Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
His knees hit the floorboard, and the door slammed shut as the vehicle lurched forward.
Cassidy had one hand braced against the seat, the other arm burning so badly his vision blurred. Xander was beneath him, trembling, hands fisting in his suit jacket.
“Stay down,” he rasped.
The team was shouting through comms.
“Lead clear.”
“Rear vehicle travelling.”
“Slade, evasive route two.”
“Copy.”
Cassidy stayed on top of Xander until he heard the words he’d been waiting for.
“Clear,” God said. “Convoy clear.”
Cassidy lifted his head, the motion jerking a sharp grunt out of him.
Xander scrambled from under him.
Blood streaked his hands from where he’d gripped his shoulder.
His eyes were wide, red and wet, his breaths coming in hard shallow breaks. He looked at Cassidy’s chest, his arms, then the blood on his own palms as if his mind was struggling to comprehend what’d happened.
“We need a doctor,” Xander said, voice cracking. Then louder. “Slade, get us to the hospital. Now!”
Cassidy tried to sit up.
Bad idea.
Pain flared down his chest and through his ribs, sharp enough to make him gasp.
Xander caught him. “Stay still. Don’t move.”
“I’m not leaving your side for a minute,” Cassidy said around a tight jaw.
“What?”
“I’m okay. I was hit in the vest. My arm was grazed, it’s barely a scratch.” Cassidy lied, leaning hard against the seat. “Slade, proceed on route two.”
Xander stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “What the hell? No. No, you need a doctor!”
Tech twisted around in the front seat, scanning Cassidy with tactical efficiency.
“It grazed me,” he reiterated.
Blood dripped down his sleeve and Xander made a sound that damn near ruined him.
“That’s not a scratch.”
Tech shrugged off his jacket and gave it to Xander. “Here, put pressure on it.”
Xander’s hands shook violently as he bared down where the sleeve was torn apart.
Cassidy lifted his left hand and cupped Xander’s cheek. His fingers weren’t steady, but they got there. “Calm down, I’m all right.”
Xander shook his head, furious tears welling in his pretty eyes. “Don’t you dare say that like I didn’t just see you get shot.”
Cassidy softened his voice despite the pain. “I’m okay.”
“You jumped in front of me.”
“That was the plan.”
“That was not the plan.”
“It was always my plan.”
Free came through the comms. “I got the studio doctor in route to the hotel. Fifteen minutes behind you.”
God’s voice followed. “Morrison. Status.”
“I’m good,” Cassidy answered.
“I need a better report than that.”
“Vest caught two. Right arm grazed.”
Cassidy closed his eyes for half a second.
Xander shifted closer, almost climbing into his lap. “I’m scared,” he whispered.
Cassidy opened his eyes, those words hurting worse than the vest impacts.
He slid his hand from Xander’s cheek to the back of his neck and drew him forward until their foreheads touched. “I know.”
Xander shook against him.
Cassidy wanted to give him more. Reassure him better. Promise nothing like that would ever happen again, but he couldn’t lie to him. Not when gunfire still rang in his ears and pain pulsed through his shoulder with every heartbeat.
So he gave him the only truth he had.
“I’m still with you.”
Xander squeezed his eyes shut.
Slade took them around to the back of the hotel, bypassing the main entrance and rolling into a service lane they’d cleared with management to use weeks ago.
Tech opened the rear door and Cassidy stepped out on his own.
Barely.
Xander wove under his left arm, tucked so tight against him, he couldn’t tell if he was supporting Xander or Xander was supporting him. His right arm throbbed like fire, blood sliding down beneath his cuff and dripping onto the polished service floor, leaving a dark trail behind them.
At that time of morning, the hallway was empty, the few staff on the clock were probably in a breakroom somewhere with their feet up watching television.
“Doctor’s almost here,” Tech said, walking fast beside them. “Elevator secured?”
“Elevator secured,” Free answered.
“Where are the others?” Xander asked.
“God and Day are behind us. Ruxs, Green, and Steele are staying in the field,” Tech said.
Cassidy moved as if a boulder was sitting on his chest. The elevator felt miles away, but he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
The vest had saved his life. He knew that. But the body didn’t care that bruised ribs were better than holes. Pain punched through him with each step, and the graze along his shoulder had gone from burning to a sick, hot pulsing.
They reached the service elevator bank and Tech hit the call button.
The doors opened immediately.
Cassidy guided Xander inside. Tech followed, then turned to press the button for their secured floor.
“Hold on!” an anxious voice blurted.
A young guy rushed towards them, having come through the same entrance.
He was maybe in his early twenties. Slim build. Dark, messy hair sticking out from beneath a Dodgers ball cap, and damp at the ends as if he’d been sweating. He wore a Nike hoodie, ripped jeans, and expensive sneakers.