Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(64)

He watched them work, silent on the outside but begging for a miracle inside. Things he’d never say. Things they’d never do. So many “if onlys” but the one that wouldn’t leave him alone was that he should have known. He should have been here sooner. He should have known Tom would do this.

Travis had failed to protect her and he would never forgive himself.

Even if Aubrey managed to survive he couldn’t expect – couldn’t begin to ask – for absolution. This was a sin he’d carry with him forever.

“Sir? Sir, do you want to ride with them?”

“What?” Travis shook his head trying to clear his vision, fogged with tears. It had been years since he had cried, nothing touching him enough, but he doubted these would be the last today. “Yes. Yes, I want to ride with them.”

If she lets me I’ll never leave her.

“Follow us then.”

IVs and tubes were now attached to both women as they lay on the gurneys, the men wheeling them out of the room and down the hall as quickly as possible.

“How is Caroline? I think she’s in shock.”

He already knew Aubrey was in serious condition simply by observing the expressions on the EMT’s face.

“The blonde? She’s got a gunshot wound to the hand but I think she’ll be okay. It’s the brunette that we’re worried about. They’re prepping the OR. She’s going straight into surgery once she’s stable enough.”

Travis didn’t have to be told. It was her only chance.

If Shane didn’t catch Tom, Travis would.

The man would wish he’d never been born.

This was Travis’s solemn vow.

* * *

The smell of antiseptic and blood stung Travis’s nostrils as he paced up and down the emergency waiting room. Aubrey had been in one of the exam rooms for what seemed like hours as they tried to stabilize her before taking her back to surgery. He scraped his fingers through his hair once again as his stomach twisted into knots.

His sweet Aubrey might not make it.

She’d taken a bullet to her abdomen and lost copious amounts of blood. Travis truly didn’t know how anyone could survive something like that but he couldn’t even wrap his mind around the thought he might actually lose her.

She was so alive. So vibrant and beautiful.

They’d spoken words of love and talked about the future but now all of that was in jeopardy.

“Here’s some coffee. You look like you could use it. It’s probably terrible but I think we’re in for a long night.”

Shane held two paper cups of steaming liquid and Travis took one gratefully. Sipping at the bitter brew, he grimaced before falling back into one of the chairs that felt like it had been designed by the Marque de Sade. Much longer out here and he’d be ready for one of the patient rooms himself.


“Did you talk to Prather?”

Shane had chased Tom but the man had jumped into an arriving vehicle in the valet parking circle, accelerating out of the parking lot. By the time Shane had procured a car to chase the fugitive Tom was long gone.

Or hiding somewhere in a back alley or side street.

At this point it didn’t matter. The only important thing was Aubrey and her survival. Travis would find Tom Lovell although it would have to wait for another day.

“I did. I gave him my statement and now he’s back there with Caroline. The doctor told him to make it fast because the pain drip they gave her is going to kick in and she’ll fall asleep.”

Mercifully. The bullet had practically taken off two fingers but a specialist had been called in and they were planning to do surgery first thing in the morning.

“Is he letting Martin go?” There was a part of Travis that still believed that Prather wasn’t going to let go of his original theory. “Does he have men looking for Lovell?”

“He does. I heard him on the phone alerting the airlines and bus stations too. If Tom is smart he already dumped the car he stole. Lucky for us he wasn’t prepared for this. He ran out empty-handed. No cash. No identification. Nothing. As for Martin, a judge has to let him go but his attorney has that in the works. It shouldn’t be long now.”

“That only makes Lovell more dangerous. Fuck, how did I not know, Shane? It seems so clear now. If I’d known earlier–”

“Fucking stop it,” Shane commanded, sitting next to Travis. “Just stop this shit. Hell, the cops didn’t even know so how were you supposed to? You figured it out. Martin’s getting out of jail and the police are looking for Lovell.”

“I was too late.”

Shane put his hand on Travis’s shoulder in a comforting gesture that wasn’t unappreciated, but it didn’t help the ever growing lump of dread that had taken up residence in his stomach. To be honest, he wasn’t sure he was even going to be able to keep down this horrific coffee.

“Aubrey’s going to make it,” Shane stated, certainty in his tone. “You forget that it wasn’t all that long ago that I was lying in a hospital bed with a bullet in my gut. Now here I am dancing around and basically making trouble. I was okay and she’s going to be okay too. Believe it. She has a lot to live for.”

Acid churned in Travis’s stomach and he tossed the half drank cup in a trash can without a backward glance. Food and drink were strictly off limits if he didn’t want to disgrace himself by hanging his head in the nearest toilet bowl.