Page 63 of Found By Him

The four of us get settled, Nate on the other side of Tyler, squeezing his shoulder in silent support.

I lean forward with my elbows on my knees, eyes on Tyler. “Tell us what happened.”

He slumps back in his chair and intertwines his fingers on his stomach. Rolling his neck with a deep breath, he tellsus, “I was standing outside, waiting for Matt to finish talking to the manager and looking at my phone.” He grimaces. “I didn’t even see anyone on the sidewalk with me. One second, I’m looking at my phone, and the next, Matt is yelling and pushing me to the ground when we hear the shot.”

“The person didn’t say anything to you before that?”

Tyler shakes his head, his expression pained. “No, I had no idea. People who were inside the venue ran out when they heard Matt yell. I think they scared off whoever it was.”

I glance at Nate and Ian. Their expressions match what I feel—confusion as to why Tyler would be targeted.

Ian comments thoughtfully, “So it wasn’t a robbery. They would have wanted to get your attention as soon as possible before anyone else came out so you could hand over whatever they wanted to steal.”

Tyler nods grimly. “I thought of that too. But everything else doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone want to randomly shoot one person and then run away?”

Nate rubs his forehead. “I hate to admit it, but you might be correct that you were targeted. Now, the question is why.”

I can’t even begin to comprehend why anyone would target Tyler. Overwhelming guilt churns in my gut. If I didn’t agree to hire him, he never would have been in this situation.

Tyler had always been a sweet, tenderhearted kid. Becky and I always joked that he had to have gotten that from his grandmother because it certainly wasn’t from either of us. I remember when Becky had asked me to help Tyler out. When he was a few years out of high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd. He was acting so out of character. Becky was terrified something would happen to him, or he would make a dumb decision to ruin his life. So I sat him downand told him he was going to come work for me and he was going to cut off all contact with all of his current friend group. I had never seen him so angry. Behind closed doors, Becky and I questioned if we made the right decision. But eventually, Tyler came around and started working with Alice, and then I started training him myself. I have never been prouder of the man he has become as I am tonight.

I swallow down the emotion filling my throat. Standing, I say, “Let me call Carlos.”

Wandering away from the group, I connect the call. I almost think he isn’t going to answer, but finally, I get a groggy, “What that hell, man?”

“Carlos, I need you to make a call for me. My employee Matt was shot tonight after working an event.”

“Wait, back up. Someone got shot?”

“Yes, wake up. I need you to call whoever’s working the case and get me cleared to come up and talk to them and him when he gets out of surgery.”

The rustling of Carlos getting out of bed filters through the phone. “Shit. Okay, let me make a few calls. Where are you now?”

“In the emergency waiting room.”

“On it.” With that, he disconnects, and I rejoin the group.

“Carlos is going to make sure we’re kept in the loop with what’s happening,” I explain, then look over at Nate. “We need to pull his emergency contact from his new hire paperwork.”

He takes out his phone. “I’ll pull that now and make the call.”

We settle into uncomfortable chairs to wait. Late-night infomercials are the only sound filling the small room—an annoying soundtrack to my whirling emotions.

Eventually, a cop wanders out of the double doors leading to the emergency room. Nate and I stand to greet him while the other two stay seated. I don’t recognize the cop, but he apparently knows Nate. After they greet each other and Nate introduces me, I inquire about Matt.

“The injury is not life-threatening, but he’s in surgery. Until they know what room he will be assigned once he’s out, we’re going to wait down here. We also have a couple of guys in the surgery wing as a precaution since it was a shooting.”

“I don’t want to intrude on your investigation, but given he’s one of my employees and was on the job when it happened, I would like to be involved, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Yeah, that’s no problem at all. Carlos requested that we involve you both.”

I stick my hand out for him to shake. “Thanks, I appreciate it. We’ll wait out here so that we aren’t in the way. Then you can get us when it’s time.”

Agreeing, the cop pivots and walks back into the emergency room after being buzzed through the doors by the front desk employee.

I pull out my phone after I sit back down and see a text from Gisella.

Gisella: I hope everything is okay. Please give Tyler a hug from me.

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