The room was a flurry of activity as each agent gathered their belongings and made the necessary calls.
This was the kind of situation that they were trained for, maybe even lived for. But in this instance, Parker only cared that his friend wasn’t picking up his phone.
Thirteen
Reckoning Day
“Are you trying to blind me?” Jenn asked through the radio.
Shane’s brows pulled into a sharp line and he looked at Jack and saw the same confusion on his face.
“What do you mean ‘tryin’ to blind you?’”
“Turn off your brights, Jack, they’re making it hard to see,” Jenn bit out.
“Baby, is someone behind you?”
There was a pause on the connection, then the radio jumped to life again. “You’re not behind me?” she asked.
Jack punched the brakes hard, sending the back end fishtailing, then he executed a U-turn and gunned the engine.
“I want you to head straight into town. Do not slow down for this person. No matter what they do.”
“Jack,” she sounded rattled, “do you think it’s—”
The report of gunfire stopped her mid-sentence and the sound of four women’s screams echoed through the radio. Raw fear shot through Shane and he roared, “Sonofabitch!”
“Jenn? Baby, answer me!” Jack shouted as he flew down the road.
Nothing.
He pushed the pedal to the floor.
The radio crackled again and Mia could be heard shrieking, “Don’t you die on me!”
“JENN! Answer me right fuckin’ now!” Jack thundered.
Shane’s blood froze and he stopped breathing.
If he needed any more evidence of his feelings for Sage, he had it. The crushing thought Heller’s bullet had found its mark caused a knot to form in his chest that would have debilitated him in a firefight
Reaching out, Shane grabbed hold of the radio and swallowed hard, “Mia . . . tell me who’s been shot?”
Jack took a curve hard, barely keeping the SUV on the road, and then gunned the engine, picking up speed at a dangerous rate.
“Shane?” Sage’s voice was a whisper in the radio and he took his first breath since hearing the gunshot.
“Baby, we’re coming. Tell me who’s been shot.”
He released the talk button and heard more screaming, then the gunning of their engine as Jenn raced down the road. Jack let out a stuttered breath when he heard the screeching tires. Jenn was healthy enough to drive.
Shane turned to Max and saw the pain etched on his face; he’d come to the same conclusion. If Sage was on the radio, Jenn was driving, and Mia was shouting, that only left one woman.
Maxine.
“I will kill this sonofabitch with my bare hands!” Max roared, punching the roof repeatedly.
“Sage?” Shane called out. “Give me a description of her wound.”
“Back. In her back. She isn’t opening her eyes.”
Hearing that, Max reached forward and grabbed the radio from Shane.
“Put the radio to her ear,” he demanded. Shane expected him to bark out orders, insist his mother quit being a pain in his ass, but pain filled his eyes and he choked on his words instead. “I love you, old woman. More than you fuckin’ know. You hold on, do you hear me? You hold the fuck on. I need you in my life; I need you in my kid’s life. This is not your time. Do you understand me? I will not lose you, too.”
Max released the talk button and waited for a reply, some sort of sign she heard him. The radio crackled again and Sage mumbled, “I think she heard you.”
The sound of locked up tires filled the cab again, then Jenn screamed, “We’re gonna tip!”
The radio went silent.
They rounded a bend at top speed, and in the distance, they could see the headlights of two vehicles. Both were stationary, one was on its hood blocking one lane.
“Gun,” Shane growled.
“Glove box,” Jack answered.
Shane pulled out a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic. He flipped the safety off and then racked the slide. He could see Heller standing in the headlights of his truck with a gun raised. Rolling down his window, Shane leaned halfway out, balancing his body on the frame, and took aim. When they were close enough, Jack laid on his horn and Heller turned, giving Shane a wider target. He rapid fired, following Heller with his sights as he ran for cover. He took a hit to his midsection but dove into the woods avoiding the rest.
Locking up his brakes, Jack skidded to a stop and barreled out of the vehicle, his own gun pointed at the woods as Max raced to the overturned Jeep.
Shane pulled his body through the window and hit the ground running. Cold fear gripped him at the thought of what they might find.
If anything has happened to Sage, I will castrate the man before I end his life.