No wonder I didn’t hear anything, it has a silencer on it. This isn’t the time to be wondering about that, not when the burning sensation in my abdomen is spreading, and blood is pouring between my fingers when I try to see where it’s hurting.
He’s not taking her, as long as I have breath in me, I won’t let him. I stumble forward on my knees, my head spinning as a wave of dizziness takes over.
I somehow manage to lurch up screaming at him to let her go. He pushes her back and the gun points at me. Throwing myself sideways, the shot goes wide, another spit of the gun, then pain rips through my shoulder and I fall backwards.
Cassie is screaming again, but it’s not fear, it’s pure unadulterated rage. The man grunts and from where I’m lying I can see her pushing against him. I can’t make out what is happening, but he grabs her hand and slams it back against the wall. Something clatters to the floor.
A knife. Good girl, Cassie. I try to move again but another wave of dizziness stops me. No. No. This can’t happen. He’s dragging her and they fall to the ground. Why the fuck didn’t I call War before we went to bed, have someone watching Roderick. I never thought he would do this. And how the fuck did he know where she is?
The thoughts start to jumble as the pain becomes unbearable. The sound of Cassie’s struggle gets further away, like they’re underwater. If I lose consciousness, she’s dead. I can’t let that happen.
I roll over, blood pulsing from the wound in my side but nothing works, my arm gives way when I try to push up.
He drags Cassie across the floor and pulls her up by her hair, then he slams his elbow into her face and she goes limp. I wait for him to finish me but he runs out of the door with her over his shoulder. I scream and start dragging myself across the floor, a burst of adrenalin giving me the strength to move. But it’s not enough. A car starts and takes off outside.
The room starts to fade but not before I spot her phone on the floor, with weak fingers I grab it, almost losing my grip from all the blood. I have her passcode and manage to get it unlocked. My fingers aren’t working, there is no way I can call anyone, but the SOS app is there, on the home screen.
Thank fuck. I tap it, missing a few times before it finally bulges and a beep goes off. It falls from my hand, clattering on the wooden floor and I fall onto my back staring up at the ceiling. Just long enough to hear the phone start to ring.
There is a lot of noise around me, someone is prodding at me. I try to push them off. Then it feels like I’m flying and more voices and hands are all over me. What the hell is happening?
A pain tears through me and someone apologizes, then another voice and gentler hands are on me. It starts coming back to me in slow increments and I blink my eyes open, wincing at the bright light.
Doc is leaning over me. What the hell is Doc doing here? Where am I? At the house. With Cassie.
“Cassie,” I shudder and try to get up but I’m held down.
“Handlebar don’t move.” Another face swims into my vision as I blink hard. “You were shot, lost a lot of blood, let Doc deal with it and stay still.”
“Cassie,” I repeat.
Hudson nods. “We’re trying to find her.”
“He took her… She fought him.”
“Don’t talk,” Doc says, his hands working fast.
War is standing next to him, handing him what he needs. I struggle to get up but am held down. The pain is fucking unbearable and I let out a loud groan, Doc apologizes but doesn’t stop what he’s doing.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood,” he says. “I need to stop it and get fluids into him. War grab that bag, I need something to hold it up. Hudson find a vein so I can get this into him.”
Everything is blurring again but I turn my head to see Ballistic. He’s on his phone but he’s watching me. Fuck, I let them take his daughter.
“I tried.”
Ballistic nods. “I know.”
“Do you remember who took her, how he got her out of here? Anything?” War asks as Doc shoves a needle into my vein.
“Fuck,” I grunt. “I didn’t, he was in a car. I didn’t see him… But Vance..”
“We’re sending men to his house now. If he has her, we’ll get her back, Handlebar. You did everything you could.”
I growl and push at Doc. “It wasn’t enough. I have to find…” My eyes roll and I lose the battle again, passing out cold.
The next time I wake up someone else is screaming. The pain doesn’t feel as bad, it’s a different feeling, like I’m floating. They’ve given me something for the pain and it’s dulling my senses. I do feel better though. If a debilitating, burning sensation is better.
The voice starts shouting again. It’s Mace. War is trying to calm him down, but he’s losing his shit. He sees me awake andruns over.
