“Listen, I’d normally say we could share, because I’m a girl’s girl. You’re pretty… well, normally you are, but you’re not exactly my ideal partner to experience the one bed trope with. So, you sit your very black and blue self down on that mattress while I figure out how the hell I’m going to get us out of this situation.”
“Mae, I’m sorry?—”
“Nope. We don’t have time for apologies right now. And they won’t do us any good if we can’t get out of here anyway. Eyes on the prize, girls. And that means we don’t slow down, we don’t stop fighting, until all three of us are out of here. Got it?”
Twenty-Five
“Ithink you need to wait—” Hawk was crouched down in front of him, his hand pressed against his shoulder. His mind was fucking fracturing under the weight of his memories.
“I can’t. We have to go. I know who this is. Who it’s been all along.”
Please, let this be the key to getting Mae back.
“Doc?” Gunner’s voice had his eyes flying open.
“Christopher Caulleou.”
Gunner’s eyes squinted. “What about that fucker?”
Relief washed over Stone. For a moment, he thought his mind might have been playing tricks on him; scrambled information crossing his memories, nothing making sense. But Gunner’s recognition of the name had been the signal he needed to continue.
“He’s alive. He’s the one who shot me.”
“I told Cap… all those years ago. I told him we couldn’t trust that bald-headed asshole.” Hawk paced in front of the group.
“And I was the one that got him pulled from the Teams.”Stone groaned as his head fell into his hands. “That’s gotta be it. That’s got to be why he’s doing all this.”
“You’re sure?” Max asked. Stone gave him a single nod. There was no doubt in his mind.
“Run through it?” Hawk asked. “That morning?”
“Mae and I fought. I told her I couldn’t do it any more. She went home to you and I got that text message. The last one. What did it say?”
“Time to pay the devil.” Sebastian answered.
“Right.” Stone’s fingers massaged his temples. “How did we not put it together? What was Caulleou’s call signal?”
“Son of a bitch,” Andy groaned. “‘Diablo’. That fucker’s call sign was ‘diablo’.”
“And you still went for a run?” Nash asked him.
“Yeah. I made the call. I went for a run…”
Gunner’s eyes went wide that time. “You asshole,” he whispered.
Sebastian stepped forward. “You don’t make that call, Stone. Ever. I’m still your team leader. Gunner’s your second. You don’t get to make the call to end things! Not without talking to us. Not without getting help.”
“I didn’t want to?—”
“Bullshit.” Seb spit back. “You didn’t fucking loop us in. You pushed Mae away, broke her heart so she would stay away and be safe. Don’t you fucking tell me that you weren’t planning on that being the end.”
Stone’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t expect it that morning. I swear. I didn’t think it’d be like that. I just wanted to keep everyone safe. To pay my penance…”
A gasp filled the silence, and Stone looked up to see tears in Lacy’s eyes. Sloane was wrapped in Gage’s arms, reaching up to wipe a tear from his buddy’s eye.
“Don’t fucking move. I called Jake. He’s going to comelook you over while we figure out where the fuck Caulleou is.” Sebastian ordered.
“I’m fine,” he protested.
