A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,111

head and limbs hanging limp.

Sun’s hands shot to her mouth as she watched in horror.

He stumbled, caught himself, and took a couple more steps before he sank onto his knees, careful to keep Auri’s head from hitting the pavement. He cradled her to his chest and waited as Salazar pulled to a stop in front of them.

Salazar called it in, ordered dispatch to send units from Las Vegas, and hurried out of the vehicle.

Even in the black-and-white image, Sun could see that Cruz’s clothes were soaked in blood. He walked as far as he could before the blood loss became too much.

Salazar tried to ease Auri out of his arms, worried he would drop her, but he held fast. After a couple of minutes, his head lolled back, and she was finally able to convince him to lay Auri on the pavement, for her own safety, as another vehicle approached.

The driver got out and Salazar threw him a pair of gloves, ordered him to get Cruz down and apply pressure to his abdomen. The man, a local farmer, obeyed instantly, though Cruz was none too happy about it. He pointed to Mrs. Fairborn’s house as the man tried to hold him down, as though telling them to go check on her. When another vehicle approached, Salazar did the same with them. And so on until she had half the town out there.

Once the ambulance and a unit from Las Vegas arrived, Salazar hurried to Mrs. Fairborn’s house. The footage switched to her bodycam and Sun saw firsthand the wreckage that was once a home.

“What the hell?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat.

“He was definitely looking for something,” Quincy said.

Levi took her hand as they watched. Salazar called out the door for another pedestrian to get a first responder to the house as she checked Mrs. Fairborn. The woman sat slumped in a chair. At her feet was an unconscious man, the floor beneath him a sea of blood.

“Intruder has no pulse,” Salazar said into her mic before returning her attention to Mrs. Fairborn.

“Sunshine,” her mother said, watching from Levi’s other side. “What is going on?”

Sun unwelded her teeth to answer. “A missing persons case and a girl unwilling to accept defeat.”

“Just like her mother,” Levi said, his jaw just as tight.

She wanted to kiss him.

“She looks so tiny,” her mom said, her nose red from blowing it so often.

They’d moved Auri from post-op into ICU, a cracker-box room with a glass wall and lots of equipment. Auri did look tiny in the bed, her small, willowy frame like a doll’s. No, a fairy’s. A fiery-haired fairy’s. The kind that reveled in mischief. She definitely fit the bill.

“We’re getting a hotel,” her dad said. “We’ll be just down the street.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She kissed the man’s cheek. He wrapped her tight.

Her mom took her turn. “Call if she wakes up before we get here tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks, Mom. I will. But I doubt she’ll wake up any time soon. They have her on the good stuff.”

“Can we bring you anything?”

“No. I have my emergency stash in the cruiser.”

“Okay, honey.” She dabbed her eyes and smiled sadly as they left with a final wave.

Levi had been standing just outside the door. He came in and took the seat her father vacated.

The prognosis was good. The doctor said the swelling could have been much worse and it didn’t seem like it would affect her memory or speech, but they wouldn’t know for certain until she woke up. Even then, the true extent of her injuries could take months to uncover and her recovery could take even longer if indeed she didn’t have permanent damage.

Sun made a mental note to call Hailey tomorrow so she could let Jimmy know, and to call Sybil’s parents so they could break the news to her. At least she wasn’t with them this time. Thank God for small miracles.

She sank into the chair and watched Levi watch Auri, his expression impossible to read, and she was dying to know what he was thinking.

Quincy snuck in and knocked softly. “Sun,” he said.

She sat up and waved him in.

He seemed upset and she almost didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

“Cruz is out of surgery.”

She stood expectantly. “And?”

“It looks good. They think they got everything patched and cleaned out, so hopefully no infection. And he’s strong. That’ll help.”

She put a hand over her heart. “Thank God.”

“Sun, there’s more.”

Her brows slid together. “What?” It wasn’t until that moment that