Page 49 of The Woman with the Target on her Back (Grassi Family)

“I don’t know yet. Traveler is checking,” I said. “Did you see anything?”

“Black car. No plates. Dark tint. Nothing,” he said, shaking his head.

And this street wasn’t the kind that had cameras all around.

“Everyone is okay,” Traveler called from the doorway. “Shaken but okay. Oh, God. Are you shot?” she asked, blanching as she looked at the blood on Aurelio’s hand.

“Hey, we’re headed to the hospital anyway,” Aurelio said, trying to lighten shit during a very fucking serious situation.

“We gotta go,” I said, checking out my car. Bullet holes lined the side, the windows were spiderwebs, but not completely shattered.

It would drive just fine.

“Yeah,” Traveler agreed, rushing on unsteady legs toward the passenger side, and climbing in.

“Come on. I’ll drive,” I told Aurelio.

“Nah. We’re putting innocents at risk keeping our cars here,” he reasoned, walking toward his driver’s side, then disappearing inside.

We booked it out of there, and I was sure none of us breathed easily again until we were out of that area and on more main streets.

“You alright?” I asked, my hand landing on Traveler’s thigh, giving it a squeeze as we sat in the hospital parking lot.

“I’m… numb,” she admitted. “And during the short periods when I’m not numb, I’m worried about Aurelio.”

“Aurelio is fine. It’s not the first time or worst he’s been shot.”

“That… doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“This isn’t your fault,” I assured her.

“Isn’t it?” she asked, finally looking over at me.

“Trav, no,” I said, brows pinching. “You haven’t done anything to deserve this. Smart-mouthing people doesn’t give them the right to try to murder you, for fuck’s sake. And, let’s be real, if there is anyone to blame for this…”

“I know,” she said, sucking in a deep breath as she glanced up at the hospital.

We didn’t say it out loud.

But, clearly, the person to blame was her father.

“Let’s get this over with, so we can get safely back to the hotel, yeah?” I asked. “We can talk about it over a shitton of takeout.”

“It’s a plan,” she agreed.

I tucked my gun back into my waistband, not wanting to be without it after a fucking drive-by, then Aurelio and I flanked Traveler as we moved inside.

“Please go get checked out,” she pleaded before taking up the stairs to the ICU to see her father.

“I’m fine,” Aurelio told me as we both dropped down into the waiting room seats.

“I figured,” I agreed. He’d even managed to clean the blood off his hand on the ride over. “What the fuck, man?” I asked, exhaling hard.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Shit is even more serious than I thought if they are willing to shoot up a soup kitchen full of innocent people.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s a miracle no one was hit.”

“I’m gonna have a car service pick us up from here,” Aurelio said, reaching for his phone. “We can’t have those cars parked at the hotel looking like they do. They’re too easy to spot. The hotel might have some semblance of security, but we could easily be picked off there too.”

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