Slade’s voice.
Gunner rushed forward, and she saw that Slade had been hit again, only this time, this time she knew the wound was fatal. Slade’s skin was ashen, his eyes barely staying open. The EMT had lurched away from him, and Gunner had caught his brother’s body just as Slade fell.
Sydney glanced toward the window. Another bullet hole had broken the glass.
Cale.
Protecting his team.
“Slade?”
She glanced back at Gunner’s voice. He was curled over Slade’s body holding his brother’s hand.
Slade seemed to be trying to stare up at him.
Two brothers.
“Can we...go in the woods...?” Slade’s voice. Weak with pain, sounding lost. “I want to go...with you...Gun...”
She saw Gunner’s throat move as he swallowed.
“Is...Grandpa comin’?”
Slade didn’t sound like a man anymore. More like a lost child. Maybe in those last moments, he was.
“Grandfather’s already waiting for you,” Gunner said, his own voice rumbling. “Go on to the woods. Stay with him. I’ll join you later.”
“P-promise...?” Slade’s breath rushed out. His chest stilled.
Gunner’s hand clenched around his. “I promise.”
Sydney wrapped her arms around Gunner and held him as tightly as she could.
* * *
THE GRAVE WOULDN’T be empty this time. Gunner stood, silent, during the service as his brother was put to rest. Sydney was by his side, her small hand cradled in his. Logan was on his right. The friend who’d never doubted him. The friend who’d always be there.
Jasper Adams had come to the service, too. The ex-EOD agent waited across from Gunner. Jasper’s wife, Veronica—Cale’s sister—had her arm curled around his waist.
And Cale...he watched the proceedings just as silently as Gunner.
When Gunner had taken his shots, he’d tried to keep his brother alive.
When Cale had fired, there had been no choice. To save Gunner, he’d had to take the kill shot.
But Cale still looked at him with guilt in his eyes. He shouldn’t do that. Gunner would have to talk to him soon, have to make the other man realize—
I understand.
The service ended. The small group walked away, all but Gunner and Sydney. They lingered for a moment. He looked at the flowers. Thought about his brother. “I want to remember him the way he was, back when we were kids.”
Going for hikes in the woods.
Once, Slade had loved those hikes as much as Gunner had.
Once.
“Then remember him that way,” Sydney whispered. “Remember him happy. Remember the good parts.”