Page 83 of Blind Trust
“I don’t know, honey, but the Lord is watching over him.”
Nicolás’s familiar form appeared in the hallway. Lyla started to wave him over when four more familiar faces stepped off the elevator. Jack, Brynn, Kekoa, and Elinor had showed up, and their presence filled her with so much gratitude that it made her start crying all over again.
Brynn and Elinor rushed over and hugged her. Mom hugged everyone else and gave them the same update she’d given Lyla.
Jack settled in a seat next to her mom. “Is there anything we can do, Mrs. Fox?”
“Just having you all here.” Catherine dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “It means so much to us and to Sam, and Tom. You all have really become the children they could never have.”
The words couldn’t have been any truer. Lyla knew how much Tom loved his job, but it was in large part due to the team he’d handpicked. Each of them—Jack, Kekoa, and Nicolás—meant something to him, and now Elinor and Brynn were part of that family.
Footsteps sounded behind them, and they turned to find her dad walking with his arm around Sam. Lyla ran to embrace them.
“What did the doctor say?”
“Lyla”—her father released her from a hug and put his hands on her shoulders—“Tom is a fighter. He’s going to pull through this.”
Sam’s normally gentle features tightened. “The doctors are doing everything they can. They need to stop the internal bleeding and repair the damage from the bullet.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and Lyla’s mom gave her a side hug. “All we can do is pray.”
“What about the doctors?” Lyla wiped her nose. “Who’s the surgeon? Can we call—”
“Honey.” Her father walked her toward the nurses’ station. “I’ve called in every favor I can, and Tom has the very best working on him. Sam needs you to be strong, to pray, and to let the staff here at Mercy General do what they do best.”
Lyla’s gaze dropped to the linoleum floor. “I hate feeling helpless.”
“Me too, honey.” He kissed the top of her head before nudging her to look up. “I think Jack needs you.”
Jack was standing next to Nicolás, a stern look on his face. She joined them.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just got a call from Bob Perkins. He’s the division chief of intelligence and foreign affairs for the CIA. He was on the phone with Walsh when he was shot. Said Walsh asked him to look into our investigation, specifically Eamon Flannery.”
Lyla felt nauseated. Her eyes met Nicolás’s, and she could tell he was thinking the same thing she was—Walsh was working on the investigation. Except...she remembered the face she recognized from the photo in her pocket. It was Walsh.
Someone in the United States is behind the weapons deals. Smuggling. Counterfeit money.
Certainly not Walsh. But then why was he in that photo? Who was he with? From the corner of her eye she saw Kekoa feeding dollar bills into a vending machine.
“Does he think the shooting might be related to the case?”
“Perkins received a phone call from Secret Service Agent Bailey Hutchins from the counterfeit division. He didn’t give me all the details but said there was a recent development involving some men from Venezuela smuggling money into Colombia. CIA field officers set up a fake drop-off and tracked the money to an exchange point where a cache of US military-grade weapons was being purchased for the rebel forces.”
Numbness washed over Lyla. “Just like in Ireland.”
Nicolás raised his brows at her. He wanted her to tell Jack about the photo, but...she couldn’t. She needed to think.
“I’m going to help Kekoa.” She walked over to where Kekoa was gathering the salty and sweet treats he’d purchased. “Did you buy out the entire machine?”
“I didn’t know what everyone might like.” His answer came out bashful, but it was the stress weighing him down. “I can run out and get something better.”
“Kekoa, this is really thoughtful of you.” She scooped up the bags of M&M’s and a bag of Cheetos Puffs and walked with him back to the sitting area. They set everything on the table, and Kekoa generously offered the items to a few of the other waiting families. “I’m going to get some coffee. Mom, Dad, Sam?”
Her mom nodded. “Thanks, honey.”
“I’ll help,” Nicolás spoke up behind her.
There was a small room down the hall with coffee and tea available for family members. Lyla wrinkled her nose at the burnt smell and lost any hope that the coffee would taste good. She prayed it would at least be hot.
