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But the guy never backed down. Instead, he withstood my brother’s wrath, bloody knuckles and all.“I workfor Sacred Heart andno one else. I’m sorry about your father and your stepsister. I have one of those of my own, so I know how it feels. You want to protect them…you’ll doanythingto protect them, but you can’t. Not against men who want her.”
He wasn’t talking about Ryth here…he was talking about himself.
“Oh yeah?” Tobias was full of rage now.
“She’s in her own trouble,” DeLuca answered, and looked away. “Which is why I asked.”
Those words stopped T cold. He scowled, staring at thisguy who knows a guy in the Mafia.
I took a step closer. “In trouble how?”
He looked like he was going to answer before he froze, scowled, and looked away. “Not with The Order.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to me. “Call me if you need anything. Just not the Rossis, okay? I don’t need any more problems where they’re concerned.”
“Problems?” Tobias looked like he was going to push him for answers. “What kind of—”
But then DeLuca looked at Dad. “I can take care of him, if you want…until you’re ready.”
Take care of him…
What did that mean? Hold the body for ransom while he threatened to go to the cops? Or worse.I know a guy who knows a guy,those were Freddy’s words. What guy did he know? I needed to find out. I needed…to protect my family.
“And what if we're never ready?” My voice was detached as I stared at the guy.
The doctor met my gaze. “Then I can take care of that too.”
Who the hell was this guy? He sure as hell wasn’t just a goddamn doctor, that was for sure. He had connections, and from the way he flinched when I spoke about Ryth, they were the wrong type of connections. “Okay.” I looked at the card,Lucas DeLuca, Emergency Medicine, Sacred Heart Hospital. “You can take him.”
T stared at me as though I’d grown a second head. I knew what he was thinking,we can’t trust anyone.
But look where that had gotten us.
If we'd trusted someone when this shit was going down, then maybe we might’ve had a chance. What chance did we have now?
“Want to give me a hand getting your father into the car?” DeLuca asked Tobias.
T looked like he was about to explode. But then he nodded and without a word, went to work. Tobias grabbed dad under the arms while DeLuca grabbed his feet. They heaved him up. I stepped behind, grabbed the straps of DeLuca's medical bag, and lifted, grunting with the weight. No wonder the guy was fit.
They struggled, shuffling more than walking as I moved ahead, scanning outside the warehouse before I motioned them forward. They had dad down the stairs and stepped sideways toward the back of the Rover. “Want to grab my keys and hit the button for the back door, Nick?” DeLuca winced.
I strode closer, shoved my hand in the pocket he aimed my way, and pressed the button, watching the doors open automatically. Both grunted as they dropped Dad onto a dark tarpaulin with athud.
Hard breaths filled the air. DeLuca brushed his hands against his black jeans and reached for the keys. “Thanks.” He glanced at Tobias, who surprisingly didn’t look like he wanted to rip the doc’s head off anymore. The guy didn’t shy away, not from anger…or death.
I almost liked him, if I could trust him, that was. I glanced at the card in my hand.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you,” he said, looking my way.
I gave a nod as the doctor climbed into the car and started the engine. We said nothing as he backed out of the driveway and onto the street. Red lights flared bright in the night as the Rover braked, then pulled away…leaving us to stare as it disappeared.
“What the fuck do we do now?” Tobias asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered, because we’d run out of options…and people to trust. “I just don’t know.”
FOUR
Ryth
I sat against the wall,staring blankly into nothing. Not thinking. Not feeling. Notexisting. There was a gratinggnashingsound which filled my ears, and it took me a while to realize it was me. My jaw ached from the violence of the shudders, cold clung tight. Even under Caleb’s thin shirt I was frozen…except for my throat. No, that burned, like I’d swallowed shards of molten glass.
