Page 99 of Defending You
“How are you already here?” Asher directed the question to all of them, glancing at his watch. It’d only been forty-five minutes since he’d texted.
Alyssa reached him first. “I tracked your phone when we talked earlier, figured your ETA. When you didn’t show up in Shadow Cove, I knew something was wrong. I tried calling you, but?—”
“So she called me,” Grant cut in. “I contacted Bartlett. We were already moving when your text came through. Called Michael. He was out of town, but he’s flying in tonight. Gavin is staying with Evelyn, but he’s offered to get whatever we need.”
Michael and Gavin were Cici’s cousin and father, both willing to run to her rescue.
“We met up in Millerville,” Bartlett gave Asher a once-over. “I shouldn’t have sent you out on your own.”
The barb stung, but Asher had no defense. Obviously, he hadn’t handled the solo job well.
He touched his wound instinctively, feeling sticky blood that had seeped through his makeshift bandage.
“We need to deal with that.” Alyssa’s friend had gone back to the car for something. Now he approached, holding a black canvas case. He nodded to the wound. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing?—“
“It’s something.” The man’s tone brooked no argument. “You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
“Once we find Cici?—”
“You’ll be unconscious by then.” The guy nodded to the sedan. “Come where there’s a little light.”
Asher figured arguing would only cost precious time. He followed the man and leaned against the sedan, Bartlett, Alyssa, and Grant following.
“I’m Callan Templeton, by the way.” Alyssa’s fiancé helped Asher shift the sweatshirt out of the way so he could remove the T-shirt-turned-bandage. “I have zero medical education, but I do have a kid who gets hurt a lot, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Doesn’t,” he muttered.
Callan laughed. “Wise man.” He seemed to know what he was doing as he dabbed stinging antiseptic on the wound. “Gunshot wounds get infected, so…”
Asher fought to hide the pain.
“Gunshot? What happened?” Grant demanded. “How did they find you?”
“No idea.” Asher gave them the condensed version—the ambush, the crash, waking up to find Cici gone. And then the guys who came back to search. Each word felt like swallowing glass, but he forced himself to stay clinical, professional. These people needed facts, and his guilt would only cloud the issue. “I put the phone in the pickup.” He looked at Alyssa, who was standing beside Callan. “Hopefully, you?—”
“I got it,” she said. “The truck stopped at a paper mill. It’s been stationary since then.” She held up her phone, showing a map with a red dot. “Industrial area on the outskirts of Millerville.”
Thank God his idea had worked. “That’s where they have her.” Every second they spent talking was another second Cici remained in Gagnon’s hands. He itched to get moving.
Easy,” Callan murmured, pressing a fresh bandage against his shoulder. “The wound’s too wide for stitches. Hopefully, wecan stem the bleeding.” He secured the dressing with tape, his movements quick and efficient. “You’re going to be hurting, but you won’t bleed out.”
Asher adjusted his sweatshirt, ready to be done talking about his near-death experience.
“Got two guys there, Whiteman and Yartym.” Bartlett glanced at his phone. “They’re getting into position.”
Asher pushed away from the sedan, testing his range of motion. The pain was manageable. “Ideas?”
Grant stepped into view, his dark eyes calculating. “Looks like it’s surrounded by a chain-link fence. Hopefully, they’ll see that as protection. If they’re smart, they’ll have lookouts posted.”
“The thugs who came back here were no brain surgeons,” Asher said. “But they’re survivors. Souza seems calculating, and Gagnon’s managed to stay one step ahead of us for days. Don’t underestimate them.” Like he had, and paid the price.
Rather, Cici was paying it now.
Alyssa’s jaw tightened. “How many are we talking about?”
“I only know about those four. They thought I was dead, but when they came back, they realized my body wasn’t here. Even these guys are smart enough to recognize that dead bodies don’t just up and walk away.”
