Page 55 of Cole: Bloodlines
Cole hurried back to him, the sour taste of panic rising in his throat. “He locked us in.” His face twisted, fear and frustration carving deep lines around his mouth as his bloodshot eyes flicked erratically around the spacious room with its water-damaged ceiling and ominous dark corners.
“Hey.” Gabe grabbed his trembling hands, his skin warm despite the bitter chill in the air. “Babe. Look at me.”
Cole blinked, tears streaming down his face as his eyes fixated on Gabe's chest… and the wound he had inflicted. “Gabe…” His throat tightened, as if someone was choking him, and fresh tears blurred his vision until Gabe's form swam before him. His trembling fingers hovered over the wound, afraid to touch it but unable to look away from what he'd done. “I'm sorry...”
“Cole.” Gabe gently grabbed his face, thumbs wiping away tears that kept falling. “Cole. I'm okay. It's not your fault, baby. He needed to believe you were under his influence. And it worked.”
“Did it?” Cole swallowed hard, eyes swimming. His hand hovered over the wound, wanting to fix it, afraid to make it worse. “He got away. He locked us in. And I—I cut you. Jesus, I fuckingcutyou.”
“You wounded him,” Gabe said, wincing as he shifted, his voice steady despite the sweat beading on his forehead. “He's bleeding—and a lot worse than me. And we…” He nodded past Cole to the weapon lying on the floor. “… have his gun. We'll get out of here. But the immediate threat is gone. And that's because of you.”
Tremors rippled through Cole's body like aftershocks, his vision swimming at the edges as blood rushed from his head. The concrete floor seemed to tilt beneath him.
“Cole?” Gabe's voice sounded distant through the ringing in his ears.
“I felt sick...” Cole's eyes locked with Gabe's, hot tears streaming down his face and catching in the stubble along his jaw. “...when I... I cut you.” His chin quivered uncontrollably, teeth nearly chattering. “I hated myself... I-I felt like... I was... him.” The last word came out as barely a whisper.
“You're not,” Gabe said sternly, palms gripping Cole's face with enough pressure to anchor him to reality. “Cole, I need you with me. I need you on top of your game. I know, after everything you've been through tonight and the last few days, that's a lot to ask, but I need you, baby.” He pressed his cracked lips against Cole's, then rested his forehead against Cole's brow, their sweat mingling. “Baby, you are not him. Not even a little bit. You need to kick that fucker out of your head. We have to find the kids.”
Cole cleared his throat and wiped his eyes with the back of his trembling hand, his head clearing a bit. “What if the deputy already…” Bile stung the back of his throat, acidic and bitter as battery acid.
“Maddy's strong,” Gabe insisted, his eyes feverishly bright against his dirt-smudged face. “He'll fight back. All we can do is find a way out of this shithole, then find him and Savannah.”
“Savannah…” Cole's voice cracked like ice as a violent shudder rippled through his body. “What if Daniel is going after her? To punish me for attacking him?”
“Then all the more reason to find a way out of this fucking room as soon as possible.” Gabe's jaw clenched so tight a muscle twitched beneath the purple bruise blooming on his cheekbone.
Cole inhaled deeply, the musty air filling his lungs, and released it unsteadily through clenched teeth. He nodded, jaw tight. “We need to get your cuffs off.”
Gabe scanned the room, eyes narrowing. “There. Grab that broken pipe. It has a jagged edge; it should do.” Gabe moved to the cage, the chains between his cuffs clinking softly as he stretched them over the rust-flecked corner ridge. “Hit the chain as close to one of the cuffs as possible. The connector will break more easily than the chain.”
Cole picked up the pipe, its surface rough and cold against his palms. He gripped it with both hands, knuckles whitening. “It's a small space between the cuffs…”
“I trust you,” Gabe said, his voice steady despite the sweat beading along his hairline. “You've always had a better aim than me.”
Cole exhaled a controlled breath that misted slightly in the dank air. He raised the pipe above his head, his muscles coiling tight, and aimed as best he could in the sickly yellow light. He brought it down with all his strength, the impact jarring his bones as the connector snapped with a metallic crack. Gabe's wrists jerked apart, a small grunt of pain escaping his lips as the restraints bit into his flesh one final time, the broken cuffs dangling from each wrist like tarnished bracelets.
“See?” Gabe's smile cracked the dried blood at the corner of his mouth. “Nothing to it. Come on.” He scooped up the pile of clothes that had been stripped from his body—jeans stiff with mud, a once-white T-shirt now rust-stained and torn at the collar. His fingers trembled slightly as he pulled them on, wincing as the fabric dragged across raw skin.
“You're still bleeding,” Cole said, eyes fixed on the crimson line seeping through the cotton where it clung to Gabe's torso.
“I'll live. It's hardly a flesh wound. You didn't cut me deep.” Gabe's breath hitched as he bent to retrieve the handgun, the metal catching the pale light as he tucked it into the rear band of his pants. The cold steel pressed against his lower back madehim stand straighter. “Now, let's figure out how to get the fuck out of here.”
We’re going to get you out of here.
Savannah clung to those words like a drowning woman clutching at driftwood. Cole and Gabe were here—somewhere in this labyrinth of concrete and rust—their presence both salvation and another knot of dread in her stomach.
They’re captives, too.
How would they escape? Did they know what these men were? What if they weren't strong enough? The doubts multiplied like maggots in her mind, writhing and consuming every hopeful thought, their poison spreading through her veins until her fingertips tingled with cold terror.
She pressed herself against the rusted bars at the back of the cage, the metal biting into her shoulder blades. The concrete floor beneath her had leached all warmth from her bare thighs, and goosebumps pebbled her exposed skin. She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, the thin cotton of her once-white bra offering no protection against the damp chill or the hungry eyes that might return at any moment to...
“Cole will come for you,” she whispered, her throat raw. “He and Gabe will save you, they will.” She rocked back and forth, the cage bars digging into her spine with each movement. Abel was safe. Abel was home. And Maddy… Maddy was alive somewhere.Maybe.Cole didn’t know for sure. But he knew that the boy she saw butcheredwasn’tMaddy.
Please be alive… Please, God, let him be alive. Please help us get out of here—
The metal door creaked. Savannah's body convulsed, her spine slamming against the bars. Her heart exploded in herchest, lungs seizing mid-breath. She buried her face between her knees, hyperventilating until black spots danced behind her eyelids, snot and tears mingling on her upper lip.
