Chapter 30
April watched in horror as a bullet ripped through Tanner’s leg.
“Tanner!” She screamed, her heart in her throat, as her feet pulled her to be with him.
But a strong arm flew around her waist, holding her in place.
Her gaze went to Violet just in time to watch her sweet niece hit the ground, her body completely slack in a small pool of her own blood.
“No! Violet!” Needing to save the two people she loved most from the scene unfolding in front of her, she desperately clawed at the arm holding her back, but it was no use.
It was wrapped around her waist like a vice, her desperation no match for the strength Blake used to push her behind him while returning fire on the guards who were now firing nonstop.
Blood bloomed on Tanner’s leg as he tried to army crawl his way to Violet, but then another bullet hit his side.
His body jerked from the impact and then he was still.
“Nooooo!” She cried, gasping for air as she watched from behind Blake’s back, still fighting his hold on her.
But he only tightened his grip. She had to get to Tanner and Violet.
They were lying in the middle of the courtyard, hurt and bleeding, and far too exposed.
“Blake, please,” she cried, but he didn’t budge.
Holding his weapon with one hand and her with the other, he returned fire as best he could, not letting up on her for a second. “Stop fighting me,” he demanded. “I’m trying to save your life here.”
“I don’t care about my life! Tanner’s been shot and Violet needs me. Let me go, please,” April begged. It was like she couldn’t even breathe, watching the two people she loved most in the world lying in the middle of a war zone.
She glanced back to Violet who was now covered with something big…
What was that? Something large and dark, but it was hard to tell.
A body? Oh no. “Violet!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, but instead of hearing her sweet niece’s voice, she was answered with the sound of sirens.
Lots of sirens, red and blue flashing lights bouncing off the walls of the courtyard as they drew near.
Then a swarm of officers descended on the place, barging into the courtyard, firing back, and holding up shields to protect themselves from the never-ending spray of bullets raining down around them.
Blake stayed still, holding April tightly to him until the chaos of the situation was under control.
The guards who’d surrendered were all relieved of their weapons and handcuffed while Ned was too busy arguing with two detectives to pay any attention to what was happening around him.
Blake and his friends all showed their badges, and only after that did he finally let go of April.
Without hesitation, she ran toward Violet and Tanner.
A paramedic was already hovering over Tanner, checking his wounds and starting an IV. He was alive.
She turned to Violet, and fell to her knees beside her.
“Violet,” she breathed. All she could see of her was one arm, as whoever had fallen over her was still lying on top of her.
April went to move the body when she saw it heave out a breath, and then she saw his face.
“Echo?” She tried to roll him off Violet, but he was too big and heavy.
“Let me help,” Caden said, coming up behind her. Together they moved him off Violet, and it was only then that she noticed he had three bullet holes. One in each thigh, and one in his neck.
“Echo?” She said again, but his chest was hardly moving, his skin was pale, almost taking on a bluish tint, and his eyes were closed.
“We need some help here!” Caden flagged down a paramedic for Echo.
April was worried about moving her niece at first, but after a quick scan of her body, she didn’t see any bullet wounds, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as she was about to pick Violet up and carry her away from all the chaos, big hands grabbed April from behind, pulling her to her feet, and pressing a gun to her temple.
“If anyone thinks they can kill me before I kill her, here’s your chance,” Ned said with a smirk on his face.
April should’ve known better than to take her eyes off that man.
He’d somehow managed to hide a weapon from the police, or more than likely, lifted it right off one of the many officers walking around, and no one had even noticed amidst all the commotion.
All the officers and Tanner’s friends froze in place. “You need to lay down your weapon, Sir!” a detective called out. April’s whole body was shaking. Fear. Adrenaline. Concern for Violet and Tanner. They needed to get Tanner to a hospital.
“Let them take Tanner to the hospital,” she pleaded with Ned. “You’ve got me, but he’s hurt. Just let them take him.”
Ned laughed. “They can take whoever they want except you and my daughter.”
“Violet is not your daughter,” Caden said. “She’s your stepdaughter.”
Ned roared his anger at Caden who didn’t seem affected by the man’s antics. “I adopted her when her mother was killed. She’s mine!”
“No. You didn’t,” Garrett said. He was standing beside a man who looked like another Texas Ranger.
“My friend and colleague here just confirmed that no adoption papers were ever filed for Violet. Not by you. Not by anyone. Which means you’re not only under arrest for kidnapping, but a slew of other charges.
You need to lay your weapon down and let April go. ”
April swallowed hard. All this time, Ned never had any right to her.
How could she not have checked? How could she have let this go on for so long?
She felt like the biggest idiot in the world, but none of that mattered right now.
She’d never seen Ned backed into a corner, and she had a feeling his reaction wouldn’t be much different than that of a caged animal.
With his gun firmly pressing into her temple, and his other hand wrapped around her throat, her gaze went to an unconscious Violet, and a severely injured Echo lying next to her.
“Ned, Echo’s hurt bad. You need to let the paramedics take care of him and get him to a hospital. And get Violet out of here. Please.”
“They can take Echo, but if anyone so much as lays a hand on my daughter, you’re dead,” Ned seethed.
April made eye contact with Caden. “Please. He risked his life to protect Violet. Don’t let him die. Violet always wakes up on her own. She’ll be okay.”
Caden’s steel gray eyes revealed the storm brewing inside him, but he nodded and carefully moved to Echo and kneeled beside him.
After checking for a pulse on his neck, Caden waved the paramedics back over who’d practically sprinted away when Ned pulled a gun on April.
“Get him some help while he’s still breathing,” Caden ordered.
The paramedics immediately got to work under Caden’s watchful eye. Blake and Luke hovered around Tanner, who was being lifted onto a gurney. “How’s Tanner?” April asked, wishing she could be there for him.
“They’re taking him to the hospital,” Blake said. “Violet should also be checked out just in case.”
“Leave my daughter right where she is,” Ned warned. “I’ve taken care of her all her life and I’ll keep doing just that.”
“Taken care of her?” April snapped. “You’ve used her, threatened her, and terrified her. If you call that taking care of her then she’s better off without you.”
Ned tightened his hold on April’s neck, making her squeak out in pain and protest. The paramedics were wheeling Tanner out now.
“Let her go,” April begged, wanting her niece to be taken away from all this carnage.
A courtyard littered with dead bodies was no place for a child.
And the worst of it was - none of them were wearing their usual head gear.
They’d seen Violet and fired anyway. Had they known all along?
Was it all just a ruse to make April and Violet think they possessed more humanity than they really did?
Or was it for their protection, to conceal their identities from her and Violet.
The depravity of this whole situation was so disgusting, the only thing April could think about was getting Violet out of here as quickly as possible.
“You’re not even her father. He is. Let her go! ” She cried.
Ned pressed the gun into her temple. “What did you say?”
“Tanner is Violet’s father. He’s even listed as her father on her birth certificate,” Caden said.
“You’re lying,” Ned accused.
“No, I’m not,” Caden said, producing the digital copy of Violet’s birth certificate on his phone and showing it to Ned. “Tanner is her biological father.”
April had no idea about the birth certificate. But then she remembered the last conversation she’d had with Tanner before he left. “A DNA test proved it. Violet is Tanner’s daughter.”
“You little…” Ned pushed the gun harder against April’s temple as his other hand squeezed at her throat until she couldn’t breathe.
Her vision started fading, her head growing heavy with no oxygen.
“No one is going to-” Ned’s snarled words cut off when a loud gunshot rang out.
A warm wetness hit the back of April’s neck as Ned’s hands went slack behind her.
Not bothering to look back as his body fell to the ground, not allowing herself to think about what just happened, or how close she’d come to just being killed herself, April beelined for Violet, dropping at her side and scooping her up in her arms. “Violet, wake up, Sweetie. It’s all over.
” She’d been out of it too long. This whole time, April had expected her to wake up at any moment, but her niece hadn’t so much as twitched a finger.
“Violet, wake up. It’s Aunt April. You’re okay. Wake up, Sweetie.”
“I thought you said she’d come out of it on her own,” Caden said, kneeling beside them.