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“That baby girl and her older sister deserve better than Steve Wilson as a father, honey. You make sure your sister knows that. Heather can find herself a better man out there than this pig.” He watched her gaze fall. To the man at Haldyn’s feet. Shock hit her beautiful face. As she realized…
Who it was.
“That’s Steve? Heather’s ex?” another girl asked. A little one, who resembled the blonde a great deal, but with brown hair instead of blonde. Had to be one of them Coleson girls, too. Hell, Sol wished these girls was anywhere else but here tonight. Why did it have to be them?
He should send these girls all back inside first. Them, and Madison’s mama. They didn’t need to be out here for this. Hallie, too.
“Where is Hope?” the brown-haired little thing asked. From a face very much like little Hope’s. Same damned pug nose and big brown eyes. With wild brown hair curling everywhere. “Is she okay?”
“Out there. On scene. Her, Madison. They got out of the van and ran. When Wilson tried to get out again. I shot Wilson when he was trying to hurt Hope like that. And the bullet…went through him, and it hit Hope. I never meant to hurt your little sister. I didn’t. But the bullet hit her, and that’s all on me.”
“Hope’s been shot? I need to get to her. Where is she?” the little blond doll asked.
Sol kept his eyes on her. And not that big blond bastard nearby. He recognized that man, too.
“Stay put, Dr. Lake. You are Murdoch Lake’s brother, right? I don’t want you getting any closer.” He shifted a little, kept the gun on Wilson, pulled Hallie a bit closer, then grabbed Wilson’s shoulder again. It didn’t matter. Bastard stumbled and went down.
Sol cursed and grabbed for the asshole.
There were too many people out there. There were four nurses huddled together behind a van. Sol had seen them running for cover. He would have to remember that—make sure they weren’t hurt either.
The big blond man held up his hands, but he shifted his big body in front of those two little dolls nearest him. “I am his brother, and I’m not moving. Why don’t you let that woman go? Let her go inside, get that cut on her forehead and her eye looked at? Someone can just take her right inside to the ED. You and Vince and I can talk about what happened out here. You can tell me everything you want to say. Out here. While all the women go inside. All nine of the women out here can go inside, where it is safe. You, me, and Vince—and that man right there, we’ll talk about this together.”
Hell. Eerie how much he sounded like that pain-in-ass Murdoch Lake. “You even sound like your brother, you know that?”
“It’s not a surprise. Murdoch is my twin brother. We’re a lot alike physically. Where is Joy’s younger sister? Who is this man?”
“He’s my sister Heather’s ex-boyfriend—if you can even call him that. They weren’t together more than a couple months,” the blond woman said quietly. “He’s with the TSP. Out of Wichita Falls. Where is Hope, Detective Kimball? I’m really worried now. You’re scaring me. Is she okay?”
“She’s got Madison with her; Madison will take care of her. Madison is a good girl, level-headed. I know Wilson hurt Heather before and he hurt little Hope tonight. I couldn’t let him keep hurting them. I couldn’t sit back and watch him hurt them anymore. Not her. Not little Hope. She’s special, you know. So is Heather.”
“I do know that. Thank you for not letting him hurt my sisters. I don’t want anyone to hurt my sisters either. Can you put the gun down? So we can talk?”
She kept her tone nice and even. She wasn’t one to panic, but he could hear the fear in her tone. Fear for her sisters.
Girl had guts. Sol had to admire that.
Girl deserved better than what she’d got. Her husband had been a cop, he remembered. One…of the good ones, probably. Left behind five kids. Five. Sol had none, now, but five were growing up without their daddy. That was a damned shame.
“Do you know where Heather is tonight?” she asked as Hallie stumbled, too.
“Back at the post. Finishing up with the rest of her team. Paperwork. She’s looking for that damned billionaire Handley Barratt now, I think. She needs to know that Wilson is the one who shot Rodriguez, too. Wilson believed Rodriguez was involved with your Heather, I think. Rodriguez said something, maybe. Pissed him off. There are some rumors going around that Wilson and Rodriguez argued over Heather now. Wilson said he owned her. Said Rodriguez was trespassing, no other man could have Heather but him, that kind of thing. Wilson is obsessed with Heather, in a sick perverted sort of way.”
“So Heather is okay?” the blonde asked.
“Yeah. Safe at the post. I know Costovia is the one who shot that Naylor boy tonight. To get Naylor out of the way, maybe. And he—Costovia—was one of those at the choir hall. Acardi, you make sure that’s known. Joey Costovia is the one who shot your wife’s little girl in the damned back like a coward that night.” He shook his head, tried to clear his thoughts. He wasn’t a fool. The boys in Wichita Falls would come for him sooner rather than later. Sol was as good as dead no matter what happened now. But he had things to say first.
“A cop by the name of Luke Bell was the one who shot your brother’s wife that night, Lake. Said Zoey had pissed him off before. Luke Bell shot Lake’s wife. Joey Costovia shot little Madison. But I don’t know the name of the guy who shot Charlotte Fields. I didn’t know they were going to shoot those girls, Lake. You make sure your brother knows that.”
“I will.”
Now…he could do some good while he was on his way out. Fix things a little. Try to clean up something he had done. “Wilson thinks his owns Heather. If he can’t have her, no other man can—that kind of thinking. Sick in the head is what he is. Wilson really is obsessed with hurting Hope, too. I don’t understand that. She’s just a kid. Just a sweet little kid, really. I had to stop him. I didn’t mean for the bullet to hit her, too. I didn’t.”
“But Hope is hurt. Now we need to fix that. Where is my sister? I need to get to her. Need to help her. Please, just tell me where she is.”
He heard the plea. Heard how afraid she was. There were people coming outside. From the ED. Someone yelled out. Told a woman to run back inside. She did.
He knew. She’d be calling 911 as soon as she hit the front desk. The hospital would be locked down. Even if they wanted, they wouldn’t get in there just yet.
