Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(81)

“Scoot back,” Ro told her, putting a hand on her arm.

Reluctantly, Morgan did as ordered, not taking her eyes from Arrow’s chest. As long as she could see it moving, he was alive.

“Paramedics are on their way,” Ball said.

“Police are about a minute and a half behind,” Meat added.

Still, Morgan didn’t look away from Arrow. He was pale, and even though he didn’t have a mark on him, she knew things weren’t good.

“Are you all right?” Ro asked, kneeling next to her and trying to turn her toward him.

She resisted and nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

“You didn’t eat any?”

She shook her head.

“You’ve got chocolate on your face,” Ro said gently, finally turning her head enough so she had to look at him.

“I had the tiniest nibble of one. Then she tried to shove one in my mouth, but I pressed my lips together. I’m fine,” she repeated. “But Arrow’s not.”

“Black had to shoot your mother.”

“I don’t care! She was behind it! All of it.”

“We know that now,” Ro told her.

“How’d you know to come?” she asked, trying to keep her frantic mind off Arrow’s still body.

“Arrow. He’s the best electrician we know. There’s no way he’d ask me to come over and help with a fuse box. Chloe called from the parking lot and relayed the message, and we immediately knew something was up. We rushed over here . . . and the rest you know.”

“It was my mom,” Morgan whispered, her voice breaking. “She didn’t care that I was being hurt. She only wanted to make my dad suffer.”

“Come ’ere,” Ro said, pulling her into his embrace.

Morgan went willingly, needing the support. She angled her head so she could still see Arrow even as Ro knelt on the floor with her. He made sure to keep her turned so she could see the man she loved, and not her mother.

“He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” she whispered, just as the paramedics rushed into the room.

“Yes,” Ro said with no hesitation. “He’s one tough Marine. He’ll beat this.”

“I love him,” Morgan admitted softly. “I never told him, but I love him so damn much.”

“He knows, love. He knows.”

Ro helped Morgan to her feet while the paramedics got to work on Arrow. She couldn’t do anything but watch as the love of her life was quickly bundled onto a backboard and rushed out of the room. She wanted to go with him, but Ro held her back. “He’s in good hands. Let them get him to the hospital and start the antidote. We’ll get you there as soon as possible.”

Morgan wanted to protest. Wanted to demand to go with Arrow, but she took a deep breath and nodded. Someone would have to call his mom and sister. The police were entering the apartment now, even as the second set of paramedics worked on her mother. But with one look, Morgan knew it was too late for her.

Black was a damn good shot—and the hole in the middle of Ellie’s forehead spoke for itself.

Morgan wanted to feel bad. Wanted to mourn her mother, but after learning what she had in the last half hour, it was impossible.

The woman lying on the floor wasn’t her mother. She was a monster who Morgan had never known. Her mother had apparently died long ago.

Straightening her shoulders, she nodded at Ro and allowed him to guide her to a chair at Arrow’s dining room table. He wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and went to assist his teammates.

A kind-looking police officer pulled out a chair next to her and said, “Can you tell me what happened?”

Morgan knew it was going to take longer than a few minutes to explain the events that had led up to her mother being dead on the floor, but she took a deep breath and began speaking. The sooner she got through this, the sooner she could get to Arrow’s side.





Chapter Twenty

A week later, Morgan was sitting in the orange armchair a nurse had unearthed for her from somewhere in the hospital. She hadn’t left Arrow’s side except to shower or when one of his friends forced her to go get something to eat in the cafeteria.

The first two days had been touch-and-go. Arrow had been in the intensive care unit as doctors did what they could to counteract the ethylene glycol that had been coursing through his body. He had been intubated and had lain motionless, oblivious to everything going on around him.

After he’d been decontaminated, the next step was to prevent the poison from metabolizing further in his body. As well as administering the antidote, the doctors had put him on kidney dialysis to assist his body in cleansing itself.

It was a long and exhausting process, but the first time Arrow had opened his eyes and said her name, Morgan had cried.

Arrow was weak, and he still slept a lot, but he was no longer intubated, and she could tell he was getting stronger with every day that went by.

Hearing someone at the door, Morgan turned to look and saw that it was Black. She hadn’t seen him since he and his teammates had stormed into Arrow’s apartment like a pack of superheroes.

“Hi,” she said softly, not wanting to wake Arrow.

“I can come back later,” Black said, not meeting her eyes.

Morgan knew he’d been avoiding her, but she refused to let him do it anymore. “Get over here,” she said as sternly as possible.