Page 100 of Crosshairs

“Don’t worry about it,” she said as her grandmother bustled into the room. Ainsley needed to be careful about putting pressure on Cora.

“Sorry I’m late, but I couldn’t find a parking spot near the door.” She laid a box on the bed. “And here are your chocolates.”

“I’ll step out,” Linc said.

Ainsley gave him a thumbs-up. “Be out in a minute.”

Gran plumped her sister’s pillow. “I was talking to the nurse, and she said for us to encourage you to sit up.”

Cora’s lips pinched together. “I don’t want to sit up.”

“Too bad.” Gran grinned. “If I were lying there, you’d make me get up, so come on, let’s at least raise you to a sitting position in the bed.”

Ainsley should have already done that. What was wrong with her, pushing her aunt to remember something she obviously couldn’t instead of trying to help her.

Suddenly Cora gripped Ainsley’s hand. “I remember now. Johnny did ask me for that diary, but I told him he’d have to wait until I was finished with it. And now it’s lost.”

Her heart caught. Her aunt had always called her dad Johnny.

51

Linc stopped at the nurses’ station to ask if Connie Hanover was still in the unit and was told she’d been moved onto another floor. He tapped the room number the clerk gave him into the Notes app on his phone.

While he waited for Ainsley, he checked Drew’s room for his dad. Austin hadn’t returned, and Linc stepped inside. The rhythmic click and whoosh of the ventilator reminded him of how close the boy had come to dying.Who shot you, Drew?

Two good possibilities. Maddox or Hannah’s killer. Maddox could have followed them to Connie Hanover’s place.Ifhe was the shooter who fired at Ainsley and instead hit Connie, did he see Drew before he took off?

He cocked his head as Ainsley’s voice caught his attention. She must be ready to leave. Linc covered Drew’s hand with his own. “We’re going to find who did this,” he promised softly.

His heart caught when Drew frowned and his shoulder stiffened. For a second, Linc thought he would open his eyes, then the lines of his face smoothed out as he became still again. Linc squeezed his hand. “Just get better, okay?”

Ainsley was standing at the nurses’ station when he stepped out of the small room. “I thought that’s where you might be,” she said.

“He tried to wake up, so maybe it won’t be long before we cantalk to him.” He nodded toward the nurses’ station. “They gave me Connie Hanover’s room number. Let’s go see her.”

Ainsley nodded in agreement.

When they reached Connie’s room, Ainsley knocked on the closed door.

“Come in,” a faint voice called.

Linc pushed open the door to a strong smell of room deodorizer that barely disguised the odor of cigarette smoke. Connie was sitting in a chair by the bed, an IV pole beside her with the clear plastic line attached to a vein on the top of her hand.

The expectant look on her face morphed into a frown. “What do you two want?”

“A few words,” Ainsley said. “How are you?”

“Alive, no thanks to you.”

Ainsley stiffened. “I’m sorry for what happened to you—”

“You ought to be. That bullet had your name on it, not mine. If I hadn’t jumped up when I did, it’d be you in that bed.”

Ainsley took a step back, her face ashen.

Linc wanted to steady her but knew she wouldn’t appreciate it. He turned his attention to Connie Hanover. The woman was on the offensive, and that usually meant a person had something to hide. “We’re not sure that’s what happened,” he said. “Are you involved in anything that might cause someone to come after you?”

“Excuse me?” Color flooded Connie’s face. “Are you implying—”

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