Beyond the Breaking Point - Lori Sjoberg Page 0,55

step, then another and another, edging them closer to the dense vegetation. Wade had a clean shot, but he held his fire for fear of Hector’s finger jerking on the trigger and killing Hope.

Without warning, Hope stomped on Hector’s foot and shoved the gun away from her body. She spun around, nailed him in the nuts, and when he doubled over, she kneed him in the face.

As he staggered back, the gun slipped from his grip. Hope took off running straight to Wade, and a white-hot bolt of relief tore through him as he tucked her safely behind him.

“Don’t!” Wade shouted as Hector dove for the gun.

Eyes wide, his friend looked up, his hand wrapped around the pistol’s grip.

It felt as though time froze in its tracks while they simply stared at each other. Years of friendship flashed before Wade’s eyes. He remembered all of the good times they’d shared, both on and off the clock, the inside jokes and misadventures. After his release from the hospital, Hector had taken him to visit Carmen’s grave, and they’d gotten shit-faced afterward.

Hector knew things about Wade that even his family didn’t know.

He’d trusted this man with his life.

And he’d been a goddamn fool.

“Don’t do it, man,” Wade warned.

The corners of Hector’s mouth twitched. “I’m sorry. I really am. Hopefully, someday you’ll believe me. But you know there’s only one way for this to end.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. If I don’t follow Aranza’s orders, Jazmin and Lucia are as good as dead. Or worse, he’ll make them wish they were dead. But if I’m not alive, they have no value to him.” Resolve hardened his features. “Go to All Souls and look for Joseph Scuderi. He’ll be able to help my girls. Tell them I love them.”

Hector raised the gun and pointed it at Wade, leaving him with no other choice.

A single shot pierced the air and tore Wade’s heart in two.

Hector jerked and rolled onto his back, an expanding bloom of crimson staining the front of his shirt.

Hope rushed to his side and knelt beside him. On the outside, her demeanor was calm and focused as she dug a scalpel out of her bag and used it to slice Hector’s shirt open, exposing the gunshot wound at the center of his chest.

For such a small hole, there was an awful lot of blood. She covered it with the palm of her left hand, while she rooted through her bag with the right.

“I could use some help over here,” she snapped.

Without hesitation, Wade crouched beside her. “Tell me what to do.”

She lifted her hand and replaced it with his. “Keep pressure on the wound. It’ll help with the bleeding.”

“Too late for that,” Hector said through gritted teeth, his breathing rough and ragged. Already, his face had lost most of its color, his eyes glazed and unfocused. “Sorry, man. If I could take it all back, I would.”

“You can make things right by helping me take down Aranza.”

“Not happening. You know that.” Hector glanced down at his chest and winced. “Shit, you always were a good shot.”

Wade looked to Hope, and her face said it all, though she tried to hide it behind the veneer of a doctor’s cool detachment. Even at a hospital with all of the proper medicine and equipment, the chances of him surviving a wound of this magnitude were slim at best. Out here, in the middle of nowhere and with only the supplies in her medical bag, it was simply a matter of time.

The knot in his chest made it difficult to breathe as he stared down at the man who’d committed unspeakable acts to save his children. “I understand why you did what you did, but I’ll never be able to forgive you.”

“Fair enough. I wouldn’t forgive me either.” Hector grimaced as a tear streaked through the dirt on his face. “Watch out for my girls. Please.”

“I will. They’ll be safe, I promise.” That was an easy vow. Regardless of what Hector had done, those kids were like family to Wade. As far as he was concerned, the sins of their father had no bearing on them. He’d protect them with his life.

Hector’s jaw clenched, and then all of the muscles in his body went slack and his eyes stared into oblivion.

As Hope checked his neck for a pulse, her cool veneer cracked along the edges. With a delicate touch, she closed his eyelids and made the sign of the cross. “I’m sorry. Even if I administered