Adrian Walker…
He looked down at his left hand and saw that the fake wedding ring was gone. Just like…
“Gracie!”
Nate blurted her name as he tried to sit up. Fire spread rapidly throughout his left shoulder and the throbbing in his head got exponentially worse.
“Whoa.” Zade dropped the chair he’d been leaning back in and stood.
To Nate’s right, Matt pushed against his uninjured shoulder. “Easy there, brother.”
Standing on his left, Gabe held up a hand to stop him. “Calm down, Carter. You were shot. You’re going to be fine, but you need to relax.”
“Yeah, man,” Zade tilted his chin toward the dark blue sling supporting Nate’s left arm. “You took one to the shoulder and you have one hell of a concussion.”
Well, that explains the fire and drums.Through the medicinal fog, Nate remembered moving to the right just as Walker pulled the trigger.
He’d wanted like hell to shoot back, but he couldn’t without risking Gracie. So, he’d tried to jump out of the way.
Apparently, he didn’t move fast enough.
“Where’s Gracie? Is she okay?”
Matt and Zade both looked to Gabe, their faces full of trepidation. True to his character, their team leader didn’t bother to sugarcoat it.
“We’re still trying to find her.”
Oh, God.“How long?”
Regret flashed across Gabe’s eyes. “You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the last day and a half.”
Sonofabitch.“Ihave to get out of here.”Nate used his good arm to throw the sheet and blanket off his legs.
“You need to keep your ass exactly where it is.” Matt spouted back.
Without turning to look at his teammate, Nate growled, “I have to find her.”
“And we will,” Gabe assured him.
Nate looked up to see his team leader’s cool eyes zeroed in on his. As usual, he appeared calm and rational.Fuck that.
“Adrian Walker has her, Dawson. That murdering sonofabitch has her.”
“We know.”
That took Nate by surprise. “How?”
“Larry Hays.”
It took him a minute to place the name. “The man staying in the cabin next to ours?”
Gabe nodded. “The retired sheriff, yeah. He and his wife were inside watching T.V. when they heard the shots. Hays ran back to their bedroom and grabbed his rifle. Got outside just in time to see Walker put Gracie into a black SUV and speed off.”
Nate’s pulse spiked from the image Gabe’s words created. He felt like he was going to puke.
Matt spoke up. “Hays said he didn’t want to shoot for fear he’d hit Gracie, so he focused on helping you. Found you bleeding and unconscious and called it in. His wife kept pressure on your shoulder until EMS got there.”
“You were taken to the local hospital first,” Zade explained. “They stabilized you, and then Ryker’s airlift team arrived a few minutes later to fly you here. Hays may very well have saved your life.”
