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“No. She was focused on you, and he used the chance to get away.”
“He got away?” I whispered, fear striking a heavy chord in my chest.
The door to the hospital room opened and a doctor in a white coat entered.
“Mrs. Dalton,” he greeted with a wide smile. “I’m glad to see you’re awake. I’m Dr. McCullough. I’m going to ask you a few questions, and while I do, I’m going to need to check your pupillary response. A little light coming on. Open your eyes for me…”
Mrs. Dalton. Right. I’m married.
I wanted to shout at the doctor to leave. I didn’t care about anything else except getting an answer from Bones about the man who’d shot me in the head.
Bones squeezed my fingers in support and then he let go. He moved back to give the doctor room.
“You were lucky,” Dr. McCullough said after he finished my exam. “No memory loss that I can tell. No permanent damage. You just need time to heal and recover. And may I suggest counseling. You’ve been through a lot.”
“When can she be discharged?” Bones asked.
“In a few days,” the doctor said. “I want to monitor her a bit longer. Just to be safe.”
Safe. I wasn’t safe. None of us were safe. There was a gunman still out there who hadn’t finished the job. No doubt he was waiting for the perfect time to come back and finish it. And kill anyone who stood in his way.
Dr. McCullough left the room and the door closed behind him.
“Bones,” I said. “The gunman? He’s still out there?”
“I need you to stay calm,” he said. “I need to tell you some things, but not at the risk to your health. You have to promise me you’ll breathe and keep your heart rate low.”
“Not knowing is causing my heart rate to spike,” I stated. “So please. Just out with it.”
Bones reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He turned it off and then took it into the small bathroom in my hospital room. Bones turned the sink on and left it running, and then he shut the bathroom door and came back to my bedside.
“My brothers have been on guard duty outside your room since you were brought to the hospital,” Bones said. “You haven’t been alone. But we found out who he is…”
I frowned. “You found him?”
“Not me, personally. I haven’t left your side. Until I knew you were going to wake up, I couldn’t leave you. The club…outsourced it.”
I closed my eyes as my head swam. “You outsourced what, exactly?”
Bones sighed. “We got the security tapes from the hotel. And with the help of several…acquaintances, we found out who he is and grabbed him. It wasn’t long before he gave us the name of the man who hired him. Pyotr Novikov.”
“Russian?”
“Yes. We didn’t have the full picture. Novikov was behind all of it, including your father’s death.”
I stared at him. “None of this makes any sense.”
“It will. Novikov found Arnold several years ago and made a deal with him. Novikov was going to use Arnold to get rid of your father and take over Spencer Pharmaceuticals. The plan was to get control of the board and tank the company so Novikov could buy up shares for pennies on the dollar. After he’d acquired the shares, he was going to have Arnold begin to sell off the company patents one by one to fund the company again and cook the books. That kind of cash inflow would send the stock price to the moon. Then Novikov would sell everything he’d bought and make out like a bandit with clean money. It was in the works—but our marriage put a stop to it.”
“It screwed Arnold completely,” I murmured. “But why would Novikov still come after me if the plan was already ruined?”
“Because instead of letting the share price fall, you started buying up stock over market value. While you and I were at breakfast, Novikov’s plan was crumbling. A plan that had been in the works for years. Tens of millions of dollars vaporized, for him at least.”
Dread filled my stomach. “And Novikov and his hitman are still alive?”
“For now.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
