Page 46 of Critical Strike
Luke led Claire so she could sit on the small couch in the corner of the waiting room. Khan immediately jumped up into her lap.
He gave Weston a look, who immediately nodded, knowing what they needed. Weston headed toward the small kitchen and dug up something for them to eat and drink.
“We hid, then sneaked out a bathroom window. I got quite a few stitches for my trouble.”
Claire winced and he reached over and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.
“If you thought everyone was looking for you before, it’s definitely worse now that they think you shot a cop.”
Both Luke and Brax shot Chance a look when Claire let out a shuddered breath. Chance didn’t mean any harm by his words; he just didn’t pull any punches. Luke was gruff in the same way, and actually prided himself on it.
But not when it came to Claire. He didn’t want anyone to do or say anything to upset her. She’d been through enough.
“Sorry,” Chance muttered.
“No, you’re right,” Claire whispered. “Did he die?”
Brax shook his head. “Weston put in a call to see what he could find out. It’s still touch-and-go, but there’s a chance he’ll pull through.”
“Any chance he would be able to identify who shot him if he makes it?” Luke asked. It wouldn’t solve all their problems, but at least they wouldn’t be after Claire as a cop killer.
Chance shook his head. “It seems unlikely given the trajectory of the bullet that hit him, and we only know that because of what Weston was able to get from his cop friends.”
“My vote is for you to turn yourself in.” Weston walked back in the room and handed a plate of sandwiches and a couple of water bottles to Luke, who nodded his thanks. “There are good cops in the San Antonio PD. You two can back up each other’s statements. Otherwise, they are going to be after you in full force after what happened at the library.”
“That’s what I wanted to do.” Claire sat up straighter on the couch. “Luke has already gotten hurt—”
All three of his brothers stiffened.
“How bad?”
“Do we need a doctor?”
“Status.”
It was impossible to tell who was saying what with them talking all over one another.
“I’m fine. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed by breaking in at a local vet’s clinic. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“And if I hadn’t been there to hit that guy in the head with the skateboard? He would’ve shot you.”
Luke picked up half of a sandwich from the plate on his lap and stuck it in Claire’s mouth.
“Yes, Ballard and his men are dangerous. Deadly, even. And that’s why you can’t go to the cops.” He turned to his brothers. “Ballard would’ve already thought of that. He has to have a plan in place if she goes running to the cops and claims her innocence.”
“I should’ve done that from the beginning. I should’ve walked out of Passage Digital and gone straight to the police. I don’t trust cops. I don’t like people. I’m so stupid.” Luke took the sandwich back out of her hands.
“Hey.” He cupped her cheeks with his hands. “Maybe... Maybe you might’ve been able to catch Ballard before he could get any stopgap measures in place, but probably not. He’s too wealthy and too well-connected to not have been able to handle that. The most likely thing that would’ve happened is that you’d be dead right now and my whole world would be crushed without me even knowing it.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Luke could never have been much of a poet. No one had ever accused him of being in touch with his sensitive side. But suddenly, he had a very clear understanding of what drowning in someone’s eyes meant. He couldn’t have escaped the hypnotic pull of Claire’s baby blues even if he had wanted to.
And he very definitely didn’t want to. What he definitely did want to do was kiss her, but he couldn’t with his brothers staring at them.
“So, we need a plan that involves Claire not going to the police,” Brax said. “Anybody got one of those?”
“Not yet.” Luke forced himself to look away from Claire. “We’re going to go to ground until we figure out a way to get the proof we need.”