‘I know you didn’t cause this,’ she said simply. ‘But I would like to know why you believe you did.’
He couldn’t look at her, even when she reached across the console to stroke the backs of her fingers down his face. ‘Some secrets aren’t entirely mine to tell,’ he said finally, wishing it weren’t true. Wishing he hadn’t dragged others into the web of deceit and vengeance that had pulled him in so completely that he’d ceased to think about the very real possible consequences.
Like Tala and Agent Spangler being shot, both dying. Like Phillip and Edgar being shot and maybe dying. Because of me.
She hooked a finger under his chin and tugged until he looked at her. ‘The risks aren’t just yours to assume,’ she chided gently as she cupped his face in her palm. ‘Not anymore.’
She was right. He turned his face into her caress, earning him another. She brushed her thumb over his lips, inexplicably making his eyes sting. ‘I’ll talk to the others,’ he said.
‘All right.’ A final sweep of fingertips over his stubbled cheek. ‘For what it’s worth, I don’t believe you’ve done anything wrong.’
‘How could you know that?’
‘Because that’s not how you’re built, Marcus. You protect. You don’t destroy.’
He swallowed until he’d cleared his throat of the huge lump that had formed there. He didn’t deserve her confidence or her comfort. ‘I think Lisette will say differently.’
‘I don’t know her, so I can’t say.’
‘You don’t know me, either.’
‘Then let me. Because I want to.’ She slid her hand to the back of his neck and drew his head down for a kiss that was relatively chaste, but so sweet it made his eyes sting again. ‘Let’s go,’ she whispered against his lips. ‘Your friends need you.’
He quickly stowed his gun under the seat. She could wear hers into the hospital, but he couldn’t wear his, and he had no desire to have it taken from him. He’d been lucky the snotty officer who’d been the first responder at the apartment hadn’t searched him, mostly because he’d held BB on his lap until the forensic vet had arrived. By then the officer was thankfully gone.
Scarlett locked her car and took his hand, holding it as they bypassed the ER, entering through the hospital lobby. Phillip had been taken to surgery, so Lisette and the others had moved to the OR waiting room. Scarlett pulled her hand away only seconds before they joined Marcus’s entire team, all of whom were huddled around Lisette. Lisette had been crying, as had Gayle. Cal looked like he was about to. Diesel was huddled in the corner looking like he’d break something given the slightest provocation.
Stone was green around the gills, looking like he was about to throw up. Marcus understood the sentiment. He, Stone and Diesel all hated hospitals for different, but related, reasons.
Jill had joined them also, sitting next to her aunt, her eyes coldly, boldly accusing. Marcus understood. Jill had feared that someone close to Marcus would get hurt if ‘they’ came after him, trying to finish what they’d begun that morning. No matter how much he hated to admit it, the young woman had been right.
Lisette immediately rose and walked into Marcus’s arms, and he tightened them around her, saying nothing as she began to sob again. What could he say, after all? From the corner of his eye he watched Scarlett edge away from the group toward the nurses’ desk. She showed them her badge and pointed to their group before returning and taking a seat on the periphery.
Scarlett had isolated herself, keeping her distance from his people and from him. He wished she wouldn’t. He wished she’d wrap her arms around his waist and lay her head against his back, but understood why she didn’t. Crime scenes and public places, no PDA. This qualified as a very public place.
Rubbing Lisette’s back in wide circles, Marcus rested his cheek on top of her head and turned his face so that he could meet Scarlett’s eyes. The nod his detective gave him was so slight that he might have missed it had he not been looking. She was still with him, even though she’d put space between them.
‘I didn’t think you were coming,’ Lisette said when her sobs had quieted.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Marcus tipped up her chin and wiped her cheeks with his thumb. ‘I got delayed waiting for the vet to come for BB.’
Lisette’s eyes widened, but it was Jill who spoke. ‘You were more worried about your dog than Phillip?’ the girl asked in condescending disbelief.
Marcus hated that this young girl could make him feel so defensive. He ignored her and directed his explanation to Lisette. ‘She was a forensic vet,’ he said. ‘BB bit Phillip’s attacker. We might get a DNA sample of the guy from her.’
Lisette’s eyes narrowed. ‘Good. And in the meantime, I hope he gets gangrene and dies.’
‘Not before we catch him,’ Marcus said. ‘Have you heard anything from the surgeon?’
‘Not yet.’ She looked up, her face tear-stained. ‘What happened?’
Jill’s chin came up, her eyes narrowing. She folded her arms across her chest, clearly waiting for an answer. Just like everyone else in the room.
‘I don’t know, exactly,’ Marcus told them. ‘Phillip was only able to tell me a little when I found him. He stabbed the shooter once they were in my apartment, but the man didn’t say anything. Didn’t say why he was there, what he wanted. Nothing.’
‘He wanted you,’ Jill said flatly. ‘And if that had been any one of us, including my aunt, we’d be in surgery now instead of Phillip.’
Every head swung around to look at her, including Scarlett’s. The silence was so thick, Marcus could have cut it with a knife. Even Gayle said nothing, her expression too shocked to be admonishing even if she’d wanted to be.
‘What?’ Jill demanded belligerently. ‘You were all thinking it!’
‘You little piece of—’ Diesel cut himself off with a visible effort. ‘You were thinking it. I wasn’t.’
‘Neither was I,’ Stone said coldly.
Cal jumped in to add his two cents, followed by Lisette, who kept one arm squarely around Marcus’s waist in support.
Scarlett silenced them all by rising from her chair and walking into the fray. ‘Why?’ she asked them, and for several seconds they stared at her as if she had three heads.
‘Why what?’ Gayle finally asked, trying for an innocence she did not achieve.
Scarlett gave her a tight, intolerant smile. ‘Why did the shooter want Marcus to begin with? Why would he want to hurt any of you?’
Diesel glanced at Stone, who shook his head mutely. Scarlett saw the exchange but said nothing, simply waiting.
Jill opened her mouth to spout God only knew what, but Gayle grabbed a handful of the young woman’s shirt and yanked her niece down until Jill’s face was even with hers. ‘You’ve said enough, young lady,’ she snapped. ‘Shut. Up.’
Shaking her head, Scarlett turned to Lisette. ‘Look, I’m sorry for what happened to your brother. But if you all keep playing games, we’ll never find the shooter. And I don’t mean to make your worry worse, but this killer seems to be tenacious and your brother is a loose end. You’re a reporter. I don’t have to tell you what happens to loose ends.’
Lisette blanched. ‘Oh my God.’
Scarlett turned to the group. ‘You might not like me,’ she said, ‘and that’s okay. I don’t need you to like me. But I do need you to trust me – with at least enough information to catch this shooter before he harms anyone else. Or comes back to finish what he started. You all seem to care about each other. This is the place where you prove it. Talk to me.’
Lisette opened her mouth, then closed it again, looking helpless and frightened. ‘Marcus,’ she whispered. ‘If that man comes back, he’ll kill Phillip.’
Marcus knew it. Deep down, he knew there would be no salvaging their work. If they told Scarlett what she wanted to know, the worst that would probably happen was that they’d be sued by the perpetrators whose privacy they’d invaded by hacking into their personal computer files. The suits would likely go after the Ledger as a corporation and the team individually. Especially himself and Stone, since they had the deepest pockets. It was unlikely any of them would see the inside of a jail, but it was possible. It would be safer to keep their mouths shut.