No Place to Run (KGI #2)(50)

Donovan didn’t acknowledge her. He kept on with the breaths.

The wait was the worst Rusty had ever endured in her life. It was like a bad video that was stuck in a replay loop. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real. This wasn’t happening. She couldn’t lose Frank. He believed in her. No one else believed in her.

When the paramedics finally arrived, they had to force Donovan away. It was a blur. There was a tube and needles. Lines and a machine. When they paused in CPR to check for a rhythm and the thin, red, flat line streamed across the monitor, Rusty lost it.

“No!”

She threw herself forward and shoved the paramedic out of the way. She hugged Frank to her, sobbing, her heart breaking.

“No,” she cried hysterically. “You can’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. You can’t die.”

Rio plucked her off, and she kicked and fought him until he wrapped both arms around her and held her immobile. The medics quickly wheeled Frank out of the room to the waiting ambulance, and when Marlene would have followed Donovan, Rio’s man gently reined her in.

“Listen to me, Rusty,” Rio said in a low voice next to her ear. “He’s not gone. Not yet. They can save him. You have to believe that. You can’t give up on him. He’ll know.”

Tears ran down her cheeks. She’d never felt so lost in her life. Not when her stupid mother ran out on her. Not when her ass**le stepfather made her life miserable. Not when she’d tried to turn tricks just to find a way out of her life.

“Rio, why can’t I go with him?” Marlene asked in a stricken voice. “Where are they taking him? I need to be with him. I need to be with Donovan.”

Rio gently set Rusty down on the couch and took the seat beside her. He cupped her cheek even as tears splashed over the back of his hand. He glanced over at Marlene.

“My job is to keep you safe. All of you. I’ll take you to the hospital. But we’ll do this right. You go with me. You don’t go anywhere without me. Understood?”

Marlene nodded numbly, her eyes glazed with fear and grief. Then she crossed the room and sat down next to Rusty, pulling her into her arms.

Rusty hugged her fiercely and buried her face against her breast. All moms needed to smell like Marlene. Warm and comforting. Rusty’s only experience with mothers’ smells was one of alcohol and stale cigarette smoke.

“Shhh,” Marlene said as she rocked Rusty back and forth. “He’s a fighter, Rusty. All the Kellys are. It’ll take more than a heart attack to put Frank down. He’s survived worse.”

Rusty choked back another sob and clung desperately to those words. She knew Marlene was putting up a brave front for her, and she appreciated it—loved Marlene for doing it—but she felt Marlene’s betraying tremble and the fear that was laced into those words of comfort.

Rio put a hand on Rusty’s back and then slid it up to squeeze her shoulder. “If you two will come with me, we’ll get you to the hospital.”

CHAPTER 20

SOPHIE woke to an empty bed and the sun streaming through a crack in the blinds. She turned from the glare, reached for Sam’s pillow and hugged it to her, inhaling his scent.

She was deliciously tired and sore from their love-making, and for the first time she didn’t dread telling Sam everything. She’d confide in him about the key and trust him to do the right thing with the information. He was a good man, and she didn’t think for a minute he’d betray her trust.

Smiling, she got out of bed and pulled on one of the pairs of elastic-waisted jeans she’d found waiting for her. She’d been ridiculously touched that there had been actual maternity clothes in her size along with all the accoutrements, including a bra that fit and underwear.

With a satisfied sigh, she went in search of Sam. She didn’t want to put off the inevitable any longer. She’d tell him, get it over with, and then hopefully she could put the past behind her.

The murmur of voices from the living room grew louder as she ventured down the hall. When she rounded the corner, she was surprised to see someone standing with Sam and Garrett. She knew Garrett was supposed to arrive today, but Sam hadn’t said what he’d been doing.

All three men turned when they heard her, and now, subject to their scrutiny, she wished she’d just stayed in bed.

“If I’m interrupting, I can just go back ...”

She started to turn, but Sam strode over, his expression indecipherable. He took her hand, but tension radiated from him, and she glanced nervously over at the new guy again.

“Sophie, I want you to meet Adam Resnick. He’s here to speak to you.”

She blinked in surprise, and her gaze rapidly went from man to man. Garrett as usual stood there looking like you could break a rock on his face. The Resnick guy looked . . . eager, for lack of a better word. Sam looked . . . worried.

“To me?”

Her heart pounded harder. She broke out in a sweat, and she swallowed in vain at the knot in her throat. How would this man—whoever he was—know anything about her? Why would he want to talk to her?

Resnick stepped forward. “Sophie. Can I call you Sophie?”

She nodded stiffly and waited, her dread increasing with each second.

“I’m with . . . Well let’s just say I represent the interests of the United States government, and I’d like to talk to you about your father.”