Page 112 of Unburdening His Heart

“It means we need to find Malcom before he finds one of us alone or disarmed,” Jack answers for SJ, who only nods his agreement.

My eyes cut to Andrea and go wide. I know Malcom has done despicable, unimaginable things to his children, but this makes him sound like a deranged madman who’s hellbent on taking each and every one of us out. My mind races right alongside my heart.

The severity of the shit show we’re in suddenly becomes crystal clear. We have to stop him before he stops us. Andrew’s life depends on it. All our lives depend on it.

“What is that on his back?” Andrea barks from the hospital room door as the nursing tech slips the new gown up Andrew’s limp arms.

I’m immediately alarmed something might be wrong, so I try to see what Andrea is pointing at. She and Addy stepped out to give Andrew some resemblance of privacy, but Andrea poked her head back in right as the nursing tech and I were rolling him onto his back.

I gently try to lift his right shoulder to find what she could be talking about, but he’s practically dead weight, and I can barely get him to move.

“Andrew has a tattoo?” she asks in disbelief.

Oh, that!

I pull away from him and let him rest as Addy walks in right behind her. “What tattoo?”

It seems neither one of them knew about Andrew’s full back piece.

I sigh in relief. “Girl, you had me completely freaking out! I thought he had an injury they missed!”

She looks properly chastised at that, and I realize I was too harsh. The stress of the past two days is catching up to all of us.

Andrew stirs sometimes, his eyelids flickering but never opening. A finger moves just enough to catch everyone’s attention. Our gasps trapped in our chests as we wait to see if his beautiful eyes will open.

But they never do.

I look over at his serene face. The bruises and cuts from the accident are in the it’s going to get worse before it gets better phase. I close my eyes for the millionth time to send up a silent prayer for him to wake up.

Please, please, Andrew. Open your eyes. Let us know you’re okay.

“When did he get that?” Andrea asks in a whisper, her shock still bleeding through her sweet but stressed face.

“He’s had it for years,” I reply.

Addy’s head snaps up at that. “Why didn’t he ever say anything?”

I shrug my shoulders. I suspect I know the answer now that everything has come to light, but it isn’t my story to tell. They both look at me expectantly, their faces morphing from shock to curiosity in a blink.

“All I know is he got it to remind himself of his guilt, of his sacrifice.” I choke on the last word.

This man has sacrificed everything to make sure the ones he loves wouldn’t have to feel the wrath of a man who was supposed to be their father but was nothing more than an evil puppet master.

My stomach rolls once again as Addy's and Andrea’s faces pale. Silent tears track down Addy’s cheeks as she turns her head and tries to wipe them on her shoulder. Andrea goes to her side and wraps her in her arms, whispering words that are just between the two of them.

I look away to give them privacy. This must be extremely difficult. All the secrets. All the devastation. It’s too much for me to bear, and it isn’t my father who’s responsible. I can’t imagine how the two of them feel.

Andrea straightens. “When he wakes up, he has so much more to tell us. I want to know my brother. Not the man he became just to protect us. We have so many years to make up for.”

Addy nods along with her, and my heart aches at the word when. When, when, when. Please open your eyes, baby.

But my silent pleas are in vain. He doesn’t open his eyes. He doesn’t move at all as we sit, making ourselves as comfortable as we can in these damn hospital chairs. I close my eyes. The past two days flash through my mind as I think about where we are on finding Malcom before he finds us.

SJ continues to try to track down Colin, but so far, he hasn’t had much luck. All three men have been poring over the evidence Andrew laid out for us.

The police have come by to take all our statements, and Jack roped in FBI involvement to proceed with what we have on the laptop. He talked to and then sent everything to the agent presiding over Christopher’s case to make sure it landed in good hands before we mentioned anything at all to the local boys.

They grumbled pretty hard about turning the case over, but none of us trusted the normal chain of command. Malcom has too many connections, some far and wide. At least with the FBI, more people are involved, and hopefully, that will ensure a more solid case.

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