“What happened,” I asked, as I reached Mercy. She’d taken her cardigan off and had it pressed against the chest of a man leaning against the wall of the school.
“Ben’s been shot! Ohmigod, Landon. We have to do something. I don’t know how bad it is. I just saw the blood and panicked.”
I glanced down at the sweater. “You did the right thing, babe. Keep applying pressure. I’m going to check for an exit wound. Okay?”
Mercy nodded, and I grabbed Ben by the shoulders to lean him forward. No hole. No blood.
“No exit wound. The bullet’s still inside him. We’re gonna have to get him to the hospital to get it removed.”
Ben grabbed my wrist. “No. No hospital. The WSB will find out I’m there and will come finish the job. No hospitals.”
“But Benny, you’ve got to get the bullet out. What if it damaged your lungs?” Mercy asked.
“The WSB?” Havoc asked. He’d followed me out to find Mercy and was standing beside me, scanning the area. “The West Side Boyz did this?”
I’d never been all that familiar with Seattle’s gangs, but everyone knew about the WSB. They were bad news, and if Mercy’s brother had somehow gotten wrapped up with them, they were both in danger. Hell, we probably all were.
“Yes,” Ben replied.
“We should move him,” Havoc’s head was on a swivel. “You got a gun on you?”
Ben nodded and reached in his pocket to retrieve it.
Mercy’s jaw dropped. “You have a gun?”
“I told you, they sent me after a cop.”
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Mercy tried to stand, no doubt to appropriately freak out, but I grabbed her wrist and kept her crouched beside me. “They could still be close. Stay down.”
“We shouldn’t be out in the open like this,” Havoc said, checking the gun’s magazine before flicking off the safety. “Get them inside. I’ll watch your six.”
“Mercy, you go first. Run straight into the building.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m not leaving him. I can help.”
“Please, sis?” Ben asked. “It’s me they want. I’m the one who fucked up. You tried to warn me. None of this is on you.”
Still, she hesitated.
“The sooner you get your ass in the school, the sooner we can follow you,” I pointed out.
She searched my face for a second. “Be careful.” She gave me a quick peck on the lips before giving her brother a stern look. “Youbetter be okay, because we aresonot done with this conversation.”
Ben paled.
“I’m sure he’s aware, babe,” I said. “Go, Havoc will cover you.”
She turned and ran for the front of the building.
“Ben, keep pressure on that wound,” I said, gesturing at his chest. “I’m gonna help you up, then we’re gonna head inside. You got me?”
“Did my sister really just kiss you?” he asked. “Or am I hallucinating?”
“Probably should keep in touch with her better, then you’d know what the hell was going on in her life.” My words were harsh, but I was pissed. Ben had finally shown up, and he’d brought trouble to his sister’s school and endangered her life. Near as I could tell, she’d been in the vicinity when he’d been shot, which meant she could have easily been shot as well.
Ben was on my shit list, and it was taking everything in me to be civil to him.
