Page 145 of Chasing Shelter

“Don’t either of you move,”Nora instructed in a tone that brooked no argument. She set down a tray stacked high with three different beverages, some soup, fresh biscuits, and pain meds on Ellie’s coffee table.

Ellie and I had spent the past couple of hours at Dr. Avery’s, where he gave us both very thorough examinations. Ellie’s gash hadrequired liquid stitches, and mine the old-fashioned kind since it was on my scalp. We both had our share of scrapes, but overall, we’d been remarkably lucky.

I met Nora’s stare. “You know I’m not taking the pills.”

She huffed out a breath and pulled two small bottles from her apron pocket. “Fine. Tylenol and ibuprofen for you.”

That was all I ever allowed myself to take. Even when I had my appendix removed in my early twenties, I didn’t dip into the narcotics my doctor had prescribed. Given my genetic makeup, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Ellie sent me a sidelong look. “Are you sure? Your back looked pretty rough.”

That had taken the hit the hardest, and moving quickly anytime soon would be rough, but I’d be okay. I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m all right.”

A hard knock sounded on the front door.

“I’ve got it,” Nora said, moving quickly in that direction.

A cacophony of voices filled the air, but Linc’s rose above it all. “Where is she? Where’s my sister?”

“Breathe, Cowboy,” Arden ordered. “Having you threatening to burn the world down won’t help.”

Linc was already moving down the hall toward the living room.

“I’m fine, ConCon. Just a little liquid bandage, and I’m good to go,” Ellie assured him before he even reached the room.

Linc stormed over to her, looking back and forth between us. “A car tried to run you over?”

Ellie grimaced. “We don’t know?—”

“Yes,” I said, cutting her off. There was no use in lying to Linc. It would just make things worse in the long run.

“Maybe we need to get you out of here, El?—”

“No,” Ellie clipped, a finality in her tone. “This asshole doesn’t get to make me run.”

I reached over and wove my fingers through hers, squeezing as most of my siblings and their partners filed into the room. Shep looked like he’d come straight from a jobsite, while Thea was still inher Mix Up tee. Cope was clad in workout gear, but Sutton and Luca weren’t in tow. Given the paint splatters on her clothes and in her hair, Arden had definitely come from her studio. Kye was in sparring attire, and Rhodes had on a Bloom & Berry tee. The only sib missing was Fallon, but she was probably still at work.

I lifted Ellie’s hand to my mouth, lips ghosting over her knuckles. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to, but we need someone sticking close, given this latest…incident.” I glanced at Rhodes. “Where’s Anson?”

His take on the situation would be invaluable. This latest stunt was a big step up from terrifying, threatening notes, and I couldn’t help but feel it was different somehow. Rasher. Crossing the line to actual harm. Then again, maybe this was the perp escalating.

Rhodes looked from me to Ellie and back again. “He’s with Gabriel. He wanted to help.”

I knew that help came with a cost. Anson had walked away from the FBI for a reason. There were too many ghosts for him there, demons. But he was putting his profiler hat back on for Ellie. For me.

Before I could say anything else, my phone rang. Releasing Ellie’s hand, I grabbed the device from the coffee table and read the name on the screen.Gabriel.

I stood, ignoring my back’s angry protest, and strode toward the kitchen for a little bit of privacy. “What did you find?”

Gabriel didn’t answer right away. That told me whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He cleared his throat. “We found the vehicle. Abandoned off County Road 18. Perp wiped it clean but forgot the latch for the trunk. We got a clean print.”

“Whose?” It was only one word, but there was so much tension radiating through it that I almost didn’t recognize my own voice.

“It belongs to Jasper Killington. I’m sorry, Trace. It was your dad.”

44

ELLIE

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