Chapter Twenty-Two
Logan stowed his phone back in his pocket. “Kaylee is still not awake so Griffin is going to stay at the hospital to watch over everyone. I tried to convince Ava to go to a hotel to get some rest, but she told me to go fuck myself. So I’m going to take that as a no.”
Seth snickered and tried to cover it with a cough. “Maybe she’ll get some rest once Kaylee wakes up.”
“Doctors are really happy about her vital signs,” Logan replied. Kaylee was a strong woman. She had a long recovery ahead of her, but Reed would be there every step of the way. “Good and strong. She should wake up soon. In the meantime, it’s just us. Reed and Griffin are staying there.”
Even without Reed and Griffin, there were enough of them to take down Wade Bryson. The group lounging around a campfire included Tanner, Seth, Jason, and Jared.
And no one had called the marshal service. The other marshals had fanned out over three states to find Wade and they currently had no idea that he’d been found.
That was an issue. The leak could be anywhere, it didn’t have to be in the field. Someone pushing paper in a windowless office could be selling them out.
“Are we going to call the marshals?” Tanner asked. “I’m not pushing to do it, I just think we need to decide once and for all.”
“I’m against it,” Seth piped up. “Too risky.”
Jason and Jared were both nodding in agreement.
“I agree,” Logan replied. “It’s way too risky. If we tell the marshals where Wade is we could be walking into a trap. And Ava has specifically forbidden me to walk into a trap,” Logan said with a grin, although he wasn’t feeling particularly jolly. “Your wives have as well so we’re not going to do that.”
“So we do this alone,” Tanner said, his expression somber. “And as a team. Now let’s get down to business. We need to finalize a plan.”
“We go in right before dawn,” Logan began. He’d been thinking about this since they’d found the camp. Hell, he’d been thinking about it since he’d heard that Wade had escaped. “From what we’ve seen Wade only has two men with him. First task is to take out his protection.”
Second? I’m sending Wade back to prison. Or a body bag. His choice.
* * * *
Reed hated the hospital so fucking much. He’d spent far too many hours, days, and weeks in them in his youth and few of those memories were good. Images of Julia lying in a hospital bed had come back to haunt him. Just like then, he was powerless to do anything. He could only sit on this hard plastic chair and wait. Just wait. And hope and pray too, but he’d done that before and it hadn’t helped.
The doctor had come in about an hour ago and had given Reed good news. Kaylee was strong, her vital signs excellent, and it would be only a matter of time before she woke up. She’d have a long hard road ahead of her but it looked like she would recover. He had to keep saying that over and over in his head so he could finally believe it.
Kaylee would live.
“Reed…”
His name came out hoarse and rusty. Her throat had to feel like sandpaper after her surgery this morning. Immediately he was at her side, holding her hand and offering her some water from a straw.
She’s okay. She’s awake.
“Can you hear me, baby?”
She nodded and blinked a few times, still heavily medicated. Her eyes were glassy and voice was still thin and wispy as she took a sip from the straw. “Yes…I can hear you.”
He leaned closer so she could easily hear him and ran his fingers across her cheek. So soft. He’d never felt anything as soft as Kaylee’s skin or as silky as her auburn hair.
“Baby, do you know where you are?”
She took another drink and then nodded.
“Hospital.”
The doctor had warned Reed not to expect too much the first time she woke up. He said she’d be confused and possibly agitated but to simply be calm. Temporary memory loss was common in these situations. Honestly, Reed wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to remember.
“Yes, you were brought here after we were ambushed at the airfield. Do you remember that?”
She frowned and shook her head and he lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, well above her bandages. “That’s okay. You don’t have to remember anything right now. You just have to rest and get better.”
She seemed to relax and accepted another sip of water. The reality was beginning to hit him across the face.
Kaylee was alive, and she was going to stay that way.
“You’re going to be okay,” Reed assured her, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks, carving a path through his unshaven face. His heart felt too big for his chest. He loved this woman more than anything in the world. “They did surgery and they took out your spleen. You lost a hell of a lot of blood but the doctor says you’re lucky. We’re lucky, baby. God, I love you so fucking much. You’re my world, Kaylee. If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t want to go on. I love you. I love you.”
She didn’t get a chance to reply. The door to the room swung open and a smiling older nurse bustled in. “Are we awake? That’s wonderful. I’ve alerted the doctor. Mr. Mitchell, I’m going to have to ask you to step out for a little while so we can check her over.”
The nurse – Helen, perhaps – was messing with the IV bag and was far too happy for the current circumstances.
“What do you need to do?”
“Just check her over.” The nurse patted Kaylee’s arm. “It’s good that she’s awake but she needs her sleep. The doctor will give her something so she rests tonight. She can have more visitors in the morning.”
“But I can come back in?”
“In just a few minutes,” the nurse assured him. “Go have a bite to eat.”
Food was completely out of the question. It would come straight back up. But a call to Logan might be good.
Leaning down, he brushed his lips over Kaylee’s. “I’ll be right back, baby. I love you.”
“Love.” Kaylee yawned widely, her eyelids fluttering. She was already beginning to fall back asleep. “You.”
“Wore herself out, poor thing,” the nurse said. “She’ll sleep mostly for the next twenty-four hours or so, only waking for a few minutes here and there. She’s heavily medicated. Don’t be surprised if later she doesn’t remember any of her first few days in the hospital. It’s probably better, if I’m honest.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Now don’t you worry about this young lady. She’s in good hands here. Go have a bite to eat or get some sleep. She’s really going to need you in a few days when she starts to be awake more.”
He’d be there for her. No matter what. There wasn’t anything Reed wouldn’t do for Kaylee.
Anything.
“She’ll sleep all night?”
“Like a baby. This would be a good time for you to catch some rest too, if you can. There’s a nice little motel a few blocks away. We can call you if anything changes.”
He didn’t need rest.
But there was one thing that he needed to do.
Get Wade Bryson and make him pay for what he’d done to Kaylee. Logan had said that Bryson would be behind bars by breakfast.
That wasn’t soon enough.
* * * *
Ava accepted the steaming cup of coffee from Griffin and took a sip. It was late and the hospital was quiet as visiting hours were over.
“Thank you,” she said, eyeing the extra cup that he’d set on the coffee table in the waiting area. “Where’s Reed?”
Frowning, Griffin looked around the room. “He’s in with Kaylee…right?”
Ava shook her head, her mind racing to several conclusions and hopefully all of them were wrong. “I thought he was with you. He came out of Kaylee’s room about an hour ago. He said they were going to give her something to sleep all night. I assumed he was going to find a couch to sack out on or maybe get a bite to eat.”
Swearing under his breath, Griffin pulled his phone from his pocket. “I never saw him downstairs. I bet I know where he is, though.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Reed had taken the opportunity while Kaylee slept to go find Wade. He’d probably kill him too, with his bare hands. Assuming he got there before Logan did, of course.
“I’ll let Logan know. I can’t say that I blame him. I would do the same if it were Jazz.”
Ava had no doubt that all the men would go after anyone that hurt their wives.
“We should have anticipated this.”
Griffin paused and looked up from his phone. “Would you have stopped him?”
An interesting question. Part of her thought he should be here even though Kaylee would be sleeping all night and wouldn’t know the difference. The other part of her was cheering him on.
“No,” she finally replied. “I wouldn’t have. I just wish he would have told us when he left.”
“He probably thought we’d try and talk him out of it.”
That’s when it hit her that there was one remaining person on the team who wasn’t going to be there when they brought Wade Bryson in. Griffin.
“You can go if you want,” she assured him. “We’ll be fine here. They aren’t going to try anything in a hospital and Logan has Wade under surveillance anyway.”
Griffin grinned and took a drink of his coffee. “My job is to protect you and Kaylee. I don’t need to be in on the action. It’s not personal to me like it is to Logan or Reed. I’m happy to do my part and my part is to take care of you while Logan goes and does what he needs to do. Hopefully this will all be over in the morning.”
All over. Wade back behind bars and Ava reunited with Colt and Brianna. She made a mental note to apologize to them for being a lousy parent. All the men could go back to their wives and Kaylee…
Kaylee would have months of painful recovery in front of her. For her, it wouldn’t be over in the morning. It would only be just starting.
Because of me.
Ava had mentally scarred her children and physically scarred her best friend. She’d been arrogant and selfish thinking that Wade Bryson couldn’t really touch them. That somehow they’d all get through this unscathed while the body count piled up around them.
But now Wade had hit close to home, drawing blood on one of their own. He’d brought all of this on himself.
Logan and Reed weren’t going to fail when the time came. An end had come to Wade Bryson’s reign of terror.