Roped In (Armed & Dangerous, #2)(4)

“Nick doesn’t have a gun. What if he’s hurt?” I cried. Gabriella loosened her grip, but kept a vigilant watch of the house. I wished I was strong like her. I’d be able to take care of myself instead of having others do it.

“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine,” she said, but even I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“Gabby!” Paxton yelled from inside the house. “I need help in here.”

She jerked me to my feet and we both took off for the house. When I got inside, the smell of blood was overwhelming. Everything came crashing down the second I saw Scott and Nick on the floor, covered in blood. But it was Scott who was unmoving, lifeless, his unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling.

“Scott!” I cried. Paxton rushed over and took his pulse. The pained look on his face was answer enough. I stumbled over and fell to my knees beside him. “He has to be alive.” But he wasn’t; he was gone.

“Hadley,” Nick croaked. Gasping, I crawled over to him and placed a hand over his. Blood oozed out of the wound in his gut. He glanced over at Scott’s still form and closed his eyes. “He . . . saved me.”

“Where did the shooter go?” Paxton demanded.

Nick swallowed hard. “Back door.” His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body shook.

“Nick! Hang on, please,” I cried. Putting my hands over his wound, I attempted to stem the blood flow.

Sirens blared down the street, but they were going to be too late.

Growling, Paxton dashed toward the back door. “I’m going after the f*cker.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched Nick’s life slowly slip away. Gabriella rummaged through my house and came back with a towel. I took it from her and placed it over the wound.

“Nick, stay with us,” Gabriella commanded, as I applied pressure to the wound. It seemed to help, but what did I know.

He turned to me, his sea green eyes glassy and full of tears. His body stopped convulsing, and was replaced with a sense of calm. “I wanted . . . to protect you.”

“Did you see who it was?” Gabriella asked softly.

He closed his eyes, his grip on my arm loosening.

“Nick? Nick. Don’t you dare die on me,” I shouted.

The police and paramedics burst into the room and rushed over. Gabriella put her arm around me and everything moved in slow motion. I subconsciously noted how Nick and Scott’s blood had soaked through my jeans, but I didn’t care. All I could do was sit there, realization staring me in the face. Scott was dead and Nick laid in a pool of his own blood . . . because of me. It was all my fault.





Hadley

“You gonna be okay by yourself?” Gabriella asked.

Nodding, I hugged her and Paxton both. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for trying to catch the guy who did this. You risked your life,” I said to Paxton.

He shrugged. “I just wish I’d caught the f*cker. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.”

I nodded. “I will. But I think you’ve done more than enough for me at this point. I really can’t thank you enough.”

They made their way to the door just as my phone started to ring. It was Felicity. Everything had moved so fast, all I could tell her after the accident was that Nick was in the hospital and that she had to get there. I dreaded having to explain the details.

“Felicity.”

“What the hell is going on? What happened to Nick?” she demanded, her voice rough. I could hear squealing tires in the background.

I had cried so much, I didn’t think it was possible to shed another tear. My mind was numb and my whole body hurt. “Someone broke into my house and shot Nick and Scott. Scott didn’t make it. They told me to run, and . . .” I stopped and threw a hand over my mouth. The guilt came rushing back. I hated myself for putting them in that situation. “They told me to run and I did. Scott would be alive if it wasn’t for me. And who knows about Nick,” I sobbed.

“It’s not your fault. Nick will be okay. We have to believe he’ll be okay.” We cried together until the police chief, Robert Wilson, cleared his throat.

“Felicity, call me as soon as you find anything out about Nick. I have to go.”

We said our goodbyes and I turned to face the chief.

“I know this is a difficult time for you, but I need to ask you some questions,” he said. Robert was a middle-aged man with salt and peppered hair and almost a head taller than me, which was pretty tall considering I was five foot ten. I looked up at him and nodded.

“Okay. But I should probably call my dad before this gets onto the news.”

He shook his head. “No need. I called him already.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Does he know about Scott?”

He sighed and when I opened my eyes, he nodded. “He was a good friend of your father’s, just like I am. George and I go way back, Miss Rivers. And with everything that’s happened, I have a solution to keep you safe. Now follow me. We have a long night ahead of us.”





“You’re moving me where?” I gasped, shooting to my feet. Robert sat back in his chair while I paced his office.

Before he could respond, my father spoke up first, his deep voice resonating out of the telephone speaker. “I’m sorry, pumpkin. I know this isn’t want you want, but we have to keep you safe, at all costs.”