“Dad?”
Another surge of panic pummeled him, but he didn’t take his focus off the man on the ground. “Stay where you are! Everything’s fine. Just stay put.”
“We’re okay and we’re not moving,” Tegan called out, her voice shaky. “Cops are on their way. Should be here in a couple minutes.”
Almost as if on cue, sirens wailed in the distance, the sound of them music to his ears. He just hoped this nightmare was finally over—and that Kali would make it. She hadn’t moved since she’d been shot, but he could hear her labored breathing and she was softly whining. He hated that he couldn’t help her. But he couldn’t take his focus off the gunman, not for a second.
Chapter 12
“She’s going to be okay.” Aaron wrapped an arm around Tegan’s shoulders as they sat in the waiting room of the vet’s office.
Kali was in surgery and Tegan didn’t know what she’d do if her sweet dog didn’t make it. Kali had been her constant companion through the crappiest moments of her life. She was young and sweet and had fought like hell to protect her and Dillon. To lose her after everything they’d gone through, after the rough start she’d had to her life…
Tegan’s throat tightened and she swallowed hard because she didn’t trust herself to respond. Not without having a meltdown anyway.
The front door opened and Tegan jumped. Her nerves were frayed and she couldn’t take any more surprises.
Aaron straightened and stood when Carlito stepped inside.
Tegan was surprised to see him there. Her heart rate stuttered at his grim expression. She shot to her feet, tensing for the worst. “What’s wrong now?”
He blinked. “Nothing. I just…how’s your dog?”
“No news.” She slumped back in the chair, but Aaron remained standing.
“Why are you here?” he asked quietly.
“Good-ish news. Grace lost her deal with the Feds because she lied to them about who was behind the bombing of your car.”
Tegan raised her eyebrows. Now she knew that the man who’d come after them in the park was behind the bombing, not Enzo. She’d recognized him from Chicago, had seen him once talking to Enzo. While she hadn’t known Alec Rossi’s name, she’d known he wasn’t at that park by chance, and had been there for her. “Really, she lost the deal?”
“Yeah. She’ll be doing jail time. Not as much as I’m sure you’d like, but it’s something. Enzo will be going away for a very long time, too.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a but in there?”
Carlito flicked a glance at Aaron once before sitting a few chairs down from them. “There is. Sorta. Alec Rossi is in federal custody. He’s going to do jail time, but…”
Next to her Aaron tensed and she didn’t blame him one bit. That bastard had come after her at a children’s park. And he’d shot at her while she’d been running with Dillon, a five-year-old boy. All the muscles in Tegan’s body went tight. If Carlito said he was getting some cushy deal, she was going to let any reporter who wanted to interview her do one. And she’d tell everyone exactly how screwed up their justice system was, until it was splashed all over every headline she could make.
Carlito held up a hand as he turned back to her, probably seeing the rage on her face. “He’s definitely going to jail. He was hired by a man named Stefano De Fiore, Enzo’s cousin.”
Tegan nodded. “Yeah, I know the name. He was Enzo’s second in command. I met him once.” Met was a bit of a stretch. He’d been in the same room as her once, and when Enzo had wanted to hurt her, the cousin had made it sound like a bad idea—and convinced Enzo that it was his idea to back off. “He seemed…smarter than Enzo.”
“According to Rossi, Stefano hired him to kill you when he got word Enzo was hunting you for those diamonds.”
It took her a moment to digest why. “Because Stefano took them, didn’t he?” Which meant Stefano had killed her brother. Or at the very least, ordered his death. Otherwise why bother coming after her? He’d needed to cover up the fact that he’d taken them in case Enzo figured out Tegan hadn’t been behind the theft.
Carlito nodded, a touch of pity flickering in his gray gaze. “Yeah. And—”
“My brother is dead. Is that what you’re going to tell me?” She held the tears at bay. Barely. She’d known he was gone, had known it in her heart.
Aaron silently wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close.