“I’ll work as carefully as I can, but even with the meds, it’s still going to hurt. I also don’t want to make things worse in there, especially since we need to move quickly once I get you stitched and bandaged.” He grabbed the forceps he’d laid on the bedside table and poured alcohol over them, catching the liquid into a glass from the bathroom.
“You want me to hold your hand, G?”
She turned her head to see Triumph’s look of concern. Yikes. Concerned Triumph was even hotter than bossy Triumph.
“Might be a good idea.”
“Can you keep quiet?” Demon asked. “Or do you need something to bite down on?”
“I think I can manage,” she said.
“Okay. Here we go.”
As soon as the forceps entered the wound, she gave a muffled shriek. Holy fuck, that hurt!
“Hang on, little spy. Talk to her, Triumph. Distract her.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard your first name before. Glennon. Is it a family name?”
Shaking her head, she gave a soft groan. Demon was retracting his hand. Hopefully, that meant he had the bullet in the forceps. “My mother loved the name Lennon, but her sisterhad a baby girl first and named her that. Rather than try to find another name she liked, she just altered the name to something that didn’t appear on any baby-name list.”
Triumph held her hand between both of his. She had to be crushing the bones of his bottom hand, but he didn’t make any sound of discomfort. Just kept stroking the back of her hand with his top one.
As she panted through Demon probing her side, she stared at the ceiling. She wanted to shoot the dead body again for making her go through this.
“Doesn’t that get confusing around the holidays?”
“No. She doesn’t speak to her sister anymore. Stealing the name she had picked out was the last straw in their lifelong rivalry. Besides, I haven’t seen my family in over twelve years, so I haven’t seen her.”
Even with the drugs, the pain in her side was excruciating. It felt like her entire torso was on fire. “I think…” Her vision started to go black around the edges, narrowing to a pinpoint. Her words sounded funny, like her tongue wasn’t working right, and a fine film of sweat broke out across her skin. “Gonna pass out.”
The pinpoint closed, and her brain shut down.
OFF-ROADING
Triumph
The pain causedGlennon to hold herself with extreme tension. Just before she went completely lax, all color drained from her face. Concerned, he watched her shallow breathing.
He reached into a cargo pocket and pulled out a bandana. After shaking it out, he poured some water on it from a water bottle on the nightstand and used it to gently wipe the clammy perspiration from her face and neck.
“She’s out,” he said needlessly.
With a grunt, Demon secured the bullet in a small container, then cleaned up the wound again so he could begin stitching her up. “Probably better for this next part anyway.”
By the time Glennon had been closed and bandaged, Steel had returned without the bag, but he carried an armful of bedding. “How’s she doing?”
The medic repacked his backpack. “Passed out right after I removed the bullet. I gave her a little bit of extra sedative so we can move her without causing her too much pain. As long asinfection doesn’t set in, she’ll be good. That wound was open for quite a while, so we’ll just have to cross our fingers.”
Steel grabbed the backpack he’d left behind earlier in the room. He threw them each a couple of white cloths. “I’m gonna start cleanup. Triumph, gather her belongings. Check everywhere. We can’t leave a single piece of her behind. After that, you and Demon need to wipe down everything, and I do mean everything. When we’re ready to move her, you two will get her to the truck, and I’ll take care of the bed. We’ll take the current stuff with us and find a place to burn it on the way.”
“Find her phone and snap the SIM card, but don’t throw it out. Put it in the bag with all of her stuff. Everything gets destroyed,” Demon added. “You got the gun?”
“It’s in my bag already.”
“Good.” Steel checked his watch. “Time’s ticking. We’ve got thirty minutes. Make every second count.”
Twenty-eight minutes later, Demon and Triumph were taking Glennon out to the truck. Luckily, they didn’t run into anyone since the hour was so late. Steel had ripped the old linens off the bed, and they made a sort of pallet for her in the bed of the cab. At least it was enclosed from the elements.
