Better when He's Bold (Welcome to the Point #2)(82)
There were two shot and bleeding men at my feet. I had seen my life flash before my eyes, and my sister was more worried about an injured thug than she was about her own safety. I couldn’t believe Dovie was acting like this kind of thing just happened every day. I couldn’t take it.
“I thought he might have hurt you.”
She dropped Drew’s gun and tucked her own into her pants as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms.
“He jumped me in the parking lot of the university. Bax told me Race was on the warpath about him, so I knew immediately what was going on. He shoved a gun in my face and made me call you. I was hoping you could tell something was wrong, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. The idiot wanted to take my car in case there was an outside camera on the condo. He pistol-whipped me when we pulled up out front, which knocked me out for a few minutes. But I’ve been in the Point long enough that I don’t go anywhere without some kind of firearm. I got the gun out of the glove box and prayed I wasn’t too late. Looks like I was for Booker, but I got to you in time. You need to learn how to use a gun, Brysen. Have Race teach you.”
I couldn’t believe how calm and collected she sounded. All I could do was cry and let her try and soothe me.
Somewhere in the distance sirens started to howl, and it was just in time because Booker let out a low moan.
Karsen’s head snapped up and she screamed, “He’s alive!” just as thundering feet and male voices barked, “What in the f*ck!” and “Holy f*cking shit!” as Race and Bax shoved each other to get into the room.
Bax bolted to Dovie, took one look at the gun in her pants and Drew’s still form, and cocked an eyebrow at her.
“This is getting to be a habit.” He put a finger under her chin and looked at her battered face with a scowl. “Ouch, Copper Top.” He snagged the gun from her waistband and made it disappear.
I fell into Race as he scooped me up into his arms. He cradled me to his chest and rubbed his cheek against mine.
“I tried to call you to warn you about him. I knew something was up when I couldn’t get ahold of you, and Dovie wasn’t answering the phone. Thank God you’re okay.”
I squeezed him as tightly as I could as the sirens got closer and closer.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.”
All I could think about was the tragedy that could have been avoided all the way around. It was heartbreaking.
“What are we going to do about him?”
I didn’t even want to use Drew’s name. He seemed totally inhuman to me now so something as simple as a name felt wrong when referring to him. I cuddled into Race’s embrace even harder and felt his hand rub over my hair.
“Bax called Titus already. He knows about the stalking and the attempts on your life so he’s on the way and will take care of everything. Don’t worry, Brysen. I know I’ve done a shitty-ass job so far, but I promise to take care of you.”
I snorted a little into his neck. “You’ve done a better job taking care of me than anyone else ever has, Race. You can’t be everywhere at once, and who would’ve predicted Drew would go after Dovie? He was crazy, and it’s unfortunate he kind of had a reason to be.”
I think he was going to say something back but just then a swarm of paramedics flooded into the room and a tall guy who looked like a slightly older, more polished version of Bax strode into the room like he was automatically in charge of everything that was going on. He had bright blue eyes that looked like they had seen everything and nothing would surprise him anymore. He mechanically searched out Bax and Dovie then landed on me and Race.
“Every single time I get a call from you in an emergency, Bax, I expect you to be the one with bullets in you by the time I show up.”
I heard Bax snicker, saw Dovie roll her eyes, and I realized that to everyone else, this really was just another day in the Point. How on earth was I ever going to adjust to this kind of life? I closed my eyes and buried my face in Race’s neck and let the floaty and drifting darkness that had been pulling at me take over. I just needed a minute in the darkness to wait until all of this passed and then I would deal later with the fact that this was how things worked in the Point.
Chapter 18
Race
WHEN BRYSEN WENT LIMP in my arms, my heart stopped and I almost dropped her. I bellowed for one of the paramedics that were hovering around Booker as they loaded him onto a stretcher. Titus had declared Drew DOA so there wasn’t as much focus on him from the emergency service workers. I laid Brysen down on the floor and let out a relieved breath when her eyes popped back open as soon as she was flat.
I went to put her down so the EMTs could get to her, but she wouldn’t let go of the stranglehold she had on my neck. Now that some of the fear and panic was beginning to recede, I could see the wicked-looking bruise blooming on her temple and another one on her cheek.
“My head hurts.” She sounded like she had been eating glass for a month and I could see that her eyes were fuzzy and unfocused.
“I know. Let these guys look at you, Bry. You need to go back to the hospital.” I told the young paramedic that was closest to me, “She just suffered a major concussion a couple of days ago.”
He nodded and tried to get to my girl but she just wouldn’t let me go. “She probably needs another CT scan.”
Brysen whimpered and I felt it like a fist in the gut. This was just one more time I had let her down and hadn’t been where she needed me to be. Stark had called earlier while Bax and I were busy moving all of our ill-gotten assets from Spanky’s to the garage.