Page 29 of Her Dark Melody
“Call 911!” Obe was the first to spring into action, picking him up. While Juno dialed 911, he and Ebony hauled Mateo into the house, locking the door behind them. They had no way of knowing if the shooter was still outside. Laying Mateo on the floor, Obe shoved up his sweater to get a better look at the wound. Blood from his mouth and nose poured out, mixing with the blood from what seemed like every other part of him, so much that it was impossible to tell if he’d been shot more thanonce
Ebony fell to her knees beside him. “No, no, please…Mateo? Mateo?” She began to blow air into his mouth and pump on his chest. A split second later, they heard Fino returning, and Ebony looked at Juno, panicked. “Stophim…”
But it was too late.“Dada!”Fino screamed and ran to his stricken father before any of them could stop him. “DADA!”
Juno gathered the boy in her arms, but he struggled, kicking, screaming, clawing and howling in utter despair as she bore the distraught child out of theroom.
“What the hell happened?” Obe demanded, watching Ebony perform CPR, waiting to take over when shetired.
More gunshots echoed from outside, followed by loud shouts. “Fuck… Ebony, let’s get him away from thewindows.”
“Can’t stop,” Ebony gasped out as she kept up the rhythm on Mateo’s chest but they could both all see it was too late. His bright green eyes were glazed, his beautiful face pale slack. Ebony checked his pulse again then began to sob, laying her head on her lover’s brother’s chest as the chaoscontinued.
Fino was somehow back in the room again then, on his knees in the blood. He patted Mateo’s face, eyes huge and afraid. “Dada?”
“I’m so sorry, Fino,” Ebony whispered. “There was nothing we coulddo.”
The boy’s wail broke all of their hearts and Ebony reached for him, holding the weeping child in her arms, her own bewildered, brokenhearted tears mingling withhis.
Chapter Thirteen
Two victims, one dead, one clinging to life in a Seattle hospital. Both victims of a suspected revenge attack by a man who allegedly murdered his wife just days before Christmas – then blamed the victims – or in one case, the identical twinbrotherof a victim – for her death. Tonight, on KOMO, the terrifying story that has shocked America. We’ll return after thesemessages.
Blue shut off the television and rubbed his eyes. He had watched every moment of news coverage he could, trying to make sense of what had happened a week ago. Mateo Tigri shot dead in his own home…and his beloved Romy, stabbed mercilessly and left for dead. How she was still alive was a miracle, but as he watched her, connected up to a myriad of machines, bandages, bruised, torn apart, he wondered if she would ever wakeup.
That terrible day, he had been panicked beyond belief, feeling helpless to act as Beau took over, ordering him out of the Operating Room. “No, Blue. We’ve got this. I saved her once, I’ll do it again, I promise you.Go.”
He’d wanted to swing at his old friend for banishing him, yell at him that yes, he saved her before, but that was one bullet, a bullet which had missed her vital organs, but tonight, this night, her wounds were so muchworse.
Butchered.
That was the word which kept coming to his mind, and he winced and tried not to scream as he thought aboutit.
Romy had been stabbed fifteen times. Her arms, her hands covered with cut and gashes – defense wounds. Her attacker had driven the knife so deep into her belly that it had damaged her spine. Her abdominal artery had been cut, her liver damaged, her gut sliced apart. If she made it, it would have to be a miracle, though she was clinging to life as hard as shecould.
And Mateo Tigri was dead. Apparently shot dead by the same man – a man who as of this moment was still free. Carson Franks had been arrested, but he’d had a cast iron alibi for both of the attacks. His smirk at the television cameras told the story. He’d paid someone to murder Atlas – who’d gotten Mateo instead - and had paid him well enough not to roll onhim.
Blue knew Carson had stabbed Romy himself. That’s what he liked to do, Atlas had grimly told him; he liked to kill women. And with both Atlas and Romy out of action, there would be no one to testify at histrial.
But his hired gun had killed the wrong brother and now Atlas was raging at the press, the police, and his own security team who had failed to protect his family. His anguish at his brother’s murder had been further exacerbated by hearing of Romy’s stabbing. Blue felt for the man…but…
He was angry. Angry at Atlas, angry at Romy. How thehellhad they kept this from him? The threats that Carson Franks had been making? If he had known, he would have put the hospital on lockdown. Romy’s attacker must have followed her from their safe, secure home to this place, the place that seemed secure. There were things he could have done, had he known…like lock Romy in a bulletproof, knife-proof cube and never let anyone near her everagain.
Jesus. Howwere they hereagain? Blue got up and went to his wife’s side. He stroked her pale, cool cheek, wondering how much she could feel from within her coma. When he had seen her lying in her own blood, torn apart, he had thought she was dead. The attack had been so vicious, so merciless that it had taken seventeen hours to stabilizeher.
And then Blue had had the terrible task of telling his kids that Mommy was very sick. The twins weren’t old enough to process that Mommy wasn’t coming home for a while. It killed him to think of how six-year-old Gracie had looked at him with serious eyes. “Daddy? Is Mommy verysick?”
And Blue couldn’t lie to his daughter. “Yes, honey. She’s very, very sick, but she’s being looked after by the best doctors in Daddy’shospital.”
“Can we seeher?”
He hesitated. He didn’t want Gracie to see Romy attached to all of the machinery, barely breathing, barely alive, but what if Romy didn’t makeit?
“Gracie…Daddy will take you to see Mommy when she’s a little better,” said Magda as she touched Blue’s shoulder as she passed him, picking up Gracie. Blue smiled gratefully at his mother-in-law. Magda was shattered, utterly devastated by Romy’s attack, but she had rallied behind Blue and thekids.
Artemis, Romy’s oldest sister, was also on hand and had taken care of the twins, thinking of practicalities Blue hadn’t even considered like the fact Romy had been breastfeeding. Artemis had reassured him. “We’ll switch to formula, it’ll be fine, Blue. Mom, Juno and I will take care of the twins and Gracie. Romy will recover, and all of this will just be another thing we overcame.” Her voice had broken at the end of the sentence, and she began to sob, Blue hugging hertightly.
So many people had been torn apart by what Carson Franks had set in motion, he thought now. He kissed Romy’s forehead and went to his office. Beau Quinto, the retired Chief, was waiting forhim.
