Fort Lupton (24 page)

Amped up on adrenaline, Aden jumped out of
the Saab. In the middle of the busy street, he managed to tackle
the driver. They landed hard, but Aden was bigger and definitely
stronger than the driver. Aden held on for dear life as the driver
kicked and screamed.

Within a few minutes, a Denver police
officer touched his back.

“
He was driving the
Datsun,” Aden said.

“
That your Saab,” the
police officer said.

“
Yes,” Aden
said.

“
You Aden
Norsen?”

“
Yes,” Aden said. “This
guy was driving the Datsun and the other
guy . . .”

The police officer leaned down and
handcuffed the driver of the Datsun.

“
You can get up now,” the
police officer said.

He gestured to another uniformed police
officer, who jogged over to them.

“
I saw the whole thing!”
Aden said. “He was driving, and I . . .”

“
Sir, I need you to come
with me,” the police officer said.

“
But wait.” Aden pointed
to his car and the shooter, whose head was still in the windscreen
of the Datsun. “I need to give you
my . . .”

“
Sir, your daughter’s been
shot,” the police officer said.

“
Noelle?” Aden turned to
look at the officer for the first time.

It was one of the men who’d helped Charlie.
As if he’d heard Aden’s thought, the man gave a single nod.

“
Noelle?” Aden
repeated.

He felt the world spin. The officer grabbed
his arm just below the shoulder and pulled him to his feet.

“
She’s just a little
girl,” Aden said.

“
Who is telling everyone
what to do.” The officer smiled.

“
She’s . . .” Aden blinked at the
officer.

“
Something about some
fairy-something,” the officer said. “There are a couple kids with
her.”

“
Keenan and Ivy,” Aden
said. “Ivy! Did they get Ivy too?”

“
No,” the officer said.
“She’s very small. Probably couldn’t see her. Why?”

Aden gave a quick shake of his head and
started toward the Marlowe School waiting area. The uniformed
officer grabbed his arm again to stop him.

“
What?” Aden
asked.

“
You got to go there and
be the dad,” the officer said. “Your daughter needs you to be her
dad now, so she can just be a hurt kid.”

Aden tucked in his work shirt while the
officer patted some of the dirt from the asphalt off. The officer
gave him a handkerchief and pointed to Aden’s eyebrow. He put the
handkerchief where the officer pointed and winced.

“
You’ll need a couple
stitches,” the officer said.

He whistled and waved a paramedic over.

“
Really
I . . .” Aden pointed toward where Noelle
was.

“
Take care of yourself so
you can take care of your kid,” the officer said.

They watched two officers walk by with the
driver of the Datsun. A paramedic arrived to clean his face and put
some butterfly bandages on. The paramedic was walking away before
Aden asked the question he hadn’t dared to ask.

“
Is Noelle hurt badly?”
Aden asked.

“
Any gunshot wound is bad
in my book,” the uniformed officer said. “But she’s just got a
slice out of her arm. Woulda been worse, but she dropped facedown
on the ground.”

“
Facedown?” Aden
asked.

“
Said it was spy
training,” the officer said.

Aden groaned.

“
Just telling you what she
said,” the officer said. “You know that Hargreaves guy?”

“
Max?” Aden asked. The
officer shook his head. “Patrick?”

“
Colin,” the officer said.
“Homeland Security.”

“
He’s the one who gave
Noelle her ‘spy training,’” Aden said.

“
He shoulda followed his
own training,” the officer said.

“
Why?” Aden
asked.

“
He got shot in the back,”
the officer said.

“
What?” Aden
asked.

“
He was wearing body
armor,” the officer said. “Something about his sister. You know his
sister?”

“
Samantha?” Aden asked.
The officer shook his head. “Erin?”

“
Alex,” the officer said.
“Hargreaves said his sister made him wear it. She’d kill him if he
didn’t.”

“
She probably would,” Aden
said.

The officer gave Aden an assessing look.

“
Families.” The officer
shrugged. “Anyway, looks like this Hargreaves, his kid, and your
daughter were the targets.”

“
Paddie?” Aden
asked.

“
He’s okay,” the officer
said.

“
Fairy magic?” Aden
asked.

“
That’s what he says,” the
officer said. “Cute kid.”

Aden smiled and nodded.

“
We think they were there
for your daughter.”

“
Why?”

“
Even pressed for time,
they shot at her twice,” the officer said. “Missed her once, got
her arm the second time. Hargreaves and the kid were probably just
opportunity shots.”

Aden’s fuzzy head suddenly became razor
sharp.

“
Where’s Noelle?” Aden
asked. “Where is my daughter?”

The officer pointed in the direction of an
ambulance. Noelle was sitting on a gurney. Even from this distance,
he could tell that Noelle was talking a mile a minute to a female
police officer.

“
She’s asking for her
mom,” the officer said.

“
I’ll call her,” Aden
said.

“
You do that,” the officer
said. “Any idea why anyone would have it in for your
kid?”

“
She’s a witness in the
big rape trial,” Aden said. “Key prosecution witness. So’s
Ivy.”

“
The kid with your
daughter?” the officer asked.

Aden nodded.

“
I’ll be damned,” the
officer said. “Two shots. Two targets. Hargreaves said something
about that too. Prosecutor’s going to flip out.”

“
Not as much as I will,”
Aden said.

The officer looked at him.

“
My son, Charlie, was beat
up this week after they told us he was safe,” Aden said.

“
Charlie Delgado,” the
officer said.

“
My wife’s his sister,”
Aden said. “Now Noelle.”

The officer nodded. They started walking
toward where Noelle waited. They were almost there when the
uniformed officer tugged on Aden’s arm. Aden turned to look at
him.

“
You listen to me,” the
officer said in a low tone. “I shouldn’t say nothing, but some guys
and I were talking about Charlie. We loved his dad and
Magic . . . uh . . .”

“
O’Malley,” Aden
said.

“
Him,” the officer said.
His voice dropped to a whisper. In the chaos of the police,
ambulances, and now a news helicopter, Aden had to lean in.
“There’s so much money in this thing. Your kids, your wife, fucked
it up for a lot of people. We
think . . .”

“
I hear you,” Aden
said.

“
The chief is on it,” the
officer said. “He’s gonna see it right,
but . . .”

“
I
will
take care of my family,” Aden
said.

“
Any guy who’d total his
car to catch a shooter . . .” the officer nodded.
“You’re not without friends.”

The officer pushed his business card at Aden
and walked away. Aden jogged over to Noelle.

“
Daddy!” Noelle said from
the gurney. “You’re bleeding! Daddy!”

Aden held out his arms. She leaned forward
and began to sob.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 11:22 p.m.

Sandy pressed open the door to the closest
Catholic church to Denver Health Hospital — Mother of God on the
corner of Logan Street and Speer Boulevard. She wasn’t sure what
she’d expected from this old church, certainly not the grandeur of
the Basilica she usually went to on Colfax. She stepped inside and
sighed at the simple beauty of this tiny chapel. She curtsied and
moved up the center aisle to the front. She turned right at the
front row and fell to her knees.

“
I’ve never asked for an
easy life,” Sandy whispered. “Never.”

She swallowed hard against her strong
feelings.

“
I’ve never asked for help
or begged for mercy,” Sandy whispered. “Never.”

A single tear made its way down her
cheek.

“
I know how lucky I am,”
Sandy whispered. “I do. I am grateful every single day!”

Her voice rose with her emotions. She took a
moment to push her emotions away.

“
I
just . . .” Sandy whispered.

She looked up at the small pulpit and statue
of the crucifixion of Christ.

“
How much more can I
take?” Her voice came out in a ragged sob.

Crying, she fled the chapel and raced to her
car. She’d been so desperate for relief that she’d parked in the
dark parking lot. Her senses heightened, she knew someone was
there. She ran to that stupid car that Aden made her buy and
dropped the keys. Unable to see through the flood of tears, she
patted around for the keys. Her right hand found them and she stood
up.

A strong presence covered her hand, and she
looked up.

“
Tanesha,” Sandy said as
an exhale.

She threw herself at her friend. She felt a
hand on her back and turned to see Jill. Heather was standing next
to Tanesha.

“
How did you find me?”
Sandy managed to say.

She turned to hug Jill.

“
Fairy magic,” Tanesha
said.

“
Really?” Sandy asked.
“Fin?”

“
He’s on the Isle of Man,”
Tanesha said. “Abi had to retreat to the fairy kingdom to survive
her wound. He left with her.”

“
But has school school!”
Sandy said.

“
Fairy magic,” Heather
said.

Sandy hugged Heather. Recovering herself,
Sandy wiped her face with her hands.

“
How is Blane?” Sandy
asked Heather.

“
He’s fine,” Heather said.
“Before you ask, the twins are fine, as are Paddie and Katy.
Tanesha is going to take notes for Fin.”

“
Jabari was inside when
the action happened,” Jill said. “He’s kind of
disappointed.”

Sandy coughed and snorted her laugh. The
women watched her.

“
I want to get really
drunk,” Sandy said. “High. I want to have meaningless sex with a
stranger. I want to . . .”

“
Leave this life for the
old awful,” Heather said.

“
The old awful was a lot
simpler,” Tanesha said.

“
I knew who I was,” Jill
said.

“
I knew who I was,” Sandy
repeated with a nod.

“
How about some ice cream
and a hot bath?” Jill asked.

“
Jer’s staying with Jabari
tonight,” Tanesha said. “We can have the run of our
house.”

“
What about Mack and the
twins and Tink and Rachel and the rest of my kids
and . . .?” Sandy started.

“
Noelle’s in the hospital
for the night,” Tanesha said. “Charlie too.”

“
And the rest are fine,”
Heather said. “Well cared for by a fairy princess and the rest of
our family.”

“
You’re not fine,” Jill
said in an even tone.

Surprised, Sandy’s head jerked to look at
her best friend. Jill nodded. Sandy stared straight ahead.

“
I don’t know how much
more I can take,” Sandy said.

“
We know,” Tanesha said.
“Come on.”

Tanesha took the keys from Sandy. She led
her around the car and made her get in.

“
Ice cream first,” Heather
said.

“
Follow you to Liks,”
Tanesha said.

Heather waved, and Tanesha got into Sandy’s
car.

“
I can’t do this,” Sandy
said.

“
I know,” Tanesha said and
started the car.

They drove a few moments in silence.

“
I can’t,” Sandy
said.

“
I know,” Tanesha said.
“But you’re going to do it anyway.”

Sandy fell silent.

“
I can’t do it,” Sandy
said with a sigh. “But you’re right. I’m going to
anyway.”

“
Yes, you are,” Tanesha
said. “Yes, you are.”

Totaled

Saturday morning — 10:17 a.m.

“
Is Sandy okay?” Jacob
asked.

“
Not really,” Aden said.
“Listen, you don’t have to stay.”

Jacob smiled at him and pulled the truck
into the parking lot of the Denver sheriff’s impound.

“
No, really,” Aden said.
“I know you’re stretched, and I really appreciate your help with
the kids last night.”

“
Will you just relax?”
Jacob asked. “I’m here. I’ll wait with you for the insurance
appraiser, and we’ll head back when we’re done.”