More Than a Mission - Caridad Pineiro [71]
Lizzy glared at him. “Shut up, Aidan.”
“S’okay, Lizzy Bee. It’s not what you think,” Dani offered, each word more frail than the one before.
“You didn’t kill the prince?” he pressed, hating that he might be ruining Lizzy’s last moments with her sister, but having little choice.
“I dangled…” she began, but squeezed her eyes shut against the pain before continuing, each word expelled with a rough breath. “The bait. Left…coke on…table.”
“And Mr. Party Boy swallowed the bait,” he finished for her. “Who hired you?”
Dani’s gaze fixed on her sister as she said, “Let…personal interfere with…job.” Every word was a struggle.
“What job, Dani?” Lizzy asked and comforted Dani by stroking the side of her sister’s face lovingly.
“My…job. Made a…mistake,” her eyes rolled back in her head and she sagged against the cushions of the sofa.
“Dani,” Lizzy said and shook Dani’s hand, trying to revive her. When she didn’t rouse, she repeated her name again, more urgently.
Aidan continued to apply pressure to the wound in Dani’s midsection, but with his free hand, he felt for a pulse along her neck. Weak. Too weak. He didn’t have much time left to get the complete story from the Sparrow.
“Dani,” he urged and stroked the side of her face gently, a face so much like Lizzy’s that it hurt.
Once more Dani’s eyelids fluttered open, her gaze slightly unfocused for a moment while she struggled to regain consciousness.
When she was with them again, Aidan forged ahead, time too short for delay. “Who hired you?”
“Man named Donovan.” Each word was laced with anguish and fear. Each breath more shallow. Less substantial. “Said Reginald…not…true prince.”
Lizzy looked up at him, her gaze as confused as he was. As far as he knew, Reginald was the one and only heir to the throne, but that question was for another day.
“Is that why you did it?”
She shook her head with more force than he thought her capable of. “Donovan…pictures.” She paused, fighting for a breath. Trying to hold onto consciousness.
Winning the battle for the moment, she continued. “Reginald with drug dealers…The ones who killed Ma…Da.” As she finished, she stared at her sister and tears slipped unbidden down her cheeks. “Did it for them.”
“I understand, Dani,” Lizzy said and leaned forward, slipping an arm around her sister to hold her close. She kissed the side of Dani’s face and in soft tones repeated, “I understand.”
“What did Donovan look like?”
“Mask…didn’t see. Nothing else…distinguishable.”
Her eyelids drifted downward again as she battled for awareness.
Aidan checked her pulse once more. Thready and barely noticeable. He had to act fast. “Lizzy, give me your hand.”
She released her sister’s hand and he took hold of Lizzy’s, placed it over the blood-soaked towel. “Keep pressure on here. Hard pressure. Understand?”
“Aidan?” she questioned and he stroked the side of her face.
“I’m going to check on that help.”
Elizabeth watched as he stepped away, grabbed his PDA and once again called someone.
“Lizzy?” her sister said and her voice seemed stronger than before, giving her hope that Dani would be all right.
She bent close to her, stroked the side of her face with her free hand. “I’m here, Dani. I’ll always be here for you no matter what.”
Dani’s eyes, a greener shade than her own, darkened with dismay. “The prince—”
“Chose his own poison. I know,” she said and leaned her forehead against his sister’s. “But the rest—”
“It’s not what it seems….” Dani began, but immediately began to struggle for air.
“Dani?” She applied more pressure and wrapped her one arm around her sister’s shoulders, trying to comfort her. “Hang on, Dani. Please. Just a little longer.”
Dani bit her lip, drawing blood. She gulped in a breath, forced a rush of words out with her exhalation. “Doing a job…Not what they think…Didn’t kill…”
Aidan stepped over then, crouched down so Dani could look into his face.
“Mitch? Why did you kill Mitch?” he asked, needing to understand why his friend had died by her hand.
Tears blurred Elizabeth’s vision as she pulled away from her sister.