I pushed to my feet and started back towards the cabin, my gait a little unsteady. My uninjured arm rose, gun centered on the figure who stepped out of the trees. “Ev, what the hell?”
She slowly lowered her rifle. “Your arm. Oh, God, your arm.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a graze.”
“That is too much blood for a graze. We need to get you back to the cabin. Is he still out there?”
“Long gone. Horseback.”
Sirens sounded as Everly led me up the stairs and towards a chair. “You sit. I’ll get the reinforcements.”
Within moments, Young, Ruiz, and Williams appeared on the back deck. “Shit, boss,” Ruiz said. “Should we call the paramedics?”
Everly answered “Yes,” at the same time I said, “No.” She moved in close. “You have to be kidding me. You’re bleeding all over my deck, and you don’t want a medic? We need to take you to the hospital.”
“Call Hadley. She can stitch me up.”
Ev glared at me. “I’ll call her, but only so that she can drug you so we can take you in.” She pulled out her phone and walked to the other side of the deck to make her call.
“I like her,” Young stated.
“Of course, you do.” I winced as I tried to move my arm.
Young tracked the movement. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital? That looks rough.”
Williams, looking a little green, nodded. “She has a point.”
“I’ll be fine. Hads will get me all patched up, she’s done it before.”
Everly sent me a glare as she walked inside still on the phone.
I turned back to my officers. “Call Forest Service. Unknown male subject on horseback.”
“You get a look?” Ruiz asked.
“Only enough to say, ‘male.’ I think shorter than me, but I can’t be sure. I only saw his back. I think a shot may have hit his arm.”
Ruiz lifted his chin in assent and moved to make his call.
Everly came out of the back door with what looked like a first-aid kit. “Hadley and Shiloh are on their way. They were picking up pizza so it shouldn’t be too long. In the meantime, I need to put pressure on the wound.”
Ev opened the kit and pulled out a gauze pad. She gently pulled up my sleeve and sucked in an audible breath. “This is going to hurt, Hayes.”
“I can take it.”
She slipped her free hand into mine and then pressed the gauze to my wound. “I’m sorry. Just hold on.”
Those same white lights danced in front of my eyes as the pain flared back to life. “I’m okay,” I gritted out.
Young did her best to distract me, asking me to walk her through the night’s events. By the time Hadley and Shiloh arrived, she was running out of questions. Thankfully, Williams had taken that time to bag the rock and clean up the broken glass because even on his bum leg, Koda tore through the cabin
out to the deck like he knew something was wrong.
I held out my hand. “Here, boy. Everything’s okay.” He let out a whine as I scratched behind his ears.
Hadley appeared with her massive medic kit, Shiloh behind her with a stack of two pizzas. Calder was on their trail and seemed to be a mix of worried and exasperated. Hadley took one look at me and simply shook her head. “Really, Hayes?”
“I had to try and get him.”