him, and he’s glaring at us, lips thinned. When she realizes he’s not going to answer, she looks back at me. “I tried to superglue it.”
She sighs heavily. “That won’t do on a cut like this.”
His phone rings, and he pulls it out of his back pocket. A soft smile appears on his face and then he walks out, answering it to where we can’t hear him.
“You poor thing. Come on. I have everything we need in my spare bedroom.”
I follow her and sit down on the end of the bed like she instructs. “Do you do this for him often?” I ask. She frowns, walking into the adjoining bathroom. “Stitch people up?” I clarify.
She laughs softly, coming out with a wet washcloth to clean the blood off. “For others, no. For them, yes.” I tilt my head to the side. “They tend to get into trouble a lot.”
“They?”
“Great White Sharks.”
“I don’t understand what you are talking about,” I say, shaking my head.
“Do you not know them?”
“I don’t know who them are. I just moved here and …”
“Oh.” She nods in understanding, tossing the washcloth into a dirty clothes hamper in the corner. “The GWS, Great White Sharks is what everyone calls them. Cole, Deke, Shane, Bennett, and Kellan are all on the school swim team. They are sharks in and out of the water. Cole is their captain. All of them already have scholarships for college next fall.”
“Do you go to school with them?” She seems older than us but how else would she know them?
She chuckles. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But, no, I am Deke’s older sister.”
“I see.” The bastard who wanted to kill me last night. Now here I am, and his sister is going to stitch me up. “But you have done this before?” It’s not that I’m afraid she’s not qualified; at this point, I’ll take anyone’s help.
“Yes. I’m a trauma nurse. I keep stuff here just in case the guys need something done.”
“What kind of something do you mean?” I ask slowly.
She sets down a box next to me on the bed. “They dare one another to do stupid shit. Half the time, they end up in an emergency room. And I’m there to patch them up only to send them on their way to do it again.”
“Dare one another?” Is this one of your dares? Jeff had asked Cole last night.
She opens the box to pull out a package. She rips it open and takes out a cold cloth that she rubs over my cut. I hiss in a breath through gritted teeth. Then a syringe and a vial of clear liquid. She sticks the end of the needle into it. “It’s hard to explain. Even I don’t know all the details. But they dare one another to do something stupid, and if they don’t complete the dare, they have consequences. It’s so juvenile, if you ask me. But then again, they are still boys.” She smiles at me. “Okay. Now you’re gonna feel a sting. I’m going to numb the area.”
_______________
Thirty minutes and fifteen stitches later, I’m walking out of the spare bedroom with my arm stitched and wrapped. I hold my forearm in my hand as I look at all the pictures that cover her soft yellow hallway. I stop at a picture of Cole. Seven other boys stand around him in front of an indoor pool. All of them in white sweatpants and matching jackets unzipped. Like they just finished a swim meet.
Shelby walks up behind me. “Which one is your brother?” I ask just because I want to know which guy wants me dead.
“This is Deke.” She points at the one to the right of Cole. He has soft blue eyes and a pretty smile. Of course, the bastard is good looking. Hell, they’re all pretty decent looking. “Then it goes Kellan, Bennett, and Shane.” She points at the others to the right of Cole.
“Who are these guys?” I point at the three on his left side.
She sighs. “That is Maddox, Landen, and Eli.”
“Eli?” I ask. He’s the one who had the sister. The reason they killed Jeff. What was her name? Did Cole ever mention it?
“Yeah. He, Maddox, and Landen all passed away last year.”
“What?” I ask, turning to face her. When Cole spoke of him earlier, he didn’t mention that he was dead.
“They were in a car wreck. The only one who survived was Cole.”
“Cole was with them?” What Jeff was saying makes sense now.