38
Nearly three hours later Katie and Miles tucked the kids into their beds. It was only seven o’clock at night, but both Sam and Keely had just folded down, an adrenaline crash.
As they walked back down the long corridor to their bedroom, Miles said, “They’re out like lights, thank God. Amazing.”
“Yeah. Keely was gone before I read the first page of her story. She only talked a little bit about the shooting in the park.”
“Same with Sam, thank God. Did you see Sean fall asleep in his father’s arms? A good thing, since Savich wasn’t about to let him go. And the worry in Sherlock’s face, damn, this isn’t good. Why did this happen? For God’s sake, we were in the park with the children.”
“Miles—”
“Dear God, I know the kids seem okay right now, but what about tomorrow, the next day? I think it’s smart to use a real light touch, making it all seem like an adventure, getting the spotlight off Sam. I sure hope it works. Sam didn’t act like he was freaked out again, not like he was in Jessborough. And Keely seemed all right, too.” He shuddered. “Somebody after Savich or Sherlock, I guess.” He began emptying his pants pockets on the dresser top. “Since they weren’t after Sam, it’s just got to shove away at least some of the fear, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I think you’re right. Miles—”
“You know, Katie, I’ve never seen Savich freak like this before. He was white as a sheet and didn’t even want to give Sean over to Sherlock. This asshole trying to shoot him right there in the middle of a park, Jesus, he could have killed Sean. He could have killed any of us, even Sam and Keely.”
“Miles—”
He set his wallet on the dresser, looked over at Katie who was standing by the bathroom door. “Yes?”
“Maybe the asshole wasn’t necessarily just after Savich or Sherlock.”
“What do you mean?”
Katie slowly slid her arms out of her leather jacket, pulled it down, and let it slide to the floor. She lifted up her long gray sweatshirt and he saw the blood covering her upper thigh. “It could be that the asshole was after me.”
He couldn’t take it in, just couldn’t. He stood there like a block of wood, staring at all that blood. Then his breath whooshed out. “Oh Jesus, oh God, you’re hurt.” He was at her side in a moment, his face flushed red, his hands shaking. “Why didn’t you say anything? You didn’t say a single word! I’m getting you to the emergency room. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, that you sat through all the questioning with the cops, and didn’t say a thing. No, just keep quiet and don’t faint on me.”
“I won’t faint. It’s not bad, the bullet just grazed me, on the side of my hip. If you could just help me off with my jeans we could take a look.”
“Shut up. So that’s why you excused yourself to that public bathroom in the park, that’s why you left Keely with me, oh damn.” He came down on his hands and knees in front of her and unzipped her jeans. He eased them down real slow and easy. She’d ripped off the bottom of her sweatshirt and wrapped it around her upper thigh. It was bloody, but not fresh blood, he didn’t think. “I’m not going to undo it, it might start bleeding again.” He got to his feet, helped her pull up her jeans again. “I’ll tell Cracker that we’re leaving the house for a bit. Stay put, Katie.”
While he was gone, Katie took a couple more Tylenol. When Miles got back to her, looked at her white face in the bathroom mirror and saw the Tylenol bottle, he didn’t say a word, just picked her up in his arms and carried her out to the car. “It’s funny how it hurts more now that I’ve told you about it. Isn’t that strange?”
She was breathing light shallow breaths, obviously hurting even though it was just a graze. Jesus, a bullet had gone through her. He just couldn’t take it in. And she hadn’t said a word.
Katie appreciated that Miles was really careful when he fastened the seat belt.
“Hang in there, Katie, the hospital’s only about ten minutes away.” It was hard not to floor the accelerator, but he didn’t want her flying forward.
At a red light, he smacked his hands on the steering wheel. She saw the pulse pounding in his neck. He was angry, very understandable. “Okay, I can’t stand it any longer. Give me one good reason, Katie, just one good reason why you didn’t tell me.” His voice was low and perfectly cold, not a bit of inflection. She wondered if he ever yelled.