“Most of the family has been here.” Isabel smiled. “They set up a special room for us last night because we were taking up most of the surgery waitingarea.”
That made Mia smile, too—and put an ache in her heart. She knew the police department had contacted her parents. Apparently, they’d just set off on a cruise and were somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. They had sent her flowers and a card, but they hadn’t gotten off the ship and flown back to the US to seeher.
“Rest,hijita. We’re just down the hall. I’ll send Elenain.”
Mia caught her hand, stopped her. “Tell Joaquin I lovehim.”
Isabel gave her fingers a squeeze. “I will, but he knows, Mia. Heknows.”
* * *
Joaquin sat proppedup on pillows and surrounded by friends, drifting in and out, trying to keep up with the conversation, his mind in a morphinehaze.
“You’re one hell of a shot, Ramirez,” Hunter said. “You fired one-handed,right?”
“Yeah.” A memory of Meyer raising his pistol and pointing it at Mia cut through the morphine, putting a knot in Joaquin’s stomach. “I was afraid I wouldn’t hithim.”
“You got him—four times,” Darcangelosaid.
“I guess shooting at the police range paid off,” Mattadded.
Hunter slapped Matt on the back. “You’re welcome anytime,Harker.”
“I heard they just moved Petersen out of ICU. I guess the bullet ripped a hole through his lung. He came close to bleedingout.”
“I’m glad he made it.” Joaquin knew he could tell his friends anything, but the admission he was about to make wasn’t easy. “I know it’s wrong, but when I heard that fucker Meyer was dead, I was glad I was the one who’d killedhim.”
“If you’re hoping one of us will tell you that you should feel sorry for that, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Tessa Darcangelo had a sweet Georgia drawl that made everything she said sound polite. “I’m glad you killed him,too.”
“It was either him or you and Mia,” Kara said. “I’m glad it washim.”
“He killed himself,” Zach McBride stood near the foot of Joaquin’s bed, arm around Natalie’s shoulders. “The moment he murdered that medic, he started down a path that put him in front of your bullet. All you did was pull thetrigger.”
“I’m so sorry, Joaquin.” Sophie looked pale and upset. “It must have been terrifying for both ofyou.”
Joaquin knew that hearing about what had happened to him and Mia couldn’t have been good for Sophie, who had just been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder thanks to the holiday party from hell. “Don’t worry about me. You just take care ofyourself.”
She nodded, Hunter’s fingers twining withhers.
“I’m going to be meeting the agencies involved to debrief this investigation,” Reece said. “There was some good police work, but there were some oversights. I need to understand what happened and make sure our state law enforcement agencies are working together the way they’re supposedto.”
“Thanks, man.” Joaquin reached out to fist bumpSheridan.
Cate stepped into the room. “Hey. I thought you might wantthis.”
She set a copy of the paper on his lap, the words “Deadly Shooting: Disgraced soldier murders two, wounds three in quest for revenge”across the top of the frontpage.
“Good job,Cate.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” She gave him a tight smile, clearly still angry. “See you back at worksoon.”
Then she turned and left theroom.
“Bless her heart. What was that about?” Tessaasked.
“She’s the one who fucked up,” Alex said. “She needs to get overit.”
Joaquin drifted off, dozing while Alex told what he knew about Cate and the source she’d asked to stealdocuments.