Page 80 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

“I’m not sure how you got the bullet to your side, but the one in your shoulder came courtesy of one of the S.W.A.T. guys.”

I nodded, remembering the moment all too clearly. “Yeah, he didn’t have much of a choice. One of TJ’s guys was with me. He had to make it look real and he only had a split second to decide.”

Dad nodded, but I could tell he still didn’t like it. I chuckled a little because I knew it was only because it was me. If it had been anyone else, he would’ve said it made tactical sense.

I scowled when I remembered how I got the other one. “And the one in my stomach was from Pock,” I said through gritted teeth. “He was about to shoot Kaeli down so I threw myself in front of her.”

The thought of Kaeli made me realize I didn’t know what had happened to her.

“Is Kaeli okay? Did she get out alright?”

Dad gave me a strange look. “Yeah. I saw her d

own at the station with her mom.” He paused, eyeing me warningly. “She asked about you, you know. Using your real name…”

I gave him a guilty look. “But she was okay, wasn’t she? Was her mom okay? Did they get Ken? And Aaron?”

Exhaling heavily, he shifted back in his seat. “She was fine from what I could see. Her mom looked pretty banged up. She had her arm in a sling. As for Ken, he’s dead. He pulled a handgun on Mike when they cracked the place so he shot him. I don’t know anything about his son.”

Relief and worry came at once. I was fucking ecstatic Ken was dead. That fucker had put Kaeli and her mom through way too much for me to feel anything else, but not knowing if Aaron had been apprehended was a real big worry, especially considering he was the one who’d kidnapped her in the first place.

“What else? Did they get Mr. X?”

Dad grinned proudly. “Yep. And it was all you. Walt had no leads what-so-ever that indicated the exchange was going down last night. Without you, they had dick.”

I exhaled heavily. “Jesus…” I was so glad I managed to get the message to them. “I heard TJ and Vinnie went down..?”

Dad nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think Walt was quite expecting it to go down the way it did.”

“Did anyone get away?”

“Not from TJ’s gang. TJ, Vincent and Mark all died at the scene. Mitch, David and Ivan were all taken to hospital, where Mitch later died from blood loss.”

I frowned in confusion before remembering Pock’s real name was Mark, and Mac’s name was Ivan. Then the last part caught up with me. “Mitch died?”

Dad gave me a mock melancholy look. “Yeah. It wasn’t too hard to pull off considering you did almost die from blood loss.”

Shit. “Does Mom know?”

“That you almost died? You think I’m that stupid I’d tell her?”

I chuckled a little. Mom would’ve been a force to be reckoned with if she knew.

“Adam knows though. He was there. Took a bit to convince him he couldn’t work on you from what I’ve heard too.”

I gaped at him. I shuddered to think of my oldest brother in the middle of everything that went down last night. I knew as a paramedic he’d probably been in some pretty shitty situations before, but that had been like a fucking warzone.

“You did good, son,” Dad said quietly.

I looked up to meet his gaze and was almost knocked over by the pride and respect I saw there. A lump formed in my throat. “Thanks, Dad.”

He cleared his throat a little. “So, you going to be alright for visitors? Your mom and brothers will probably be here soon. I’m surprised Walt’s been able to keep them away for this long.”

I laughed, causing that fucking shooting pain to stab me in the stomach again. Grumbling, I shifted to try to make myself more comfortable. “Tell me. What’ve I missed out on?”

Dad gave me a tight lipped smile. “Adam’s engaged.”

“What? Holy shit. Really?” I shook my head. At twenty-six I shouldn’t have been surprised, especially since he and Kara had been together so long, but as far as I was aware, they’d never expressed any interest in getting married before.

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