“By then Taz was coming around. I got the knife and started cutting Wolf down. He kept telling me to leave him and go. I thought I’d never get through that thick rope, but I kept sawing at. I wasn’t going to stop. Finally, it frayed and snapped. Wolf told me to get the gun. I’d forgotten about the gun. I brought it to him, and he shot Taz. Three times.”
Cole nodded.
“That’s when Wolf passed out. I drove the van over to him and got him inside. I don’t know where I had the strength to do that, adrenaline I guess.” She started shaking.
Cole approached her and put an arm around her, pulling her to him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You did good, Crystal.”
She hugged him. “He can’t die, Cole.”
“He won’t, babe. He’s strong.” Cole glanced around. “You touch anything else?”
“That’s it.”
“You sure?” His arms fell to her upper arms and pushed her back, looking down at her face. “You gotta be sure, darlin’.”
She nodded. “I’m sure.”
He nodded back. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.” Her eyes moved to the woods, where Dog and Green hadn’t returned from yet. “They’ll be cleaning this up all night. Let’s get you to the hospital and your man.”
She nodded, and they moved toward the bike.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Cole sat on a vinyl couch in the hospital waiting area. Crystal was snuggled against his chest sound asleep, her legs tucked under her. She’d finally given in to exhaustion after sitting up with Wolf all night. He’d yet to regain consciousness.
Cole felt his cell vibrate and slid his hand in his pocket to retrieve it. Looking at the screen, he smiled and put it to his ear, answering quietly so as not to wake Crystal.
“Hey, babe.”
Angel spoke in his ear. “How’s Wolf?”
“He’s still unconscious. They repaired all the damage and gave him blood. They’re watching him closely. They want to make sure he doesn’t have any organ damage from the blood loss. His blood pressure is still pretty low. They’re giving him something that’s supposed to help with that. Now we just wait, I guess.”
“Please tell me he’ll be okay, Cole.”
“He’s a fighter. He’ll pull through this, Angel.”
“Okay,” she said in a soft voice.
“How are the kids?”
“Fine. They miss their daddy.”
“I wish I could say I’ll be home soon, but I’m not leaving until we can bring him home with us.”
“I know, honey. I wouldn’t expect anything less. How is Crystal doing?”
“She’s asleep on my shoulder at the moment. She finally passed out about twenty minutes ago.”
“I should come up there and be with her, she probably needs another woman right now.”
“Baby, she’s fine. I’m taking care of her. All of the boys are.”
“Are you sure? I could catch a flight and be there in a few hours.”
“Angel, she’ll be okay.”
“All right, honey.”