Whatever the case, my brother was likely doing something for me that might very well get him into trouble.
But with Tobias’ drying blood still on my hands and his utility belt with all of his things, I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit what he was doing.
Hopefully Ephraim Shaw suffered at the hands of my brother, because if he didn’t, then he’d suffer at my hands. That little fucker was more than capable of stopping his wife, and nobody in this world could convince me differently.
Someone touched my arm, and I whirled to find a man standing there.
He who looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
How long had I been sitting here?
My neck was stiff, and I wasn’t crying anymore.
Though my eyes were puffy and sore, my cheeks were dry.
It’d obviously been a while if my tears were dried.
“You my brother’s girl?”
I swallowed, tilting my head slightly.
“Depends on if we’re talking about Tobias or not,” I rasped.
My voice was scratchy, and I sounded like a man, but it obviously didn’t bother him.
The man didn’t smile.
But what he did do was nod his head. “That’s who I’m talking about.”
“Then yes, I’m your brother’s girl,” I told him, rubbing my eyes with the back of one hand, keeping the other firmly wrapped around Tobias’ badge.
“Our other brothers will arrive as soon as they can,” he said. “Only Finley, Travis and me are here right now.”
Okay.
Why was he telling me this?
As much as I wanted to meet them all, and I really did, I didn’t want to meet them under these circumstances.
I wanted to meet them when Tobias was awake and able to introduce them to me.
But I knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, and it was likely that they wanted an explanation as to what had happened to land their brother in the hospital with several life-threatening gunshot wounds.
I took a step away from the wall I’d somehow found myself leaning against during my spacing out. “Which one are you?”
He grunted in reply. “Dante.”
I nodded, then looked down at my feet.
This couldn’t be good for him. A hospital had to be the very last place he wanted to be after the death of his family.
Yet he was here. And if he could be strong, so could I.
“Where are the other two?” I asked him, still looking at my feet.
I looked up when he didn’t answer, and he stared at me oddly.
“The rest of them are at the nurses’ station,” he answered. “Trying to get information on Tobias.”
I nodded, then started walking, heading straight for the nurses’ station where I’d been sitting less than twenty-four hours before—blissfully unaware of how much my life would be changing in a few short hours.
Tally was sitting there, a worried expression on her face, as she tried to explain to the very angry men that she didn’t know anything yet because Tobias was still in surgery.
They weren’t taking no for an answer.
“Stop,” I snapped, my back straightening. “You’re not helping the situation.”
An angry man whipped his head around, this one didn’t look familiar at all. I must’ve missed his picture at Tobias’ house.
“Just who the hell are you?” he snapped.
“Travis,” Finley said. “Stop. This is Audrey.”
Travis’ ire fell just as suddenly as it spiked. “Toby’s girl?”
Toby’s girl.
“Yeah,” Dante muttered. “Toby’s girl. So how about you stop being a dick and let her speak.”
I wasn’t aware that I was going to speak.
But as they all shut up, and stared at me, I bit my lip.
“Did you hear what happened?”
“Some of it,” Travis grumbled. “Over the radio. Just that an officer, Toby, was pulled over for a stop and someone slammed into the back of his cruiser.”
I found myself looking down at the gold badge in my hand, then ran one lone fingertip over it lightly.
“Brenda Shaw…”
Before I could even finish, curses started to explode out of the men’s mouths.
I backed up, surprised at the vehemence, and stared in wide-eyed surprise.
“Should’ve known that bitch had something to do with this,” Finley snapped. “Reed is going to flip after that shit last week. I knew this was going to happen!”
I’d met Reed very briefly when he came by Tobias’ house the day we’d arrived back from our cruise—finding Tobias’ house full of people. He’d briefly said hi, introduced himself, and then had left within minutes after making sure that Tobias was okay.
“What happened, darlin’?” Dante asked. “Start from the very beginning.”
Dante looked a lot like Tobias, and it was hurting my heart to look at him, so I returned my eyes to the badge, and then explained every single thing that had happened from the moment I strapped on my CIVILIAN Kevlar vest, to the second where Tobias had been rushed to surgery.
“I’ve been calling back regularly,” Tally supplied. “The last time I called was about a minute before y’all showed up,” she said, sounding sympathetic. “I’ll continue to call, but the last time they said he was still in surgery and there was still no word.”
I brought the shield up to my chest, and held it there while I said a small prayer.
“Has anyone looked at you, darlin’?”
That was Finley.
I looked at him like he was crazy.
“No, why?”
He snorted. “You have blood all over your face.”
Oh, yeah.
I remembered that.
“I told them I wouldn’t be seen until I knew Tobias was okay,” I said. “When they tried to force me, I refused services by them.”
“And how will you getting an infection, because you’ve got a large gaping wound on your head, make this any better?” Dante snapped.
I looked at him, but I didn’t have an answer.
“Nurse, take her back and get someone to look at her head.”
Tally jumped up, eager to do what he asked.
Not because she wanted to obey Dante, but because she was clearly upset that I wasn’t getting looked at.
“That okay, Audrey?”
I shrugged.
I guessed that it was okay, but at this point, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about doing much of anything.
“You can do whatever you want to do, but I need to be close by in case Tobias needs me.”
“It’ll be okay, Audrey.”
I turned to find the rest of the Dixie Wardens at my back, and suddenly, I sagged.
“Okay.”
The knowledge that they were all here, and that they would tell me if they heard even the most inconsequential bit of news, was enough to allow me to give myself over to Tally’s care.
“Sean?” Tally called. “Do you think you could help me?”
Sean walked over without another word, helping me up onto the gurney that I wasn’t even aware that I’d been close to.
I was in the middle of the ER, with men all over the place, watching me get looked at, and I’d never felt so alone.
But I would deal, because that was what Tobias would want me to do.
He’d want me to deal.
For him.
For him, I’d do anything.
Chapter 21
When you make sure you’re on the same page with someone, also make sure you are in the same book, and all parties know how to read.
-Words of wisdom