Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(104)

Gallagher threw a right that cut into Ethan’s eyebrow. He grunted as the man rolled on top. Ethan slid his hands around Gallagher’s throat, rolled on top, and squeezed until Bick’s face turned beet red. He struggled, kicked, fought for air. Ethan thought of Val and squeezed harder.

“Don’t kill him, big brother,” Luke called out to him. “We don’t have time to dick with the cops over this.”

Ethan held on a little longer, till Gallagher’s eyeballs were bulging and his body went limp, but his brother was right. And the wound in his side was beginning to make him dizzy. He rolled to his feet, caught the plastic tie Luke tossed him, flipped Gallagher onto his back, and bound his wrists.

He looked over to where his brother had Myra Stern in plastic cuffs. Jason was bleeding out on the floor. Looked like the bullet had nicked his heart. Myra didn’t seem all that concerned.

“You call it in?” Ethan asked, wiping blood from his eyebrow, wiping his bloody knuckles on his jeans.

“Yeah. Cops and an ambulance on the way.”

The room spun. He was losing blood. He pressed a hand to his side and it came up red.

“What the hell?” Luke strode toward him. “Jesus, you’re hit!”

“Gallagher’s bullet went through Stern into me.”

Luke eased him back into a chair, yanked his T-shirt off over his head, and pressed it against Ethan’s side. “Keep the pressure on.”

He nodded, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes. The good news was, it was over.

The bad news was, once Val found out he’d been shot, he’d never get her to marry him.





Chapter Thirty-Nine



The antiseptic hospital smells overwhelmed her, reminding Val of the night Bobby had died. After the shooting that night, she’d been taken to the hospital, though the blood on her clothes and hands had belonged to Bobby, not her.

She paced the floor of the waiting room. Ethan was still in surgery. The bullet had damaged his spleen. He could die in there. A little sob locked in her throat. Dear God, she couldn’t take anymore.

Her mind returned to the events of the evening. As soon as Luke had called and she and Dirk were on their way to the hospital, she had phoned Mom and Pops and told them what had happened. They were coming to Seattle, but they couldn’t leave the farm until they’d made arrangements for someone to take care of the animals.

She had phoned Meg, but Meg was in Chicago, on a modeling job for La Belle. Meg had wanted to fly back, but Val had said she’d be all right as soon as she knew Ethan was okay.

Both of them had cried.

The door swung open and Luke strode in, Dirk following in his wake. “You need anything?” Dirk asked.

She just shook her head.

“Why don’t we go get some coffee?” Luke asked softly. He was an interesting man, hard in some ways, gentle in others.

“Not right now. I don’t want to leave.” Val sat down on the gray vinyl sofa, her gaze going to the other two people in the room, an older, heavyset woman and her short, stout husband, there for their son, she’d heard the woman say. The couple looked as worried as Val.

“He’s gonna be all right, you know.” Dirk sat down beside her. “Vardon’s supposed to be a brilliant surgeon. Sadie checked him out.”

“That’s what she told me.” Sadie and Ian were both in the hospital somewhere. They’d been pacing, trying to make time speed up, finally headed outside to get some fresh air.

“He’ll be okay,” Dirk repeated, returning to his feet. Rightly figuring she couldn’t be persuaded to leave, he and Luke sat down in chairs across from her and each picked up a magazine.

The door opened again and Samantha walked in, her fine brown curls subdued with a clip at the nape of her neck, her baby bump getting bigger every day. Val rose to her feet and went into Sam’s arms for a badly needed hug. Both of them started crying, then finally pulled themselves together.

Through the waiting room window, she caught a glimpse of Nick, out in the hall with Hannah. Uncomfortable with two crying women, Dirk and Luke left to join him.

“I’m so glad you came,” Val said.

Samantha nodded and leaned in to give her another hug. Through the window, Val watched Dirk take hold of Hannah’s small hand, and the group headed down the hall to the cafeteria.

“We decided to bring Hannah with us,” Samantha explained. “She heard Nick talking to Ian on the phone. When she realized her daddy was in the hospital, she was so upset we figured it would be better to bring her down, let her wait for news with the rest of us.”

“She was in the hospital before. Ethan was there when she needed him, so she wants to be there for him. You did the right thing.” Tears welled. Val dragged a Kleenex out of the pocket of her borrowed sweatpants and dabbed at the wetness.

Both of them sat down on the sofa. “He’s going to be okay, Val. No one’s in better physical condition than Ethan. Ian told us the doctor said he should come through the surgery very well.”

“I know. I wish I could convince myself. Even if he gets well, I can’t make myself believe everything will be all right between us. It isn’t going to be all right. Not now or ever.”

“Don’t say that. I know you’re worried. I know what you’ve been through. But Jason Stern is dead. The police have arrested Myra Stern and Bick Gallagher and everyone involved in Delilah Larsen’s murder. Julian Latham’s been arrested. Even Peter Latham and his wife are in custody.”