He and Beckham take off and are back only a few minutes later with a squirming Brent, who’s cursing and pissed off. “You will pay for killing my sister. All of you. I swear I will make it happen. You won’t get away with it.”
They dump him on the floor next to Brian, Smith, and Megan with an unceremonious thud. Kara hands Echo a kitchen towel that she presses to my side. Trying to keep my mind off the searing pain and blood that’s everywhere but inside my body, I grit out, “Did you happen to pay attention to what Echo’s sister said earlier? I wasn’t the one driving. So, you’ve harbored this hate for me for nothing. And the kicker is I didn’t ‘get away withit,’ as you said. I went to prison. For someone else’s crime.” My teeth grind. “You’ll be lucky if you see tomorrow’s sunrise, any of you. I can think of a lot of ways to get rid of someone.” I give them a crooked smile. “I heard a lot while I was in lockup. Learned a lot.”
There’s some shuffling as both Brian and Brent shift, glaring at me over their shoulders. Brent opens his mouth to speak, but Beckham gives him a well-placed kick to the side of his torso, making him wheeze for air. Thank fuck Chase is facing me and not watching.
“I don’t want to hear another word out of any of you. Keep your perverted, psychotic, abusive mouthsshut.Now, it’s your turn to pay for your wrongdoings, motherfuckers.”
Chase has been quiet, but he looks up at me just as Wilder comes back in with some medical supplies. “Muthafucka?”
I meet Echo’s wide eyes, a look of chagrin crossing my face when she raises her brow. I wince, gently correcting our son. “Chase, that wasn’t nice of me to say. Please don’t say that again.”
He gives me a funny little grin and whispers, “Muthafucka.”
Beckham covers his mouth, trying to hide his laughter.
Leave it to the little guy to take my mind off this insanity, if only for a minute.He’s definitely my son.
I think Wilder would laugh, too, but he’s singularly focused on wearing his Nurse Wilder hat. He pulls out his keys and turns to Kara. “Would you take my sister out to the truck? She needs to rest.”
“Of course.” Kara accepts the keys, but stops beside me, her hand stroking the back of Chase’s head. She mouths, “Do you want me to take him?”
I shake my head. “No. Thank you, Kara.”
“If you need me to call anyone else, I will. Just say the word.”
Whether she means an ambulance for me, cops, or something else entirely, I’m unsure, but surveying the room… we definitely need a minute to discuss what we’re going to do.
Once they’re on their way out, Wilder places a hand on Echo’s shoulder. “I’ve got this now, baby.” She hesitates, turning her head to look up at him, and I see the emotion swimming in her eyes. Wilder presses a kiss to her temple, his chest heaving as his concern-filled eyes meet mine. “Time to let Nurse Wilder have a look.”
With a shuddery exhale, Echo draws her hand from my side and stands up, but doesn’t back away, she moves to my other side, putting an arm around my back, hugging Chase between us, then presses a desperate kiss to my lips. I can feel the way her body trembles. Her fingers rake over the hair at the back of my head, and her chest jerks with the effort it takes her not to cry. “Don’t you dare go anywhere, Royal Kaplan,” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Never. I love you, Echo. You did so fucking good.”
“Yeah, you did.” Echo turns toward Beckham’s voice, and he’s right there, waiting to enfold her in his arms. He holds her tightly, but his worried eyes are on me, strain beginning to show itself in the set of his jaw. “How are we going to handle all this?” he grits out, his gaze bouncing from me to Wilder and then Echo when she tips her head back to search his eyes.
It’s at that moment my phone buzzes in my pocket—in fact, it’s not just my phone, but Wilder’s on the table beside us and Echo’s and Beckham’s as well.
I gasp as I shift to get at it, and Wilder breaks his concentration for a second to mutter, “Hold still. Whatever it is, it can wait. We’ve got our hands full.” He clears his throat, putting the cloth back over the wound and applying pressure. “This looks mostly superficial to me, but you need an actual doctor to look at it. You’re still bleeding pretty badly.”
I grimace, trying to breathe through the burning sensation. Giving him a hard look, I rasp, “I don’t need to see anyone. I trust you.”
“I know you do, but it’ll put my mind at ease.” Wilder squeezes my thigh, his dark eyes locking on mine. “Don’t be fucking stubborn.”
I huff out a breath. “Fine.” I glance down at the same time Beckham mutters something about an unknown number. And sure enough, mine is from one, too. “Oh, hell.”
“For once, I think it’s okay, guys.” Echo looks up, her face full of relief.
“Don’t read it out loud.” The others pick up on the urgency in my voice as my gaze darts to the assorted assholes littering the floor. There’s no way in hell I’m giving these fuckers any idea that we were tipped off by an entire organization of individuals who appear dedicated to reaping karmic payback on the shitty people in this town.
Nodding, she and Beckham show each other theirs, then bring them over to show me.
You can trust the officers who show up.
Let the police take them away.
Then I glance down at mine before showing them.
Justice will be served.
