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The plume of blood on the shoulder had spread. “I should really take a look at that before we get going. Stop the bleeding.”

Vander closed her eyes as if she were fighting pain or impatience. “No. Just drive.”

Brynn, losing patience herself, put the car in gear. “Where to?”

“The station.”

Brynn gunned the engine. There was no way in hell they were going to the station. The first stop was going to be the hospital. How could her family and friends let her go off on her own? And hadn’t anyone tended to her wound? Brynn thought cops stuck together, looked out for one another. It didn’t make sense.

Brynn drove through the thick brush and found the trail. They bumped and swayed, but she didn’t slow. Brynn eyed Gunner in the back who sat watching the road, tongue hanging from his mouth.

“You did all this for us didn’t you?” Brynn asked. “You kept it secret so you could come on your own.”

Vander leaned against the door, eyes closed. “Had to. Saved me. Kept Gunner safe.”

Brynn glanced at her. Her eyes didn’t open again, and her breathing changed as her tense body fell limp. After checking her wrist for a pulse, Brynn sat back and drove, destination hospital, future unknown.