were still pretty out of it to note that, I think,” Ava said.
“I know. Caden told me. I have flashes of it, so I’ll content myself with the fact that I was there.”
Ava sighed and bit her lip. “I wanted to stay and visit with you awhile, but I had to leave right after to get home to Mom.”
“I understand, Ava. You know I do.”
Her friend smiled, crinkling the corners of her dark eyes. Half Mexican and half Caucasian, she was a beautiful combination of her lovely parents. The sadness in her eyes and the faint shadows beneath spoke volumes.
“How’s she doing?”
Ava shrugged. “She has good days and bad.”
More bad than good would be Sarah’s guess.
Brooke still hadn’t said anything other than a quick hello and given a tight hug, but now her gaze snagged Sarah’s and she raised a brow. Sarah nodded. When Sarah was ready to talk, Brooke was ready to listen. She knew that and appreciated it more than her friend could possibly know. And she might take her up on that at some point, but for now, she had things to do.
“So, tell us what’s been going on?” Heather said. “What’s this about getting shot at and more?”
“You’ll think I’m making the whole thing up.”
“Start with the kidnapping,” Brooke said, “and go from there.”
Sarah shuddered and Brooke’s eyes narrowed.
“Fine.” She could tell them. They were her friends. She’d stick to the facts and leave the absolute terror of those hours in the locked recesses of her mind.
Gavin, Caden, and Asher gathered around the kitchen island, and Caden passed the bottle opener to Gavin. Cold root beer, a mix of pretzels, nuts, and M&Ms, and three kinds of potato chips weren’t exactly on the healthy list, but he’d been shot at, almost run off the road, and had dealt with a hostage situation in the span of less than twenty-four hours. He’d eat the junk and enjoy it.
He hoped Sarah was doing the same in the other room. Caden had delivered the goodies and then hurried back to the kitchen with a frown. “They kicked me out of my own den.”
“Want some cheese with that ‘whine’?” Asher asked.
“That’s so old. It’s time to find some new material.”
Asher grinned and sipped his drink.
Gavin turned serious. “Heard anything about Wilmont?” he asked Caden.
“Oh, yeah. He made it. The theory is the seizure was brought on by the stress of everything.” He shrugged. “He’s expected to make a full recovery, even though he claims he doesn’t remember anything that happened after he got to the house.” Caden’s phone rang and he snagged it. “Excuse me, I need to take this.” He stepped out onto the patio and shut the kitchen door behind him. Gavin watched through the window, wondering at the man’s expression. Intense and focused. Something about Dustin or Sarah?
When Caden returned a few minutes later, his frown spoke volumes. “Anything you can share?” Gavin asked.
Asher pointed to the door. “I can step out if you guys need to discuss something private.”
Caden shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Elliott Bancroft is one of the detectives on the Brianne Davis case. The friend, Mrs. Nelson, is out of surgery and holding her own for now, but she hasn’t come to yet. Here’s the interesting thing, though. The gun was registered to Brianne, and initial findings are showing that she was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot—and while Wilmont had residue on his hands, it was a very small amount and none on his clothing. Which could be accounted for by the fact that he picked the gun up after it was discharged . . .”
“Which means he might be scum, but not necessarily a murderer,” Gavin said.
“Exactly. There’s no way to prove he fired the weapon, and the evidence pretty much says he didn’t.”
“So,” Gavin said, “all of his protests about not shooting anyone could be true.”
“Could be,” Caden said. “Here’s the other thing. They found traces of some drug in his system.”
“Pain meds, right?” Gavin asked. “We know he took two of Brianne’s pills.”
“No. No traces of any narcotic. This is something else, but he swears all he took were the two pills from Brianne’s bottle.”
Gavin frowned. “So he’s lying.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay, going on the assumption that he’s not lying, what’s the other drug they found?”
“They’re trying to figure that out. They’ve ruled out the usual. Elliott said this one is something the lab says they’ve never seen before. They’re trying to break down the components of it as we speak.”