Chapter Nineteen
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Hale dropped hard, blood blooming across his shoulder as he crumpled to the floor with a groan.
Delaney didn’t hesitate. With her heart racing and adrenaline pumping, she charged at Vivian. The woman was wild with fury. Her grip stayed tight on the gun as she turned.
Too fast.
Delaney slammed into her, trying to knock the weapon free. Behind them, Lawrence shouted and cursed. His voice rose above the chaos like a storm breaking loose.
Ava screamed. And screamed. And screamed. The sound ripping through the room and only adding to the nightmarish chaos.
Vivian twisted, her elbow driving into Delaney’s injured arm.
Pain shot through her, sharp and burning.
So sharp that it watered her eyes and robbed her of most of her breath.
Still, Delaney gritted her teeth, shoved down the pain and held on.
She wrapped both arms around Vivian and dragged her to the floor.
The woman’s gun clattered out of reach.
Vivian kicked and cried out, her voice raw, “They both need to die. You don’t understand. They ruined everything.”
“I’ve got her,” Eli said, dropping beside Delaney. He grabbed Vivian’s wrists and helped pin her to the ground.
Across the room, the sheriff lunged for Lawrence, and Delaney soon saw why. Lawrence had pulled a gun from beneath his raincoat.
Sheriff Chase knocked him back into the wall. The weapon hit the floor with a hard thud.
Noah knelt beside Hale, checking for a pulse and pressing a hand to his shoulder. “He’s alive,” Noah relayed. “Shot through the shoulder. I need pressure on this until the ambulance gets here.”
Delaney pushed up onto her knees, her breathing still too shallow. Her arm throbbed from the blow, but she kept her gaze locked on Vivian, who lay on the floor, tear-streaked and trembling with fury.
Vivian sagged beneath Eli’s hold, her body shaking. A raw sob tore from her throat as all the fire drained out of her.
Ava rushed to her mother, eyes wide with fear and confusion. “Mom, no one was going to kill me. I swear. I just had to see Jason. I needed to know he was okay.”
Delaney stepped closer, her mind reeling. None of this added up. “Ava, who set this up? Who told you to come here?”
Ava looked over at Jason, then back at Delaney. “Jason did. He texted me the address.”
Jason shook his head. “No. You texted me. It came from your phone.”
Delaney’s pulse picked up. Something felt off, like pieces were being forced into the wrong puzzle. “Ava, can I see your phone?”
Ava blinked. “I don’t have it. Leonard took it.”
Delaney frowned. “What do you mean he took it?”
“He said he had to disable it for a while so I couldn’t be traced,” Ava said. “I thought it was just to keep things quiet until I saw Jason.”
Delaney turned to the medical assistant, who was sitting against the wall with one hand pressed to the blood-soaked bandage on his arm. His face was pale but alert.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Matthew Kent,” he said, voice tight with pain. “I didn’t know anything about a setup. I was following orders.”
Delaney narrowed her eyes. “Whose orders?”
Kent opened his mouth to speak.
Vivian screamed. She lunged toward him, her face twisted with rage, but Eli tightened his grip and pulled her back hard.
“No,” she shrieked, kicking at the floor. “Don’t let him lie. Don’t let him cover for them.”
Ava knelt beside her mother, trying to calm her. “Mom, stop. Please. It’s over.”
But Delaney wasn’t so sure. Something about Kent’s hesitation sent ice down her spine.
Eli yanked Vivian back just in time, but she clawed at Kent with both hands, her rage boiling over.
“Vivian,” Eli snarled, holding her tight. “Throttle back. He’s not going anywhere.”
Kent stayed where he was, hands raised in a defensive posture. His eyes were wide and panicked. “I didn’t plan anything. I was told to make sure Ava and Jason were safe when I brought them here.”
Vivian stopped struggling, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Then her knees buckled, and Eli lowered her carefully to the floor.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said, her voice breaking on a sob. “None of it was supposed to happen.”
From outside, a siren wailed, faint at first but drawing closer. The ambulance and likely backup, too.
Delaney kept her weapon lowered, her gaze sweeping the room. Ava was still beside her mother, whispering something Delaney couldn’t make out. Jason sat against the wall, silent, stunned.
Vivian’s sobs grew louder, and then she lifted her head.
Her eyes locked on her father, cold and furious. “This is all your fault,” she said, her voice shaking with fury. “You did this. You couldn’t just let us go. You had to control everything.”
Hale didn’t respond, and Delaney thought he might be in shock. He stayed on the floor with Noah applying pressure to his gunshot wound.
Vivian’s voice cracked as she blurted, “It was me. I arranged it. I used Ava’s phone to set it up. Kent sent the last text like I told him to.”
Silence dropped like a weight.
Delaney barely had time to register the shock on Eli’s face before Ava gasped and staggered backward. Jason caught her, steadying her as she pressed both hands to her mouth.
“You brought me here?” Ava’s voice was small and hollow. “You brought me here to kill me?”
“No,” Vivian cried. “God, no. Never. That was never the plan.” She twisted, trying to reach for her daughter. “You were never supposed to be in danger. Kent was supposed to make sure of that. He promised.”
Delaney’s eyes cut to Kent. He was way too pale and looked on the verge of unconsciousness. “I—I did. I followed everything she said. I kept her safe.”
Vivian groaned and collapsed to the floor. Eli dropped beside her to keep her from hitting her head, but she didn’t fight anymore. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” Vivian whispered. “He controlled everything. Every dollar. Every decision. Grant tried to help me. He was the only one who stood up to my father. So Lawrence had him killed.”
Lawrence certainly didn’t deny that. “You idiot, you pathetic excuse for a human being. I should have killed you years ago.”
Ava made a hoarse sob and buried her face against Jason’s chest.
“I knew Hale had done terrible things,” Vivian murmured.
“But Lawrence protected him. Always has. When I found out he was going to have me declared incompetent, I panicked. I thought… if I could show what kind of man he really was. If I could get him to show up here. Make him look like he set this up. I didn’t want anyone hurt. ”
Delaney could feel Eli tense beside her. This wasn’t just desperation. It was recklessness.
Vivian looked at her daughter, her expression broken. “I swear, Ava, I only wanted to protect you. Both of you.”
But Ava said nothing. She just stood there, clutching Jason and shaking her head. The betrayal hung in the air like smoke, thick and choking.
Lawrence let out a howl, raw and savage. In one swift motion, he snatched up the gun the sheriff had disarmed him of earlier. Delaney saw the gleam of metal and lunged forward, her voice ripping through the air.
“Gun!” Delaney shouted.
Too late.
Lawrence fired.
The first shot missed, but the second hit Eli square in the chest. The sound of the impact was sickening, a heavy thud that echoed louder than the gunfire itself. Eli staggered and dropped to his knees, his face contorted in pain as he gasped for air.
“No,” Delaney whispered, frozen. For one heart-stopping second, she thought he was dead.
But then Eli’s head lifted. He sucked in a hard breath, jaw clenched tight. The Kevlar had stopped the bullet, but the hit had knocked the air out of him.
And he was still moving.
Eli raised his weapon, steadying it with both hands. His arms shook, but his aim didn’t waver.
He fired.
Lawrence jerked, a bloom of red spreading across his chest. He dropped the gun. Then his knees buckled, and he collapsed in a heap on the cold concrete floor. His lifeless eyes stared up at the crumbling ceiling as silence closed back in.
Delaney rushed to Eli, dropping to her knees beside him.
Lawrence Melborne was dead.
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