“Yeah, I figured as much,” Sawyer whispers back. “Harlow wants us to grab the Renards then back off his case. If you ask me, he never meant to kill you. I think Senior’s veering off script.” Then he points at the two guys who left the room with Senior, lying immobile on the concrete floor with blood pooling around them. “I don’t like this, Maddie.”
“Maybe Jonah took them down while you were getting me out.”
“Jonah wouldn’t shoot them,” Sawyer answers, the apprehension leaking into his voice though I can tell he’s trying to act calm and cool. “And he isn’t here.”
“You came in alone?” I whisper in alarm. “Jesus, Huckleberry, what were you thinking?”
“That I needed to get you out,” he replies, his intense gaze fixed on the exit. “We need to make a run for it, Maddie. If Senior went as far as fixing his gun with a silencer to neutralize Harlow’s men, it means he planned ahead and he will do anything to make sure you don’t get out of here alive.”
“Can’t we wait for backup?” There’s a ruckus from the room I was held in. Junior’s shrill voice yells at his father that he’s crazy for killing Harlow’s men, that they’re both dead meat now, indicating they have nothing left to lose, which means we can’t hide and hope Jonah will get here before Senior finds us.
Sawyer turns his gaze to me, squeezing my hand. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
He counts to three, and we take off at a sprint. It hurts like hell, my ribs throbbing with every step from the punches I took to them, and I know I’m slowing us down, but I force myself to push through the pain.
Then Sawyer comes to a screeching halt, his hold on my hand tightening to a painful grip, and I get a glimpse of Senior stepping out of the shadows with a gun aimed straight at me, pulling the trigger.
The next thing I know, Sawyer’s back is all I see, his large frame shielding me.
There’s no gunshot ringing through the air, just Sawyer’s name ripping from my lungs in a shrill cry followed by two dull thuds that barely make him budge. But he can’t stop the choked groans of pain, and the blood in my veins turns to ice.
There’s an explosion and yelling, and Sawyer staggers, turning to me with relief washing over his features. His eyes are full of apology, even as they slowly start to dim.
“I love you,” are the last words he manages to push out with great effort before his body gives in, crumbling to the floor as I drop with him and scramble to his side.
“Sawyer. No–no–no–no–no.” I find his wounds and press firmly on them, my hands and knees drowning in his blood. The sickening sounds he’s making as he struggles to breathe embed into my brain and will undoubtedly fuel horrid nightmares. “You promised you’d never leave me.” I take off my sweatshirt and try to push it under his back to stop the blood gushing out from his exit wounds. “Don’t leave me. Please,” I beg him through hysterical sobs, desperately trying to stop the unending flow of crimson.
I scream when I’m roughly pulled off him, fighting with all my strength, throwing kicks and elbows in every direction.
“Maddie!” The familiar voice that’s been yelling my name repeatedly finally penetrates the panic-induced frenzy I’m in, and I look at the man holding me, recognizing Micah Peak.
My eyes return to Sawyer, and a cry releases from the depths of my gut. His wounds are firmly wrapped in trauma bandages, the bleeding seemingly under control, and there’s a needle sticking out of his chest. But it’s too little, too late.
Jonah and Isaiah are performing CPR, but the way Isaiah’s looking at Jonah as his fingers search for a pulse in Sawyer’s neck tells me he’s given up hope. The only reason he hasn’t stopped is for his brother, who is pressing onto Sawyer’s chest with conviction.
“I am not letting you die, you asshole,” Jonah keeps saying, rather calmly considering his almost crazed determination. “I will drag you back from hell kicking and screaming if I need to, but you arenot fucking dying. Not on my watch.”
It’s too much for me to bear, so I turn and bury my face in Micah’s chest, weeping against his bulletproof vest as he rests protective arms around me. I can hear the ambulance wails approaching, but if Jonah can’t bring Sawyer back, no one will be able to.
“I’ve got a pulse.” Isaiah’s surprised words are so quiet I refuse to believe I really heard them. “Jonah, I’ve got a pulse!”
The second time he says it loud and clear, and I break down. Micah tightens his embrace and holds me up as painful tremors wreak through my bruised body. I register heavy shoes pounding on concrete and yelling as Jonah calls out orders about respiration and preparing blood bags, instructing someone to call the hospital and prepare the OR for a thoracostomy.
All I manage to do is shake in Micah’s arms, barely noticing when he lifts me off the floor to carry me to an ambulance. I watch as Jonah climbs into a different bus with Sawyer on a stretcher, still barking out commands with more authority than I’d ever have credited to the closed-off mild-natured boy.
A blanket is placed around me, and Elijah climbs into the ambulance, shutting the door and taking a seat next to Micah to talk to the paramedic. The words shock and trauma are thrown over my head a few times.
“You’re taking us to the same hospital, right?” I ask with a hoarse voice, The conversation around me ceases, and a paramedic leans closer.
“If that’s what you want,” she replies tentatively, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve been badly beaten. I’m not sure further trauma—”
“I need to be close to Sawyer,” I cut her off. “That bullet was meant for me. He saved me. Heneedsme.” Then I turn to the twins. “Why aren’t you with the police, questioning the men that beat me and tried to kill me?”
“Only one of them is still alive, Maddie.” Elijah’s gruff voice is unusually soft. “And he’s badly injured, they don’t know…” Elijah trails off, eyes full of pain as he looks at Micah, who takes my hand.
“They don’t know if he’ll survive,” Micah finishes his twin’s sentence in a grave voice, holding my gaze without flinching and squeezing my hand, trying to give me strength, I suppose. They aren’t talking about Harlow’s guy anymore, but I can’t let my mind go to those places. I need to stay focused for Sawyer.