Page 65 of Jacqueline's Quest

“Already here, fucker. Let her go.” Murray nudged Thomas with his leg.

Thomas eased back and Hannah pushed herself onto the stage then stood, surprising all of them. She wobbled on her legs as though she wasn’t used to walking. The last thing the doctors told them was that she’d never be able to use her legs again, seeing her standing and taking those first tentative steps in front of Murray... He lost the ability to breathe. She put her arms out to balance herself and when she was ready, she launched herself into his arms.

“I told you, I’d always come for you, brat.” Murray held Hannah close, not wanting to let her go. “Fuck, look at you. You’re not a teenager anymore.”

Hannah gave a watery laugh. “I can’t believe you’re here. Is this a dream?”

“If it is,” Murray said, “I never want to wake up.”

“Christian?” Jaqueline hedged, her voice a little reedy. She too had been covered in blood a looked a little worse for wear. Murray narrowed his eyes.So much for her being safe through all this.“Mijo?”

The boy lifted his head and Jaqueline shouted in surprise and excitement. The boy held his hand out to her, and she picked him up off the floor. Like a doting mother or big sister, Jaqueline touched him everywhere while speaking softly to him in Spanish. The boy nodded a few times. Then he began to sign.

"I taught him SSL," Hannah said. "Spanish Sign Language. I thought it would be easy for him to learn. I... I can teach you too if you want?"

Jaqueline bit her bottom lip and dashed away a few tears. "Yes. Please." She held her brother's face between her hands. "I missed you, Christian. I missed you." The boy wrapped his arms around her, holding her close while she cried.

AJ sat on the floor next to Scotty. His head was on her lap as she ran her fingers through his red, matted hair. The guy was out of it. If the amount of blood on the floor was any indication, it had been due to blood loss. Thomas went to her then, kneeling beside her. “You heard Noah, he has a medic on the way.”

She nodded. “I can’t believe how close we came to almost losing him—twice.”

“Me too. However, we didn’t. He’s right here. A bit worse for wear, but we got him back.” Thomas pushed a lock her of hair behind her ear. “And, we’re not letting him out of our sight for a long time.”

“Yeah.” Her bottom lip trembled. “He’s grounded.”

Thomas chuckled. "Both of you are. I think I lost ten years worrying about both of you."

She tried to laugh except she began to cry instead. Thomas wrapped her in his embrace, and she pressed her cheek to his chest as she wept. Murray glanced down at his sister who clung to him. She trembled in his arms. The shock was setting in. He gave her a reassuring squeeze then smiled. He had so much to say to her, but words failed him. At the moment none of it mattered. Maybe tomorrow or the next day they could talk about everything, but for now, he'd been content to hold her.

When the group of medics stormed into the broken building, he pulled her aside, giving them room to work. Thomas whispered to AJ while pulling her back to his chest. The lead medic cut open the pant leg covered in blood, revealing the affected area of Scotty's injury. A flesh wound. The bullet it appeared, went through and through. The tension bled from Murray. He glanced over at Jaqueline who'd stepped closer to him.

“You okay?” Murray cocked a brow.

She nodded. “Better now.”

“You’re covered in blood.” He lifted his chin toward her dress.

“Yeah.” She cut her gaze to Christian and Murray understood.

“Later then.” He started for the opening in the building, following the medics carrying Scotty.

“We’re going with them,” Thomas said to Murray.

“We’re following with these two. We’ll meet you there.” Murray clapped Thomas on the shoulder. “The paperwork for this shit, amirite?”

Thomas snorted. “Fucking paperwork.” He loosened his tie as he looped his arm around AJ’s shoulder. “They don’t pay me enough.”

“Anyone see where Luca went?” Jaqueline said.

“I thought he was with you guys,” AJ answered.

“Not us,” Murray replied. “The fucker is like a ghost.”

“Or he knew what was about to happen and he got the hell out of Dodge,” AJ muttered.

“Or, he’s around here trying to help everyone,” Murray stated.

“No, he’d get the hell out of here to keep up pretenses for the cartels. Can’t be seen talking to the good guys or in the fallout from something like this,” Thomas reminded them.

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