Page 79 of Valor on the Move
Chapter Twenty
“Jules.” Shane forced a smile as he opened his arms. It was getting late, and the hospital was quiet. Nguyen and Harris had driven him over, and now they hung back at the end of the hall. “How is he?” Shane asked, holding Jules close, her dark head just reaching his shoulder.
She stepped back and nodded. “Much better than yesterday. He’s been able to talk. He can’t remember anything.” She rubbed her red, puffy eyes. “But he’s going to make it.”
“Thank God.” The relief warred with the horrible suspicion growing stronger and stronger. Shane’s throat was dry. “How’s Dylan?”
“As well as can be expected. I’m keeping him away from the hospital.” She pressed her lips together. “He’s had enough of hospitals already, and there’ll be so much more to come.”
“And how are you?” He squeezed her shoulder.
Jules shrugged. “One day at a time and all that crap.” She nodded to an older man at the other end of the hall. “My dad’s going to take me home to sleep. You can go in and see Alan for a minute. He was asking about you.” She smiled tremulously. “I’m so glad you’re okay and that you got that poor boy back. When I think about how it could have gone, I just—” She shuddered. “Thank God it turned out the way it did.”
“I know.” But the worst might still be coming. “Rest up. I’ll see you soon.” He hugged her again, and Jules kissed his cheek before walking away. Shane took a few deep breaths. Nguyen and Harris were still in conversation at the end of the long hall. Feeling like he was outside his body, Shane moved his feet.
At the threshold to hospital room 21C, he stopped. The steady beep-beep-beep of Alan’s heartbeat pinged in the stillness.
Bile rose in Shane’s throat. It couldn’t be true. There had to be another explanation. There was no way Alan was involved. It was impossible. Utterly impossible. Could he really have done it? Christ, not Al.
Please let me be wrong.
Alan’s eyes were shut, but he must have sensed someone, and he blinked blearily, a smile trying to lift his lips. But then something flickered across his expression, his eyes widening.
It was fear and shame, and it was unmistakable.
The air whooshed out of Shane, and he shook his head as he shuffled his feet forward, closing the door behind him. “Tell me it isn’t true.” His voice cracked, and the words cut like shattered glass. “Please, Al.”
Swallowing thickly, Alan licked his lips. His skin was almost as pale as the clear tube in his nose. “What?” he croaked.
Shane stopped beside the bed. There were flowers on every surface, and an old picture of the Pearce family before they’d lost Jessica sat in a frame on the closest table. They had wide smiles and arms around each other. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
“Kenny…”
“How did they get to you? You know, it doesn’t even matter. Was it money? How much was Rafa worth? And how much for my life? It was just dumb luck that bullet missed. Did they turn on you, or was your bullet supposed to be the one that grazed?”
Alan shook his head, his lips trembling. Days of beard growth darkened his face, making his skin even paler.
“Yeah, guess they double-crossed you. HQ thinks it was me. And I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out who could have done it. But now I see. It had to be you. When we reached that rest stop and I went inside, you didn’t call Harris. I thought maybe he was the one. That he was lying. Because I knew you’d called. I heard you on the phone as I left. But you weren’t calling him at all. You were giving them the all-clear to approach. How did they follow?”
Lips parted, Alan breathed hard with wide eyes.
Shane’s own voice sounded distant. “Was it a tracker hidden on you somewhere? Or did you just call them? Did you have another phone that HQ couldn’t trace? I was so focused on Rafa that I didn’t notice. That way they could follow and stay a few miles behind. Far enough that I wouldn’t see them. Were they on standby, waiting for your call and the right opportunity? Bet they were. These fuckers are nothing if not patient, huh?”
Alan just stared at him, and the rapid beeping of his monitor filled the room with staccato sound.
“Were you going to let me go down for it too?”
“No!” Alan coughed violently before settling. His voice scratched roughly. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“Right. Because I was supposed to be dead.”
“No. Don’t you see?”
“See what?” Shane shouted. “What the fuck did you do, Al?”
“It was only supposed to be me who died. That was the deal.”
An older nurse opened the door and strode into the room. “Alan? Is everything all right?” She circled the bed and leaned over him. “Okay, that’s enough excitement. Sir, visiting hours are over. You have to leave.”
