Chapter Thirteen
How the fuck had he got away? He was supposed to be under armed guard.
Stan, the man who’d been responsible for Serena’s death, was pointing the gun at different people in the room as he paced.
Jared looked over at Ale and Mich. Both had been shot when Stan had run into the room shooting at anyone who’d moved. Everyone else had guns pointing at him, but Stan was refusing to back down. It was like he wasn’t even aware of everyone else in the room or the seriousness of the situation in front of him.
Jared glanced at Ale’s wound, noticing the blood seeping out from between Ale’s fingers and dripping steadily to the floor. Their eyes met, and Ale shook his head. Not good was what he was saying.
The blood didn’t slow, and Ale slowly pulled his belt free and fastened it above the gunshot wound, attempting to stem the loss of blood.
Jared watched the blood again, noticing it had slowed down but hadn’t stopped. Shit, the femoral artery must have been hit. Ale didn’t have long before he lost consciousness if they couldn’t get him to surgery.
The local sheriff, who was in the room with them, spoke to Stan, trying to reason with him. “Stan, please. Think about this. Put the gun down. You don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“She fucking left me,” Stan screamed. “Left me. Who did that bitch think she was?” He stormed over to Ale and pointed the gun at his head. “Drop the fucking guns, or I’ll kill him. I sorted that bitch out, so he’s fucking easy.”
Jared looked at everyone else in the room. He, Miguel, and Donnie lowered their weapons to the floor, but the officers were slower to respond.
“Do as he says,” Donnie ordered.
“I’ve seen how this happens.” Stan pointed to Miguel. “You. Pick up the guns and throw them in the trash can.”
Miguel clenched his jaw but did what Stan ordered. Once all the guns were in the trash can, Stan said, “Belts off and tie each other up.” When no one moved, he screamed, “Now! Or he gets it.” He dug the gun into Ale’s head, and Ale winced but didn’t move away, glaring up at Stan.
Jared unfastened the buckle and pulled the belt free. He slowly passed it to Donnie. “Here. Tie me up with this.”
Donnie glared at Stan, then tied Jared up. Next, he approached Michaela, gently handling her arm and carefully tying her up. Handing his belt over to Miguel, he muttered, “Fucker.”
Once everyone was tied up, Stan grabbed Ale by the hair and dragged him over to the exit, smearing blood all over the floor and glancing outside. Ale grunted, holding the wound on his leg. Jared saw the blood flow increase, and their eyes met, but again Ale shook his head.
“Right. I want a car to take me to the airport and a plane out of here to Mexico. None of this negotiations shit. Try anything, and I’ll kill one of you.” Stan paced for a few seconds and then added, “Money. I want lots of money too.”
Jared almost laughed at the ridiculous request. Where did Stan think he was? This wasn’t a fucking movie.
“Stan,” the sheriff said. “We can’t just make a call and have that setup. You know this.”
Stan glared at the man then shot him in the chest. “The next one who talks had better be working on getting me out of here. I’ve got plenty of bullets, and I don’t miss.”
Donnie stepped forward, bound wrists held out in front of him. “I need my cell.”
The gun swung in Donnie’s direction, and Jared held his breath.
“You can make it happen? Why should I believe you?”
“I have contacts. Rescue Inc can get you where you want to go. Anywhere. We have a plane waiting for us. You can use it instead.”
Stan unbound Donnie’s wrists, the gun pointing at his head. “One wrong move and your brains are all over the fucking floor.”
Donnie nodded and carefully pulled his cell from his pocket. “I’ll call our pilot and tell him to ready the plane. It will take him about an hour to make sure it’s fueled and operational. He can file a flight plan and take you anywhere you want to go.”
It wouldn’t take that long because their pilot, Ainsley, always had the plane ready to go.
“Good. Now, I want all of you to sit against the wall where I can see you. No fucking attempts or he gets it.” Stan pointed the gun back at Ale’s head. “You” —Stan gestured at Donnie— “make the call and put it on loudspeaker, so I can hear.”
Gritting his teeth, Donnie made the call and Jared and the others moved to sit by the wall. Michaela moaned as she slid down. Jared stared at her arm. It wasn’t bleeding too much, but she was pale and sweaty. Their eyes met, and she gave him a weak smile.
Stan’s muttering drew his attention, and he watched him stare at Donnie. How the fuck were they going to disarm him? He had complete control of the situation. He’d disarmed them, tied them up, and moved them to a location where he could constantly monitor them.
He held the gun to Ale’s head while Donnie made the call, then nodded to the wall. Donnie sat next to him, glaring at Stan.
“Did he understand?” Jared whispered.
“Yes.”
Ainsley had got the message. He’d make the call to get them help. How long it would take was anyone’s guess, but Donnie had gotten them an hour if Stan could wait that long.
Jared looked over at the body of the sheriff, his blank eyes staring up at the ceiling, the blood pooled beneath him. Two murders and several attempted. Stan was going away for the rest of his life. Or not. If Jared got his hands on him, the fucker was dead.
He paced in front of them, the gun waving around in the air. He muttered incoherently, and Jared glanced over at Ale, noticing Ale watching every move Stan made.
The guy looked like he was falling apart. His bloodshot eyes darted everywhere, sweat pouring from his red face as he glanced towards the exits.
He stormed over to Donnie, hitting him across the side of the head with the gun. “Where’s the fucking car?”
“We didn’t arrange a car, remember, but I can give you the keys to mine. The pilot will call me back when the plane’s ready. I told you this, Stan.” Donnie spoke quietly in a low tone. The last thing anyone wanted was for Stan to lose it and start shooting at them.
“When will it be ready?” Stan screamed, spraying spittle in Donnie’s face.
“He said an hour. It’s been twenty minutes. I can call him and check where he’s at.”
“Give me your fucking keys, then call him. I want to get as far away from here as I can.” Donnie carefully pulled his keys free, and Stan snatched them from him and said to Donnie, “You’ll come with me. Don’t want no fucker trying to stop me.”
“I’ll go. Just leave the others alone.”
Stan hit Donnie with the butt of the gun, screaming, “I make the decisions. Me, not you! Who put you in charge? No one. You’ve got something planned, haven’t you? You think I’m so fucking stupid that I didn’t know you’d tell the fucking pilot something?”
“I did what you wanted,” Donnie croaked out, blood leaking from between his fingers where he held them to his forehead.
“You think I don’t know, don’t you? That I didn’t figure out you telling that pilot what the fuck was going on here! Some secret fucking code word! You think I’m fucking stupid. Some fucking hick with no brains.” The gun swung around wildly as Stan waved his arms in the air. “You come here thinking you’re so fucking smart, so much better than me. You didn’t even know it was me who had her! Fucking dumb piece of shit. Tell me what you told the pilot!”
“No. Nothing, man. I swear. I did what you wanted. The plane will be ready for you to go to Mexico, just like you want.” Donnie remained calm.
Stan pointed the gun at Donnie’s face. “I don’t believe you,” he screamed.
“He did what you wanted,” Miguel shouted, causing Stan to spin around to him.
He pointed the gun at Miguel’s face and screamed at him. His finger squeezed the trigger... and then Stan’s face exploded, showering the wall and them with bits of bone, blood and brains.
Jared gasped, turning away, ears ringing loudly, and when he looked back, he saw Silas standing over Stan’s body, kicking the gun away.
Donnie reacted quickly, pushing the body off of him and turning to unfasten Jared.
“I got a call,” Silas muttered.
“Thank fuck you came back,” Donnie muttered, turning to Miguel and loosening the belt holding his wrists.
Silas squatted next to the sheriff and sighed. “Why was he here?”
One of the officers answered, “He was injured, so he was brought here to receive medical attention. He had Winsford and Brown with him.”
Sighing again, Silas stood. “Not anymore.”
“He killed them?” The officer turned white and swallowed hard. “Shit. Brown’s wife’s due any day.”
“I’m sorry.” Silas glanced at the floor, sighing heavily.
“Chester?” Ale asked.
“He’s okay. I checked on him first.” Silas clenched his jaw and then walked over to the doors leading into the main part of the hospital. “It’s clear. Get your asses in here! We have injured!” he shouted.
Seconds later, the room filled with hospital staff checking them over, and within minutes, they were all being moved to separate rooms for treatment and Ale was rushed into surgery. Jared didn’t know how much blood he’d lost, but a gunshot wound to an artery could easily kill.
They had a long wait ahead. This missing person’s case had almost taken the lives of two of their men and still might take Ale’s.
❊❊❊
Sach.
Sacha cried when he heard Jared in his mind, tears forming in his eyes. The nerves and worry disappeared to be replaced by a sense of relief and happiness. Jared was safe.
Jared. Oh god, I was so worried.
It was touch and go, but he’s dead now. Thanks to Silas.
Silas, Chester’s mate?
Sacha was surprised that the man had been there considering he was so against the mating.
Yeah. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it when I get home.
When will that be?
Another day or two. Ale’s shot in the thigh. Hit his femoral, so he’s in surgery and Michaela got one in the arm, but hers isn’t too bad, luckily.
“Shit, Jared. That’s half the team!”
He hadn’t realized he’d physically spoken the words until Alessio tapped the side of his head. He repeated the comment to Jared, telepathically this time.
I know, but we’ll all be returning home in a day or so. I love you, Sach. Can’t wait to come home to you.
I love you too.
Sacha collapsed back in his chair, sighing in relief, his body sagging in on itself. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, then slowly opened them.
“Shit. First Chester, now Ale and Mich. Half the team is out of commission. The other team is new and still learning. Damn.”
He didn’t know what he could do to help. Hell, he didn’t really know a lot about Jared’s job, and that was something he was going to change. And next of kin. He wanted to be the first person anyone called if something happened to Jared.
“But Jared is uninjured, yes?
“Yes, Father. He’s fine.”
All he could do was wait for his mate to come home safe and sound. Then Jared had a lot of convincing to do if Sacha was going to let him go again. He was never letting Jared out of his sight again!