Page 33

33

Jack

N ate and I arrive at the hospital minutes apart, and Ian is only about ten minutes behind us. We find Tyler pacing in the almost empty waiting room.

“Tyler.” He spins at my voice, eyes red-rimmed and agitated. I hug him tight.

“I’m so sorry, Jack,” Tyler whispers. His eyes snap shut as he sucks in a trembling breath.

I pull back but grip his shoulders tight. “Tyler, do not apologize. You did nothing wrong.” I release him and indicate we should go sit in the corner so we can talk.

The four of us get settled, Nate on the other side of Tyler, squeezing his shoulder in silent support.

I lean forward with my elbows on my knees, eyes on Tyler. “Tell us what happened.”

He slumps back in his chair and intertwines his fingers on his stomach. Rolling his neck with a deep breath, he tells us, “I was standing outside, waiting for Matt to finish talking to the manager and looking at my phone.” He grimaces. “I didn’t even see anyone on the sidewalk with me. One second, I’m looking at my phone, and the next, Matt is yelling and pushing me to the ground when we hear the shot.”

“The person didn’t say anything to you before that?”

Tyler shakes his head, his expression pained. “No, I had no idea. People who were inside the venue ran out when they heard Matt yell. I think they scared off whoever it was.”

I glance at Nate and Ian. Their expressions match what I feel—confusion as to why Tyler would be targeted.

Ian comments thoughtfully, “So it wasn’t a robbery. They would have wanted to get your attention as soon as possible before anyone else came out so you could hand over whatever they wanted to steal.”

Tyler nods grimly. “I thought of that too. But everything else doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone want to randomly shoot one person and then run away?”

Nate rubs his forehead. “I hate to admit it, but you might be correct that you were targeted. Now, the question is why.”

I can’t even begin to comprehend why anyone would target Tyler. Overwhelming guilt churns in my gut. If I didn’t agree to hire him, he never would have been in this situation.

Tyler had always been a sweet, tenderhearted kid. Becky and I always joked that he had to have gotten that from his grandmother because it certainly wasn’t from either of us. I remember when Becky had asked me to help Tyler out. When he was a few years out of high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd. He was acting so out of character. Becky was terrified something would happen to him, or he would make a dumb decision to ruin his life. So I sat him down and told him he was going to come work for me and he was going to cut off all contact with all of his current friend group. I had never seen him so angry. Behind closed doors, Becky and I questioned if we made the right decision. But eventually, Tyler came around and started working with Alice, and then I started training him myself. I have never been prouder of the man he has become as I am tonight.

I swallow down the emotion filling my throat. Standing, I say, “Let me call Carlos.”

Wandering away from the group, I connect the call. I almost think he isn’t going to answer, but finally, I get a groggy, “What that hell, man?”

“Carlos, I need you to make a call for me. My employee Matt was shot tonight after working an event.”

“Wait, back up. Someone got shot?”

“Yes, wake up. I need you to call whoever’s working the case and get me cleared to come up and talk to them and him when he gets out of surgery.”

The rustling of Carlos getting out of bed filters through the phone. “Shit. Okay, let me make a few calls. Where are you now?”

“In the emergency waiting room.”

“On it.” With that, he disconnects, and I rejoin the group.

“Carlos is going to make sure we’re kept in the loop with what’s happening,” I explain, then look over at Nate. “We need to pull his emergency contact from his new hire paperwork.”

He takes out his phone. “I’ll pull that now and make the call.”

We settle into uncomfortable chairs to wait. Late-night infomercials are the only sound filling the small room—an annoying soundtrack to my whirling emotions .

Eventually, a cop wanders out of the double doors leading to the emergency room. Nate and I stand to greet him while the other two stay seated. I don’t recognize the cop, but he apparently knows Nate. After they greet each other and Nate introduces me, I inquire about Matt.

“The injury is not life-threatening, but he’s in surgery. Until they know what room he will be assigned once he’s out, we’re going to wait down here. We also have a couple of guys in the surgery wing as a precaution since it was a shooting.”

“I don’t want to intrude on your investigation, but given he’s one of my employees and was on the job when it happened, I would like to be involved, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Yeah, that’s no problem at all. Carlos requested that we involve you both.”

I stick my hand out for him to shake. “Thanks, I appreciate it. We’ll wait out here so that we aren’t in the way. Then you can get us when it’s time.”

Agreeing, the cop pivots and walks back into the emergency room after being buzzed through the doors by the front desk employee.

I pull out my phone after I sit back down and see a text from Gisella.

Gisella: I hope everything is okay. Please give Tyler a hug from me.

Me: Matt’s going to make it. But he’s in surgery. Tyler’s shaken up but okay.

Gisella: Oh, thank goodness. I’m glad to hear that.

Me: Get some sleep, baby. I’ll be home soon.

Gisella: I’ll try. Xoxox

Pocketing my phone, I lean back to wait.

Two hours later, Nate and I are still sitting in the waiting room. I sent Tyler and Ian home about an hour prior. Tyler made me agree to let him tell his mom what happened, and for the second time today, he proved why I’m proud of him.

The same cop from earlier walks out to speak with us. “He’s out of surgery. His wife is with him. He’s still really out of it from anesthesia, so we won’t be able to question him about what he saw yet.” He glances at his watch. “I would just head home. I think the detectives will probably be back around ten tomorrow to talk to him. You can come back around that time.”

We thank him again and walk out to our vehicles. Exhaustion is heavy in Nate’s features. I’m sure mine are no different. I tell Nate I’ll call him in the morning to coordinate coming back up here and whatever else we’ll need to do from a business standpoint since this happened during work.

By the time I crawl into bed, my body is aching from how tired I am. Gisella turns over as I pull her into me. Having her next to me is a comfort so bone-deep that there’s nothing else I would want more after the madness of today. I smooth a hand over her hair, kissing her softly. Her head settles on my shoulder. The weight lulls me. Her fingers stroke across my chest.

When wetness slides across my skin, I shift. Raising my hand to her cheek, I gently wipe away her tears. “Hey, it’s okay, baby.”

“I’m just so tired, Jack. I don’t want anything else bad to happen.” Her face is drawn with dejection.

I wish I could tell her the end was near, and my promise for us to be a normal couple would be our reality sooner rather than later, but I don’t want to lie to her. “Me too, baby.”

She snuggles back into my side, sniffing softly in the dark. The sun will be up soon. I continue to tickle my fingertips over her soft skin until I slip into sleep.

Metal slamming against something has me rocketing up in bed. Scrubbing my hand down my face, I force myself to finish waking up. I groan as I leave the bed. After going to the bathroom and quickly brushing my teeth, I walk down the hall to see what’s going on in my kitchen.

Wrapping my lips over my teeth to hide my smile, my eyes roam the mess. What appears to be ingredients needed for baking every single baked good known to man now lines every counter and half the island. When I made Gisella start staying with me, she asked if she could bring stuff to bake. I didn’t actually see everything she packed in the numerous reusable grocery bags I carried to my car.

Apparently, it was a lot more than I realized.

Gisella pops up from behind the island. She screams when she sees me. The metal pan in her hand goes flying, clanging on the hardwood floor.

“Jesus, Jack. You scared the shit out of me.”

Circling the island, I chuckle as I kiss her forehead. “You started it when you woke me up. ”

Her face falls. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I was trying to surprise you with muffins. I couldn’t find your muffin tin.”

I glance at the muffin tin lying on the floor. “Mission accomplished.”

She laughs as she plucks the pan off the floor. Pouring a cup of coffee, I sit at the island, watching Gisella flit around the kitchen.

As she starts to measure the ingredients, she gives me a remorseful look. “I hate that I woke you up. I woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep. I read for a little while but needed to do something so I decided to bake.”

I scratch my fingers through my beard, attempting to wake myself up enough to start what I already know will be a long day. “It’s okay. I needed to get up anyway. I have to go back to the hospital. And maybe the office.”

Setting the bag of flour on the counter, she gives me a sympathetic smile. “Can I do anything?”

I smile. “Are those chocolate chip muffins?”

She nods. “That’s all I need right now. I can think of a few things you can do later.”

I wink at her as I raise my coffee cup.

With a roll of her eyes, she laughs as she goes back to preparing the muffins.

I pick up my phone from where I left it when I came in a few hours ago, reading through the texts from Nate, Ian, Tyler, Becky, and even Becky’s husband, Tim. I shake my head. I haven’t had enough sleep or coffee for this.

I set my phone down and run my hand over my buzzed hair. “I’m going to have one of the guys sitting outside the house to keep an eye on you while I’m dealing with all this shit.”

“Are you sure, Jack?” she calls out from inside the fridge as she removes milk, eggs, and butter. “It seems unlikely anyone would know I was here.”

I’m shaking my head before she even finishes her sentence. “I don’t care. I’m not risking it. I don’t know who’s available, but I’ll find someone. I would prefer Ian or Nate to be here with you if I can’t be, but I need them with me. And I want to give Tyler some time off.”

“He needs it,” she says, her voice strained with worry. “Maybe we can have him, Becky, and Tim over for dinner this week.”

Her face brightens. “I would love that.”

I stand and refill my coffee cup. As I pass by, my hand finds her ass, and my lips find hers in a quick kiss. “I’m going to go take a shower and get ready while those bake.”