Page 31 of Nica (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #17)

“Gabe!” Ms. Patti’s voice cracked as she spotted him, and she rushed over, her small frame colliding with his chest as she threw her arms around him. “Thank God you’re here.”

He held her carefully, this woman who had welcomed him into her family with open arms despite his complicated past. “How is she? Have the doctors said anything?”

“She’s still in surgery,” Douglas said, rising from his chair.

The older man’s face was ashen, aged by worry.

Gabe’s next thought was about Douglas’ heart.

It had been less than a year since Douglas had been in this very hospital, with Gabe taking care of him.

“They said…” His voice broke slightly. “They said the bullet nicked her lung and they’re working to repair the damage. ”

Gabe glanced at the clock on the wall, trying to calculate how long it had been since he and Mike had gotten the news, had driven like maniacs to get there from his apartment. Time felt elastic, stretching and compressing in ways that defied logic.

Rafe appeared from around the corner, still in his sheriff’s uniform, his badge catching the harsh overhead light. His brother-in-law’s face was a mask of professional composure, but Gabe could see the worry in his eyes.

“What happened?” Gabe asked, though part of him dreaded the answer.

“Someone took a shot through the big window at Daisy’s,” Rafe said, his voice carefully controlled.

“Single shot, high-powered rifle from what we can tell. The angle suggests they were positioned on the roof of the old Miller building across the street. I went up there, looked around. No shell casings or anything else that would show somebody had been up there—except for several cigarette butts. I collected them and I’ve given them to Antonio to see if we can get DNA from them, but honestly, I doubt we’ll get anything useful. ”

“You think it was deliberate?” Mike asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

Rafe’s jaw tightened. “Window’s completely shattered, but if the shot was taken from across the street, based on that trajectory and the fact it was a single, well-placed shot? Yeah, I’d say someone was specifically targeting Nica.”

The words hit Gabe like physical blows. Proof it wasn’t random. Proof it wasn’t some robbery gone wrong or a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone had deliberately tried to kill his wife.

And he knew exactly who was behind it.

“I need to talk to the bodyguard,” he said, his voice rough.

Mike nodded. “Let’s step outside.”

The man leaning against the wall straightened when they approached, his face a mask of professional composure that didn’t quite hide his guilt. He was younger than Gabe had expected, late twenties, maybe early thirties, with the kind of build that suggested military training.

“Dr. Summers,” the man said, extending his hand. “Ryan Cross. I’m sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances.”

Gabe grabbed him, both hands wrapped in his T-shirt, and shoved him against the wall hard. “You were supposed to protect her.”

“Gabe,” Mike warned quietly.

“No.” He didn’t even bother looking at Mike. “He was supposed to watch her, keep her safe. Now she’s lying on an operating table with a bullet inside her, fighting for her life.”

Ryan’s hand dropped to his side, and he nodded. “You’re right. I failed.”

The simple admission took some of the wind out of Gabe’s anger, but not the guilt that was eating him alive. “Tell me what happened.”

“Everything was normal,” Cross said, his voice steady despite the tension radiating from him.

“I sat a few booths away from them, near the window so I could monitor foot traffic outside. I didn’t draw any attention to myself.

The family was laughing, joking around. They’d placed their dinner orders.

Your wife stood up from the table; I assumed she was heading to the restroom.

She turned slightly and reached for her purse…

” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head.

“If she hadn’t turned when she did, the bullet would have gone straight through her heart. ”

The image slammed into Gabe’s mind unbidden, Nica laughing with her family one moment, then…he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push away the thought of how close he’d come to losing her forever.

“Any leads on the shooter?” Mike asked.

Cross shook his head. “By the time the sheriff secured the scene and got to the Miller building, they were gone.”

Gabe looked through the open doors of the waiting room, seeing his wife’s family. His family. The people in this town who meant everything to him. How was he supposed to face them, knowing it was because of him their precious daughter lay fighting for her life in an operating room?

He left Mike talking to Cross and walked back inside the waiting room.

The atmosphere was thick with tension and unspoken fears.

Chance and Dane still stood by the coffee machine, both men looking like they wanted to hit something.

He saw Ms. Patti point to the chairs, watched both men following her instructions and sit, though he had the feeling it wouldn’t be long before one or both were on their feet again.

Ms. Patti had returned to her pacing, while Douglas sat with his head in his hands.

Gabe found himself drawn to Dane, his brother-in-law who’d been there when it happened. Who’d held Nica while they waited for the ambulance.

“How bad was it?” he asked quietly, settling into the chair beside him.

Dane’s hands shook as he ran them through his hair. “There was so much blood, Gabe. She was conscious at first, kept asking for you. Kept saying she was sorry.”

“Sorry?” The word came out sharper than he’d intended. “Sorry for what?”

“I don’t know. She was going in and out of consciousness, and by the time the ambulance arrived she was out. I don’t know why she kept apologizing. None of this is her fault.”

The guilt that had been gnawing at Gabe’s insides exploded into something much worse. Nica had been apologizing while bleeding on a diner floor, thinking she was somehow to blame for what happened to her.

“This is because of me,” he said, the words barely above a whisper.

“What?” Ms. Patti stopped pacing and turned to look at him.

Gabe’s chest felt tight, like someone was squeezing his heart in a vise. “This is my fault. All of it.”

“Now you hold on just a minute,” Douglas said, his voice firm despite his exhaustion. “You didn’t put a gun in that maniac’s hands. This is all on him.”

“You don’t understand.” Gabe stood abruptly, unable to sit still with the weight of his guilt. “It’s this monster from my past. He’s been threatening me, threatening to destroy everything I care about. I should have…I should have protected her better.”

“Gabe.” Chance’s voice was gentle but firm. “You can’t blame yourself for the actions of a madman.”

But he could, and he did. Every decision he’d made, every time he’d let Nica out of his sight, every moment he’d convinced himself that the threat wasn’t real—it had all led to this moment. To his wife fighting for her life in an operating room while her family waited and prayed.

The sound of footsteps in the corridor made everyone freeze.

A surgeon appeared, still in her scrubs, mask hanging around her neck.

Dr. Patricia Collins was someone Gabe knew professionally, a competent thoracic surgeon who worked out of the Santa Lucia hospital, but occasionally covered cases here in Shiloh Springs.

“Family of Nica Boudreau?” she asked, and everyone in the waiting room stood.

Gabe’s heart hammered against his ribs as they gathered around Dr. Collins. The next words out of her mouth would either be the best news of his life or the worst.

“The surgery went well,” Dr. Collins said, and Gabe felt his knees nearly buckle with relief.

“The bullet did some damage to her left lung and nicked a blood vessel, which is why things took a little longer than we anticipated, but we were able to repair everything. She’s stable and breathing on her own. ”

Ms. Patti burst into tears, and Douglas pulled her against his chest. Dane sank back into his chair, his head in his hands. Chance let out a shaky breath that sounded almost like a sob.

“Can I see her?” Gabe asked, his voice hoarse.

“She’s being moved to recovery now. Give us about thirty minutes to get her settled, and then immediate family can visit. Two at a time, and only for a few minutes.”

As the surgeon walked away, the family began talking in relieved tones, voices overlapping. Plans were made for who would stay the night, who would call the rest of her brothers, who would bring clothes and toiletries.

But Gabe found himself stepping away from the group, his mind already racing ahead to what came next. Nica was alive, but the threat wasn’t over. Things had escalated to the point he would no longer sit back, no longer wait for his tormentor to make the next move.

And now Gabe knew exactly how far the man was willing to go.

Mike appeared at his elbow. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking this ends now,” Gabe said quietly, his voice steady despite the turmoil in his chest. “No more running, no more hoping he’ll just go away. He tried to kill my wife, Mike. He’s not going to get another chance.”

“Gabe—”

“I mean it.” He turned to face his friend, and Mike must have seen something in his expression that made him take a step back.

“Do your job. Get the profile done, and hope it gives us a clue as to who we might be looking for. But I’m done sitting back, waiting for him to make his move.

Whatever it takes, however far I must go, this ends now. I won’t lose her. I can’t.”

The fluorescent lights continued their monotonous buzzing overhead, and somewhere down the hall, his wife was fighting her way back to consciousness. Fighting her way back to him.

He’d failed to protect her once. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.