Thirty | Dom
Thirty
Dom
Time felt like it was moving at an impossibly slow speed as I waited for Axel and Dr. Foster to get there.
Jo was sitting in the kitchen chair after insisting on helping me clean and bandage her wound.
While it had appeared that the bullet had grazed the top of her shoulder, it was hard to be sure due to the constant bleeding.
Not only that, but my brain refused to process anything because my worry for Jo had been so extreme that I couldn’t think straight, and my heart had been stuck in my throat from the moment it hit her, not knowing if she was okay.
The only comfort I had was knowing that Dr. Foster was on her way and would know what to do.
The man who had shot her was dead, but neither of us recognized him after we removed the ski mask. While Jo had left Tray long before I did, neither of us was willing to rule him out as being someone from Tray’s organization.
I had grabbed what I could and worked on fixing the door. It wasn’t the best, but at least it kept most of the heat inside the cabin and didn't let too much cold air in. I turned on the fireplace so Jo would stay warm.
Lights beamed through the sheer curtains as Axel pulled up and parked beside me. I glanced at Jo, making sure she was okay before I opened the door and let Axel and Dr. Foster in.
“Is she okay?” Axel asked, his concern for Jo showing on his face.
Our call had broken up earlier when they were climbing the mountain, so I hadn’t been able to update them.
“She’s good,” I replied, closing the door behind them as Dr. Foster rushed over to Jo.
“We cleaned it out,” Jo said, leaning forward so Dr. Foster could see the bandage we’d put on her arm. “It was hard to assess the damage due to the bleeding and not being able to see it myself.”
“I would feel better if I looked at it myself,” Dr. Foster said warily. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all. You came all the way up here, and I appreciate it.”
Dr. Foster helped Jo up, then took her to the master bedroom bathroom, where all the medical supplies were. I hated how weak Jo looked, but I was thankful it hadn’t been worse and that she seemed to be doing alright.
“Do you recognize him?” Axel asked, nodding to the body still on the floor.
It wasn’t like I was willing to leave Jo by herself while I went outside and dug a hole for the asshole, so his body was right where it had fallen when Jo shot them. While she had questioned her aim because she was feeling weak, I had been impressed with how she perfectly shot him between the eyes.
“Nope. I have no idea who he is. Jo doesn’t recognize him either. But Tray is constantly adding new guys, so he might have come on after we left.”
Axel nodded and then looked around the cabin as he shoved a hand through his hair.
“I don’t like you guys staying here. Someone has already tried to kill her twice.”
“I know. I don’t like it either, but unfortunately, we’re stuck here until that storm passes.”
“Yeah, getting up the mountain was rough, but getting down it is going to be impossible.”
“What about Charlie and the baby? Is she okay being by herself while you’re stuck up here?”
Axel nodded and chewed his lower lip.
“Ashley and Keith are staying with Charlie tonight. Everyone is on alert and taking shifts sleeping so someone is always awake to watch the cameras.”
“That’s fucking insane,” I grumbled, hating that everyone was having to suffer because Tray was doing all of this. “I’m sorry, man. I wish I could make it all stop.”
“Me, too. I just want Jo to be safe. That’s all that matters to me right now.”
We sat down at the kitchen table and made small talk until the girls returned. Jo looked a little better with more color in her cheeks, but I still hated how my typically fiery girl appeared so frail.
“You did a great job, Dom,” Dr. Foster said with a smile as Jo walked over and wrapped her arms around my neck before sitting on my thigh.
“Thank you. I did the best I could.”
Her attention shifted from me to the man on the floor. She walked over and stood beside him before squatting and moving his head around. Her lips pursed as she considered something, but before she spoke, she rolled him onto his side and retrieved his wallet from his back pocket.
She let it fall to the floor as she took his driver's license out and read the information.
“Son of a bitch,” she muttered, letting her head fall forward as she shook it.
“What’s wrong?” Axel asked, standing up and walking over to her.
“I thought I recognized him, but it’s been years since I’ve seen him,” she said softly.
“His name was Al Parker. He was one of my father’s business associates.
He made a couple of bad investments and got in over his head.
He owed this mobster a lot of money and came to my dad to bail him out.
My father was tired of always having to rescue him, so he told him no and fired him.
Things escalated from there, and the mobster killed Al’s wife and daughter in front of him for not paying. ”
“Holy shit,” I blurted out in surprise. “What did your dad do?”
“He cut Al off and told his men to kill him if he tried to get in touch with him. He knew that Al would hold him responsible for losing his family because my dad had always bailed him out before. I think my dad always knew that Al would try to come after me because he was very much an eye-for-an-eye kind of person. Right after it happened, my dad took me to Nowhere and helped me start a new life there. He knew that Al would never find me there.”
“So why do you think Al came now?” Jo asked. “If no one has been up to the cabin in forever, how did Al know that someone was here now?”
Dr. Foster stood up and shrugged.
“Al was always a technology-savvy guy, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t plant cameras around the area to tip him off if someone showed up.”
“Does Al know your dad is dead?” Axel asked.
“Probably. He was obsessed with getting revenge, so I’m sure he heard about it when it happened.”
“But if he knew your dad was dead, why keep watching the cabin? It’s not like he was going to catch your dad coming up here,” Jo said.
“Probably because he knew I would be up here at some point,” Dr. Foster said sadly. “Nothing would make him feel like he got revenge like killing my father’s only child.”
“You think he’s just been hanging out up here, waiting for you to come visit so he could kill you?” Axel asked.
Dr. Foster nodded and let out a heavy sigh.
“Al was a sick man, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all. The only problem was that my dad always kept me hidden so Al had no idea what I looked like, which is why he tried killing you instead.”
Dr. Foster looked at Jo with so much sadness that it made my heart ache.