Better When He's Bold

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.

Nassir had shut down. He was always kind of cold and reptilian, but now that an unidentified threat was striking close to home, he had turned into a full-fledged, violent predator. He wanted revenge, he wanted blood vengeance in the form of bodies and blood, and there was nothing that was going to stand in the way of him getting it. He didn’t seem at all worried that Bax and I were moving close to two million dollars out of his sight. Whoever thought crime didn’t pay had obviously never tried to make a living on the wrong side of the law. Crime paid big—that’s why there was so much of it in the modern world. I figured it was smart to get the business straight while we waited to hear back from Stark on the info I asked him to get. After I had gotten all I needed to know about Drew Donner, I had fully intended on heading over to the college.

Stark declared that there wasn’t anyone named Drew Donner on the books. The guy didn’t exist before he showed up at the university a year ago. It was like he had popped up out of thin air. I asked Stark to run a check on just the name Drew or Andrew that might have any link with Brysen and her family. It had only taken him a second to come back with Andrew Bohlen, as in the son of the guy Brysen’s mom had killed while drinking and driving. The fucker had a pretty sound reason for going off the deep end, but that didn’t mean he had a right to hurt my girl.