Lynx caressed the rifle resting barrel-up on his shoulder. “Fill us in, so we can get the son of a bitch.”
“No one is going out there,” Aidan said. His tone brooked no arguments. Not that anyone seemed to hear it.
“Son, we take care of our own around here,” Pike said. “Someone running around with murder on his mind will get more than they bargained for.”
“You don’t understand Roland.” Aidan winced as Eva poked around his wound. “You won’t find him. The law’s been looking for him for months, and he’s eluded them. This is my problem, and I won’t have anyone else getting injured.” Slivers of dread needled down his spine at the idea of any of them hurt because of him.
“We’ll get together a search party and flush out the bastard,” Lynx said, a glint of adventure in his eyes.
Aidan found it hard to swallow. No one had ever stuck up for him before. Having Lynx and Pike willing to take up his fight caused a tightening in his chest.
“Aidan!” Lana ran into the kitchen, Peter on her heels. “I heard you were hurt.” She gasped when she saw him. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Aidan pointed at the door. “I’d appreciate it if you would stay with Peter and wait for me.”
“It was Dad, wasn’t it? Oh, God.” Tears filled her eyes, and she cried, “You promised me you wouldn’t leave the lodge.”
“Peter, get her out of here,” he growled through clenched teeth as Eva poked at his wound. Why the hell was there so many people crowding around him? Emotions battered him from all sides. He wished all he had to concentrate on was shutting down the pain from his injury.
“Come on, Lana.” Peter wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to the door. He addressed Aidan, “We need to talk when you’re through.”
Aidan shook his head. “There are too many people in my damn business.” He stared at Pike and Lynx. “Put away the weapons. It’s snowing too hard out there. Any tracks Roland would have left are covered up by now. The man was in Special Ops in Vietnam. You won’t find him unless he wants you to.” Eva poured disinfectant on the wound, and he jumped in pain. “Shit, Eva. You could have warned me.”
“Wouldn’t hurt any less if I did.” She reached into her bag of tricks and prepared a syringe.
“What’s that for?” Aidan paled.
“You need stitches. Doesn’t bother me if you don’t want the area deadened, but you’d probably prefer it.”
Sweat broke out on his forehead. “Shoot me up.”
Eva gave him a sadistic smile. The woman enjoyed her profession a little too much.
Raven leaned back against the counter, spent now that the adrenaline had drained out of her. Pike and Lynx plotted, while Eva stitched the gunshot wound on Aidan’s bicep. All she could think about was that Aidan could have died out there today. They both could have. She didn’t want him dead. She didn’t even want him gone anymore.
Suddenly he glanced up, and their eyes met. He raised his brows in concern. She tried to smile and reassure him that she was fine, but the effort fell flat. It would be so much easier if he wasn’t concerned for her. He was the one who’d gotten shot. He should be worried about himself.
“There,” Eva proclaimed. “A shot of antibiotics and that ought to do it.” Eva finished wrapping a bandage around the doctored wound and then went for another needle. “You were damn lucky. A few inches to the right—”
“Thanks, Eva,” Aidan interrupted.
“No thanks needed. Having you around is honing my skills.” She flashed a toothy grin and shot him with the hypodermic. “I’d hate to get rusty.” She gathered up her supplies and meticulously put them back into her bag. With that done, she lowered onto a seat and rubbed her belly. “Lynx, you and Pike will wait to do anything until the weather improves. I don’t need any more patients under my care this close to term.”
Lynx knelt next to Eva’s chair and wrapped an arm around her. “Are you feeling okay? The baby?”
She leaned into his shoulder. “We’re fine, but we don’t need to be worrying about the two of you going off half-cocked.” She caught Raven’s eye, a twinkle in hers.
Raven smiled, relieved. They needed to get the men focused on something else. “Pike, do you know if there are any shirts here that would fit Aidan? He’ll also need another coat until we can get to town. Fox and Chickadee will be home from school soon, and I don’t want them to see the results of what happened today.”
“Good thinking,” Pike said. “I’ll find some clothes.” He made to leave.