Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,84

a hospital.”

She moaned. “Shot at me...couldn’t—”

“I know, baby, I know.” Charlie.

“Cyrus...found me. How?”

Charlie wasn’t going to tell her about Benny, and for the first time ever, he lied to her.

“I don’t know. Lie still. You’re covered in blood.”

“Bleeding... I stopped it,” she mumbled, and then went quiet.

Charlie didn’t say anything. If they’d heard her, they wouldn’t believe what she’d said. But he knew she was capable of creating her own miracles, and he was in awe.

A short while later, they were flying over Houston, and when Medi-Flight finally landed on the helipad, a trauma team was waiting.

Charlie came out of the chopper with her, then ran beside the gurney, staying with her all the way until they took her into surgery. At that point, he stood in the hall as the door closed behind them, and flashed back on Annie’s body being taken away from Morning Light.

He walked down the hall to the waiting room, still trying to wrap his head around this day, wishing he had his hands around Cyrus Parks’s neck. He’d thought when Annie died that his life couldn’t get much worse, but he was wrong. This was bad. It was beginning to sink in how desperately he did not want to lose Wyrick, too.

* * *

The Dallas police found the white van Benny’s assailants had been driving, abandoned in a parking lot at a mall. They’d parked in a location without video surveillance, so they had no idea what the vehicle they’d left in looked like, and the registration on the abandoned vehicle came back stolen over two months ago.

As for Ed and Alma, they were long gone.

* * *

Benny’s family was at the hospital when he came out of surgery, and so was the detective who had caught the case.

When the surgeon came in to talk to them, they all stood up at once, including the detective.

“Benny Garcia family?” the doctor asked.

“That’s us,” his father said. “How is my son?”

“He’s stable and in recovery, but he’s still unconscious. His nose was broken, but has been reset. He has a broken jaw, which has been repaired, but he’ll be drinking his meals for a while. We removed his spleen, reinflated a collapsed lung and reset some broken ribs. His eyes are still swollen shut, so we’ll have to assess them at a later date.”

His mother started crying. “Thank you, Doctor! Thank you.”

“He’ll be in recovery for another hour or so, and then they’ll move him to his room. You can see him then, but keep it low-key.”

“Yes, Doctor, we will,” his father said, and then the family hugged each other with joy as the doctor left.

“Good news,” the detective said, and handed them his card. “When he gets strong enough to talk, would you let me know?”

“Yes, sir,” his mother said, and put it in her purse.

* * *

Cyrus Parks was at home, pacing the floor with an eye to the clock. Once he learned she had flown out of Dallas, he’d seen this as his chance.

He had people in the air at Galveston, waiting for a sighting, and then once they spotted her flying out over the bay, they circled at a higher elevation, waiting to see where she went next. When she headed back to shore, and then kept flying north toward Dallas, they began pursuit.

He had no idea the strike had already happened, or that they’d waited to contact him until they were on the ground.

And then his phone rang.

“Hello.”

“The bird went down in smoke, full of lead. We’re done.”

Cyrus exhaled as the call disconnected.

That was a hard call to make. She’d been the success story they’d always wanted, only to become a problem they couldn’t control, but he was smiling as he put down the phone.

It was over.

* * *

Charlie spent three endless hours in the waiting room before a surgeon appeared.

“Anyone here for Jade Wyrick?”

“I am,” Charlie said, and stood as the surgeon approached. “Is she—?”

“She’s stable and in recovery. The bullet in her shoulder had lodged against her collarbone. We removed it and patched her up. The wound in her leg was a through and through. No major arteries impacted. She has a concussion and multiple contusions and some major bruising. And that is one hell of a tattoo she has. We did our best to keep it intact. The damnedest thing... I’ve never seen it before, but there was next to no bleeding during surgery. It was like every cut I made cauterized itself. She’s in pretty good shape,