Page 36 of Fighting for Family

After getting Hollywood situated, Shadow led a quiet Sparky to the truck bed and settled her beside their teammate. Apollo jumped in beside her and lay across Hollywood’s chest.

Saint tapped the side of the truck as Shadow took off. Knight rode shotgun and Patch rode in the back with Sparky.

Knight slid the window open in the back. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s holding his own and still asking for a damn rattle,” Patch said, bracing Hollywood from all the bumps in the road.

Glancing at Sparky, Patch said, “You know Saint didn’t mean anything. He’s under a lot of stress. With Leo gone, he must prove himself as a new leader. He made a decision based on the lesser risk. If he had a choice, he’d ride back here. One of his men got hurt on his watch. It’s killing him.”

Swallowing hard, Sparky turned her head. “I thought I found my place on this team. It turns out some people still feel sorry for me. He’s sending me home because he’s afraid I’ll get hurt.”

“You don’t have your guide dog, and while I admit you can kick ass, you can’t see your way out of a desert attack without risking us,” Patch growled. “Don’t make this personal.”

“We’ve got company. There’s a vehicle coming up on us,” she said.

Shadow glanced up and shielded his eyes. “I don’t see anything.”

“The engine doesn’t sound like ours,” she explained. “It’s coming up fast.”

“Hey, Knight. Sparky says we have company coming,” Patch said inside the window.

Knight nodded and put his weapon on the side.

A minute later, a beat-up truck loaded with eight men pulled in front of their vehicle. The leader ordered them out of the truck and approached the vehicle. Shadow raised his hands and spoke in their language.

Sparky leaned over Hollywood, moaning and wailing loudly.

“Who is this man?” the leader said, poking the gun into Patch’s back.

“He’s her husband,” Shadow exclaimed, trying to keep the attention on him. “We work in the field. Her husband suffered an injury.”

Sparky wailed louder, speaking gibberish.

The man lifted the blanket and saw the blood. Apollo let out a menacing growl. Striker’s hair stood on its ends. The man backed off as Sparky cried out, begging for help.

Shadow comforted her in their language, playing along.

The leader slowly made his way to the cab and pointed toward Knight. “Who’s he?”

“A hired man. We couldn’t leave him,” Shadow explained. The leader narrowed his eyes as Sparky pounded on the glass, lamenting about the delay.

He jerked his head, telling his men to let them pass.

Shadow said thank you as he sped through the roadblock.

“Shit,” Patch said. “You saved us.”

“I didn’t do anything the rest of you wouldn’t do,” she said stubbornly.

“Patch,” Hollywood said, turning his eyes on him. “It’s bleeding again. I feel it.”

Patch threw back the blanket and inspected the wound. “You’re fine, man. You’re feeling the shock.”

“No. My hand. I saw the rattle,” he moaned.

Sparky moved, pulling back the covering and felt his slippery skin. “His hand’s soaked,” she said.

Patch leaned over, examining Hollywood’s limb. “What the hell,” he exclaimed, seeing the skin between the thumb and pointer finger pouring blood. “Sparky, hold up his hand,” he directed, placing hers where he needed it.