There was one thing I could do and that was give Kat the peace of mind to know that the fucker who shot her was no longer walking the streets, was no longer a threat to her safety. To know that the fucker was no longer breathing.
To do that there was one Ashby I needed to reach out to.
“Calvin, you think you can get me surveillance from House of Ashby?”
“Terry? Why the fuck aren’t you at the hospital, man?” His lack of anger said he probably didn’t know about everything that had gone down, especially given the divide between his girl and the rest of the Ashbys. Right now, I didn’t feel like getting into it.
“This isn’t about me, Cal. It’s for Kat. Can you get me that footage?”
“Yeah,” he said eventually, sounding worried and exhausted as I was sure the rest of Kat’s family was.
“Sending it now. Terry?”
I held my breath and nodded even though the youngest Ashby couldn’t see me and prepared myself for whatever threat he wanted to lob my way. “Yeah?”
“Make this motherfucker pay.”
“I plan to Cal. Thanks.” The call ended, and I went to the safe in my home gym, gathering everything I would need to hunt down the motherfucker who did this and make the rest of his short life miserable.
***
Two days later I snuck into the trauma center after hours, desperate to see for myself that Kat was getting better. With a baseball cap pulled down low to hide my face, I walked the halls of the hospital as if I belonged there, the damn maze of corridors making it impossible to find her room number.
I turned a corner and ran into a petite woman with dark hair. “Oh my goodness, I’m so…Terry, right?”
I blinked and looked at the woman I instantly recognized as Lance’s widow.
“Vanessa? What are you doing here? Stupid question,” I said even as she flashed a knowing smile. “How is she?”
“Still out of it, but the surgery was pretty major. Doctors said she’ll probably wake up tomorrow.”
My heart stopped. “She hasn’t woken up? Is she in a coma?” I felt panic rise up my throat and fear took hold deep in my gut. Kat had to be all right. She had to.
“No, but the pain’s been so bad they’ve kept her pretty sedated. Want to see her?”
I nodded first and then shook my head. “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know.” A hand dropped on my shoulder and I turned, ready to fuck someone up.
“Hey man, you can’t…Terry. Oh shit, I almost put you down.” Emmett smiled and clapped me on the back again. “I still might, man. It’s been two fucking days. Where have you been?”
“Taking care of business, where else?”
“Here,” he growled. “Kat needed you here, bro.”
“She doesn’t need me.”
Emmett let out a bitter laugh. “But yet, here you are. Why?”
“I needed to see her, to make sure she’s all right.” Emmett refused to call with updates, Sadie too, which meant it was up to me to come here and see for myself.
With his hand on the small of Vanessa’s back, Emmett nodded for me to follow him. “You can’t go inside but there she is.”
Took a few hesitant steps forward, heart beating wildly out of control as I prepared myself for what I was about to see. Except nothing could prepare me for the sight of Kat Ashby, normally so lively and bright, dimmed by an ugly hospital gown and flat yellow lighting that took away her life force. The drabness, the bleakness of it all, seemed to diminish all the things that made Kat who she was. It was a shame, and I couldn’t see her like this.
I wouldn’t.
“I have to go.”
“You have to stop running at some point, Terry. That’s what our folks do, not us. You and me, we face our demons head on. We kick them in the balls until they submit.”
My gaze bounced between him and Vanessa, noticing his protective stance, close almost hovering. “Do we?”
Vanessa blushed and shook her head, but Emmett nodded. “We do, goddammit. None of the women are to be alone until we figure out who did this,” he said by way of an explanation, but Vanessa’s blush told me everything I needed to know. Em was interested in the pretty widow. Good for him.
“Right.” I nodded, knowing Ashby protocol because I’d help create it.
“Good. I’ll see you around.” I leaned in and gave my brother a side hug. “Take good care of Kat, bro.”
“I will but only until you get your head out of your ass and come back for her.” He flashed a grin, but Emmett was a romantic. He fully expected I’d be back with a big bouquet of roses and probably a poem or some shit.
“Don’t hold your breath, little brother. Take it easy, Vanessa.” With a half a wave, I tugged the cap lower and strode out of the hospital, satisfied to see Kat was healing. She was fine without me.
And better off.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Kat
“Good to see your color returning, Kat.”
Oliver’s smile beamed wide and bright in the rearview mirror as Ma and Vanessa worked tenderly to make me comfortable for the ride home from the hospital.
“Color? Is that what this greenish-gray shade is supposed to be?” I was only mostly joking but I’d caught a glimpse of myself under the fluorescent bathroom lights inside the hospital. Now I knew what the expression ‘death warmed over’ meant.
“It’s good to be outside of a casket, Oliver. Thanks for the lift.”
“My pleasure.” Oliver turned his gaze back toward the road when I was finally settled in back. Sadie was in the front seat, and we were on the move.
“How are you feeling, Kat?” Vanessa’s piercing blue eyes scanned my face with worry. Her hand rested on top of mine and gave a gentle squeeze. I hated to be
