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Leo ignored the man, he didn’t care for him right now. “Trying to get the Bureau to take you off your assignment was pointless because the small amount of information that youwerefeeding them was good.”
“So we hit you where we knew it would hurt,” Judge said, a small grin forming above his beard. “Fortunately for us, Angelo is a well-respected man, and because of that, your men were forced to listen to what he had to say.”
Simon didn’t speak. I could tell that his mind was racing, he was trying to process his options. If he went to jail, there would be no protection for him there. It wouldn’t take long for word to get around that he was a federal agent and more than likely responsible for the time that some of those criminals were serving.
He would be killed, and God knows what else would be done to him in the name of revenge.
“It’s time to go,” Judge said, but I could see the careful way he moved, trying not to startle the cornered animal.
“Seems like it is,” Simon stated calmly, his eyes moving across the room until he reached me. They stopped, and while I was expecting to see some kind of remorse for his actions, there was none.
Suddenly I felt Slider’s body come across mine, and I was swept into his arms.
Gunfire filled the barn, the sound echoing in the large space and the distinctive sound of bullets zipping through the air caused me to scream. Slider ran with my body in his arms and his head down toward an open door, my body shaking with each pound of his foot against the dirt floor.
Blizzard and Camo leaped out of the way, both to avoid the spray of bullets and our bodies as we barreled past them, out into the fresh air. My body was released, dropping me into the long grass. Unable to brace myself with my hands, my shoulder hit first, a sharp pain shooting through me. I cried out in pain, unable to move for a few seconds as I fought the urge to vomit.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Slider on his knees a few feet from me, his hands hanging limp at his sides and his eyes staring at me with a look I couldn’t recognize. I saw his eyes flash, and a smile twitched painfully at the corner of his mouth before he fell forward, not even attempting to catch himself as his face drove into the dirt.
“Slider!” I cried out, struggling through the pain and wiggling toward him. “Slider!”
Blood pooled on his back, running down the sides of his body, staining the white patches across his back a sickening red.
“No, no, no,” I whispered between sobs as I wiggled my body closer to him. “Don’t die, you’re not going to die.”
I tore at the cuffs around my wrists, desperate to free them. All I could think about was how I needed to put pressure on the gunshot wounds to keep his blood from flowing out. But it was useless. The more I wrenched, the more I could feel them ripping at my skin, my own blood seeping down onto my hands.
I threw my body over his, using my torso and my arms to press against the bullet holes, desperate to stop the bleeding, hoping that it would help. I expected to feel him sucking in air, forcing his body to breathe, but there was nothing. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.
I could hear footsteps pounding around me, people yelling, calling out to their brothers. I tucked myself against Slider’s body, crying into his shoulder as people yelled and screamed around me. More shots were let off, and the thump of bodies resonated on the ground below me, but it had all just become a blur. There was nothing I could do anymore.
“Leo!” I faintly heard Optimus yell. “Fuck!”
I didn’t move, I stayed right there, frozen in place. I just wanted the pain and the noise to stop. I wanted Slider to breathe again, I wanted to go home and pretend that this had never happened. It wasn’t meant to be this way. His life wasn’t supposed to end with him laying in the dirt.
“Hadley, God no.” His voice was like a shockwave through my body, and I suddenly allowed myself to breathe, releasing a loud sob.
“She’s alive!” Leo yelled before I felt his arms come around me from behind, lifting my body. I yelled and fought against him. “Hadley it’s me. Baby, it’s okay!” He tried to soothe me as I struggled in his arms.
“He’s dead!” I cried, my body finally losing its fight as I said the words that I didn’t want to believe we’re true. I slumped, relying on Leo to keep me from falling to the ground. “He’s dead, Leo.”
“Someone get these cuffs off!” he called.
I heard movement and the jingle of keys. The pressure on my wrists was released, the pain I could no longer feel. I was numb.
Leo appeared in front of me, his face looking down, his eyes like they were searching for signs of life.
“He’s dead,” I whispered, strangely calm.
“I know, baby.” His voice broke as he hooked his hands under my ass and lifted me. I climbed him, wrapping my shaking legs around his waist and tucking my face against his neck. “I know.”
