Page 38 of River

I knew he was serious, but he wasn’t one of the men who had taken me. I didn’t say a word. He dropped the food in my lap and left. “I drank a small amount of water And then took a bite of the kiwi. I didn’t care that it wasn’t peeled. There was no telling when I would be fed again.

Was River hunting for me? Did he find the recorder? Maybe those men said something after they slugged me and knocked me out. I hoped he would find me soon.

20

River

When we reachedthe rendezvous point, two large covered trucks were waiting. We put the kids in one truck with some of the women. Then we collected our things and jumped in the jeep, guarding the two trucks.

As we drove, enemy jeeps tried to run us off the road. We fired back, and the Army Rangers returned fire from the back of the truck. A bullet whizzed past my head, and I spotted a man on the roadside aiming at us. I shot him, but not before he hit me in the leg.

“Take this,” I said, handing my gun to Raven as I quickly wrapped my belt around my leg. Blood was pouring out.

“We need to slow the bleeding,” Cyclone shouted. He pushed me down and tightened the belt.

“Damn, does it have to be this tight?”

“Yes. Look at your pants. You’re losing too much blood,” he said, taking off his shirt and pressing it against the wound. “We’re still half a day from the hospital. You won’t make it if we don’t stop the bleeding.”

I felt myself fading. “Raven, call Kat. I need to tell her I love her,” I said, my voice weak.

“Why don’t you wait until you see her?” Raven said.

“What if I don’t see her? Just call her,” I demanded.

Raven dialed the number. “Fuck. Gage, is Kat there?” Raven asked.

“No, she’s probably still packing up her house. What’s going on?”

I grabbed the phone. “Did Kat call and tell you she was taking the day off?”

“No. Why?”

“I’ve been shot in the leg, and it’s bleeding badly. Did you try calling Kat?”

“Yes, but it goes straight to voice mail.”

“Get in your fucking car and see where she is. I told you about my dream. Take Tag with you. Call me as soon as you arrive at her house.”

Kat always called if she was going to be even five minutes late. Something was wrong, I looked at Cyclone. “You can’t let me die. I have to save Kat. I should have listened to my gut—I knew I heard her screaming for me.”

“You don’t know that. Let’s wait for Gage to call us back,” Raven said.

I already knew what was coming. When the phone rang, I couldn’t even breathe, much less talk.

“Answer it, Raven,” I said weakly.

Raven answered, his expression darkening. “Tell me,” he said.

“Her place is trashed,” Gage said, his voice tense. “Tag’s checking all the rooms. There’s a note. It says, ‘You got mine, so I got yours.’”

“What does that even mean? Does it say who it’s from?” I shouted.

“No, I guess they wanted you to figure that out. If you arewho they are talking about,” Gage replied, his voice coming through the speaker.

“Gage, find her. If I don’t make it, you have to save her.”

“Why the hell is he talking like he’s dying?” Gage asked.

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