Her features pinched again. “Kyle was there. He was tied to a chair. He’d been beaten…” She squeezed her eyes closed.
His heart broke for her. She’d never get those images out of her head. “But he was alive.”
“Barely. Someone was there…he…called Lydia.”
Grant’s eyebrows flicked up at the mention of his ex-wife’s name. “Lydia. I can’t believe what she’s doing.”
“She was so awful. She…said so many horrible things to him. She told him no one loved him, no one cared, that we weren’t looking for him.” The upset rocked her voice as she ran her fingers through her hair.
The words cut deep as he realized he hadn’t been looking. Not really. He’d made a brief phone call, but he hadn’t taken it seriously either. His son could be dead if it hadn’t been for Julia’s insistence that something was wrong and Alex Stone’sless-than-legal investigative skills. “She really knows how to twist the knife.”
Julia bobbed her head up and down. “And after all that…she just…” Her eyes turned glassy as she paused. “She just told that thug to kill him. Like he didn’t even matter.”
She let her head fall into her hands as she cried again.
He inched closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Julia. He didn’t kill him. You found him. You found him because you knew he wasn’t okay, and you were right. You’re always right.”
She lifted her head, tears still shining in her eyes as she pressed her clasped hands against her lips. “He almost killed him. I just…I couldn’t let that happen.”
Her voice cracked as she recounted the harrowing events.
His stomach dropped at the words, and his brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Okay, I gave my statement to the police, so–” Alicia said as she strode into the room. Unmistakable was the weapon strapped to her hip. It knotted his stomach into an even tighter knot. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were here.”
“No, Alicia, stay. Uh…” Grant rose, keeping a hand on Julia’s shoulder. “I think I owe you a big thank you.”
Alicia bobbed her head up and down. “Well, kind of my job. And I’m always happy to help my sister.”
“Well, I am grateful. Without you, we probably wouldn’t have found Kyle.”
“And none of us would be alive,” Julia said with a grateful smile at her sister. “Ally shot the son of bitch.”
“Only in the shoulder. Bastard got away. But at least he’s got a slug in his arm,” Alicia said. “That’ll teach him to put his hands on my sister.”
Grant’s heart stopped at the words. “What?”
Alicia’s eyes went wide as she flicked them between Grant and Julia. “You didn’t tell him?”
“Tell me what? Julia, what happened?”
“Julia went vigilante on him. Pulled him off your son and got a little slapped around for doing it. Same with your daughter.”
Grant collapsed into the chair next to his wife. “Are you kidding? Julia, you never should have taken that chance.”
“I had to! He was ready to kill Kyle. I couldn’t let that happen, the cops weren’t there yet. Ally wasn’t there yet. I just…did what had to be done.”
“Which was?” he asked, his voice incredulous.
“I…jumped on his back until he smashed me into a wall. And then Sierra punched him when he tried to choke me. And pummeled him when he did it again.”
“Oh my God,” Grant said, his muscles tense as he let his head fall back between his shoulders as he imagined the chaotic scene.
“But then Alicia showed up–”
“And he tried to use Julia as a human shield. Thankfully, she’s smart enough to know how to get away, giving me the chance to shoot him. I only wish I’d have dropped him instead of him getting away.”
“You did the best you could, Ally. I’m just glad he didn’t hurt any of us. Except Kyle.”