you really think the tumor is fake?”
“There’s a good chance.” Rosalie squeezed his fingers under the table. “First, Malgor makes it easy to recover the drug trial data, so we think we’ve won a battle. Then he pays someone to give Julia a drug to stop her heart to bring us back down. Then he twists the knife by decrypting the network so Julia can get a tampered scan.”
Paul nodded. “This is a game to him. False wins and escalating defeats. As for tampering with imaging, it’s been done before by other criminals, most recently to a senator in Texas. A political faction wanted the public to think he wasn’t fit to run for reelection.”
Cannon bolted from the chair. “She needs another scan. Now.”
Paul shook his head. “You can’t trust your network. She needs to go to Grand Pines.”
“Hell no.” The thought of Julia traveling fifty miles with Malgor still out there puthimin jeopardy of coding.
Rosalie rose next to him. “Julia will be in one of your ambulances with me and only the EMTs you trust. I won’t let anything happen to my new friend.”
Grady stood and clapped Cannon’s shoulder. “I’ll drive the escort vehicle.”
Easton rose next to his brother. “I’ll stay back and make sure you don’t punch any walls.” He nudged Wulf, who stood on the other side of him. “And we have a bona fide international badass on our side.”
Wulf leveled Cannon with the ferocity of a mama bear. “I came here to avenge my fiancée. Now I fight for you and your sister too.”
“I appreciate that, but I still don’t like it.” But did he have a choice? Cannon dropped his throbbing head to his chest. ThankGod Julia still slept and didn’t know she might have only a few weeks—two months tops—to live. With any luck, she could get to Grand Pines and receive a clear scan before she awoke. He squared his shoulders and looked up. “Let’s get out of here so we can get back quickly.”
Paul shook his head. “You going to Grand Pines isn’t the best course of action. Whether or not Malgor decrypted your network for nefarious reasons, it’s back online. Your staff needs direction. Irene asked me to relay that the drug trial organizers will be here shortly. The shots fired in the parking lot have made the local news. You’re needed here.”
Cannon backed away from the group. “No. I need to be with my sister. If something happens to her…”
Rosalie clasped his cheeks in her hands. “You’re not the only one in Red Snow that I care about. Trust me, I got this.”
“I know.” He blew out a long breath. For the first time, he didn’t have reservations about trusting someone with his sister’s life.
THIRTY-TWO
Snow fell as Cannon paced outside the ER entrance. The news he’d been praying for had come in about an hour ago. Julia’s scans didn’t show any signs of a brain tumor or damage from flatlining. The ambulance carrying them was due back in a few minutes. He loosened his grip on his cup of hot chocolate but wouldn’t relax until he had eyes on his sister and his snow angel.
Easton pulled his pickup truck up to the curb and jumped out. “The forecast says the snow is supposed to get worse. I want to get Dad home before the heavy stuff starts to fall, then I’ll come right back.”
Cannon nodded as he reached beyond the awning and stretched out his hand. Fat flakes melted onto his warm palm, much like Rosalie had landed on the chairlift next to him and melted her way into his heart. He didn’t know if there was a place for her in his life after this craziness ended, but in this moment, she fit into the empty spot he hadn’t known was missing. The thought of something happening to her tore that spot into a ragged, gaping hole.
“Sure is cold. Even for Red Snow.” Easton stuffed his hands in his armpits. “It’s warm in the ambulance, right? I know I keepsaying Julia is tough, but the cold can’t be good for someone who almost died today.”
“Not almost. Juliadiddie today.” Cannon took a deep breath. He could smell trouble in the air. He used to laugh at his dad for saying such nonsense, but the handgun tucked into his waistband helped wrangle the not-so-irrational unease. His loaded sense of security wouldn’t be locked up in his office again until Rosalie and Julia were safely back.
He rubbed a kink in his neck as he watched a mother guide her toddler down the paved path leading to the ER entrance. After meeting with the drug trial organizers, the department heads, and the media relations team, he’d traded his suit for his white coat and dark-green scrubs to help with patients while he waited for Julia’s results.
The ER congestion had lessened considerably now that the network was back up. With any luck, tonight would remain quiet. Once he got Julia settled, he and Rosalie were going to have a chat.
