Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
It didn’t matter if you were local police, state police or highway patrol, like my Tobias was. It literally didn’t matter. If one of their own was in trouble, and they were able to be there, they would be.
The proof was evidenced by the full hallway and small waiting area that this small-town hospital offered.
Nobody tried to come toward me, though.
The Dixie Wardens were also there with their women at their sides.
But they didn’t come to me, either.
I don’t know if I was just giving off a ‘don’t get near me’ vibe or not, but they left me alone.
The only two people who would’ve come up to me would have been Tunnel and Mina, but I wasn’t quite sure where they were.
Tunnel had disappeared the moment that Tobias had been loaded onto the ambulance.
My guess was that he followed the other ambulance that had the Shaw in it who hadn’t gotten her head blown apart.
However, my guess was that they’d either been taken to a different hospital, considering this one was full of cops, or they never made it to a hospital at all.
Whatever the case, my brother was likely doing something for me that might very well get him into trouble.
But with Tobias’ drying blood still on my hands and his utility belt with all of his things, I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit what he was doing.
Hopefully Ephraim Shaw suffered at the hands of my brother, because if he didn’t, then he’d suffer at my hands. That little fucker was more than capable of stopping his wife, and nobody in this world could convince me differently.
Someone touched my arm, and I whirled to find a man standing there.
He who looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
How long had I been sitting here?
My neck was stiff, and I wasn’t crying anymore.
Though my eyes were puffy and sore, my cheeks were dry.
It’d obviously been a while if my tears were dried.
“You my brother’s girl?”
I swallowed, tilting my head slightly.
“Depends on if we’re talking about Tobias or not,” I rasped.
My voice was scratchy, and I sounded like a man, but it obviously didn’t bother him.
The man didn’t smile.
But what he did do was nod his head. “That’s who I’m talking about.”
“Then yes, I’m your brother’s girl,” I told him, rubbing my eyes with the back of one hand, keeping the other firmly wrapped around Tobias’ badge.
“Our other brothers will arrive as soon as they can,” he said. “Only Finley, Travis and me are here right now.”
Okay.
Why was he telling me this?
As much as I wanted to meet them all, and I really did, I didn’t want to meet them under these circumstances.
I wanted to meet them when Tobias was awake and able to introduce them to me.
But I knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, and it was likely that they wanted an explanation as to what had happened to land their brother in the hospital with several life-threatening gunshot wounds.
I took a step away from the wall I’d somehow found myself leaning against during my spacing out. “Which one are you?”
He grunted in reply. “Dante.”
I nodded, then looked down at my feet.
This couldn’t be good for him. A hospital had to be the very last place he wanted to be after the death of his family.
Yet he was here. And if he could be strong, so could I.
“Where are the other two?” I asked him, still looking at my feet.
I looked up when he didn’t answer, and he stared at me oddly.
“The rest of them are at the nurses’ station,” he answered. “Trying to get information on Tobias.”
I nodded, then started walking, heading straight for the nurses’ station where I’d been sitting less than twenty-four hours before—blissfully unaware of how much my life would be changing in a few short hours.
Tally was sitting there, a worried expression on her face, as she tried to explain to the very angry men that she didn’t know anything yet because Tobias was still in surgery.
They weren’t taking no for an answer.
“Stop,” I snapped, my back straightening. “You’re not helping the situation.”
An angry man whipped his head around, this one didn’t look familiar at all. I must’ve missed his picture at Tobias’ house.
“Just who the hell are you?” he snapped.
“Travis,” Finley said. “Stop. This is Audrey.”
Travis’ ire fell just as suddenly as it spiked. “Toby’s girl?”
Toby’s girl.
“Yeah,” Dante muttered. “Toby’s girl. So how about you stop being a dick and let her speak.”
I wasn’t aware that I was going to speak.
But as they all shut up, and stared at me, I bit my lip.
“Did you hear what happened?”
“Some of it,” Travis grumbled. “Over the radio. Just that an officer, Toby, was pulled over for a stop and someone slammed into the back of his cruiser.”
I found myself looking down at the gold badge in my hand, then ran one lone fingertip over it lightly.