Precedent: Book Three: Covenant of Trust Series (2 page)

“
Bobbi, we need to go.” He pushed her toward the front door, flipping off lights as he went. She could hear Chuck talking, but his words weren’t registering with her.

“
Mom?” Shannon met them in the entry hall, terror in her eyes. “What happened?”

Bobbi shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“
But he’s gonna be okay, right?”

“
Of course.” Of course he’d be okay. He was young and strong. And shot. That had to be a misunderstanding. Shot at, maybe. That she could believe. That had to be what happened. In the car, she reached her right hand back between the seat and the door, and Shannon immediately seized it.

Chuck drove like a maniac, but she knew better than to say anything to him. At every red light, he made another phone call. Their son Joel. Her sister, Rita. Their pastor, Glen. He kept saying, “Brad’s been shot. I don’t know any details.” It was so bizarre, so unreal to hear her son’s name and “shot” in the same sentence. People she knew didn’t get shot. Shootings were for the eleven o’clock news.

Jack ran to them as soon as they bustled through the automatic doors to the emergency room. Bobbi immediately noticed his shirt was inside out. Why . . . ? He threw his arms around her neck and sobbed. “I’m sorry . . . Mom, I’m so sorry.”

“
Sorry? For what?” Bobbi asked gently. There was a policeman against the wall. Was he here because of Brad?

“
We thought it was . . . Brad thought so, too . . .”

“
Thought what?”

Jack took a deep breath. “An old man came in the mission. . . . Just . . . some of the things he said . . . we . . . We both thought he could’ve been my mom’s dad . . .”

“
Reynolds?” Chuck asked. “Edward Reynolds was in the mission? Did he threaten you?”

Jack shook his head. “No, it wasn’t like that. He just asked a bunch of questions, like if I’d ever been to Baltimore.”

“
Your mom was from Baltimore.”

“
I know. That’s what Brad said. So we tried to catch up with him. We weren’t three blocks away before . . .” He blinked back tears. “There were these guys on a street corner. And this big, black SUV cruised in. Brad said something was wrong. He threw me down, and that’s when he . . .”

Bobbi hugged him tightly and smoothed his hair, the way she did when he was a little boy. “It will be okay,” she whispered.

Jack sniffled, glanced at the policeman, and took the tissue she offered him. “He’s in surgery now. I haven’t heard anything else.”

“
Where was he hit?” Chuck asked.

“
Once in the chest,” Jack said, “but he was conscious and everything when the paramedics took him.”

“
That’s good, right?” Shannon asked. “Conscious is a positive thing.”

Bobbi squeezed her hand. “Of course it’s good, baby.” Brad. Once in the chest. Your heart was in your chest. But if he was conscious, he couldn’t have been shot through the heart. So, he’s okay. He’d be okay.

Moments later, Rita and her husband, Gavin, arrived. Chuck got directions to the surgery waiting rooms and the six of them headed for the elevator. Chuck filled the silence with details for Rita and Gavin. How many more times did she have to hear it?

“
I called Danny,” Rita said. “He’s gonna drive straight through so he can get here.”

“
I hate for him to do that,” Bobbi said. “His little ones . . .”

“
They were gonna get here tomorrow anyway. There was no arguing with him.”

“
Sounds like someone else I know.”

Rita managed a smile. “He’s not due in Norfolk until July first, so they should have a good visit.”

“
Brad’s looking forward to seeing him. Joel’s not on call this weekend, so it’ll be like old times. Joel’s . . . where is Joel, Chuck?”

“
He’s waiting on a delivery.”

“
A delivery?”

“
A baby. He’s doing the newborn exam. He’s got a call out for another pediatrician, so I’m sure he’ll get here as soon as he can.”

Good. She’d feel better with Joel here. But if Danny was driving through the night . . . Was it that bad? She felt Shannon slip an arm around hers, and when the elevator doors opened, she felt the teenager’s grip tighten. Bobbi took Shannon’s hand and followed Chuck and Jack to the waiting room. Another policeman stood in the hallway. They were everywhere. Were they protecting Brad? Or Jack?

“
You had Brad’s birthday tonight?” Rita asked.

Bobbi turned her head slowly toward her sister. That was this evening, wasn’t it? “Yeah, Shannon teased him about being middle-aged now.”

“
At thirty-five? I don’t want to know what that makes me.” Rita smiled and patted Shannon’s arm.

“
We laughed because Joel got called out, so that meant Brad had a fair shot at the pie. Then he and Chuck talked about the mission’s board meeting next week . . .”

A man in scrubs walked toward them. He slowly pulled his scrub cap off and smoothed his hair. His face was drawn, his eyes weary. He had bad news. “Are you Brad’s family?” he asked quietly.

Chuck extended a hand. “We’re his parents.” Bobbi slipped her hand into Chuck’s, and she felt Shannon’s hand fall away from hers.

The surgeon surveyed the room, all the anxious eyes on him. “Mr. Molinsky, Mrs. Molinsky, I’m very sorry.”

A dark heaviness enveloped Bobbi. She knew the surgeon was talking, explaining to them what efforts his team had made to save Brad’s life, but he sounded distant, as if she were hearing him from underwater. As her heart and mind reeled, trying to comprehend the reality that her son was dead, she caught random words—aorta, bleeding, rare. She was vaguely aware that Chuck and maybe Jack were trying to steady her, and then everything went black.

Chapter 2

Catalyst

Chuck shuffled down the long corridor to the waiting area and his family. What he wanted to do was collapse the way Bobbi had, but the crisis management part of his brain had taken over. It tapped some unknown storehouse and it pushed his feet forward, one step at a time.

In the waiting area, he surveyed the emotional devastation gripping his family. Shannon perched in a chair, her knees drawn tightly to her. In the opposite corner Jack held his face in his hands. Glen and Laurie Dillard were there sitting with Gavin while Rita paced. The policeman was gone.

Shannon saw him first and hopped up out of her chair. “How is she?”

“
She’s okay.” He hugged her close, wishing he could squeeze the worry and grief away. Even as he ended the embrace, he kept an arm around her. “Everything checked out okay, heart, blood pressure, sugar. They gave her a sedative and they want to keep her overnight. I’m going to stay with her.”

“
I’m staying, too.”

“
I know you want to—”

“
Dad . . . I need . . . I need her.”

He couldn’t argue with her. “So do I, sweetheart.” He rubbed her back gently, then took her hands in his. “It would help me out if I knew you were home. Would you do that for me?”

Without raising her eyes, Shannon nodded, then pushed a tear away with her palm.

He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, like she was still a preschooler, then he looked to Rita and Gavin. “Would you guys take Shannon and Jack home and stay with them?”

“
Of course.” Rita hugged him tightly. “I am so sorry,” she whispered before fresh tears began to fall.

“
Dad . . . Brad’s car.” Jack choked on the words. “The cop brought me here, and . . . I didn’t lock the mission . . .”

Before Chuck could try to sort that out, Gavin stepped up. “I’ll go with you, Jack. Rita can take Shannon home, and Glen and Laurie can drop us off at the mission.”

Jack hugged Chuck and whispered, “I’m sorry. Tell Mom I love her.”

“
Sure thing.”

Glen and Laurie took their turns, giving him hugs, offering to come back and stay with him, but he put them off.

“
Have you talked to Joel?” Shannon asked.

“
He’s not answering. He must be busy with the baby.”

“
Kind of ironic, huh? Those people have the joy of a new life, and we . . .”

“
We’ll be okay,” Chuck said gently. “We made it when we lost Grandma. It’s just going to take a long time to get over this.” Shannon wiped her eyes and nodded. “I’ll have Joel call you after I talk to him.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. “Tell Mom I’m okay. I don’t want her to worry.”

“
Chuck, I’ll make the rest of the calls,” Rita said, draping an arm around Shannon’s shoulder, squeezing her close.

“
Thanks.” He turned and patted Jack’s shoulder. “I love you both, and I’ll see you as quick as I can.”

“
Thanks for not telling us to get some sleep.”

“
If you could, that would be a good thing.”

“
Maybe some other day.”

Chuck watched them scuff away. Now he had to tell Joel. He didn’t have to be strong for Joel’s sake like he did for Jack and Shannon, and that freedom made him hesitate. Then his phone buzzed.

“
Dad? What’s going on? How’s Brad?”

Chuck tried to answer. He made the right shape with his mouth. He had enough air.

“
Oh no,” Joel whispered. “Dad . . . no . . .”

“
They did all they could.” He forced the words out. “The bullet, it hit him. . . . It ripped through his aorta.”

“
Through . . .”

He heard a rustle in the background. Joel wasn’t the cool, detached doctor anymore. He was the tenderhearted little brother left behind one last time, and Chuck hated himself for relaying the news on the stupid telephone.

Joel blew out a deep breath. “I’m sorry. You, uh, don’t need me to fall apart on you. He, uh, he didn’t have a chance, then, did he?”

“
He lost consciousness in the ambulance, and he’d lost so much blood . . .”

“
Do you know how it happened?”

“
It was a drive-by shooting. A stray bullet.”

“
And Jack was with him?”

“
Brad threw Jack to the ground just before he was hit. Jack’s not hurt, but . . .”

“
Yeah, he’s gotta be devastated. . . . What about . . . How are Mom and Shannon?”

“
Shannon’s . . . I think it would help her if you called her.” Chuck eased into a nearby chair, suddenly feeling very tired, and very weak. “Your mother . . . she’s spending the night here at the hospital.”

“
Her heart?”

“
No, she blacked out. They gave her something so she could rest, and she’s being monitored.”

“
You need me to come by?”

“
No, I think I need a little time, you know?”

“
Sure. I’ll run by and see the kids, then we’ll be over tomorrow.”

“
Mom and I probably won’t be home before noon.”

“
What about the police? Do they have the guy?”

“
No. Jack told them everything he saw, but I don’t know how much help it was. Everything happened so fast, and he was so torn up.”

“
Poor kid . . . I can’t imagine . . .” There was another rustle and Joel took a deep breath. “Listen, I’ll, uh, let you get back to Mom, there. I love you, Dad.”

“
I love you, Joel, and give my love to Abby and Ryan.” Chuck would never again miss an opportunity to tell his children he loved them. As he wandered toward Bobbi’s hospital room, he tried to remember the last time he told Brad he loved him. Brad knew how much he loved him, didn’t he?

* * *

Jack slumped into the passenger seat of Brad’s car, only Brad wasn’t driving it. Brad was never gonna drive this car again. He leaned his head against the window and didn’t try to stop the tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

“
You want to talk?” Uncle Gavin asked.

“
Nothing to say.”

“
This wasn’t your fault, Jack.”

“
I’m not so sure about that.”

“
The guy with the gun, he’s the one responsible.”

“
Yeah, but here’s the thing.” He pulled himself around to face his uncle. “If Brad hadn’t . . . If he . . . I would’ve been the one hit, only it would’ve been in my shoulder or something.”

“
You don’t know that.”

“
Or if we’d been two seconds earlier, or two seconds later . . .” Jack wiped a tear away. “We only left the mission because of me.”

His uncle eased the car to the curb, and he looked Jack in the eyes. “Regardless of why you were there, or how things developed, the only one responsible is the guy who pulled the trigger. There are enough things in life that
will
be your fault,” he said with a half smile. “Don’t freelance.”

After a moment of uneasy silence, Uncle Gavin drove away and Jack leaned his head back against the headrest. He wasn’t freelancing. He was trying to be a man and face his responsibilities, the way his dad did years ago.

“
All right, if you won’t believe me,” his uncle the mind reader said, “there was a wise Irish philosopher who always said, ‘Don’t borrow trouble.’”