Page 23 of Crossroads of Betrayal
An image of the small-town bar in Texas sprang to mind along with a hundred memories. She’d gone there after school with Whitney as a kid, and years down the road, she’d walked in while on leave and met Zeke. The new guy in town who’d swept her off her feet and changed her life forever…even if he wasn’t a part of it anymore.
She blinked away her nostalgia. “Was it bad? Was anyone hurt? That place has been a staple for years, and Danny’s world.” A pang of regret echoed inside her that she hadn’t been around to help with the aftermath of whatever had happened in the tavern.
Zeke moistened his lips with his tongue. “Danny’s been in a bad place lately. A lot of memory issues. Paranoia. Lot of folks in town have offered to take him to the doctor, but that old man doesn’t want help from anyone. Well, one night I was sitting at the bar eating my supper. It was late, and not many people there. I smelled smoke, and when I ran into the kitchen, Danny was standing over the oven as a fire roared to life. His eyes were huge… vacant. Like he didn’t understand what he was seeing. I ran in, and he lost it. Completely flipped out. He thought I was there to hurt him, to rob him, and he grabbed a gun.”
Stopping, he cleared his throat then lifted his hand from Ruby’s head to gingerly touch his shoulder again.
She held a shaky hand to her mouth to cover a gasp. “He shot you?”
He nodded. “He didn’t know what he was doing. I don’t blame him, but I had to stop him before the whole restaurant burnt down.”
Cringing, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest. Danny Zabo was beloved by all, with his big brown eyes and easy smile. He laughed at his own bad jokes and gave generously to anyone in need—and had since long before Grace had been born.
Zeke closed his eyes as if unable to look at her as he finished his story. “He shot me then one of the servers ran back. Before she got hurt, I charged Danny. He fell and hit his head. Ended up in the hospital for a few weeks.”
“But he’s alive, and so are you and whoever had stepped back into the kitchen with you both.”
Zeke opened his eyes and sighed. “He’ll never be the same. Never run his restaurant or live on his own. Because of me.”
She wanted to argue, to tell him that he’d saved multiple lives that day. But she understood that words were meaningless. She wished she had the strength to erase the space between them and offer him comfort in the way he really needed it, but lead weighed down her feet and the distance separating them seemed greater than ever.
* * *
The silence was deafening,competing only with the sound of Zeke’s heart as it slammed against his chest. Grace refused to meet his eyes. All the moisture evaporated from inside his mouth, making his tongue feel like it was twice its normal size and covered in cotton.
He wanted to scream or run or throw something. Hell, maybe he should try throwing a damn axe. Not like it’d go far with his bum shoulder.
But most of all, he wanted to be anywhere but here, with the woman he’d tried so hard to win back disgusted by him.
He’d expected this reaction from most people. Danny was loved by everyone in their small town. But Grace’s bond with Danny was deeper than most. He’d been the one to feed her when her mother had a bad day and forgot to cook, he’d helped her with homework when she’d been too scared to go home and sat at the bar after school. He couldn’t blame Grace for blaming Zeke for hurting the old man who meant so much to her.
“I’ve got to get out of here.” He stood, hating the weakness in his legs. “I can’t just sit around and talk. Not now.”
Grace finally met his eyes. “I get it. We can talk about all this later, or I can read through these files on my own and see if anything stands out.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and paced from one white-washed cinder block wall to the other. He felt like a caged animal with the door thrown open. Escape was within his reach, but he couldn’t leave, couldn’t venture away from the walls that locked him in. First because he didn’t know where to go, and second because the thought of being away from Grace made his stomach roll.
Closing her laptop, Grace stood and chewed on her bottom lip. “Can you still shoot?”
Her words turned him toward her. “Excuse me?”
“Shoot? You know, like a gun.” She raised her brows in the smart-ass way that used to always get a rise out of him. “I know your shoulder is injured but does that interfere with your shooting? You used to love going to the range when you were in your head. Have you done that lately? Or has your injury made it more difficult?”
He rubbed the toe of his sneaker against the floor. “Haven’t tried. Loud noises set me off. Make me nervous. I was around a shit ton of gunfire while in the service and it’s never bothered me before. But now…” he lifted his hands then let them fall back to his side.
“Do you want to try? No one is here, and I didn’t accept any appointments for the day with everything going on. The shooting range is drool worthy. Might be beneficial to give it a try in a controlled environment. If you’re triggered, we’ll stop. No pressure.”
He weighed her suggestion around his mind. She made some valid points, and it would be nice to get back to something that he loved. “Sure. What’s the harm?”
She gave a curt nod then waved him along. “Come on back. I’ll get you all set up. Then I can leave the room if you want or stay close just in case. Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”
He followed her down a wide corridor, Ruby beside him. Nothing would offer him comfort—not after what he’d done. His heart hitched high in his throat and sweat dampened his palms. The spot in his shoulder where a bullet had ripped into his flesh burned. His vision tunneled and the image of Danny with a gun invaded his mind. He focused on the shape of Grace in front of him as they stepped into a room with large black lockers lining the wall.
Grace unlocked the closest one by keying in a code. “Do you have a preference?”
“Something light that doesn’t have a lot of kickback.”
She palmed a Smith and Wesson and pulled out a box of ammo then crossed the room to another door.
