Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(39)

K-man touched him on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t lie about this. We brought you in four months ago. You’d just about bled out, had enough shrapnel in you to build a missile, and you had more broken bones than bruises.”

“Kaya,”he whispered. Dear God, what was Kaya thinking? They’d told her they’d be a few weeks. They’d left her alone with only enough food for a few months.

“I’ve got to get out of here,”he said as he sat forward.

Immediately, pain speared through his chest, leaving him gasping for air. He tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, but they didn’t cooperate.

“Whoa, man, chill out. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Jericho found himself held down on both sides. He struggled against the constraints. “I have to go. You don’t understand. I’ve got to get back.”

K-man got in his face, his eyes blacker than night. “What I understand is that I’ll sit on you if I have to. Lay back and keep your ass in bed, or I’ll have you physically restrained. You got me?”

“Kaya. She’s alone. You’ve got to let me go, K. This is important.”

“I can’t do that, Jericho. Not until the doc clears you. You almost died. I doubt you could walk out of here if you wanted.”

Frustration beat painfully at his temples. His jaw clenched until his teeth ached. “I’m only going to ask this once, K. And you better be straight with me.”

“You know I will.”

K-man relaxed his hold on Jericho and nodded at the nurse, who also let go. She backed away. “I’ll be outside if you need me,”she said quietly.

“I need to know exactly what’s wrong with me, and I want to know what happened to Hunter.”

“You’re pretty busted up. Ribs. Left leg. Dislocated shoulder. Concussion. Numerous cuts, burns and bruises. They put you in a drug-induced coma for a long time until the swelling in your brain went down.”

“And Hunter?”

“Pretty much the same. He was paralyzed for a while. We worried it would be permanent, but they removed a piece of shrapnel from his spine and when the swelling went down, he regained feeling in his legs. He’s been out of it. He keeps calling Kaya’s name. Interesting that you mentioned her as well.”

Jericho’s lips pressed together in a tight line. “I need to see him.”

K-man shook his head.

“Don’t tell me no,”Jericho said fiercely. “I don’t care how it happens. I have to see him. Get me a wheelchair or help me out of bed. Just get me in there.”

“I think it’d be easier to have him come here,”K-man said dryly. “At least he can walk.”

“Get him. I don’t care how it happens. And then we’re getting out of here.”

K-man stared hard back at Jericho. “What’s going on here, Jericho? What’s so important that you’d risk leaving when you’re not even close to being ready? We’re a team. You know if you need something, you only have to ask. We’ll take care of it.”

Jericho closed his eyes. What K said was true. If it were anything else, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask K-man to take care of it. But he couldn’t ask him to go to the cabin and get Kaya. It was too risky. He’d given his word that he’d never share her secret with anyone. He wouldn’t risk her that way. He had to talk to Hunter, and they had to get the hell back to Colorado.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kaya stood outside the small general store, her heart pounding thunderously. Her palms were damp, and her stomach rolled and heaved. How silly that the thought of going inside terrified her so. She belonged in this world just like everyone else did.

But humans had a history of letting her down.

She jumped when a man came out of the shop in front of her. He stood there, holding the door open as he looked at her. It took her a moment to realize he was waiting for her to go in.

“Thank you,”she murmured as she hurried by.

She was immediately assaulted by a barrage of smells. Meats, so many different kinds. Her first priority had to be food. Clothing could wait. She had no money, and so she could only take what she could easily hide, which wasn’t much given her flimsy shirt and burgeoning belly.

Making sure she wasn’t being watched, she walked toward the back. If there was no one in the rear of the store, she could simply duck out the service entrance with whatever she could grab fast.

When she was sure she was unobserved, she slipped a packet of ham in the elastic band at her waist. She reached for two more that she placed at her sides, disguised by the loose fit of her shirt.

Behind her, she heard the roll of a grocery cart, and she bolted for the doorway leading to the back of the store. Her fingers were on the door when a hand reached out and captured her wrist.

She let out a startled cry and stumbled back, staring up at the man who held her.

“Ma’am, would you come with me?”he asked politely.

Oh no. How had he seen her? Where had he come from? A policeman, of all things. To her further horror, the packages of ham slipped down her leg and fell out of her pants onto the floor.

He didn’t look angry. There was an odd expression in his eyes. He gently helped her to her feet, and to her further surprise, he led her out the back way instead of making her run the gauntlet to the front and onto the street where she would be in plain sight of anyone passing.