Prisoner (Criminals & Captives #1)(75)

“Yeah,” Stone says. “He’s taking her off the grounds.”

Of course it would’ve been Nate who took her out. He’d want to get away—his dark side was emerging. The amount of darkness inside Nate is as stunning as the amount of goodness inside him.

I shake off the guys and sit at the side of the bed. Of all the times to see the governor’s humanity. Of all the times to think there’s some f*cking good to come of any of this.

Fuck.

“Fucking hurting and killing him. What does that make us?”

Stone sits up and glares. “Fuck no.” He points an accusing finger at me. “No way.” He’s pissed, and he’s looking right through me at Abby, like she f*cked me up.

I stand. “I’m saying let’s look at this.”

“We’ve looked at it our whole lives,” Stone says. He directs Cruz and the other guys to tie Dorman to the bedposts.

I listen, disoriented, to the furious sound of ripping sheets. Part of me still wants him to pay. I want his pain. It’s all I ever wanted, but when Abby talked to me that way, when she told me I was good—that she loved me—it changed something.

“Please, no,” Dorman says. “Please.”

“Shut up.” Stone drives a fist into the man’s belly, then he flicks out his blade. Will Stone really slice off his balls and shove them into his mouth? Will Calder rip his guts out?

“I’m sorry,” Dorman rasps.

Sorry. And I feel this new kind of pain.

Stone’s eyes meet mine. He never could stand to see me in pain. Not any of us.

He stalks over to the governor, and with a movement swift and sure, he shoves the blade in the man’s throat. There’s this gurgling sound. “One blade to protect my brothers, one blade for vengeance,” Stone growls. With vicious force, he yanks the blade across the governor’s throat. The gurgling stops. He pulls out the blade and looks up at me, face spattered with blood.

It’s done. A gift.

“Let’s get out of here,” Stone says.

“Fuck me!” Calder has his phone out. “Somebody’s coming. A team. Not the cops. Up the road. The front.”

“Abby,” I breathe.

“They’re safe by now,” Stone says. He’s right. Nate would’ve pulled her out the back the easy way.

“The team’s up on the road, coming in the drive.”

“Take the back stairs.” Calder grabs the pack. We follow him down the hall and down a narrow staircase, careful not to make a sound.

We move out through the dark spaces on the first floor. Just as we clear the study, something crashes. Loud.

Calder speeds up, leading the way out over the veranda, and we all follow. A gun blast rips the cool night air.

Cruz disappears from my periphery. I look back. He’s down.

“Fuck!” I shoot wildly into the house as the guys pull him over the stone rail. He’s hit in the thigh.

“I’ll cover,” Stone shouts. “Get him the f*ck up to that ridge. We’ll crash out with the Hummer. I’ll find Nate and Abby.”

Stone is already in position, shooting from between the stone balustrades. It should be me going after Nate and Abby, but there’s no time to argue. Calder and Knox have Cruz between them. They need me taking rear or none of them will make it out alive.

Every part of me screams to find Abby, to be the one to make sure she’s safe, but I can’t abandon my crew. We rush across the dark, grassy lawn and out the back gate, which we’d unlocked.

“You keeping pressure okay?” Calder pants.

“Yeah,” Cruz says. “I don’t think it’s an artery.” We carry him up the hill, helping each other. It’s slow going.

Finally we arrive up top, up to the Hummer. We lay him out on the ground. Calder’s talking to Cruz, about where the pain is, how he feels, in case Cruz’s passed out by the time Nate comes.

I go to the edge of the hill, wounded shoulder screaming in pain and wet with blood. Nate’ll have to stitch me back up, but I don’t care.

You can see everything from up top. The place is lit with flashing red, and all I can think about is Abby. Out there with Nate. Freaked out of her mind. And what if the cops get her? Even worse, what if the governor’s men get her?

There’s a rustling from the bushes to the side. I lift my piece.

“It’s me.” Nate.

“Where’s Abby?” I say.

“Stone’s getting her out the access alley.”

“Fuck!”

“She’s slow.” Nate kneels at Cruz’s side. Calder trains a flashlight on the wound as Nate cuts away the bloody fabric. “They’ll circle back.”

The guys have been casing this place and preparing forever, and there are endless escape ideas and contingency plans. This one’s the obvious choice, and easier on Abby too, but I still don’t like it.

Nate’s asking Cruz questions, hands all over the wound. “You’re okay,” he’s saying. “This isn’t a bad one.” I hear the rip of medical tape.

I look out over the sea of flashing red. Calder comes to my side and hands me the binoculars.

I lift them to my eyes and try to find where Stone and Abby could be, but it’s too dark, and the side escape route has a wall blocking most of the way. I give them back to Calder and call Stone. It goes to voicemail. I don’t like the feeling I get.