Prologue

K asey Hunter drove into the parking lot of Marshall’s Hardware Store, parked, and checked the time on his phone. Damn, first day of his new job, and he was late. Time got away from him after the last school bell rang, and he’d walked his girlfriend, Stacy, to her car.

His mom’s disappointed voice rang in his head. Being late isn’t starting on the right foot. With any luck, she wouldn’t find out, but the odds were against him. She knew everyone in town, and trying to hide anything from her proved impossible for him and his brothers.

His friend Mike Marshall got Kasey the job at his dad’s store. He’d be working his first shift with Mike and Mr. Marshall today.

He hustled inside. Seeing no one, he strode down the center of the showroom floor, between displays filled with everything from plungers to lawnmowers. He glanced both right and left down every aisle—no one.

At the end of the aisle, he stepped behind the counter and paced down the dark hallway leading to a bathroom, a cleaning closet, and a huge warehouse-storage room with tables, benches, a refrigerator, and shelves filled with surplus hardware items. As he entered the room, he spotted Mike sitting on a bench between two shelves in front of the black, freestanding safe against the back wall.

He peered around the corner of the shelf.

An average-height guy with dirty blonde hair wearing a green jacket and jeans stood next to the bench. “Open the safe,” he ordered in a pissed-off voice. He gestured toward the safe with something shiny in his hand.

It took a second for Kasey to make out what it was.

A gun!

He froze.

“I don’t have the combination.” Although tall, muscular, and close to three hundred pounds, right now Mike appeared small and weak sitting on the low bench.

Where’s Mr. Marshall?

Kasey took a step back. Should he go for help? What would happen to Mike if he left?

Suddenly, the hand with the weapon slammed into Mike’s face. Mike groaned and slumped to the floor.

Alarm streaked through Kasey. He had to do something.

Pretending he hadn’t seen or heard anything, he called, “Mike, you back here?” before he stepped around the corner of the shelving.

Mike’s head shot up, terror in his eyes.

The attacker spun toward Kasey and pointed the handgun at him. “Who the fuck are you?”

An arrowed chill ran up his spine.

“I’m nobody.” Kasey held up his hands, uncertain what lengths the man would go to to get what he wanted.

“You’re somebody. We’re all somebody. Whether we want to be or not.” The man’s bloodshot eyes had deep gray circles underneath them.

Mike grabbed the bench with one hand, his other held his bleeding head. He got to his feet. “He’s a new employee. This is his first day.”

“Is that true?” Gun guy directed the question at Kasey.

He nodded.

“Hell of a first day.” The robber grunted, then glared at Mike. “Unlock the safe.”

“I can’t.” Blood from Mike’s head oozed through his fingers. “My dad is the only one who knows the combination.”

With the firearm, the thief motioned Kasey toward Mike. “Both of you sit.”

They sat beside each other on the bench. Not able to sit still, Kasey nervously pumped the ball of his foot, causing his knee and leg to constantly move up and down. He noticed things that never normally caught his attention. Black and gray scuff marks on the white floor, ticking from the wall clock, and a hum from the icebox in the corner.

“I’m sure Mike can open the register for you.” Kasey hoped to keep him talking instead of hitting or shooting people.

“I can,” Mike eagerly offered.

“How much is in the register?”

“A hundred bucks plus cash sales from the day,” Mike said.

“I need more.” He walked behind them.

Unnerved by not being able to see the guy, Kasey turned his head to keep an eye on him and said, “It’ll be a hundred more than you have now. And maybe Mr. Marshall had a big cash sale today. It’s worth checking, isn’t it?”

“Know what?” The guy rushed over and put him in a headlock. He squeezed tightly with his forearm, cutting off Kasey’s air.

He couldn’t breathe.

He clawed at the robber’s arm, struggling to get free.

“You’ve got—” Gun guy suddenly released him.

Kasey doubled over as he gasped and got his breath back. Rowdy scuffling came from behind him along with grunts and moans. It sounded like a wrestling match. He sat straight and began to turn his head to check out—

Boom!

A gun went off.

Kasey ducked, covering his head with his arms.

A sting radiated from his calf.

He turned to see the burglar on the ground fighting two cops in black. More officers swarmed inside.

Once they subdued the robber, Mr. Marshall hurried inside. He sat on the bench between Kasey and Mike and put his arms around them. “Oh, boys, are you all right?”

An officer approached. “What happened?”

“When Mike got here, I left to eat. When I returned and opened the back door, I heard the robber and called 911. They told me to wait until the police got here.” Mr. Marshall clutched Kasey’s shoulder. “Nothing like this has ever...”

All at once weak, Kasey stopped listening. The sting in his leg turned to burning. He hissed.

“What’s wrong?” the same cop questioned.

Hot liquid trickled down his leg. “I think the bullet nicked my calf.”

The cop knelt in front of him. “Can you swivel around so I can check?”

He twisted his body and leg while he continued to sit. The movement sent waves of agonizing pain through him.

“You’re bleeding like hell.”

Kasey could’ve told him that.

With his dad’s arm around him, Mike sat motionless, hand still on his injured head and staring straight ahead at the safe.

“You okay, Mike?” Kasey asked.

His friend didn’t move or make a sound.

The policemen escorted gun guy out of the room.

“You okay, man?” he questioned again, louder this time.

Mr. Marshall patted Mike’s shoulder. “It’s over, son.”

Paramedics entered, and the cop motioned them over. One approached Mike, and Hanover, a paramedic who bowled in a league with his parents, approached Kasey.

At seeing them, Mike finally looked at Kasey. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” He knew how sensitive Mike was and downplayed the bullet wound. And he knew he’d done the right thing in not leaving Mike and going for help. Because if Mike had gotten badly hurt or killed, Kasey would never have forgiven himself.

Mr. Marshall squinted at the blood on the floor from Kasey’s injury. “Let’s go to the ambulance, huh?” He said to Mike. With the paramedic’s help, they got Mike up and led him around so he didn’t see Kasey’s blood. Before they exited the storeroom, Mr. Marshall looked at Kasey. “I’ll call your folks and tell them to meet us at the hospital.”

“Thank you.” Streaks of firing pain shot up from his calf. He stilled. He’d never move again if possible.

Hanover took the cop’s place in front of him. “Shit. You’re in a puddle of blood.” He shouted instructions, and within a minute, another paramedic appeared with a gurney. They maneuvered Kasey until he was face down on the gurney. With his every move, every breath, he wanted to groan in pain but didn’t want to look like a wimp. Cold sweat chilled his skin.

“I have to cut your jeans.” Hanover ripped the fabric. Thankfully, he didn’t jostle Kasey’s leg at all. “How are you not howling? The whole bullet is in there.”

“Explains why it feels like I’ve been stabbed with a branding iron.” Kasey buried his head in the pillow, praying to pass out.

~

O nce the paramedics started an IV, Kasey got immediate relief and breathed easy. At the hospital, he was transferred from the gurney to a bed. The orderlies wheeled him to x-ray and then to the CT lab. After the tests, they brought him to an ER room. Well, it couldn’t be considered a room since it had one solid wall and three curtained ones. There was a light, a blood pressure machine, and other hospital equipment inside. His parents were there when he arrived, along with his best friends, Dre and Zack. The blue curtain and fluorescent lights made them look pale and sickly.

Attention on his friends, he asked. “How did you know to come?”

“Mike called me,” Zack replied.

A young doctor came in wearing yellow scrubs and red-rimmed glasses. “I’m Dr. Derek.” He studied the tablet in his hand. “Kasey, have you always been an athletic guy?”

“Yes,” everyone in the room answered.

The doctor looked up and smiled. “The reason I ask is because the bullet is completely embedded, but your superhuman-developed calf muscles prevented it from penetrating deep enough to hit bone or your arteries. Is his athleticism from you, Dad?”

Kasey’s father shook his head. “His mom’s the jock.”

“My mistake.” Dr. Derek bowed toward Kasey’s mother. “Respect.”

Ever the ham, Mom grinned.

“So, no surgery,” the doctor said.

“What a relief.” His dad sighed.

“I’m sure Kasey appreciates you being here, but you’ll have to leave while we remove the bullet and stitch him up.”

His friends nodded at Kasey as they left.

“I’m staying.” His mother sat in the only chair.

Dad waited by the curtain opening.

“Mrs. Hunter,” Dr. Derek began. “I understand you’d like to stay. The truth is we don’t have the room. I’ll need at least three nurses in here while I remove the bullet.”

“I’ll stay in the corner here out of the way.”

Dr. Derek went over and spoke to her privately.

She frowned, got up, and kissed Kasey on the cheek. “We’ll be in the waiting room, honey.” Dad opened the curtain for her and followed her out.

“What did you say to her?” Kasey asked.

“I told her you didn’t need your mother ogling your ass.”

He laughed. “You did not.”

“No, I didn’t. I told her I suspected you were being brave in front of them, but I needed you to be able to tell me if something hurts. Which is true. If you feel anything, don’t play the tough guy. Tell me, because you shouldn’t experience any pain with what I’m going to do. Not today, at least. It might hurt like a bitch tomorrow.”

Twice while being worked on, Kasey jumped from a spike of pain. Each time, Dr. Derek quickly responded, “I got you, Kasey,” and the pain instantly vanished.

When done, a nurse brought in two police officers who wanted to hear his account of the robbery. The doctor raised his brows. “You up to it?”

“Sure.”

The nurses left and one returned with his mother and father. Dr. Derek remained by the bed. Kasey described what transpired. He couldn’t believe he’d lived through what he was explaining. He wondered how Mike was handling it.

The police listened intently. When they left, they insisted if Kasey needed anything to give them a call and requested to see his parents outside the room. After they left, Dr. Derek said, “What you went through was traumatic, Kasey. I’d like you to speak to Dr. Youst.”

“I’m okay.” He’d just given an account of everything and didn’t want to relive it again.

“Let me rephrase. Dr. Youst is on her way. We require all shooting victims talk to a trauma specialist.”

“I can still go home tonight, right?”

“Like I told you earlier, we’ll monitor you for a few hours. If your vitals stay normal, you’ll be released.”

“Okay.”

“You want your parents here when you talk to her?”

“I don’t care. They heard the account I gave the cops.” He wanted to get it over with and go home. He was hungry and needed a shower.

A hot young woman entered the room. Her brunette hair fell in curls to her shoulders, and she wore a white lab coat. She looked at Dr. Derek and then peeked at Kasey. “How are we doing in here?”

“Kasey, this is Dr. Youst. The prettiest doctor in Texas.”

Her blue eyes sparkled. “Dr. Derek has a crush on me.”

“Who can blame me?”

“I’m sure you’re tired of people questioning you, Kasey, I’m just here in case you’d like to talk about anything. I spoke to Mike Marshall, and he explained you walked in on him being held at gunpoint.”

“I didn’t walk in on it. I saw and heard the guy demanding Mike open the safe. For a minute, I thought about going for help. Then he hit Mike and I came forward, acting like I didn’t know what was happening.” Kasey repeatedly pointed and flexed the foot on his uninjured leg.

“That was very brave. You want to tell me how it felt or what you’re feeling now?”

“I’m okay.”

She held quiet. Dr. Derek patiently waited as well.

Kasey wasn’t sure what to say. He’d been frightened and wondered if they’d make it out of the store alive.

But they had, and he was fine.

~

S itting in the backseat on the drive home from the hospital, Kasey listened to his mom jabber the entire time. Evidently, her way of dealing with the incident was to talk. She complained about guns and violence.

At one point, his dad reached over and grasped her hand. “Honey, having laws is great, but they can rarely fight crazy people.”

“Or desperate ones,” Kasey added. “The guy said he needed money.”

It was way past dark when they finally made it home, three white vans from the local news channels were parked on the street, and a group of reporters waited in front of his house. His dad honked for them to move off their driveway. His mother tsked. “They’re eager for an exclusive.”

Kasey opened the door of the SUV and handed the crutches to his dad. Then he carefully slid out.

“We want to hear your side of the story, Kasey,” a reporter yelled.

He ignored the question as he hobbled into the house. His brothers nagged him for information as he scarfed down corndogs slathered in mustard and French fries dripping with ketchup. Then he took the most awkward bath of his life. He’d rather take a shower, but Dr. Derek explained he couldn’t get water on the wound. So, he sat in the water with his leg perched on the side of the tub.

Stacy’s panicked voice came from downstairs as he exited the bathroom. Not wanting to go down and back up the steps, he called, “Stacy?”

She quickly scaled the stairs and launched herself forward to hug him, crying into his chest. It was awkward holding on to the crutches and trying to hold on to her at the same time. “Are you okay? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Her parents and his were right behind her. They all stood in the hallway and talked for a few minutes. His friends showed up and joined them.

“It’s late. We better go,” Stacy’s dad said.

Stacy quickly kissed him. “I’ll come by tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

He and his friends escaped to his room. He fell on his twin bed and propped up his injured leg on a pillow. Zack took the other bed, and Dre sat in a bean bag chair on the floor between them. He was grateful for these guys. They hadn’t asked him anything about what happened. The best thing about his friends, they knew he’d talk when he needed to.

They played video games well into the night. It was like so many other weekend nights they’d spent together.

Around three, the scene from earlier played in his mind. He closed his eyes. His breath caught, and his throat tightened. Maybe he should’ve talked more with Dr. Youst.

He opened his eyes and tried to concentrate on the video game.

The memory kept attacking him.

The gun.

The robber’s bloodshot eyes.

Mike getting hit.

The tick of the clock.

He threw the controller down and wrapped his arms around his torso. He had to stop the memory. How?

“Kasey?” Dre said. “You okay?”

His fear spilled out. “What happened keeps running through my mind.” His words were fast, too fast. His mind was on super speed. “When I saw what was happening, I couldn’t leave Mike alone, so I stepped forward. That’s when the guy, I don’t even know his name. Do you know his name?”

They shook their heads.

“That’s when he turned the gun on me. He ordered me and Mike to sit and stood behind us.” He cleared his throat, fighting it from closing. “I was okay until he began choking me. Even now I feel—”

No words could describe the terror in his mind. He bowed his head and rocked back and forth.

A hand clasped his bicep before Dre whispered, “Feel whatever you need to, man. Talk or don’t, it’s up to you.”

“We’re here,” Zack assured him.

“I can’t think of anything else.” He hadn’t cried in years, but he felt the sting of tears in his eyes.

“Come on, we’ll take you to the hospital,” Zack offered.

“No. I have an appointment at eight with Dr. Youst at her office. If I leave now to go to the hospital my mom will freak.”

“Your mom will understand.” Dre’s voice was calm, it always was.

“No.” That came out too loud. Calm down. Calm down . “I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” he choked on his words. Why couldn’t he hold himself together?

“I know, man,” Dre spoke quietly. “What can we do to help you get through the night?”

“I don’t know.” Tears blurred his vision. His body trembled. “I feel like I’m breaking.”

His friends wrapped their arms firmly around his shoulders. “Go ahead,” Dre murmured. “We’ll hold you together.”

Kasey fell apart.

“Forgive yourself for the blindness that put you in the path of those who betrayed you. Sometimes a good heart doesn’t see the bad.” ~ Unknown