“The one in the chamber,” Wilder said as he fired his gun, hitting Buster in the shoulder, making him drop his weapon.
A surprised look crossed Buster’s face, then he fell to the ground. Wilder could feel himself losing consciousness from blood loss as he tried to keep his eyes open.
“Hold on, Wilder,” Reece said as he kneeled beside him.
“I will not die.” Wilder’s words were barely coherent.
“Hell, I know that. You’re too damn hardheaded.”
“Reece? Call Rory for me.”
“She’s going to be pissed, you know.”
“No shit. I’m bleeding out,” Wilder said.
“Did he hit your arm?”
“Between my arm and shoulder…” He tried to keep his eyes open.
“Damn it. Wilder, hold on,” Reece said as he touched his shoulder. “Someone call a fucking ambulance.”
“On the way, Reece,” another agent said. “The guy shot him with a .44 Magnum. Do we need to call anyone?”
“I’ll call Rory and have Dave call his parents.”
“I will not die,” Wilder said again. He knew a .44 Magnum could do some severe damage, even if it was where he was shot.
“You sure as hell better not, Wilder,” Reece said.
Wilder closed his eyes and knew he was losing consciousness, but he couldn’t fight it, and passed out.
****
Rory sat in the waiting room and looked at the elevator when the doors slid open, and she saw Reece step out. He glanced around, and when he spotted her, he strode to her.
“Rory,” he whispered.
She looked up at him and blinked her eyes quickly, then stood and hugged him.
“Reece, thank you for coming.”
“He’s my friend, Rory. I’m so sorry this happened. How is he?”
“He’s in surgery, but the doctor said he lost a lot of blood,” her voice caught as she resumed her seat.
“Reece? What happened?” a man asked.
Rory listened as Reece explained what had happened and shook his head.
“Wilder ran after him and told us to stay put in case he circled back, but the guy hid behind a tree, and when Wilder got close to him, he stepped out and shot him. We ran into the woods but didn’t know which way they’d gone until we heard the shot.” He turned to Rory. “Rory, this is Stephen and Rona Richards, Wilder’s parents. Stephen, Rona, this is Rory Heston. It was on her farm that Wilder was working undercover.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rory. Wilder has talked about you,” Rona said with a smile.
“It’s nice to meet you both.” She looked at Reece. “Tell me you got him.”
“Wilder did.” Reece took a seat beside Rory and held onto her hand.
“I’m so scared,” she whispered.