Chapter 23
Hope was looking at the two men, a broken expression on her face.
Madison honestly thought the homicide commander was going to scoop Hope up and cuddle her, right there in front of them all.
Or…kiss her or something. It was so obvious to her that the man was beyond hot for Hope. When had that happened?
She just didn’t think Hope was anywhere close to aware of it.
Or…aware of how much the fear Hope was feeling right now was showing on her face.
Or how much it hurt the people that cared about her to see that fear and not be able to do anything about it.
Hope had something about her that made people want to protect her.
“What’s going on now?” Madison asked, shifting closer to Dom. Dom and Miguel together took up a lot of space in the narrow hallway.
Dom just shook his head. “I do not want you out of my sight. For now.”
He and Miguel shared a look. One that Madison did not miss.
“Why?” Hope asked.
“We just don’t,” Miguel said. “We’ll…talk…when we can. Not here. I’m going to take you and your mother home myself. After…”
“I want to stay. With Heather.” Hope shot him a look of pure stubbornness. It didn’t surprise Madison; Hope could dig her heels in at times. And right now, it would take a crowbar to get Hope away from Heather. No sane man would even try. Woman either, for that matter.
“You need to rest,” Miguel said. Apparently, Miguel was not quite as sane as he first appeared. This could be…interesting.
“You don’t get to decide for me, big guy. You just don’t.”
“No, that I do not,” Miguel said so mildly. “I just know you won’t want your mother to be worried about you, too.”
Hope’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, good one. Got me there, Miggy. But don’t boss me around.”
He just shot her a smile. The man was a very beautiful man. No denying that. A sound behind her had Madison turning.
Her blood turned…cold.
She fully understood what that expression meant. She shifted, a little in front of Hope. A part of her wanted to protect the younger woman from the darkness that was their world now. Hope had been through enough. She had been through enough.
Dom stepped in front of Madison. Miguel had tensed—not visibly, at least not for someone who didn’t know him. Madison felt her own skin crawl. The three men standing there were slimy in every way.
“Commander Rodriguez, I understand you were a part of this little circus tonight?” Stillman asked.
Madison half-thought the man had followed her from the small chapel an hour ago.
She’d needed a place to think for a moment.
He had been in there—and she was almost convinced he was praying at the time.
Shocked the hell out of her, but…maybe it was possible?
Some of the evilest people she had ever encountered on this job had claimed religion, after all.
She’d never forget the pastor who’d ended up being a killer a few years ago.
That case had been memorable—he’d killed two parishioners. “Can you tell me why?”
“I was. I was in the area picking up my children at the…sitters’…
and was alerted that Major Crimes’ assistance was needed.
If you have any questions, there will be official reports available tomorrow, I am sure.
” Miguel’s tone was ice cold. Everyone knew he and Stillman had had problems before.
Stillman was in charge of the entire TSP IA divisions state-wide.
He’d been the head of Finley Creek’s IA until four years ago, before he was promoted.
Newcomb tried to ask another question, but he stopped when Miguel just glared at him. Miguel was…good at intimidation. “Chief Marshall will be coordinating information via his office accordingly.”
It was a brush off, and they all knew it. A hot hand landed on Madison’s shoulder. She was gently pulled away from Stillman and his cronies. Much like Miguel had pulled Hope closer to him.
Madison looked at the man standing beside her. He and Miguel had shifted protectively, closer. No one had missed it. Or what it meant. She shivered. Miguel and Dom were some seriously intimidating male creatures, that was for sure.
Newcomb smirked right at her. There was something about his blue eyes that seriously creeped her out. She’d seen those eyes in someone else’s face before. She was sure of it. Something about the lack of a soul made that perfectly clear. She couldn’t remember where. “Ms. McAlister…”
Newcomb turned to Hope. He stared at her for a moment. “Miss….Coleson—I hope your sister recovers quickly. There are many in Wichita Falls who are thinking of her…well-being…now.”
“Sure you—“ Hope started. Mention of Heather was all it took to have Hope almost snarling again. No surprise there.
“Doctor,” Miguel said, his hand covering Hope’s shoulder opposite of the side where she’d been shot.
“They are Doctor Coleson and Doctor McAlister, Ernie. Keep that in mind. And I am sure I speak for all of the Finley Creek post when we say Heather’s well-being is at the top of our list of concerns. ”
No one could miss the warning in that beautiful man’s tone. Of course, Newcomb and his buddies backed off. Who wouldn’t?
Madison stood there, practically shoulder-to-shoulder with Hope, the two men beside them, as they waited. Winkler and Stillman had both worked at the Finley Creek post at one point or another. Something about them had always made her skin crawl.
Of course they would be here tonight. They had to think of the optics, after all.
A major break-through in a TSP case, one that involved wealthy people like Powell and her family—the Barratts were the wealthiest family in Texas.
Something tied to the most affluent neighborhood in Texas…
And with Heather directly related to the governor of Texas’s wife… of course.
They would be there to play the concerned role. It was a political game to all of them. Never mind that it was real people’s lives.
And the three were just slimy enough to want to be seen right now.
Especially with three TSP detectives, including Daniel McKellen, only heir to the McKellen fortune, injured.
That was all this was to them—a way to get seen.
Politics were just games to people like this—and they didn’t care who got hurt in the meantime. Didn’t care who was…collateral.
Men like these disgusted her.
Dom shifted next to her. His warmth surrounded her.
These men weren’t like Dom and his friends. As much as Dom drove her crazy, the caveman was exactly what he appeared to be. And he would rip off his right arm himself if it meant protecting someone he cared about. Just like Miguel.
They were the good men her mother had always promised her were out there somewhere. Madison shifted slightly in front of Hope. There was just something in the way the three men were looking at the younger woman tonight.
It just felt so wrong. And like it would never be right again.