Page 128 of Tactically Acquired

I stepped back and sat on the bed, hoisting my leg up for the nurse.

“You’re going to have to remove your pants,” the nurse said, pursing her lips at me.

“Just cut the fucking pants.”

Her nostrils flared as she stared at me with contempt. “Sir, this would be easier if you would just comply.”

“It would be a lot easier if you would just do your fucking job so I can do mine.”

She gasped at my foul language, but I didn’t give a shit. Things were spinning out of control and I was trying to get ahead of the storm that was brewing before we all landed in body bags.

“You could try to be nice,” Audrey muttered.

Sighing, I rubbed a hand over my eyes and swung my leg off the bed. I moved quickly, undoing my pants and shucking them from my body so the nurse could work on me. As soon as I was back in position, the nurse got to work cleaning my wound. I tried my best not to look over at Audrey, but my eyes gravitated to her no matter how hard I tried. Her lips were tilted up as she watched the nurse work on me. She was fucking laughing at me, but at least she wasn’t dead, so I’d take it.

I ignored the jabs from the local anesthetic and looked away as she stuck tweezers in my leg to remove any debris left behind by the metal. It felt like hours passed as she worked on my leg. By the time that was done, I still needed to be stitched up. Fucking hell, if I was at home, I would have dosed it with alcohol and slapped a bandage on it.

“You’re very grouchy when you’re injured,” Audrey said.

I had been lost in thought, staring up at the ceiling while the nurse worked on me. Now, I could only watch Audrey as she rolled to her side and curled into a ball. Spencer was snoozing on the bed next to hers, completely oblivious to everything going on around him. It was like it was just the two of us.

Then the nurse jabbed me with the needle and I flinched. Okay, not exactly just the two of us.

“We have a lot to talk about,” I grumbled.

She nodded, her eyes roaming around the room. I wondered if she could see me. Was I a blur to her? Could she see me at all? There were so many fucking questions and not nearly enough time to talk about it with someone trying to kill her.

The door swung open and IRIS stepped inside. “We’ve got a safe house.”

At least one thing was going right for us.

33

AUDREY

“I need to call Ginger,” I said as soon as we walked out of the hospital.

Thumper looked over at me, his hand wrapped around my bicep as he guided me over to a vehicle. This one was new, probably a rental. “You can talk to her later.”

“I need to know what she said to the studio.”

He opened the back door and practically shoved me inside. I didn’t like being manhandled, but I understood his frustration and his need to get moving. We both saw the announcement on the news about our wreck, how they told everyone Spencer and I had been in an accident. Luckily, we were on our way out the door. But that didn’t mean news trucks weren’t already on their way here.

“Let’s get out of here first and then you can call her,” he said, slamming the door behind me.

I didn’t argue with him. I knew what we were about to encounter. I didn’t like it, but he was right. Getting somewhere safe was our best bet at hiding from the studio.

As he slipped into the front and Rae got into the back, there was a huge problem. “Where’s Spencer?”

“In the other vehicle,” Thumper announced from the passenger side.

“Why? He’s supposed to be with me!” My heart started pounding at the thought of him not being with me. We were always together.

“It’s best if we split up,” Slider said, pulling away from the curb. We have four vehicles and we’re all taking different routes. That means we should be able to confuse anyone who follows.”

“But what about Spencer?” I asked again.

“He’ll meet up with us at the safe house,” Rae answered. “Trust us, it’s just to keep everyone on their toes. As soon as we walked out, those nurses were watching, and when the media gets to the hospital, the only thing they’ll tell them is that you and Spencer got in two separate vehicles.”

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