Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 137176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“JJ!” Cass called.
“Here!” I shouted even as I glanced up at the window that Chandler had been standing in front of. Right in the spot where Cass had been just before his father had stepped in front of him was a large round hole.
By the time I reached Cass, he was rolling his father over. To Sully he shouted, “Shooter across the street. Hostage, four-year-old boy!”
I could barely breathe, but as soon as I heard the word hostage and the age that Cass had called out, I knew who he was talking about—Charles, Cass’s half-brother and Chandler’s youngest son.
“Dad!” Cass called once he had his father rolled over. I reached both men and automatically scanned Cass’s body for any injuries. There wasn’t a spot of blood on him, but my relief was short-lived when I saw that he had rolled his father again, this time so the older man was lying on his chest. Chandler’s back was soaked with blood. “JJ, help me find the wound,” Cass said, his voice shaky. I grabbed the knife that I knew Cass kept tucked in his boot and quickly cut through the back of Chandler’s suit jacket and white shirt. Despite the massive amount of blood that covered most of Chandler’s upper back, Cass and I were able to quickly find the large hole just under his right shoulder blade.
“Put pressure on it,” I ordered as I began tearing Chandler’s shirt into large pieces so Cass could cover the hole.
“Ch—” Chandler choked on the word as blood began to seep from his mouth.
I dropped my head so I could hear Chandler better.
“Charlie,” he sputtered. “Char—” was all he managed to get out before he began gagging on his own blood.
“We’ll find him, Dad,” Cass said as he desperately continued to press pieces from Chandler’s ripped shirt against the wound on his back.
“Go—” Chandler managed to say before his eyes slipped shut.
“He’s still got a pulse,” I said to Cass who was frantically trying to stem the bleeding.
“I’ve got him!” Sully said as he moved toward us, still keeping his body low. He covered Cass’s hands with his own. “Cass!” Sully shouted to get his attention. It took Cass several long seconds to lift his head. His eyes locked on mine, then Sully’s.
“He—he stepped in front—he stepped between—”
“Cass,” I snapped. My tone got his attention. When he looked at me, I could see the despair in his eyes as his mind continued to process that his father had taken the bullet meant for him. “Charlie,” I said with a nod. Cass, the soldier, instantly replaced Cass, the shell-shocked son, as his eyes locked on mine. He moved his hands, letting Sully take his place.
“Our guys have them pinned on the roof across the street! A helicopter is inbound!” Sully called as Cass and I hurried from the room, keeping our bodies low. Boone was by my brother’s side in an instant. Chandler’s prognosis seemed grim, but neither Cass nor I could let our thoughts be anywhere but on getting to Charlie.
Thankfully, the elevator was still on the floor we were on, saving us precious time from having to use the stairwell that led to the first floor. The second we were in the elevator, Cass and I both put the comms in our ears so we could hear the conversation happening between the rest of the team. Cass was silent and detached as the elevator neared the first floor. For once, I didn’t try to snap him out of whatever world he was in. I wanted to comfort him and tell him his father and Charlie would both be fine, but the words would have been horseshit and completely useless. He was compartmentalizing what had just happened and storing the box away so he could focus on the present. I had no idea how he was managing it because I was a fucking mess.
Mentally, I was all over the place, especially because the blinding pain behind my right eye had returned after being absent for more than a week. I used the pain to my benefit. There were no images to deal with, no wishes for even the tiniest sliver of a memory that would return the past to me; I channeled all that pain into giving Cass whatever he needed from me in that moment.
As soon as the elevator opened, we were running through the lobby and out the door. Cass didn’t stop for the cars on the busy street; they stopped for him. Horns blared and people cursed as brakes squealed, but he easily weaved between the vehicles. The pain in my head was what made it possible for me to stay right on Cass’s tail. He needed me at his back, and nothing was going to stop me from being there.
Unlike the Ashby Tower, there was no dedicated elevator to get to the roof in the other building, and with people milling about the lobby and in front of the bank of elevators, there was no way we could take the chance of waiting for one. People screamed and ran as we tore through the lobby. The building had no security desk, so there was no one to stop us as we darted for the stairwell. Cass took the stairs two at a time and while I would have loved to do the same, I just didn’t have the strength or stamina that he did. Thankfully, I was only a handful of seconds behind him when he threw the door to the roof open.