Free ZERO HERO (The Kate Huntington Mystery series) by Kassandra Lamb

the hall. The sooner they were out of earshot, the sooner the doctor could tell Rose what was going on.
                Skip wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. She felt his lips moving against her scalp and realized he was praying. She clung to him, too scared to even find the words to pray.
                After a few minutes that felt like an hour, the doctor approached them. He nodded in the direction of Rose, still sitting in the waiting area, staring into space. The doctor walked away without saying anything.
                Dolph was standing in front of Rose, looking confused. He was juggling four styrofoam cups in his hands. He put the coffees down on a side table and flopped into a chair.
                Kate’s eyes stung. Her heart was in her throat as she and Skip raced back to the waiting area.
                She sat down next to Rose. Skip dropped onto the floor, cross-legged in front of them.
                “Is he going to be okay?” Kate asked. The look on Rose’s face terrified her.
                “He’s not sure. Mac...” Rose stopped, cleared her throat. “He lost a lot of blood. Bullet grazed his kidney. Doc said he’d be able to...” She stopped again, looked at the ceiling, blinking hard. “He’ll know more in the morning.”
                Kate fought down the sob that was building in her chest. He’s alive! He’s alive! she repeated to herself. There was still hope.
                “Where is he?” Skip asked.
                “Still in recovery. Then he’ll be in the ICU.”
                “You want to go there and wait?” Skip’s voice was rough with emotion.
                Rose shook her head. “Doc said it’ll be hours before he’s conscious. Told me to go home and get some rest.” She tried to snort, but it came out as a choked sob. “Rest! Not while that bastard’s still out there.”
                Kate glanced at her watch. It was only five-twenty, even though it felt like it should be midnight. Rest was definitely not what Rose needed right now.
                Kate stood up. “Let’s go down to the cafeteria.”
                Rose frowned at her. “I’m not hungry.”
                “Neither am I. But I figured that’s as good a place as any to have a war council.”
                Rose’s mouth twitched in an attempt to smile. That’s what Kate had dubbed their brain-storming sessions eight years ago, when she and the Franklins, with Mac’s help, were trying to track down Eddie’s killer. Rose had been a rookie cop back then, assigned as Kate’s police protection.
                “I’ll let the nurses know that’s where I’ll be.”
                Kate watched as Rose shuffled away. Blinking back tears, she got out her phone to try Rob again. He’d been in court all afternoon but he should be getting her voicemail messages about now.
    ~~~~~~~~
                Rob looked across the cafeteria table at the fire in two sets of female eyes, one pair chocolate brown, the other blue. The sight was a little scary, even though that fire wasn’t aimed at him. He swallowed hard. How could this happen? Mac was the invincible one. They never worried about Mac.
                A wave of guilt washed over him. He’d started all this, dragged the others into it. Because he felt bad for Pete Jamieson. Kate was right. He’d lost his perspective. Worse than that. He wasn’t sure what he was doing anymore, or why the hell he was doing it.
                Liz slipped her hand onto his thigh under the table. He wrapped his own hand around hers and squeezed gently. She squeezed back.
                A second wave of guilt, not quite as strong. Get a grip, Franklin! Instead of worrying about his own angst he should be trying to help the others