Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,101
same bullet that hit you when Coleman fired, skimmed the side of her head in an almost identical spot as yours. But, for her, that’s the most minor of injuries sustained. The bullet Grant fired lacerated one of her kidneys and nicked her liver. She lost a ton of blood and went into shock. She was in surgery for hours and barely pulled through.” He swore quietly and curled his fingers around the steering wheel, clenching it so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “We were all pretty optimistic that a corner was turned, but then her surgeon told us that her remaining kidney is showing early signs of chronic kidney disease. Not totally unexpected considering what her mother went through, but it means she needs a transplant. The sooner the better.”
“Jesus.” The throbbing in my head intensified and my rolling stomach lurched dangerously. I closed my eyes and rubbed my chest where I swore I could feel my heart shattering into a million painful pieces. “She can’t catch a break, can she?”
Case grunted his agreement. “The entire family got tested to see if any of us are a match. Well, all of us except Kody.” He made a sound. “Did you know that she’s pregnant?”
I shook my head and felt my expression shift to slightly shocked.
“You can’t be a donor if you’re expecting. I thought she was going to faint when she had to explain to us why she couldn’t get tested. It sucks that such happy news had to come out during a life-or-death situation. Hill didn’t look happy about the timing at all. I’m sure they wanted to share that with the family on their own time in their own way, but it is what it is. One of us who did get tested will gladly donate if at all possible. Since we’re all only half siblings the probability of being a match is less likely. I left to come and get you before we got the results back, and I haven’t heard from anyone, so they must still be waiting.”
“What if one of you isn’t a match? What happens then?”
Case shook his head, steely eyes locked on the road ahead of us. “We look for a donor outside of the family. We look until we find someone who can save her.”
“And if that fails, she goes on the national waitlist and probably loses her life before a donor becomes available.” I bitterly bit out the worst-case scenario. I wasn’t going to let that happen. “The Sons of Sorrow have chapters all over the U.S. There are thousands and thousands of members. If I need to go to my old man and force him to make every single patched-in member get tested for a match, I’ll do it.” It was honestly the least my old man could do for me.
Case blew out a breath. “Hopefully it won’t come to that. The sooner we have a solution, the better. She’s hanging in there, but just barely.”
I put a hand on my stomach and closed my eyes so I could rest my bandaged head against the window.
“Case, how did you stop yourself from putting a bullet right between that woman’s eyes? After everything she’s put the people you love through, how did you restrain yourself?” I was honestly curious. How could anyone have that much integrity? That much self-control.
He chuckled but it wasn’t a happy, joyous sound. “Do you think I didn’t want to kill her? That’s all I wanted to do. But my job isn’t about revenge, it’s about justice. I wanted her to have to answer for everything she did. I wanted the world to see who she really was. I wanted my sister’s name cleared and justice for her mother.”
“That is one major way we are very different, Sheriff. I just wanted her gone.”
Another painful-sounding laugh came from the driver’s seat.
“We aren’t as different as you’d like to believe, Palmer.” I winced at his use of my real name. “You were alone with Grant several times. I know what you’re capable of. She could’ve gone missing, never to be seen again, despite all the work we put into drawing her out into the open. You knew it was important for Presley to clear her name. You knew she needed closure on her mother’s murder. You were willing to give her that, instead of just taking Grant out. That’s what justice ultimately looks like.”
I snorted. “Look where justice got Presley. Revenge would’ve meant she wasn’t fighting for