Page 91 of The Verdict

Chapter Nineteen

Rhys

“Let me go.” I ripped out of Dare’s hold as soon as we reached the room.

I felt the pulse in my shoulder but not the pain. There was no pain greater than that in my chest. Like my heart had been ripped straight through my rib cage when I watched that fucker, Morte, knock Merritt unconscious and take her.

He let me see it—he wanted me to see it. And then the fucker holding me nailed the back of my head, and everything went dark. The next thing I knew, Dare was smacking me, telling me I had to wake up. Furious and in a fog, I let him get me up. Harm appeared with my jacket and draped it over my shoulders, and Dare went with the “one too many drinks” routine as he half-carried me out of the hotel, leaving his brother behind to clean up the room.

I spun, facing Ty, Talon, and Dare as they stood staggered in front of the door. Human barricades.

“I have to go back. We have to findher?—”

“Harm is looking. You need to sit.” Dare cornered me into a chair while Ty went for the first aid kit.

Unlike when I’d shot him through the shoulder, Morte either purposely or luckily hit me where the bullet was lodged in my muscle. I was pretty sure it hadn’t hit bone, but fuck if I knew.Fuck if I cared.

I forced air through my locked teeth, the pain starting to settle in. “I have to find her.”

“I know, brother,” Dare muttered. “Let’s just get the bullet out of you first.”

My shoulder started to throb with its own heartbeat, but I pushed through it. I had to if I was going to get back out there. I worked open the buttons of my shirt, yanking the fabric and my jacket over my shoulder as Daregrabbed one of the tiny vodka bottles from the minibar and cracked off the cap.

“Steady,” he muttered as I braced myself on the chair.

The clear liquid felt cool for a single second when he dumped it on the wound. And then it burned like all hell.

“Fuck.”I clenched my teeth so hard I swore they might break, my deep groan of pain bubbling through the cracks. It eased up a few seconds later, and I panted from the small relief.

“Let me take a look,” Ty said and took Dare’s place in front of me, crouching and pressing a cloth underneath the wound to catch the blood that continued to leak from it.

“Can you call Harm? See if he found her?” I groaned again. “He’s going to kill her. Morte. She bargained the flash drive, the diamond—everything for my life.”

She’d risked herself to save me.

As if he knew how fucking bad I needed to speak with him, the hotel door opened right then, the three of them whipping around to see Harm stride through the doorway.

“Are you alright?” He tossed his jacket on a chair and came to stand by Ty.

“Did you find her?” I didn’t care about me; I cared about her.

“No, I didn’t find her,” he said, his mouth drawing tight. “But I did find Ramos.”

“Where—”

“I followed the tracker in the flash drive up to another meeting room. He was in there. Throat cut so deep, I’m surprised his head wasn’t severed.”

“Morte.” My stomach rolled. “She must’ve told him about his brother.” I started to shake my head. “Dammit.”

“If she told him, there’s a reason; it had to have been to her advantage,” Harm said. “She’s smart, Rhys. Stronger. You know she won’t go down without a fight.”

“He has her, Harm. That psychotic fucker has her.” I forced out another exhale. “Why did you come back here? You should’ve followed the drive?—”

“Stop fucking moving,” Ty ordered. “I need to get the bullet out.” He nodded to Law.

“Here, bite on this.” Law held out a belt, and when I looked up at him, he added, “You have a better idea?”

I took the leather belt and closed my teeth on it. Too much noise could draw unwanted attention from anyone walking by in the hall, but the only other option was a hospital… and that wasn’t an option.

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