Suddenly McGuinness lunged forward, grabbing Sheridan’s gun and wrestling it free. Sheridan ducked down behind her chair and McGuinness pointed the gun at Kelsi, his eyes manic, face twisted in anger.
Kelsi closed her eyes, and a gunshot ripped through the room. Time seemed to slow as the sound reverberated through her ears in the small space. She flinched, expecting the bullet to hit her, but the pain never came.
Slowly, she cracked her eyes, craning her neck to see where McGuinness had been standing. He lay on the floor, eyes open and empty, a hole in the center of his forehead. Blood slowly started spreading from underneath his head, and the wall behind him was splattered and—
Her stomach heaved, and she pinched her eyes shut.
She flinched again when cool hands touched hers. She opened her eyes to find the familiar man kneeling in front of her with a switchblade, cutting her binds. His gray eyes were kind and concerned as he looked up at her. His mouth moved, and she struggled to hear him through the ringing in her ears.
“I’m Kole, Dylan’s friend. We’re gonna cut you free and get you outside to see Dylan and Abby, then have you checked out by an ambulance, okay?”
She could only nod and massage her wrists in her hands once they were freed, trying to get some circulation back in as Kole moved to free her ankles. She barely registered the SWAT officers ushering Sheridan out in handcuffs from the room.
Kole stood in front of her and asked softly, “Can you walk?”
She mutely nodded again, rising unsteadily. Taking a step, she stumbled, and Kole quickly scooped her up in his arms, carrying her from the room.
Kelsi didn’t register any of her surroundings as Kole carried her through the hallway, downstairs, and out the front door. She saw flashing red and blue lights as an ambulance sped up the drive in front of them.
Dylan’s concerned face filled her vision, and he pulled her from Kole’s arms into his own. It was like the dam broke, and her emotions flooded back in, followed by all the noise around them, and it was all she could do to hold on to his neck as the punishing tide of fear, anger, and relief threatened to drag her under. She vaguely heard Abby from somewhere nearby, but she only had eyes for Dylan as he clutched her tightly to his chest.
“Red.”
CHAPTER 48
Dylan
2 Hours and 45 Minutes to Trial
His heart hadnearly stopped when he saw her in Kole’s arms emerging from the house. When they’d heard the gunshot, both he and Abby sprinted for the house but were stopped by SWAT, who held them back from the scene.
The next few minutes of waiting were excruciating. Abby clung to him tightly, her nails carving little crescent moons into his forearms, but he said nothing. The pain grounded him and kept his mind from spiraling too far.
When Kole finally appeared with Kelsi, the sight of her nearly sent him to his knees. The two of them ducked past the SWAT officers and rushed to Kole. He looked exhausted. The past hour had taken a large toll on him. Dylan didn’t spare too long looking his friend over, though. Instead, his attention was fixed on the traumatized girl in his arms.
Blood was splattered on the side of her face and on her clothes, and one cheek was slightly red and puffy, but she didn’t appear to have any significant wounds. He couldn’t hold himself back and he stole her from Kole’s arms, being careful not to jostle her in case she had any injuries he couldn’t see, tuckingher in close. His arms banded around her, wanting to hold her close and never let go again.
“Red.” His voice cracked on her nickname.
“Dylan,” she cried, tears slowly trailing down her face as she moved her head back to look at him.
She winced at the movement, though, and he immediately turned toward the ambulance parked in the drive. Kelsi needed to be examined, and not until she was given the all clear would he be able to relax.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding his breath until she answered.
She merely nodded against his chest, and he realized she was going into shock. Her face was pale and dulled as though her life force had been drained. Her eyes were unfocused, a telltale sign of shock. He’d seen that look on plenty of his green soldiers on tour the first time they saw combat.
Behind them, a couple of SWAT officers escorted Sheridan from the house in handcuffs and shoved him unceremoniously into the back of a patrol car that had pulled up after the ambulance. His blood boiled as he realized that it was Sheridan all along who’d been stalking Kelsi, eventually helping McGuinness kidnap her. He had never wanted to harm anyone more than he wanted to beat Sheridan into a bloody pulp at that moment, but he had Kelsi to worry about.
He carried her to the ambulance, where the paramedics had a stretcher set up. Dylan figured they’d been a mere minute away from barging over to them to start her examination.
The paramedics were both women, one around his age and the other maybe two decades his senior. Dylan was close enough to them now that he could hear the older paramedic ask herpartner if she was okay with examining Kelsi alone while she went to check with SWAT to see if there were any others with injuries. The younger woman waved her off and gestured at Dylan to set Kelsi down.
“I need some more room to fully examine her.” She pulled a pair of rubber gloves on, glanced over Kelsi, and asked, “What’s your name?”
Dylan glanced down at Kelsi, still in his arms, but she didn’t appear to register the paramedic’s question at all.
He cleared his throat. “Her name’s Kelsi. Kelsi Cameron.”
