"Just a little."
In other words, yes. "I want you to go to the hospital."
Surprisingly, he didn't argue. "Yeah, okay. Come on, let's get you back inside where it's warm."
Holding tight to his hand, she walked back with him to the main building and stopped outside in front of the lobby. Her friends were all waiting there, hugging their significant others.
In the light from the lamp post behind them, Candace pulled back to scan Ryan for injuries, but aside from the blood on his right upper arm, he seemed okay. The awful knot in her stomach finally eased. "So it's over?"
"Our part is," he answered, bending to kiss her again. "The Feds will take it from here."
Good. "Did Grandma go with you guys on the ground?"
"Just to the tunnel entrance, but yeah." His eyes twinkled, his lips curving upward. "The best part of the whole night was when she went after March."
She blinked. "What do you mean?"
Now he grinned. "She slapped him."
Hardly able to believe what she'd just heard, Candace released Ryan from the one-armed hug she'd been giving him and gaped up at him in astonishment. In the soft light his eyes twinkled and she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
"She slapped him? Like, literally slapped him?" Getting shot freaking hurt, so she was glad to have a distraction until Jackson brought the car around to take them to the hospital.
"Damn near smacked his face right off," he said with pride, the pain and fatigue easing from his features as he grinned. "I got it on video. Gotta delete it once I show it to you though, for legal reasons. Don't want this being used as evidence." Looking enormously pleased with himself, he pulled his phone out of his vest pocket, wincing as the motion pulled at his wound.
"Careful, you're gonna undo all of Cam's work," she admonished.
"Yeah, I think I'm done using my right arm for a bit," he agreed, holding up the phone in his left hand.
"I wanna see," Maya said, sidling up behind them to put her hands on Candace's waist.
"Me too." Dev and Erin came over to peer around either of her shoulders, all of them standing huddled together in the chilly fall night air.
She was grateful to have her friends around her. While Ryan and the guys had been out hunting the shooters, her girls had done everything humanly possible to take care of her and distract her from the pain and worry. They'd all given statements to the police and FBI agents who had responded to the attack, so at least that part was done.
She slid her right arm around Ryan's waist and leaned into his solid build. Even though she hated hospitals and wasn't looking forward to being poked and prodded anymore tonight, at least she'd get a reprieve from this whole situation for a little while, and get some quiet time with him on the way there and back.
The video finally loaded and Ryan angled the phone for them all to see, then hit play. He'd filmed it from a ways back, so it was a little grainy, and the lighting wasn't great. But it was definitely Eric March who knelt before the MacKenzie brothers with his hands bound behind his back, one eye swollen shut and blood dripping from his nose.
Candace's lips compressed. Asshole.
"Is that him?" her grandmother's voice snapped out, somewhere off screen.
Uh oh. She recognized that tone. And it meant trouble for whoever was about to be on the receiving end of her temper. She bit her lip in anticipation, dying to see what happened next, the burning and throbbing beneath her left shoulder blade seeming a little more tolerable now.
"Uh, yes ma'am," Jackson responded, from somewhere near Ryan.
A second later, Ruby Bradford came into view. Candace put her right hand over her mouth to smother a laugh at the sight of her tiny grandmother, dressed in a ballistic vest and a sweat suit ten sizes too big for her that someone must have loaned her, because earlier she'd been wearing just a silk kimono.
On screen she stalked her way over to March, her expression livid. Candace had been the target of that look a couple times when she was a kid when she'd gotten lippy or stepped too far out of line, and had learned to fear it.
March must have realized he was in deep shit too, because he lifted his head and blinked up at her in astonishment as she stopped and stood glowering down at him, hands fisted at her sides.
"You bastard! Burning my resort and then shooting my granddaughter and her husband? Well, you picked the wrong damn target, you pathetic, sniveling, cowardly son of a traitorous bitch!"
Behind March, both MacKenzie brothers grinned. A split second later her grandma reared one arm back, letting out a mighty grunt as she swung her open palm across March's left cheek with a resounding crack that snapped his face around.
Candace gasped and March jerked his head back in shock. "What the fuck?"
Even from the distance Ryan had filmed at, Candace could see her grandmother's eyes bug out at his language. Ruby Bradford swore all the time, but someone using that kind of language in front of her was a definite no-no.
"You watch your filthy mouth, criminal!" She backhanded him across the other cheek, and, apparently incensed now, kept on slapping him. Four, five, six mighty blows while March tried to dodge the strikes, his only defense curling into himself before Shane MacKenzie finally stepped in and grabbed her around the waist from behind, a giant smirk on his face.
Her grandma struggled in his grip, still yelling threats at March, but even as Shane picked her up off the ground to carry her out of range, she twisted and lashed out with a booted foot, catching March in the jaw.
His head snapped back and he shouted in pain before yelling at Declan. "God dammit, get that crazy old lady the fuck away from me!"
Whatever Declan said was drowned out by her grandmother's shouted threats and Ryan's rolling laughter. The video ended and Candace looked up at her husband to see a huge grin on his face as he wiped away tears of mirth with the back of his left hand.
"Fucking awesome." He laughed again and Candace couldn't help but join in, which was messed up, considering they'd both been shot and were in more pain than either one of them wanted to admit.
"Wow, I've never seen her like that. She was seriously pissed off," Candace murmured, glad for the lightened mood the video had brought. She gasped as an idea occurred to her. "We gotta send that to my dad!"
"Sorry, no can do. That was a one-time viewing opportunity," he said, and deleted it. "She sprained her wrist on that third slap, but still kept on going. Jackson wrapped it up for her on the flight back. We had to keep her separated from March, just in case, but even with him hooded and bound at the front of the aircraft she kept glaring holes at him all the way back."
That was Grandma. She could hold a grudge like nobody's business, too. And once someone won her love and loyalty, those emotions were just as fierce as her temper.
Smiling fondly, Candace looked around. "Where is she, anyway?" Last time Candace had seen her grandma, she'd been talking to Declan MacKenzie.
"In the bar. MacKenzie boys are buying her the first of what I'm sure will be several rounds of drinks, and once this story gets out, I doubt she'll ever have to buy any booze or cigarettes of her own ever again. She's a fucking legend now." He shook his head. "I gained a whole new level of respect and fear of her tonight. I've never heard language like that come from a woman her age's mouth before." Another grin. "It was epic."
Maya squeezed her right shoulder. "Your grandma really is the shit, Ace," she said, laughing.
"Yeah. She totally is." She turned to Ryan. "Can we get going to the hospital now?" She hated hospitals and wasn't looking forward to what would happen there but she knew her husband, and wouldn't accept that he was "fine" until a doctor said so.
"Yeah." He caught her right hand and tugged her close for a hard kiss, a smile pulling at his full lips. "You're the shit too, by the way," he murmured, his voice full of admiration.
She gave him a saucy grin just as headlights swung around the end of the circular roundabout in the driveway, signaling Jackson's arrival. "Thanks. It's genetic."
* * * *
As predicted, the hospital visit was no fun at all. They updated her tetanus shot and gave her antibiotics to take, then re-bandaged Erin's handiwork and gave her some mild painkillers that she wasn't too proud to swallow.
X-rays had shown she had no fractures but Ryan had a hairline one in his upper right humerus, and he'd also suffered some minor radial nerve damage. The doctors had no way of predicting whether it was permanent, or to what extent it would affect his ability to perform his job. They'd know more once the swelling went down and he healed up.
"How you holding up, sweetheart?"
She looked up from her seat outside the x-ray room as Ryan walked down the linoleum hallway toward her, his right arm immobilized in a sling. "Okay so far. You?"
He made a face and lowered himself into the chair beside her. "Tonight wasn't the most fun I ever had."