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“Well, that’s one loose end dealt with,” the tall man said darkly.
I dared to open my eyes just as Ryan crumpled to the floor at my feet, eyes open yet lifeless as blood oozed out of his head. A blood-curdling scream was wrenched from my chest at the sight of my former friend lying dead at my feet. I couldn’t stop screaming because even when I closed my eyes, Ryan’s dead face was there. The screaming turned to crying and my throat burned. Then came the heaving as the metallic smell of blood wafted in the air.
I was too wrapped up in my emotions to realize the man was closer. Too close. He pulled out a knife and cut through the plastic ties that trapped me to the chair. Relief from being able to move came instantly, but on its heels came panic as he lifted me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
“No! What are you doing? Stop!” I pummeled his back with my fists and kicked my legs in every direction I could, in hopes of hitting something that would knock him off balance, that would give me a chance to escape.
To live.
“Stop,” he growled. “Or I’ll tie you back up and shove you in the trunk.”
His words brought my body to a halt, and I fell limp over his shoulder, scared and defeated as he carried me out of the room and up a narrow, dark stairwell. Light filled the room at the top of the stairs and hope swelled for a moment before it was dashed by the sound of two gunshots.
Time slowed.
The big man lost his footing and began falling backwards, down the stairs. I didn’t know how to save myself or my baby in this situation, so I tried to curl up into a ball to protect my stomach, but my head hit the stairs first and his shoulder dug into my belly as we both fell to the bottom of the staircase.
“Ellie!”
I smiled at the sound of Diesel’s voice, happy that his deep, smoked honey voice would be the last thing I heard. That his handsome face would be the last thing I saw. “Diesel,” I whispered, and reached out to scrape my thumb over his scruff one last time. “I love you,” I said, and succumbed to the blackness that surrounded me and pulled me under.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Diesel
Nothing made a man feel more helpless than sitting beside his unconscious woman in a hospital cubicle, asking any force in the universe with the power to make her wake up and be safe. Watching her fall backwards with the bald, suited man had aged me about a decade in just a few seconds. I hadn’t intended on it going that way—when I realized he had a hold of Ellie, I couldn’t take a good aim, so I’d let off some shots to try and prompt him to drop her, but instead he’d tripped. While I went to Ellie, Rocky had immobilized the bald man who was alive but stunned, and had gone to check upstairs and found Ryan dead. At least that fucker had been dealt with.
While waiting for the medics and cops to arrive, I noted the goose egg on her forehead underneath the cut, and the bruises on her wrists where she’d been tied up. I’d tried to keep her neck supported, hoping against hope that the fall hadn’t done any serious damage. After stabilizing her she’d been rushed to the ER where she’d been wheeled off for a battery of tests.
Even now my hands flexed in anger as I thought about her being held in that room, alone and afraid. Going to Steel Heights was a longshot, Carter Development had a number of ongoing projects, but only one was on route to Vegas, which was where the traffic cams lost him. Had she known I was coming for her, or did she doubt me?
I didn’t know. I had no fucking answers because the doctors brought her back without telling me a damn thing, they’d taken off the collar, so I guessed at least she hadn’t broken her neck. Two hours later, and I was still waiting for answers while machines bleeped beside her, and nurses rushed in and out checking the bag of fluid she was hooked up to.
Would she be all right?
Had she sustained any long-term damage?
I had no fucking clue, and until I did, I couldn’t relax. I wanted to grab someone and demand answers, but I knew the doctors were only doing their jobs and once they had something to tell me, then they would. I sat beside Ellie’s hospital bed with one hand in hers while Hawk and Maverick stood outside the doors just in case any of Carter’s men thought to seek revenge or make another attempt on Ellie’s life.
The hospital door opened, and I sat up taller, sinking back in disappointment when I spotted the sheriff instead of a doctor. “What can I do for you, Sheriff Cross?”
He walked in slowly, taking in all the details before he let his gaze settle on Ellie. “How is she?”
“Still out of it. Is she why you’re here?”
“In part,” he admitted with a small nod, settling against the wall on the other side of the bed.
“The other part?”
A hint of a smile crossed his face. “You’ll never guess what landed on my desk while I was out on a call. A dossier about six to eight inches thick, and it’s all about Robert Carter. Proof he was the head of a multinational human trafficking ring.” His gaze assessed me, never wavering while he waited for an answer.
I kept my gaze cool and leaned back in the chair with a relaxed air as I feigned shock. “Good luck must be shining on you, Sheriff. Maybe you ought to buy a lottery ticket.”
His lips twitched, but it was so faint I might’ve imagined it. “A damn good bit of luck, I’d say. You have anything to offer on Robert Carter?”
My gaze slid to Ellie’s unconscious form. “Yeah.” I swung my gaze back to Cross. “You better hope you find him before I do.” None of this would have happened to Ellie if it wasn’t for me. She’d been kidnapped and injured, and it was my fault for rattling that bastard’s cage and not protecting my woman properly. When she woke up, she was going to leave me, and I’d only get to see her when I wanted to see my son.
“That so?” the sheriff asked as he gave me a long hard stare. “Looks like Mr. Carter had some enemies. When my men paid him a visit this morning, it seems like someone had gotten to him first. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”
