Fuck that.
She’d saved his life. And even if she hadn’t, after one look at the bruised and bloodied, fragile slip of a woman, there was no way in hell he wouldn’t move heaven and earth to makedamnsure she was protected at all times. This was personal. This wasn’t a DSS mission where she’d be assigned to a team or another man. She washisto protect. And if Caleb, Beau or Dane had a problem with that, then they could go to hell. He’d hand in his resignation and take on the job himself.
“What the fuck?” Zeke roared as he and Dex appeared in front of Isaac. “You said you hadn’t taken a hit. Jesus fuck, there’s blood everywhere. You need an ambulance and to get to the hospitalnow.”
Isaac sighed and then simply pulled away the blood-soaked shirt so they could see the unmarred flesh of his skin.
“Look, guys, I know what it looks like but if I told you what happened, even with the shit you’ve been exposed to working for DSS, you’d likely haul my ass to a psych ward.”
“Try us,” Dex said calmly.
Isaac blew out his breath and then related the entire story, from the time he saw his door open to when he took a mortal shot to the chest and was miraculously healed by the mystery woman.
To their credit, the only response they displayed was a rise in their brows.
“So you just let her go? Without protection? So those assholes get another shot at her?” Zeke asked in disbelief.
“I made her take my ride,” Isaac snapped, glaring at Zeke. “I wasn’t in a position to protectmyself, much less her, and I couldn’t justify such a huge risk to her when I knew my backup would be here within minutes.”
Shadow appeared seemingly from nowhere, but his scowl indicated he’d been privy to the entire explanation. Which was just as well, since Isaac really didn’t want to rehash it.
“And that helps her how?” Zeke asked in a persistent tone.
Isaac shook his head at how slow on the uptake Zeke was. And reinforced his glare, his nostrils flaring in irritation. “She took mycompanyvehicle.”
Realization flickered in his teammate’s eyes.
“You going after her?” Shadow asked, drawing Isaac’s ire from Zeke and right on himself.
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” Isaac snarled.
“Okay, sowhendo we go after her?” Dex questioned.
“Now,” Isaac said impatiently. “Hell, it didn’t even look like she knew how to drive, so it’s not like it’ll be that hard to tail her. While we’re wasting time here rehashing shit that can wait, they could be on her even now.”
Zeke gave him a concerned look. “Shouldn’t you go to the ER or at least the private clinic used by DSS just to get you checked out?”
“And tell them what exactly,” Isaac said his patience fraying precariously. “That I was shot in the chest, heart and lung hit? Bled like a stuck pig and I felt myself dying and oh, by the way, my mystery woman laid hands on me and healed me? Ifeltthe damage being repaired from the inside out. Trust me. If a doctor examined me, he’d find no evidence of a gunshot wound.”
Dex whistled. “That’s some pretty crazy shit.”
Isaac snorted. “After knowing what Ramie, Ari and Gracie can do, nothing should surprise you by now.”
“Yeah, man, but this is different,” Shadow said quietly. “Shehealspeople. She pulled you back from the brink of death. You said it yourself. You felt yourself dying, shutting down, and yet now no one would ever know you’d even been injured at all. That goes beyond the psychic abilities our women possess.”
“Yeah,” Isaac said, blowing out his breath. “Now you’re getting it. Which is why I have to find her as soon as possible before someone else nabs her. She’s going to have a target on her back for the rest of her life. Probably always has. Makes sense to me now that I know the story and why she was trying to steal my ride, why her face was so battered and she wasn’t dressed for shit. Hell, she didn’t even have shoes, for fuck’s sake.”
Zeke’s expression blackened to the point of being murderous. “You never said some asshole had beat her up.”
Dex and Shadow’s reactions were no less volatile.
“Help me up and let’s get the fuck on the road. We’ll need to activate the tracking system on my SUV so we know where she is and how far she got, or if she’s still going.”
Though it was left unsaid, the grim expressions on their faces reflected the knowledge that she could already be in her pursuers’ hands.
THREE
“FUCK,”Isaac ground out from the passenger seat as Zeke drove and Shadow and Dex rode in the backseat of the SUV.
