“Put her there,” the doctor orders.
The table is hard beneath me but it smells sterile. I look at the bright lights above me, then swivel my head and notice trays of wrapped equipment.
“Who are you?” I whisper.
“Don’t ask questions about me and I won’t ask any about you.” He winks, then brushes his hand over my forehead. “Just relax, honey. I’m gonna fix you up, good as new.”
He disappears and Trey takes his place, standing vigil while I listen to the tinker of metal touching metal, the rip of packing being opened. Reappearing with a clear, liquid-filled bag, Doc asks Trey to hold it high while he inserts a needle into my arm.
Trey winces. “Be careful.”
Wild Man gives him a stern look to shut him up, then smiles at me. “This is gonna make you good and sleepy. You just close your eyes now, honey.”
I look up at Trey, a ripple of fear coursing through me. His smile is soft and reassuring. Then he glides his fingers over my eyes and I decide to trust him.
I have to.
He wants me to live, to fight…and I will.
The world starts getting tipsy, sleepy fingers dragging through my brain, pulling me into a place of languid dreams.
I can still hear fuzzy noises around me, am vaguely aware of something poking into my belly. But then I’m numb, floating.
My mind is lulled by waves of memory—Robbie’s smile, his soft lips, which soon become Trey’s. The kiss changes from sweet to passion, need, desire…love.
It’s holding me strong.
Keeping me breathing.
Willing me to wake up from this nightmare.
#40:
Disappear
Trey
The bag’s on a hook.
Doc doesn’t need me.
I was too twitchy apparently, so Riley’s in there now—a mask covering his mouth, gloves on his hands while he passes the equipment like some surgical nurse.
Gritting my teeth, I try to dodge the sound of the gunshot, the feel of Chris slumping against me. Her own father. I mean, he didn’t pull that particular trigger. He actually shot the guy who did, but he aimed a gun at his daughter.
Her mother’s screams will haunt me forever…as will the look in her eyes when she begged me to save her daughter.
I can’t take Chris back to the police.
I can’t let her testify. What will stop her father from showing up in the courtroom and gunning her down for betraying the family?
He’s obviously done it before. I don’t know when or how, but the guy’s a killer.
Damn, I wonder if Chris knew?
This is heavy shit.
It should be too much, but I won’t walk away.
I’m saving Chris. Because I can.
Because I love her.
When she was bleeding against me in that truck, I knew it for sure.
I don’t want to live without her. I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know her, teaching her how to skate, listening to her laugh at me when I do something stupid. I want to see that smile every freaking day and I want to kiss every inch of her smooth skin.
I’ve never felt this kind of need before, which just confirms that it’s right.
We’re meant to be together.
I’m meant to protect her.
That’s why she was brought into my life.
I let flames stop me from doing the right thing once. I won’t let bullets or the threat of death stop me again.
The buzzer rings and I launch across the room, unlocking the door for Kade to come back in.
It’s five o’clock. The sun will be rising soon. I’m glad he made it back in the darkness.
He shuts the door behind him and brushes the hair off his face before handing me the cash.
Resting his hands on his knees, he sucks in some air. He must have ditched the truck and run like a madman.
“I left it at the back of a garage two miles away,” he puffs. Standing up straight, he points to the money in my hand. “That’s three thousand. I stopped at four ATMs on the way back here and emptied all our accounts.”
“How much does that give us?”
“I don’t know. Did you check the cash-stash Riley grabbed?”
I dive for Riley’s bag and quickly unearth some serious wads of money. Kade gapes while I try to count with eyes bulging out of my head.
“There’s twenty-five thousand here.”
Kade’s eyebrows pop north,but then he tips his head.“Riley is loaded. That’s probably just the skimming off his trust fund.”
“Yeah, I guess he gets that monthly deposit. I didn’t know he was hiding it at school though.”