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On the inhale he tapped out the target-located signal for the deputies in the mobile command unit and on the exhale the heel of his boot was slamming into the door near the lock, sending it flying open.
Leah
As soon as the light went on and the sound of Warren walking down the short hall reached Leah, a calmness settled through her. She'd worked it out already. Controlling her, grabbing the diamond, and getting away was a helluva lot harder as a one-man band then if Warren had still had his toady, Curtis. There was no way he'd take her to the exchange. More than likely he'd give some story about her being at a secondary location. Maybe she would be, she just wouldn't be there and breathing.
Despite her attempts to escape, she was still bound to the chair. There hadn't been enough time.
She raised her chin and let her face go blank. If she was going out, it wasn't going to be while begging. Instead, she'd hold on to the one thing that had gotten her this far, the realization that she hadn't ever really come back to Catfish Creek just to see the now-bedraggled cheerleaders or for the reunion at all. She'd come for Drew. And she'd gotten to be with him one last time. That was ending things on a high note.
"Oh the stench is killing me," Warren said, stopping a few feet away from Curtis's body. "I'm afraid we need to expedite our timeline."
Before she could even think of a smart remark to serve as her final words, the door flew open and crashed against the wall.
"Hands where I can see them," Drew shouted.
Dressed in all black with his face grim and his gun drawn, he looked every bit like an avenging demon bent on destruction.
"There's no reason for such viole—” Warren said, one hand up and the other sneaking around his back.
She screamed through the Duct tape covering her mouth, trying to warn him.
"Move that hand any way but skyward and I'm gonna blow your head off," Drew said, sounding every bit like a man who'd welcome
the opportunity to pull the trigger.
Warren hesitated, his gaze jumping from Drew in the door to the windows and back again, then slowly raised his other hand. Drew didn't even look her way as he marched across the bloodied kitchenette and took the gun from where Warren had tucked it in his waistband.
"Down on the ground, fingers interlocked behind your head."
Warren did what he was told. Drew shoved a foot down between Warren's shoulder blades and only then did Drew glance up at her. The furious darkness in his eyes made her breath catch.
"Are you okay?" he asked, the muscle in his jaw twitching.
Unable to talk or run to him, she nodded. He'd come for her. How in the hell he'd found her, she had no idea, but he had. Relief seeped through her as she looked at the man she loved, wishing like hell she could just tell him.
A heartbeat later though and it was chaos in the cramped kitchenette as deputies, paramedics, and her brother swarmed inside. Before she could say anything to Drew, Isaac herded her outside and to the waiting ambulance.
The entire time the paramedic poked, prodded and shined a light in her eyes, Leah kept an eye out for Drew, but he never appeared.
"Ma'am, we're gonna need to take you in so the docs can check you out."
She shook her head, trying her best to force the throb in her head from Curtis's knock out punch to stop. "I'll go later, I want to talk to Drew."
Isaac crossed his arms and stepped directly into her line of sight until his broad chest was all she could see. "You'll go now nicely, or I'll haul your ass there kicking and screaming."
Isaac was usually the most easy-going of the Camachos, right up until he wasn't anymore. That was probably what happened when you grew up with five strong-willed sisters and a single mom who ruled with an iron fist. Isaac bent, but he never, ever broke—and, judging by the stubborn look on his face, he wasn't giving in this time.
"Can you let him know where I'm going?" she asked.
Her brother's only response was to glare at her. She glared right back, even if it did make her head ache.
"Good Lord, you two." Tamara rolled her eyes. "I'll tell him, Leah, go on to the hospital. We'll be following right behind the ambulance."
Knowing they were right—especially when her head felt like someone had crashed two bricks on either side of it—she nodded her agreement. Isaac and the paramedic had the ambulance doors shut before she got a chance to change her mind.
Isaac
There were two things you did not fuck with when it came to Isaac Camacho. His truck and the women in his life—and definitely not in that order. He stood outside the doors of the hospital ER and waited, silent and still in the entranceway's shadows. Drew would be here sooner rather than later and he was going to have to go through Isaac to get inside. He didn't give a flying fuck if the other man was the Catfish Creek Sheriff or the President of the United States, he was going to pay the price for putting Leah in danger.
