Monty grunted—and Zane quickly rose and fired again, nailing him center mass, right in the chest.
Straight through the heart.
Zane took two steps toward Monty, now on the floor, and waited for his cousin to take his final breath. When his chest finally stopped moving and he stared up at the ceiling, unseeing, Zane raced back to Bonnie. Feeling nothing but relief that his cousin was dead.
He opened the door to the basement and his world narrowed.
“Bonnie?” He dropped to his knees in front of her. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing, brows tugged together. He cupped her cheek. “Bonnie, honey, open your eyes.”
She didn’t. And it set off a surge of panic in his body.
Quickly, he lifted her again.
On his way to the door, car engines roared outside. Not just engines. Sirens from patrol cars.
Jesse. The guys had figured out where he was. Thank God!
When he stepped outside, there were three patrol cars and two civilian vehicles. Guns pointed at him from people taking cover behind vehicles.
Jesse was the first to rise, then Noah beside him.
Noah’s eyes went to Bonnie, face paling.
Zane raced to Jesse’s patrol car. “We need to get to the hospitalnow!”
CHAPTER 30
Zane’s fingers wrapped tightly around Bonnie’s hand. Hours had passed since her surgery.Hours. And she still wasn’t awake. It was killing him. Every minute that passed felt like ten. Every tick of the clock on the walls felt like a hammer in his damn head.
Come on, Bon. Open your eyes. Let me see those pretty hazel specks.
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back, letting his lips linger as he memorized the feel of her skin.
She’d taken a bullet for him. A goddamnbullet. He was so fucking angry. And frustrated and scared and a million other things, none of them good. He couldn’t even feel relieved that Monty was gone. Not with Bonnie in a hospital bed.
Everything about the last twenty-four hours felt like a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.
The only good thing was that Jesse had run the car that had tailed Zane. It was the only gray Charger in Amber Ridge, and it had been owned by the old man who’d lived in the house Monty had taken over.
A knock sounded at the door. Before he could respond, it opened and Noah stepped in.
He looked at Bonnie, brow creasing, before shifting his gaze to Zane. “How is she?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t woken up yet.”
Noah crossed to the bed. “I hate that she was shot.”
“I’m so angry I can barely breathe.”
There was a short pause before Noah said, “You should go home and rest. I can stay with her.”
He could have laughed. “There’s no way I’m leaving her.” And even if he did, even if he drove home and tried to sleep, there was no way he would.
Noah crossed his arms. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”
Veins strained in his neck. “He took her because of her connection to me. Who else’s fault would it be?”
“His. Monty’s. And those idiots who helped him.”
