Page 204 of Buried Too Deep

Running through it, Cora found Val on the ground in the back garden, rolling from her stomach to her back, blinking slowly up at the night sky. She saw Cora and flinched.

“What happened? Whose blood is that?”

Cora dropped to her knees, wiping as much blood from her hands to her jeans as she could. “Not mine. Alan was here. He shot Patrick, who shot him back. Alan is dead, Patrick is dying. Phin is hurt bad, but I think I’ve stopped his bleeding and an ambulance is on the way. Where are you hurt?”

Val touched her head gingerly, wincing. “I’m okay.”

“You lost consciousness for several minutes. You’re not okay. Where are you hurt?”

“He stabbed me in the leg, then hit me with something. That shit hurts.”

Cora’s hands started searching for a knife wound. I need more napkins. She found the wound and looked around for something to bandage it with. “Who stabbed you?”

“Patrick. I was clearing the house and saw him from the attic window, creeping through the back gate. Didn’t know Alan was here, too. I ran back down to stop Patrick, but he lunged for me. Got me in the leg with his knife. Then he hit me with a goddamn rock. Took my gun.”

“He shot Alan with it. May have saved my and Phin’s life.”

That should count for something. Someday, when everything stopped hurting, it might.

Sirens came blaring down the street and Cora could see the flashing lights through the open gate. Help was here.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

Val’s laugh bordered on hysterical. “I don’t know if I can.”

Cora ran to the front yard. “I need one medic back here and two in the kitchen.” The ME could come for Alan later.

She hoped he was already burning in hell.

Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 10:30 A.M.

“He looks better,” Val said, lowering herself into one of the chairs near Phin’s bed. She was limping, but, like Phin, she’d make a full recovery. Patrick’s knife hadn’t hit anything critical. The doctors had been more worried about the concussion. But they’d assured her that she’d recover from that, as well.

Val was more embarrassed than anything else, which wasn’t fatal, so Cora wasn’t worrying about her anymore.

Phin, on the other hand…Cora had come too close to losing him.

She ran her eyes over Phin’s sleeping form. “More color in his cheeks. He’s been sleeping a lot, which is what he needs right now.”

“How about you, Cora Jane?” Val asked. “Are you okay?”

Cora knew full well that Val wasn’t talking about being physically okay. “No. I haven’t seen Tandy since she left with her father’s body on Friday. I still don’t even know why she was there in my kitchen.”

“I don’t know, either,” Val said. “I dropped by her condo to check on her. Her cousin was there.”

“Maura, her cousin on her mother’s side. She’s the only family Tandy has left now.”

“She said that Tandy was resting. Said she’d call you when she was ready.”

Cora sighed. “I think I know how Phin’s sister has felt all these years. Waiting for someone to be ready.”

Val commiserated with her for a few moments, then brightened. “Oh, we got news you’ll want to hear. Sage Beauchamp was picked up by police in a village outside Madrid. He’s being escorted back to the U.S. to face charges of murder in the death of your boss and Sanjay Prakash.”

“Good. Sage spared Ashley, but he killed Minnie for no good reason at all. Just covering his ass.”

A knock at the door had them both looking up. Burke came in and pulled up a chair. “He looks better.”

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