Jessie hadn’t been paying attention to what was happening with her brother. But she should have been. Her stomach pitched as the sound of metal banged so loudly in the garage that her ears rang like a gunshot had gone off. She turned in an instant, looking for Lachlan, but a true horror was playing out in front of her. Because the restored car, the one that had been high in the air, was now on the ground. It’d fallen, and the only people still standing were the men that barged in. A different sound filled the air in an instant, and Jessie’s knees buckled.
“LACHLAN!” she screamed as she stumbled towards him.
“Shit. We need to get out of here.” The masked man growled over her shoulder. Some part of her knew that she needed to file away the sound of his voice for later, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than her brother, who was screaming out in pain. Her eyes traveled down from his face to his chest, over his waist, and then down to his legs. Only, she couldn’t see both of them. One of his legs was being crushed under the car!
Her tears blurred her vision. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay, Lach. I’m going to get help.”
“Get… outta… here…”
“NO! I just need to get to the office. My phone… my stupid phone!”
Jessie felt a tap on her shoulder. Her eyes flewup to the masked man, who was standing facing away from her. But his arm was held out, her phone illuminated with 9-1-1 on the line.
She snatched it from his hand, watching as he left the garage.A dragon tattoo wrapped around his forearm.Jessie filed that information away for later.The other two men must have made a run for it, because in an instant, she and Lach were the only two left.
“Jessie… you need… the baby…”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m getting you help. We’re fine. And you’re going to be too,” she sobbed as her shaking hands finally brought the phone up to her ear.
Thirty-Two
Mae stood to the side of the punching bag, waving her hand wildly, clearly trying to get Hawk’s attention. He removed the earbud that was pumping music into his head, drowning out all the anxious thoughts, and frowned.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“What are you doing? You need to be heading out to the ranch. The girls and I are leaving in like ten minutes.”
As if they heard Mae talking about them, Lily and Sloane walked in the front door of Montgomery defense, Sloane carrying Sage on her hip as they giggled about something.
“I just needed to get some energy out.”
“Some anxious energy?”
“Yeah.”
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
“Nope. I’m good. Just lost track of time.”
“Go cool off. Take a shower. Jessie will throw up if you show up all sweaty and stinky.” Mae waved her hand in front of her face and stuck her tongue out.
“She actually likes me that way…”
“Yeah, okay,Chief,”Lily teased as she stepped beside Mae.
“Ha ha,” he cringed as he took off towards the locker room, leaving the women to laugh over Jessie’s nickname for him.
One good skill Hawk had never forgotten from his time in the Navy was the ability to take a full shower in under five minutes. So, he wasn’t surprised when he hopped out of the shower, towel wrapped around his hips and his hair still dripping, and the clock said only a few minutes had passed. Hawk finished drying off, slipping into a fresh pair of gym shorts just before his phone started ringing.
“Colt. Are you guys already at the ranch?”
“Hawk. You need to get over to Lach’s shop. Now.”
He froze the instant he heard the emotion in Colt’s voice. “What’s going on? What happened?” How the fuck hadn’t he heard the sirens in the background of the call until just then?
“Yeah… yeah, I’m coming. No, he’s almost here. Don’t fucking touch her if she doesn’t want to be touched.”Colt’s voice was distant, like he’d moved the phone away from his mouth to talk to someone over his shoulder.“Hawk, I gotta go. Just get here. Jessie needs you.”
Jessie needed him.
