Page 91 of Deadly Designs

“Uh oh.”

Christian rushed over and caught her as her eyesrolled back and she crumpled. He carried her to the sofa and placedher down. Kayne and Presley were closer, but they were covered inbody fluids. Nicole had limited use of her limbs but not her voiceas she took command of the room.

“Don’t anyone touch anything, including you two.”Nicole pointed at Kayne and Presley with a crutch. “You’reevidence. Police will be here soon. I called the Coast Guard, andthey ordered the captain to turn the ship around and head toshore.” She glanced at what was left of Heathcliff Sinclair andwinced. “I’ve seen some pretty gruesome things, and that is rightup there with the worst of them.” What the hell happened?”

Christian told her about securing Sinclair in cuffsand then the unexpected shot from the sniper in a wetsuit.

“You think Nofeshku was responsible?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“He’s been monitoring Sinclair,” she surmised,echoing his thoughts.

Christian returned to Aja Blue. He was worried thatshe’d been drugged, but she was also in shock. She’d seen a manviolently murdered. That wasn’t something that would be easy toforget. He crouched down and brushed a strand of hair off hercheek. “How are you holding up?”

If she answered, he had no idea. Something slammedinto his head, and the world went black.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aja Blue was having a hard timeprocessing what had happened. One minute, Presley and Kayne hadHeathcliff Sinclair under arrest—or whatever COBRA Securitiesofficially called it. No, they weren’t cops. They were better.

The next minute, Mr. Sinclair’s entire face hadexploded into a fine red mist.

Aja Blue’s already drug-queasy stomach heaved. Shedidn’t think she’d ever get that image out of her head. It wouldhaunt her for the rest of her life.

At first, she thought she was dreaming. Things likethis didn’t happen in real life. But it had, and Kayne and Presleywere proof. Aja Blue didn’t know how they could stand to be coveredin blood and other fluids she didn’t want to think about.

Seeing it happen in the movies was a thousand percentdifferent from watching it in real time. It felt surreal.

Christian’s sure, steady presence calmed her. If notfor him, she’d have shattered into a million tiny pieces like thewindow Mr. Sinclair had shot. Christian had promised they wouldcatch the person responsible for Jay’s death, and they had. Theyhad also stopped Sinclair from ending her life.

Christian came over and crouched down in front ofher. A soft finger brushed the hair from her face, and she leanedinto his touch.

“How are you holding up?”

She wanted to tell him she was teetering on the vergeof falling apart. That she was a mess. But he was the toughestperson she’d ever known. She didn’t want to appear weak in front ofhim. Aja Blue would never forget him putting himself between herand a bullet.

An unholy roar sounded, and Aja Blue watched inhorror as Eleanor Sinclair hefted a statue in the air and slammedit into Christian’s head. He crumpled to the floor like a poppedballoon.

Aja Blue jumped up to stop the woman, but Nicole beather to it. With a running dive, she took Eleanor down hard to theground.

All the remnants of shock fled as Aja Blue droppedbeside Christian. Blood poured from a gash on his head.

“Christian? Can you hear me?”

Kayne was there, pressing a cloth to his head tostaunch the bleeding. Then all hell broke loose. The cops arrivedand ordered everyone to the floor until Nicole explained what hadhappened. It seemed like a hundred people poured into the office.Mrs. Sinclair screamed incoherently while the police dragged heraway. The guards Kayne and Presley had subdued, including JohnnyCash, were spilling their guts on their former boss. All the while,Aja Blue held Christian’s hand and willed him to wake up.

Since they were on the boat, she feared the medicalcrew would take too long to arrive. Somehow, Kayne or Presleyarranged for the helicopter on board to transport Christian to thehospital. Aja Blue sat beside him, along with a doctor who had beenon the yacht. He hadn’t tried to reassure her that Christian wouldbe fine. She flat asked, and he only said that head wounds werenotoriously tricky and that they tended to bleed excessively. Somuch for bedside manner—or stretcher side. Whatever.

When they landed at the hospital, she had to find herway through the maze of hallways to the emergency waiting roomwhile they worked on him. Aja Blue was still wearing her expensivegown, now torn and soiled with blood. Though you couldn’t see thered on the black dress, she knew it was there. She’d never be ableto put it on again.

After she’d been drugged, she’d lost her shoes.Presley tracked down a pair of sneakers for her to wear. Half ofher hair was still pinned up, the other loose. She probably lookedlike a crazy person, but she didn’t care.

Aja Blue checked in with the nurse on duty, askingfor information on Christian as soon as there was news.

The nurse gave her a sympathetic look. “You look likeyou’ve been through an ordeal.”

“Understatement.” It would be big news soon. Huge. Itwould rock the entire world. One of the wealthiest people on theplanet was a traitor to his country and a murderer. It would be amedia sensation. The stock market might be affected. Movies wouldbe made about the saga.

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