Page 38 of Blake

“Oh my God! Is he okay?” Pax was on her feet now, shoving her arms into a jacket as Decker watched with a question in his assessing brown eyes.

“They’re taking him to St Vincent’s Memorial by life flight.”

Pax didn’t need any more. If they were life-flighting him instead of taking him by road it was bad. St Vincent’s was a cardiothoracic specialist teaching hospital too.

“Okay, where are you now, Mom?”

“I’m in the car. Pete is driving me. I was too shaken to drive.”

She actually did sound upset. Her parents had a complicated relationship and not one she wanted to try and figure out. “All right. I’m leaving now and will meet you there.”

“Okay.”

Pax hung up and turned to Decker. “My father has suffered a massive heart attack. They’re life-flighting him to St Vincent’s now.”

Decker picked up his phone and called Blake and relayed the situation. He hung up and looked at her his face completely unreadable. “Blake is on his way back now.” Decker didn’t elaborate or give her any clue as to what had happened, but his jaw was tight, and she wondered what that meant.

* * *

Head low, body crouched close to the ground, Blake went in behind Reid and cleared the entrance to the apartment building that was the most obvious choice for the shooter. Waggs moved ahead and cleared the corners as they hit the stairwell. Moving in formation they secured each level until they found the door to the roof.

His leg hurt like a motherfucker, but Blake ignored it as he covered the door for Waggs to go first. The lock was broken and hanging loose, probably from being hit with the fire extinguisher that was leaning up against the wall. Waggs went through with Reid close behind him both highly trained operatives in this situation. More so than he was. He was more about seeing the threat and evaluating it before it got to this although he’d had his fair share of situations involving breaching doors and risk.

His gun arm up he swept the rooftop, his eyes out for any threat that might be hiding in the shadows. His gut told him it was clear, but he would never assume that without knowing for sure. He liked his life and he sure as hell wasn’t going to get himself killed because he was a sloppy idiot.

Once they were certain the roof was clear, Blake moved to the side that faced his and Pax’s room. He looked over the three-foot-high wall that stopped anyone from tipping over the side and saw the closed curtains of their suite. It was almost on the same level as the roof and although it was a fair distance away, it was a relatively easy shot for someone with any skill.

Reid moved up beside him and cast his eyes over the wall then looked down and around the floor. “No casings.”

That meant whoever had shot at them had picked them up and taken them away so as not to leave evidence. That could mean the shooter was a pro or it could mean they watched CSI. Blake walked the length of the wall looking for any clue as to who had been there and shot at them. If it had been a professional, they wouldn’t have missed that shot—unless they wanted to. Could it have been a warning for Pax or was it someone closer to home?

The other alternative was that they were dealing with an amateur. One that wasn’t good enough to make the shot but watched enough ‘police procedural’ shows on TV to know to pick up the casings. Either way, he wasn’t going to get any more answers up here. With a final sweep of the roof they decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. He would have their stuff moved into Waggs’ room and Waggs would take the suite tonight.

They were moving down the stairs when his phone buzzed in his pocket. The silent vibration sending a tingle of apprehension through him when he saw Decker’s name appear. He stopped and the other two looked at him as if sensing his worry.

“Yes?”

His back went stiff when Decker told him that Henrietta had called, and Robert Paxton had had a heart attack. His first thought was it was a trap and they should not go to the hospital, but he knew Pax would want to go. “Keep her there. We’re on our way back now.”

He hung up and looked at Reid and Waggs. “Robert Paxton had a heart attack. They’re life-flighting him to St Vincent’s.” Blake saw the look of suspicion cross Reid’s features. He seemed to be thinking the same as Blake.

“Not to be a dick but that is some coincidence.”

“I agree.”

Waggs walked beside them as they crossed the road and having tucked their weapons from sight, moved into the lobby of the hotel. “Agreed, but a life flight is some serious shit and St Vincent’s is the cardiothoracic teaching centre, so if he has had a heart attack, he’s in a bad way.”

Blake understood what Waggs wasn’t saying. There was a very real chance Robert Paxton would not pull through, which meant for Pax’s sake he needed to take her to see her father because if he didn’t pull through and then was cleared, Pax would never forgive herself.

Chapter Seventeen

Pax chewed the skin around her fingernail until it bled as she waited for Blake to arrive. She jumped visibly when the knock on the door came. Her instinct was to run to the door but as she moved forward, she felt Decker’s hand on her arm.

“Let me.”

Pax nodded and stepped back, her heart racing, nerves frayed for so many reasons. She just wanted Blake to hold her, to centre her as he seemed to do every time. Decker moved to the door and looked through the peephole his hand on the weapon at his hip. Pax saw him relax and proceed to open the door.

Pax planted her feet not wanting to run to Blake and throw herself in his arms in front of everyone. The look of concern for her on his face when he walked in, and the open arms he met her with, had all of that flying out of the window. Her legs were moving, and she was wrapped in his arms, head buried in his neck inhaling the masculine scent of the man who was coming to mean everything to her.