One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,69
nothing was more important than Lenora.
“That brings us to Riggs,” Harlan added. He, too, had finished a phone call just shortly before Declan’s. “The FBI and the sheriff aren’t finding anything to link Riggs to this, but the justice department used this latest incident to prove to a federal judge just how dangerous Riggs could be, even behind bars. So they finally got approval to freeze all of Riggs’s assets. That should stop him if he decides to hire someone to deter Lenora and you from testifying.”
Yet more good news. They wouldn’t have to spend the next few months looking over their shoulders. But it wasn’t the good news that Clayton needed to hear.
He whirled around when he heard the footsteps headed toward the waiting room, but it wasn’t Dr. Landry. It was another doctor, Tony Reardon, who was new to Maverick Springs.
“You’re Kirby’s son?” he asked, pinning his gaze to Clayton.
“We all are.” Clayton motioned to Dallas, Wyatt, Slade, Declan and Harlan. “How is he? And Stella?”
“They’re both fine,” the doctor answered. “Stella got a bump on her head when she fell after being hit with the stun gun.”
Clayton looked back at Wyatt, who confirmed that with a nod. “Kirby was in bed, so he didn’t hit the floor.”
The doctor frowned and looked up at the bruises on Wyatt’s cheek and forehead. “Is that what happened to you?”
“I’m okay,” Wyatt insisted, not answering the question, but he’d already told Clayton that the two gunmen had bashed their way through Kirby’s bedroom window and first grabbed Stella to use her as a human shield. They’d hit Wyatt with a projectile stun gun, then they’d hit Kirby and Stella. They hadn’t even had a chance to fight back.
The doctor made a sound to indicate he didn’t agree with Wyatt’s I’m okay remark, and he looked at the chart that he was holding. “Stella can go home, but I want to keep Kirby for the night.”
That didn’t help steady Clayton’s nerves.
“I thought you said he was all right,” Harlan immediately protested.
“He is, but because of his existing condition, I want to keep an eye on him. He’s hooked up to an IV right now, and I’d like to get more fluids in him.”
Kirby wasn’t going to like that, but in this case, Clayton was on the doctor’s side. Better safe than sorry, and heaven only knew what the stress had done to Kirby’s already-weak body.
“What about Lenora?” Clayton asked. He knew Dr. Reardon hadn’t examined her, but he was desperate for news.
“She has the gunshot wound, right?” the doctor said looking at the chart again.
That did it. Clayton was already operating on a short fuse, and just hearing gunshot wound was the last straw. He went to the door where Dr. Landry had taken Lenora and he knocked once. But he didn’t even wait for a response. He threw it open.
And his heart went to his knees.
Clayton had hoped to see Lenora sitting up, but the room was dusky dark, and she was lying down on the examining table. Her top was off, discarded onto the back of a chair, and Dr. Landry had a needle jammed into the top of Lenora’s shoulder.
“I couldn’t wait,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “I had to know.”
Lenora managed a smile and reached out her hand to him. It took him a moment to get his feet moving, because just looking at her pale face brought back all the memories of the attack.
Of just how close he’d come to losing her.
Clayton went to the examining bed and brushed a kiss on her mouth. It didn’t help soothe him, but Lenora made a soft sound of, well, something. Probably not pleasure. Relief maybe. And she tightened the grip she had on his hand.
“I’m fine, really,” she tried to assure him, but words weren’t going to give him much reassurance. He had to see for himself that she was okay, and so far what he was seeing only confirmed that she had indeed been shot.
“The bullet sliced through the top of her shoulder,” Dr. Landry explained. “Not much damage, just a flesh wound. She’s already stitched up, but I was just giving her a little extra local anesthesia for the pain.”
“You’re in pain?” Another stupid thing to say. Of course she was. She’d been shot.
Lenora shook her head. “I didn’t want to take any pain pills, so this will help when the numbness wears off. How are Kirby, Stella and Wyatt?”
“Fine.” And he didn’t want to