Page 101 of Prodigal Son

And then the boom.

He landed on his back on the fire escape, and reached to lace his fingers through the mesh, clinging on for dear life, praying, even. As the blast moved up through the old building in a great fiery draft.

Bomb, he thought. Should have known. And then he was falling, and then nothing.

~*~

“Don’t get comfortable,” Fox said, and he and Nicky dragged the heavy old grate in place and let it fall with a bang. Down below, in the lead-lined fallout shelter under the garage, Clive looked up at them, face pale from blood loss and shock, and let his head thump back against the wall.

Fox straightened and kicked a rug over the grate.

He hadn’t said anything of any importance yet, not while they were securing him, and doing the most basic bandage job on his hand. They would have to get creative.

“Fox.”

He turned, and there was Miles hanging in the doorway, phone pressed to his shoulder, nearly as pale as Clive.

“It’s Albie.”

Twenty-Nine

It had been Detective Hendricks who called. She’d been at the hospital to take a statement from a victim, and the emergency crews had come barreling in, a “heavily-armed” but unconscious man laid out on a stretcher, smelling of brick dust and char. His face had been swollen, and bruised, and covered in soot, but she’d recognized Albie straight off, and given them a ring at the clubhouse.

Given those circumstances, it hadn’t seemed like a good idea for any criminals in cuts to go charging into the hospital to ask for answers.

“Albie Cross,” Raven said to the nurse at the desk. “Where is he?”

The woman looked up slowly, gaze already suspicious. “You’re family?” She looked to either side of Raven, at Eden, and Axelle. “All of you?”

“Sisters,” Raven said.

“I’m his wife,” Axelle said, and Raven’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

She stopped herself just before she turned and gaped at her. Instead drew herself upright and gave the nurse her best managerial stare-down. “Can you please point us in the correct direction?”

The nurse’s expression soured, but she nodded and gave them the room number. “He’s in intensive care. And there’s a police escort.”

“Yes. Of course.”

When they were sealed in the elevator, and shuttling upward, just the three of them, Raven turned to Axelle. “Wife?”

Back at the clubhouse, the girl had said, “I’m coming with you.” No one had argued because there hadn’t been time, and Raven was actually glad of having company; safety in numbers and all that. But it surprised her now to see Axelle with her arms banded tight around her middle, face pale, lower lip caught between her teeth, red from being chewed on the way over. She’d been steady behind the wheel, one of the club lorries, but fine tremors rocked her frame now, visible in the way her hair fluttered around her face. She looked worried: sick with it, and not just the idle concern of an uninterested third party.

“Oh, damn,” Raven said. “You’ve really taken a shine to him, haven’t you?”

Axelle dashed a hand beneath her nose; her jaw clenched and she wouldn’t make eye contact. “Eden could pass for a sister, but I don’t look related.” Voice wooden. “And ‘wife’ grants you automatic immunity from police questioning. I don’t feel like dealing with the cops right now.”

“Hmm. Smart,” Raven said, tone light, gaze assessing. She studied the girl’s face, the shine of her eyes, and the rapid flick of her lashes; white knuckles where her hands were clenched tight on her own arms. “Glad at least one of us is thinking straight. Not emotionally compromised.”

“Raven,” Eden said, quiet but firm.

Raven turned to her, frowning. “I don’t need a lecture.”

“Good.” Eden’s gaze plainly saidleave her alone.

Raven rolled her eyes.It’s my brother, she thought sourly.My stupid, criminal, half-dead brother. God…

The ICU bustled with hushed activity. Nurses and doctors moving quick but quiet, ducking behind curtains beyond the glass doors that sealed the place off from the rest of the hospital. They were buzzed through after careful scrutiny, waved down to a room at the very end. It was hard to miss: two uniformed officers stood outside of it.

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