Page 199 of Hidden Ties

Quickly, Miles slung an arm around her waist before he dragged her to a black SUV. Sliding the door open, he practically threw her inside. “Stay there.” Miles slammed the door closed and pulled out his gun, remaining protectively in front of the door.

Terrified for Creed, she banged on the window with her fists. “I want to know if Kent is okay!” she screamed.

Miles, holding his phone to his ear, turned to give her a thumbs-up sign. Taking it to mean Creed wasn’t the one who had been shot, she quit hitting the window.

It wasn’t long before Miles was sliding the door open. “Sorry, Mrs. Bryant. I wanted to make sure you were safe while I was talking to the police. They are on route; so are the ambulances. Travas texted me that when Mr. Bryant tried to take the man’s gun away when he was trying to restrain him, Mr. Bryant’s gun accidently discharged. Mr. Bryant wasn’t hurt.”

“How is Link?”

“The man Mr. Bryant was trying to restrain?”

“Yes.”

“He was killed.”

“Tayla?”

“Travas is with her. She’s in bad shape. She’s taken a severe beating.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome. Please, stay in my vehicle. You’ll be more comfortable here while the police speak with you. There are bottled waters in the mini fridge in the console. If you’d like one, help yourself.”

She didn’t feel as if the whole ordeal would be over until the police arrived. Thankfully, they didn’t take long to arrive, as well as the ambulances. Relief flooded through her that Tayla would finally receive the medical care she needed.

It wasn’t long before one police officer came over to the SUV to begin questioning her. She was explaining how Creed had shot Tripp and Chris when EMTs wheeled Tayla out of the building.

“Excuse me,” Sage broke off what she was saying. “I need to check on my friend.”

Jumping out of the SUV, she ran toward the gurney. Somehow, Sage managed to keep her appalled expression fromshowing when she saw the extent of the damage Link had done to Tayla to get her to make the call. Her face was covered in bruises, her lips were three times the size they normally were, and one of her eyes was swollen shut, while she could barely open the other one.

“Tayla, I’m so glad you’re alive. I thought he killed you.”

“I didn’t want to call you. Link made me,” Tayla rasped out between swollen lips.

“You don’t have to explain,” Sage soothed her, stroking her hair away from her eyes. “I know he gave you no choice. It’s all over. I’ll come to the hospital to be with you as soon as I can,” she promised.

The EMTs wheeled Tayla away before either of them could say another word.

It was a little later before Creed came outside.

“We can leave. I told them if they have any other questions, we can come to the police station tomorrow.”

“I need to go to the hospital to be with Tayla.”

“I’ll drive you and drop you off. I’ll also call Allie and ask her to stay late until one of us gets home. I’d go myself, but I have court in an hour.”

“What about my car?”

“You’re driving with me. I’ll have someone bring your car home.” Taking her by the hand, he led her to his car, then opened the door and watched her get inside, buckling her in before he shut the door.

In the car, Creed took her hand again, holding it as he drove to the hospital. Dry-eyed, she stared out the windshield, seeing the image of Tayla lying on the gurney.

“If you hadn’t come to check on me, I would be dead. Why did he have to hurt Tayla so badly? She was so good to him. She didn’t care if he worked or not. He didn’t even care if she wasalive or dead. What if I had called back, or I hadn’t come? He couldn’t have known I wouldn’t call again before coming.”

“Baby”—Creed lifted her hand to his mouth—“he knew you would come. You’ve gone through hell to take care of your sister, to make sure she’s able to keep the girls. There was no way you wouldn’t have come to help Tayla. That’s your thing. If I knew that within a few weeks of knowing you, there’s no way Link didn’t.”

“My thing?”