Page 88 of Fighting for You
Without saying a word, I jog for the door, getting back to the truck as fast as I can. I don’t give a fuck if the truck is Hayes’, I jump in the driver’s seat. Hayes crashes into the passenger’s seat the same way I did before, barely slamming the door shut before I’m taking off.
“Where are we going?” he asks, his voice cracking with the same fear coursing through my veins.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean ‘you don’t know?’” he demands.
“I mean I don’t fucking know! All I know is the woman I love is possibly hurt or running for her life, and I need to find her. So either get out or shut the fuck up!” Spit flies from my mouth as I scream at him. Margot’s brother. My friend. A man who could snap me in half if he wanted, and I’m fucking screaming at him.
We drive through the field beside the house. I’m trying to keep my eyes on the treeline surrounding the property, hoping I’ll see something. Even if it’s just an area that looks disturbed, anything to point me in a direction, I just needsomething.
“There!” Hayes yells, pointing toward the woods. “I saw something!”
It could be an animal rustling between the trees, but it could also be Margot hiding from a madman. With nothing else to go on, no other possibilities, I drive us toward where Hayes pointed, slamming my foot onto the gas pedal.
Throwing the gear into park at the edge of the woods, I jump out of the truck. “Margot!” I scream, running faster than I’ve ever run before. I can’t catch my breath, but I don’t fucking care. I have to find her. Ineedto find her.
Branches fly into my face as I barrel through the woods. “Margot!” My voice cracks at the end of her name, my paralyzing fear overtaking me. Hayes is crashing through the foliage behind me, screaming her name with me.
Right as I’m about to shout her name again into the dense forest, I hear her broken voice. “Brooks?”
My head spins in the direction of my name. “Fuck, Margot! Baby, where are you?”
“We’re over here,” she yells, louder this time.
I push myself, moving even faster than before, and slide to my knees once she’s within reach. Keaton is on the ground beside her, they’re both covered in blood, but it’s obvious he’s the one who’s hurt. It makes me an asshole, but the relief I feel is unreal. Cupping her cheeks, I pull her face to mine, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Fuck, Freckles, I thought I lost you.”
A tear slides down my face, landing on her cheek. “He—he sh-shot my dad, I-I tried to run but h-he can’t—he fell,” she stutters out, and I know she’s trying to keep it together. She’sholding pressure to his stomach, her hands over his, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing the bleeding down.
“I know, baby, I know. We’re going to—” I start, but then I see something out of the corner of my eye. Movement not far from us, deeper in the forest.
Jumping up to my feet, I don’t hesitate, I just take off.
I promised myself I’d protect her.
I promised myself I wouldn’t let him hurt her again.
I failed her.
Margot wailing my name echoes through the forest, bouncing off the trees, but I don’t stop.
I won’t fail her a second time.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Margot
“Brooks!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Stop! Come back!”
I scream because I can’t move, can’t follow him. My hands are the only thing keeping my dad from bleeding out. I yell his name a few more times, long after I lose sight of him beyond the trees.
Tears stream down my face, and I swallow down a sob. I’ve held it together this long, but I don’t think I can do it anymore. Not when my father is bleeding out in front of me. Not when Brooks has run off after Julian.
Julian and the gun.
Fuck!Why didn’t I think to take it with us before we ran? Or at least hide it.
I bring my attention back to my dad—who lost consciousness a little while ago—and Hayes when he waves in my face.
