Page 39 of The Doctor

Even the ones that followed scared me. Dom was safe underneath me, but what if that gunman didn’t stop until he killed Dom? What if the people after Dom never expected to make it out of the situation alive?

I didn’t think I could be more terrified than I was at that moment. When I stood, and Dom didn’t immediately follow, I looked down at him. The dark red pool blooming from under his body had all the blood draining from my face. My vision blurred and the world tilted. My ears rang as bile hit the back of my throat. Dom was hit.

“Dom.” I screamed his name as I crouched down beside him. “Dom, talk to me kiddo.”

The grunt he made was one I was used to hearing when he was annoyed or inconvenienced. Lilly and Jess ran over to me.

“Is he okay?” Like me, all Lilly could see was the blood. “Turn him over.”

I did as she suggested and Dom grunted once more. That time in pain. “Fuck.”

I wasn’t about to correct his language. “Where are you hurt, kiddo?”

“Arm hurts like a bitch.”

I checked out the arm closest to me and nothing seemed amiss. I turned my focus to the other arm and noticed the big gash in his bicep.

Red filled my vision like it never had before. When I found Curtis in bed with Jessica, I was angry. It took me a long time to understand Jess was as much a victim as what I was. When I found out he was only with me so he could spy on me and my family for a deranged cartel-owning psychopath, that betrayal hurt more than I could imagine. I could finally admit that nearly eighteen months later. But there was no anger. No visions of castration or disembowelment.

Once I saw the gash in Dominic’s arm and knew someone had done that with the intention of hurting him, killing him, that brought out another side of me. One I didn’t know existed. I was not interested in a fair trial. I only wanted ten minutes with the man who aimed his weapon at my child. I didn’t need more than that. No doubt he’d fight and scream. But he would leave not being able to have kids and he’d be eating through a tube.

No one hurts my kid.

22

BOYD

“Fuck. Drive.” I shouted as Martin hit the gas and drove off in the stolen hatchback. I wanted something unobtrusive and plain so we didn’t attract attention. I wasn’t sure if I hit the kid or not. But I did know I needed to get rid of the car as soon as possible. Thankfully there were not many cops at the front of the station. From what my contact could tell me, the MDF PD was a small station and since the town didn’t see much crime, they wouldn’t be expecting anything. But that woman with the kid had him down before I even had a chance to fire the second shot. I aimed lower but I knew I didn't make contact.

As soon as we were around the corner, we both exited the car as fast as possible and hid in a nearby warehouse. It was part of the plan. The police station may not have been bursting with officers but someone was bound to come after us as soon as possible.

“Let’s get inside quickly. We can pretend to look around.”

Martin followed my lead and before long we were both wandering through the warehouse to the mall on the other side. We dropped our gloves in a trash can and strolled as if we didn’t have a care in the world. It was all part of the plan. Look presentable to the locals. Dress the part of tourists in a touristtown. Our contact had let us know the kid was at the station and our inside person had let me know when the kid took a break.

Finding someone to bribe within the police station was not easy. But thankfully I had childhood friends in high-ish places. Not that getting to the brat a second time would be easy. Marina De Ferrier was a small town, and almost everyone loved the fucking Salingers.

Who knew the kid’s biological family had connections in every law enforcement and military entity in the country. AntMan, the contact who had found the kid for us, had warned me not to cross that family. Maybe he was right but I couldn’t have the kid identifying me. Though, according to the police report in San Francisco, he hadn’t seen any of my men or heard what they were saying. So, there was no reason for him to connect me to what happened at his house.

The only thing I knew for sure was that without the kid’s testimony, the state had nothing and the case would go cold. No one knew how I was connected to that family. No one knew what was happening at the school. And there was no way they would ever connect the fact Bill took the janitor’s job at the school was for my benefit.

Not even the kid knew what his stepfather was up to. I was almost certain the wife knew, which was why she had to die. Of course, Bill had died because he got greedy. He thought he could steal from me. Even worse, he stole from Garth Folsom. That was never going to be tolerated.

“What now, Boss?” Martin looked at me. “Should we make our way back to our own car?”

“Not yet.” I had no doubt the police would be patrolling the area where the car was abandoned and they would likely check all the motels in the town, as well. We were better off staying at the mall and not attracting any attention to ourselves.

“Right, so when will we know what happened to the kid?” Martin spoke in a whisper, but his obvious anxiety still attracted a few too many eyes.

“Will you calm down? The last thing we need is to stand out.”

Martin looked away. He said nothing but I could tell he was worried. AntMan had put the fear of God in him. Apparently, no one fucked with the Salingers and lived to tell the tale. Well, that was all fine and well, but those fuckers were protecting the kid. And that kid needed to not be alive.

“How will we know what happened? We need to get somewhere we can get the news.”

That was probably for the best. I had to know if the kid was dead. If not, I would need to regroup and try something else. Perhaps luring the kid away from the clutches of his new-found family? That seemed like the best solution if he wasn’t already dead.

Martin and I eventually made our way to where our car was parked at the beach. Since it was a coastal town, nearly everything was close to the beach. Earlier we had parked and taken a walk to the small mall, and walked to the other end where we looked for a nondescript hatchback to break into. Or more specifically, we needed one to pull into the mall parking lot and the owner to just shove the key into his or her pocket. Stealing a car was no longer as simple as hot wiring a vehicle. With the way things were computerized, it was necessary to refine how we do things.

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