Finally Home (Home Series)

by Vaughn, Ann

  "You have no clear shot on Conroy?"

  "Only shot would graze his shoulder and I'm afraid he'd shoot in reflex. He's standing right at the gap where the bottom of the loft floor is."

  "Understood. Keep an eye on it."

  "Lainey's still talking to him," Gavin said, listening in to what was coming thru on Riley's phone. "She's doing really well. She..." Gavin stopped when the sound of gunfire came over the line.

  "Shots fired," Whit reported. "Son-of-a-bitch! Get in there, Riley. NOW! Lainey and Mike are both down."

  Riley felt his heart stop.

  "If you have a shot you take it," Riley told him.

  They heard Conroy screaming Lainey's name over the line.

  "What's he doing?" Riley demanded from Whit.

  Before he could reply, they heard four more gunshots, then Whit spoke.

  "All are down. Get in there, Riley, and call the medics," he said, voice grim.

  Mike knew this wasn't going to end well. Conroy was too unstable. He saw Whit make the "no shot" sign to him and knew that if this was going to end, he had to take care of it himself. While Lainey continued talking, he slowly moved so that Conroy couldn't see him reach behind his back to pull his clutch piece. He tried talking to Conroy himself, tried to let him know that he understood what was going on with him, but saw that the Marine's own prejudices against officers weren't allowing him to hear what Mike was saying. When Lainey's hand squeezed his hip and she told him that Conroy was too far gone to listen to reason, Mike decided that was the time to act. He also saw that Conroy, too, had decided to act, eyes narrowing, his gun tracking Mike's movement. He thought he could get a shot off. What he hadn't counted on, was Lainey.

  She'd turned and launched herself at him at the same moment that both he and Conroy fired. Lainey hit him with such force, he was knocked off his feet at the same time a burning sensation hit his chest. He fell violently back, his arms instinctively wrapping around Lainey to protect her from the fall, taking the brunt of it himself, his head hitting on the wood floor as he landed, Lainey heavy across his chest.

  Dazed, he looked down at Lainey, seeing a bright red patch blossoming on the back of her shoulder. He heard Conroy screaming as if from a great distance away. Blinking, he looked up just when Conroy came to stand over him, gun aimed at his head. His arms instinctively tightened on Lainey. His head was fuzzy, but he knew he was about to die and was grateful that he was holding his whole world in his arms, that he would take his last breath with Lainey pressed against him.

  He grunted when Conroy kicked him in the ribs and locked his arms tight around Lainey when the crazed man tried to pull her from him. Conroy straightened then and again pointed the gun at Mike's head. He took a deep breath and accepted his fate, when suddenly, Conroy's body jerked, first forward, then back as four bullets ripped through him. Dazed, his eyes drifted over to where Colt lay and saw that the big man had managed to prop himself up and fire his gun at the same time that Whit shot through the window.

  After Conroy dropped, Mike heard Colt's gun clamor to the floor and saw that he had again collapsed. He concentrated on pulling his phone from his pocket, hitting the code to unlock the elevator, cursing when it didn't work. He forced himself to concentrate through the reset sequence, relieved when he heard it buzz. Then he concentrated on Lainey. She'd jumped in front of him and took the shot meant for him.

  "Lainey. Cara mia, talk to me. Talk to me, Lainey," he said, his voice firm. Her eyelids fluttered but didn't open. "Lainey! Look. At. Me." he growled. Her eyes opened but were glassy.

  "Mike," she whispered.

  "Stay with me, cara mia," he said, seeing her eyes glassing over. "Cara, don't you leave me."

  The elevator opened and Riley and her father game running in to them, paramedics close behind.

  "Mike, man, you gotta let her go," Riley said, trying to get him to release her so the medics could care for her. "Mike! Let her go."

  "I love you, Lainey," he told her, kissing her brow before he let his arms fall away.

  "Sir!" a medic said to him, pulling his gaze from Lainey. "Sir, have you been hit?"

  Mike nodded, swallowing hard, watching them work on Lainey, ripping her blouse away from the gunshot wound.

  "Bullet went through her...in my chest."

  "Colt!" he heard Coop calling, shifting his gaze briefly over to them. "Come on, Colt, don't do this to me. Come on."

  That was the last thing Mike remembered hearing. His gaze shifted from Colt back to Lainey, then everything went blissfully dark.

  The first time awareness came to Lainey, she was in an ambulance. She could feel the movement of the vehicle. She could hear voices but she couldn't tell what was being said. In the back of her mind, she knew something was missing but she wasn't sure what.

  The next time she opened her eyes, she felt like she was flying. Above her, fluorescent lights streamed by and beside her, a man in blue-green scrubs walked, his hand on the rail of the bed. She blinked at him, but he wasn't one of her boys, so she dismissed him. Where was Mike? She tried to speak but found no words would come. Something wasn't right. Mike wasn't there. She needed Mike.

  The third time she opened her eyes, she saw her mother sitting in a chair beside her. When she next looked, it was Riley. And yet another time it was Trevor. Where was Mike? She felt tears falling down her cheeks. She wanted Mike. Why wasn't he there?

  Riley felt like he'd aged twenty years since answering his phone and hearing Conroy's voice. When the ambulances took Mike, Lainey and Colt away, he pulled out his phone and called Jenna. He wasn't looking forward to this next task.

  "Hey, baby, what's -"

  "Ask someone to come stay with Cam," he said, his voice grim. "I need you to meet me at Jack's house to talk to Sarah."

  "Sarah is here with me. What's going on?"

  "Don't say anything to her. I'll be home in just a minute. Do you have an OB/GYN you can call for her?"

  "Riley? You're scaring me. What's happened?"

  "Not on the phone. Just have that doctor's number ready."

  He hung up before she could question him more, then got in his truck and went home.

  Jenna met him out on the lawn, her eyes rounding, her complexion going white when she saw his blood-stained clothes.

  "Oh, God, Riley?" she whispered, fearing what he would say.

  "Call that doctor. Sarah's going to need them," he said, going inside.

  He found Sarah sitting on the sofa. She was smiling when he walked in, but her smile quickly faded.

  "What happened?" she asked, and he could see in her face that she already knew.

  He sat beside her, made eye contact with Jenna to make sure she was on the phone with the doctor, and at her nod, looked back to Sarah, taking her hand into his.

  "Conroy somehow got around Colt's security system and got into Mike's loft. Sarah. Colt's been shot."

  "No," she said, shaking her head, trying to pull back from him.

  "I don't know his condition, he was shot...in the head."

  "No!" she cried, both hands going to cover her mouth, tears filling her eyes. "No!!"

  "I do know that he is alive, and that at some point, he managed to lift himself up enough to fire two rounds into Conroy when he tried to point blank shoot Mike in the head...but he collapsed and passed out after that."

  "No, no, please!" she sobbed. "Colt! No!" she cried, beginning to hyperventilate.

  "Sarah," Jenna said, her voice firm. "Listen to me, honey, you've got to breathe."

  "No! No! No!" Sarah cried over and over.

  "Mom?" Cam asked, having heard the commotion from his room.

  "Riley, we've got to get her to the hospital," Jenna said when Sarah began clutching her stomach.

  Riley stood and gathered Sarah into his arms, carrying her out to his truck. Jenna and Cam piled in, too, Jenna settling Sarah into her arms while they sped off toward the hospital.

  "Please, this is a nightmare, right?" Sarah sobbed.


  Jenna stroked her hair. "It's going to be all right," she soothed her. "My doctor is meeting us up there. She's the best around. Take some deep breaths."

  "I can't. I can't. I need Colt. Please. Please, God, please. Colt," she sobbed, inconsolable.

  By the time they got to the hospital, Sarah was in full-fledged labor, in spite of still needing two months to go. Jenna took Sarah's phone from her purse and pulled up the number for Sarah's mother, Charlotte, who had just left the day before.

  Riley, Jenna and Cam settled into the waiting room with Coop and Whit and Lainey' s parents. Soon, the waiting room was filled with their families. Trevor had gotten Aubrey to help him down so that he was there waiting with everyone.

  They all sat quietly waiting for word on any of those who'd been taken in. The first report that came back was on Mike. Lainey's body had slowed the bullet, and that, combined with the heavy scar tissue on Mike's chest had saved the bullet from going to his heart. They were able to successfully remove the bullet and he was expected to make a full recovered.

  The next report was on Lainey. The bullet had gone straight through her muscle tissue to lodge in Mike's chest. She had undoubtedly saved Mike's life. And while she'd lot quite a bit of blood, she, too was expected to make a full recovery.

  It was hours before the next report came in. This time, on Sarah. She'd ended up having to have a c-section. The baby was too distressed for them not to take him. He was two months pre-mature, but the doctors felt confident that after some time in the NICU, he would be just fine.

  That left Colt. His sister and her daughters arrived from Waco. Not long after that, his parents and Sarah's parents arrived. The last report the doctors had given was that they were trying to determine the best course of action for his recovery. Remove the bullet and risk it causing paralysis or even death if they nicked an area they shouldn't, or leave it and hope that the bullet stayed lodged the way it was. With Sarah still recovering from surgery, the decision was left to the rest of Colt's family. The decision was made to leave the bullet in rather than risk losing him on the operating table should something go wrong. Of the three of them, Colt's road to recovery would be the longest, but the doctors assured everyone that due to Colt's physical fitness, he should make at least a ninety percent recovery.

  "Damn lucky son-of-a-bitch," Coop said, holding Claire close to his side.

  "How's Sarah?" Jenna asked when her brother Tag came into the waiting room, scrubbing a weary hand over her face.

  "She's begging to see Colt."

  "How's the baby?"

  "They have him in an incubator. He's really small...only weighed a pound and seven ounces. His head isn't much bigger than a golf ball...but the doctors are saying that he is amazingly healthy and is actually big for his age, like his old man, I suppose, so that's working in his favor."

  "Can I go see him?" Claire asked now that she knew it would be a while before she could see her brother.

  "Yeah, I'll take you," Tag said wearily.

  Riley watched them go, then got up to pace. How had Conroy gotten past Colt's security system? What the hell had gone wrong? Had they gotten so arrogant, so complacent that they'd missed something?

  They'd yet to receive word on Conroy's condition. When they first made it into the loft, Riley was sure he was dead, but medics had found a pulse, however weak it was. Two helicopters had come, one for Colt and one for Conroy. Since then, they'd heard nothing, though he knew his uncle was trying to find out.

  "Riley?" Jeannette Casiano said, turning his attention.

  "Yes?"

  "Mike is asking for you, they've moved him to a room."

  "Yeah, OK," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  "I'll take you to him," she said, linking her arm with his. As they walked, she patted his arm. "I know what you're doing, and you can just stop. Sometimes things happen beyond our control. As good as you all are, you can't be everywhere, see everything."

  "They could have died because we missed something," he said, his voice raw with emotion.

  "But they didn't. That's what you have to hold on to. They didn't die."

  He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I know...but..."

  "No buts, Riley Stanton," she said, stopping him just shy of Mike's room. "You have been a good friend to my son all these years. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Do not let this misplaced guilt eat at you, do you understand me?"

  He sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Now, you go work your magic on my son. His brother would like to see him, too."

  "I'll see what I can do," he said, then stepped into Mike's room.

  It hit him as he walked in. How many times had he walked into a hospital room to visit Mike? At least this time, he was sitting up and alert.

  "Hey," Riley said, coming to sit in the chair next to the bed.

  "I'm sorry, Rile," Mike said, his voice raw. "I couldn't protect her like I promised."

  "There's nothing to apologize for. We all dropped the ball on this somehow."

  Mike looked away, looking out the window for a moment.

  "This is going to hurt business when word gets out."

  Riley shrugged. "Let Melissa work her magic. She'll spin it the way we need it to go."

  Mike looked back at Riley, and Riley hoped he never again in his life saw the look in Mike's eyes that was there now. They were like two perfect shards of ice. Hard. Cold. And filled with more pain than Riley had ever seen.

  "I thought I'd lost her," Mike admitted. "She jumped up and hugged me and the bullet hit...I thought she was gone. And then he came and had that gun pointed at my head. I was going to die but I had Lainey in my arms. I don't want...I don't want to lose her."

  Riley nodded and placed his hand on Mike's shoulder.

  "She took a bullet for you, man. I don't think she's going anywhere."

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  He wasn't there. She knew before she opened her eyes. There was always an energy in the room whenever Mike was around. An almost electric charge. A lump formed in her throat making it hard to breathe and she felt tears slip down her temples. She'd failed. That was the only explanation. She'd jumped to cover him and got shot and it hadn't helped: Mike was dead. She knew it. She hadn't been able to save him.

  "Lainey," she heard her mother's voice. That just confirmed it. The floodgates opened then, tears streaming down her face, sobs racking her entire body. "Lainey! Honey, what is it? You've got to calm down, you'll tear your stitches."

  She heard several voices surrounding her, felt hands on her but she didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't want to be told that he was gone.

  "Lainey, open your eyes," someone demanded.

  "Mike," she cried, inconsolable.

  She heard more voices and then suddenly she felt a warm hand on her cheek.

  "Cara mia," he said and she immediately froze, "look at me."

  She gasped and reached up to grasp his wrist before opening her eyes and seeing that intense gaze trained on her face. Fresh tears pooled at seeing him. He was in a hospital gown, as well, and she could see a bandage on his shoulder...but he was there, standing strong and tall like an avenging angel.

  "Mike," she cried, shifting her hand from his wrist to reach for him. "Oh, God," she sobbed when he carefully bent down to embrace her. "I thought I'd lost you. You weren't here. Every time I opened my eyes. You weren't here."

  "They had already taken me back to a room, bambina, I'm so sorry," he whispered to her, kissing her cheek.

  "Is it over? Is Conroy...?"

  "He survived, but he's in critical condition."

  "And Colt?"

  "He's also in critical but stable condition. The bullet is lodged in his brain but they believe he will make a full recovery."

  She smoothed her hand over the bandage on his chest.

  "You were hit?"

  "Bullet went straight through you, lodged in my chest. You slowed it down, cara mia, and saved my life."

  "I love you, Michael Casiano," sh
e said, against his chest.

  "Ti amo, bellisima," he returned.

  The nurse stepped forward then, addressing Mike.

  "Come on now, Mike, you need to get back to your room."

  "Not leaving her."

  "You aren't doing her any good if you're dead on your feet."

  Mike's icy gaze cut over to the nurse in a scowl that was so menacing and cold, the nurse actually took a step back, her hand going to her throat.

  "Mike, turn the ice off, please," Lainey said, patting his arm. "Please, let him stay, or take me to his room. After what happened, I need him close."

  "I can't -" the nurse began but when Mike's scowl deepened, she took a deep breath, "I'll see what I can do, but please, at least sit down," she said on a huff as she left.

  He sat on the edge of Lainey's bed, raising her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles. She took a deep breath as she looked into his eyes, feeling her world settle for the first time since she got that first phone call from Charles after leaving the club that night. There were still things between her and Mike that needed to be discussed and settled, but for now none of that mattered. He was here with her and he was, for the most part, all right. That above anything else, was all that mattered.

  Sarah woke feeling numb and hollow. Habit had her hand going to her stomach, but then she remembered that her baby was no longer there; he was fighting for his life in NICU, just as his daddy was fighting for his in ICU somewhere. She hadn't been allowed to see Colt yet and it was killing her. She needed to see him, to touch him and let him know she was there for him.

  The door opened and she saw Tag walk in, and she immediately reached out to him.

  "Have you been to see Colt?"

  "Just left him. No change."

  Tears filled her eyes. "Please, Tag. Take me to see him. Please."

  He squeezed her hand. "They're not going to let you in to see him, honey."