He took the nurse’s phone and dialed his brother.
“Hello?” Ryker answered the unknown number by raising his voice several octaves.
“Ry. It’s Denver.”
Ryker’s breath rushed through the line. “Thank God. Where are you? What’s going on? Your phone is off, and—”
“They have Noni and Talia.” Black dots danced across his vision, and Denver shook his head to clear it. “I need help.”
“We know. Jory was monitoring your area and saw it go down. We changed course and headed that way immediately. Where are you?” Ryker asked urgently.
Denver’s chest heaved. His brothers were there. Of course they were there. That’s what brothers did. Relief and gratitude warmed through him. For a second. Holy shit. His vision went completely black. He swerved the car over and shook his head again. The world cleared. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
“Get somewhere safe,” Ryker ordered. “Denver. Now.”
Denver swallowed down bile, his head ringing. He took a turn into a residential area, drove around, and came out the other side. Driving several blocks, he pulled into a parking area at a fast-food restaurant. “I’m at the McDonald’s in Bordertown, Idaho,” he mumbled, trying to shift his weight so his ribs stopped hurting. “Might wanna bring a first-aid kit.”
He cut the engine and leaned his head back on the seat. Silence surrounded him. Snow dropped onto the windshield in big fluffy flakes, soon covering it. That was good. His brothers would come. He trusted them.
Swallowing, he tried not to think about Noni and Talia. Yet his thoughts kept going to them. They had to be safe. Noni would fight to the death for that baby, and so would he. He’d give his life for either one of them. Where were they? He should’ve stayed and tortured Cobb, but there hadn’t been time. God, his heart hurt. Was Noni still alive?
He had to find her. Digging deep, he opened his eyes. He leaned over and grabbed Cobb’s phone, quickly disengaging the GPS. Maybe they could find Madison with it. Find wherever she’d taken Noni and Talia. He had believed Cobb when he said Isobel would’ve escaped without him. She was a snake.
His side hurt like a bitch, and the smell of his blood filled the car.
The door was suddenly wrenched open, and Ryker stood there with Heath by his side.
So much relief filled Denver he couldn’t speak.
Ryker winced and bent to help him from the car. “Dude. You’re bleeding all over.”
Denver gritted his teeth to keep from groaning. “Need stitches.” He allowed Heath to set a shoulder under his other arm. They moved through the snow to a dark green Suburban, where they put Denver in the middle seat. Heath sat next to him.
He tried to turn and smile at Anya and Zara in the far back. Their eyes were wide. “Hi. Missed you guys,” he mumbled.
Zara handed over a blanket. “How bad is it?” she asked.
“Just a flesh wound,” he lied, his vision going again.
Anya patted his shoulder, her gaze concerned but her voice level. “You’ll be okay.”
Ryker grabbed the phones from the other car and ran to get into the driver’s seat, then quickly pulled out of the lot. “Where to?”
“Cobb said the soldiers took Noni and the baby to Coeur d’Alene to meet Madison,” Denver said, his entire body in pain.
Ryker coughed. “Then it’s a trap. Somewhere.”
“Yeah, but we have no choice,” Denver said, his ears ringing. And it was a shitty trap since he didn’t even know where to go.
“Okay,” Ryker said grimly. “Can you make it about an hour to the Coeur d’Alene safe house at the lake? We should regroup there.”
Denver closed his eyes. He’d failed them. “Yeah.”
“Madison isn’t just sitting around here in northern Idaho,” Ryker countered. “She’s probably already gone from there, but at least we’re headed in the right direction.”
Denver couldn’t think any longer.
Heath ignored them both and started unbuttoning Denver’s deputy shirt. Denver didn’t have the strength to fight him and it was irritating his wound, so he let his brother discard the shirt.
