Page 23 of Greed
The attacker changed tactics and kicked Griffin in the chest, sending him spiraling backward. He landed with a thud on the concrete, knocking the wind from his lungs. The sun blinded Griffin and, dazed, he didn’t notice the danger until the gun was pointed in his face.
For a moment, time stopped.
Then the fake vigilante stiffened and seized with a buzzing sound. The attacker’s back bowed, and he crumpled to the floor, writhing in pain.
Behind him, Lilo stood like a warrior goddess, cattle prod squeezed between her two hands, wind whipping her brown hair stained gold by the sun.
People in the street had stopped and stared, and the police had finally gotten through the glass door to the cell, but in the time it took for Griffin to check on Lilo, the imposter had somehow managed to get up and run.
He should go after him.
“Oh my God, Griffin. Are you okay?” She dropped her cattle prod and crouched to put a hand on his shoulder, blocking out the sense of greed he felt receding with the criminal. “You’re still bleeding. Oh my God.” She repeated the mumbled words then turned back toward the hole in the wall. “We need an ambulance!”
He blinked, light headed from the blood loss, with only one thought: she saved his life.
What would he owe her for that?
Chapter Nine
When Lilo went to hospital, she was grateful Grace had time off her surgical rotation to attend to them personally—although it did little good for Griffin. He claimed the bullet only grazed him, but Lilo could have sworn the stain of blood on his shirt originated in the middle of his shoulder, not at the edge. As it was, Griffin let Grace see him privately, and then he went home.
Lilo couldn’t believe it. He’d been shot. Who went home instead of staying at the hospital after a bullet wound?
By the time Lilo saw Grace, she was a mess. So much had happened in the past hour that she didn’t know what to think. Her father, her cousin… Griffin getting shot, andthenfighting… what on earth possessed him to do that? The imposter dressed as one of the Deadly Seven. He shot Nathanial.
“So,” Grace said, snapping Lilo out of her daze. “Are you okay?”
Grace helped Lilo perch at the end of a bed and pulled her arms out to investigate the scratches.
Lilo looked at her friend and some of her nervous tension released.
Grace and Lilo had met two years ago when Lilo reported on the bombing that was falsely blamed on the Deadly Seven. Grace’s parents had died in the tragedy, and Lilo had been tasked with interviewing some of the survivors. Since Grace was one of the few to survive the wreckage, she was Lilo’s first stop. Lilo vividly remembered the day she turned up at the hospital to sneak her way past the doctors to Grace’s room. Lilo had overheard Grace pleading with the police.
Strange things happened that day, and nobody believed Grace, but Lilo did. Why would the woman lie about it? They’d spent the consecutive two years trying to uncover the truth about the bombing but had come up with nothing.
They gave up until a few months ago when Grace had revisited the investigation in one last ditch effort to prove the identity of the bomber for insurance purposes. She seemed hell bent on discovering the truth, but then suddenly told Lilo not to worry about it after the insurance company overturned their claim denial. All the victims and families of victims received compensation so Grace left the rest alone.
“Lilo?” Grace said again as she swabbed Lilo’s forearm and inspected the shallow wounds.
“Sorry, was just thinking about the day we met.”
Grace smiled and tucked an escaped lock of hair from her ponytail. “One of the best days of my life. Apart from meeting Evan.”
Lilo smirked at the swoon in Grace’s eyes. She didn’t blame her. Evan was a babe. A little on the messy side, but most artists were, and to be honest, Grace was super messy too. It was a match made in heaven.
“How’s all that going?” Lilo asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you since forever. You’re always working, or with him.”
“Yeah. He’s great, isn’t he?” Grace sighed. “But—oh hey. We should be talking about you. How’s it going working with Griffin?”
Lilo almost squeaked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, with him doing that consulting at your work. Thanks again for doing me the favor.”
“No problems. Happy to help.”
Grace waited expectantly for the answer to the rest of her question.
“Oh,” Lilo bit her lip. “Um. Okay, I guess. Well, apart from what happened today.”
