Page 60 of The Doctor's Promise
“That would make sense.”
“Have you met him?”
Zani shook his head. “No, actually. But he’s the most likely suspect.”
“He’s a minister.”
Zani gave a crooked grin. “Well, we’ve all heard stories about them.”
As they left the hospital,Noemi turned to Rafa. “Listen, I’m going to go over to Leo’s house to bang on her door until she lets me in. If today has shown me anything, it’s that her love is worth fighting for.”
Rafa kissed her. “Want me to come with?”
She shook her head. “We need sister time.”
Noemi tooka cab to Leo’s house. She knocked on the door and tried to open it, but there was no answer. Leo’s car was in the driveway. Noemi sighed heavily. Leo was in and ignoring her. Well, tough, lady. I’m coming in whether you want me to or not.
Noemi walked around to the garden gate and let herself in. As she walked around the side of the house, she noticed the small sapling that had been donated in Jack’s name was gone, ripped out of the ground and thrown aside. Her heart sunk. Maybe Leo had lost it completely in her grief.
Suddenly the need to get into the house was imperative. Noemi banged on the back door. “Leo! It’s me. I’m coming in.”
The door was locked, but she found a brick and smashed the window, reaching in gingerly to unlock the door. “Leo, sorry about the glass but if you won’t answer the door…”
She walked in. The air in the house was musty and stale, and Noemi’s heart began to beat a little faster. “Leo?”
She moved through the utility room into the kitchen and stopped. The counter tops were full of bowls of cereal, uneaten. God. Noemi didn’t need to count them to know there was one for every breakfast time since Jack died. Oh Jesus… Noemi’s heart ached for her sister.
“Leo…”
She walked into the living room which was in disarray but couldn’t find her sister. She went up to the second floor, checking the bedrooms. In Jack’s room, she gave a cry of distress as she saw her sister lying face down on the bed. “Leo!”
She darted to her sister and turned her over. To her relief Leonora was breathing, but to her horror, her face was a bloody mess of cuts and welts.
“Leo, my God, what happened?”
Leonora opened her eyes and terror crept into them. “No, no, Noemi, please, run... he’s crazy, he’s crazy…”
Noemi’s adrenaline spiked. “Who? Who’s crazy? Who did this to you?”
Leo’s eyes were whirling in her head, such was her distress. “Paul… Paul’s crazy… Noemi, please... he’s in the house. He’s in the house.”
Noemi’s adrenaline was pumping hard. “Then we have to get you out of here.”
She slid her arm under Leo and managed to get her to sit up. As she moved to pick her up, Leo’s eyes widened, and she whimpered in fear, staring over Noemi’s shoulder.
Before she could turn around, she felt the muzzle of a gun being pressed into the small of her back.
“Don’t move, Noemi,” Paul said in a soft voice, “or I’ll blow those kids right out of your belly.”
Noemi went ice cold as she heard the safety being flicked off and realized, finally, who had tried to kill her.
27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rafa nodded at Drew Ballentine as he walked into the diner and sat down opposite him. “Drew.”
“Rafa, it’s good to see you.”
