Page 71 of Embattled Ever After

Zeke ducked his head inside. “If y-you guys are ready, I’ve got p-p-point.”

John nodded. “The paperwork is signed and we’re ready to go. We’re thirty seconds behind you.”

Knowing they’d have to leave before the volunteer escort showed up, expecting to take Shannon out in a wheelchair, they’d timed the departure perfectly. Everyone nodded and they gathered up their things as Zeke disappeared. When they left the room Zeke was already out of sight. Shannon walked out without looking around and headed directly to the elevator, John just ahead of her. He’d instructed her to rest her hand on his shoulder as they walked so he wouldn’t have to be constantly searching for her. Smart woman that she was, Shannon didn’t argue with him when it came to her safety or that of the babies and did as he asked. Duncan and Alex walked ahead and pressed the button for the elevator, then waited for them to get on.

John knew all of this was probably overkill, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. Someone had tried to hurt her yesterday, and they wouldn’t get a chance do it again.

The elevator settled to the ground floor. Duncan and Alex stepped out to hold the doors open while he slid through. There was a thirty-foot stretch of hallway, a ninety degree turn, then straight out the doors. Chad would be waiting there with the truck, the lift already extended to save John time getting in. Harper would be outside watching the area from a high vantage point.

John shoved at his wheels, eager to be gone from this place. They turned the corner and rolled past the billing offices, then past the gift and flower shop. Plastic sheeting billowed at the construction area to the left where the hospital was being expanded. He glanced into the opening and thought he saw a shape move. Zeke stepped out from behind the sheeting, giving him an all-clear sign.

Now for the dangerous part. If he were a bad guy looking to take someone out, it would be right here as they left the security of the building. “Exiting the building,” he murmured into the radio.

The automatic doors slid open and he rolled out, Shannon’s hand tight on his shoulder. He led her to the open door of the truck and waited while she climbed in. Slamming the door shut, he pivoted on one wheel to circle the front of the truck. He bumped up the ramp and onto the platform, then waited, hands on wheels as the platform began to lift.

When the yell came, he almost thought he’d imagined it. John glanced over to the hospital entrance in time to see Zeke wrestling with a man, who was pointing into the parking lot. They struggled for a moment before the guy swung Zeke viciously, spinning him into Alex and Duncan. The assailant leapt away. Still pointing, he ran three strides, circling the truck to John’s side. At the same moment John heard the report of a rifle. Then almost immediately a second.

Time slowed to a standstill. He hunched in his chair but he was very aware that he made an incredible target sitting here with nowhere to go. The truck door would not be enough to stop a round. Shannon screamed, but he wasn’t sure why. Then he realized there was a body covering his.

John shoved the man away and their gazes met.

“Armed assailant down,” Harper called through the radio, “fifty meters to your west. Truck bed of an older black Chevy Silverado.”

Zeke and Chad took off running toward the assailant and John looked up at the man who had draped himself over top of him. The guy was lean and had a haggard look about him, but his dark eyes were clear as he looked John up and down anxiously. “You okay?”

John looked at himself, very aware that if he were shot in the lower body he wouldn’t feel it. “Yeah, I think so.”

The lift was still lifting him up into the cab, though there was a whine to the hydraulics. It wasn’t built to lift two men. The dark-eyed man jumped down off the platform.

John looked at Shannon. She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes were wide with fright and excitement, but she seemed okay. “Babe, you all right?”

She nodded her head and looked at the other man. “It’s him again.”

John pressed a button to reverse the lift, his gaze scanning the area. The man who had protected him took off at a jog toward the truck where the assailant had been.

“Stretcher!”Alex yelled. “I need a stretcher!”

Before the platform even settled, John was rolling off and around the truck. Alex and Zeke were kneeling on the ground over a prone form. Oh, dear God, Duncan.

***

Duncan wasn’t evenaware what had happened when Zeke crashed into them. He heard yelling and then he thought gunfire. No way,gunfire? Had there actually been a credible threat? He’d kind of just been humoring an over-protective Palmer, but he was going to have to eat shit if it were real.

Then he crashed to the ground and his world lit up in a blaze of agony. It stole his breath and darkened his vision, and it was everything he could do to stay conscious. Then he wondered why he bothered. It was just going to mean more pain.

Even as the words entered his mind the pain rolled in with a vengeance. He heard more yelling but he just couldn’t seem to concentrate on it. Waves of agony pulsed over him, and he had to pant to get any air in.

He blinked up at the blinding sky, trying to get a handle on what was going on. Alex leaned over him, her deep auburn hair slipping free from the braid. She still looked beautiful though. Her mouth was moving.

“Talk to me, Duncan. Sweetheart, talk to me.”

He opened his mouth to do what she said, but he realized he still couldn’t draw in a heavy enough breath. If he’d been knocked on his back, it might take a while to catch his breath.

But the pain in his lower half was stealing every bit of ground he gained. As his lungs began to refill, his hips shouted their agony.

Then Alex was yelling for a stretcher. No, she was screaming for a stretcher. He didn’t like to see that look on her face. Duncan wanted to tell her he would be okay, but he couldn’t articulate it.

The pain was reaching all new levels now, sending spots dancing in front of his eyes.

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