Page 33

Chapter 33

Jay

B eing forced to watch Franks attack Cate was enough to make my blood boil, but there was literally nothing I could do. I struggled against the ropes binding me, but it was no use.

A commotion outside the house brought everything to a standstill.

Please, God, let it by my Dad .

Roman’s eyes rounded as he realized he’d waited too long to leave. He grabbed a gun from his desk and ordered Franks to kill us before running out of the room with his henchmen on his tail.

The door slammed shut, bringing images of a coffin lid slamming shut for the last time.

Please hurry . Don’t let us die here .

Franks knelt in front of Cate. “I think I’ll have a little fun before I kill you.” He turned to me and said, “You get to watch me with your girl before you die.”

I prayed my father and brothers would get here in time to save Cate.

I won’t sit around and wait to be saved .

Finding a reserve of adrenaline fueled strength, I fought against the ties. The rope cut into my skin causing blood to drip down my arms while the metal cuffs cut into my wrists.

Franks grabbed Cate’s chin, forcing her to look at him. When he leaned in, she spat, covering his face in blood drenched spit.

That’s my girl .

He backhanded her before wiping his face.

I fought harder, jumping up and down in the chair, trying to break it against the floor.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t like watching, does he?” He ran his hand down her thigh as he spoke.

I wanted to kill this guy, and if I could break free, I’d happily do it with my bare hands.

“Untie me you fucking coward, and I’ll show you how much I don’t like it.” My bruised and bloodied lips made the threat less menacing than I would’ve liked.

Franks laughed as he reached down and ripped Cate’s shirt. When he leaned in close, she head-butted him.

I loved her for refusing to give up. He might kill her, but she’d go down fighting.

Franks saw blood on his hand after wiping it under his nose. “Fuck this,” he said before punching her. He got up and grabbed a syringe from the desk. Cate’s eyes widened as she saw it in his hand.

So did mine. I doubled my efforts to break free.

He made quick work of finding a vein in her arm and sliding the needle in. “This will make you more cooperative.” His laugh turned my blood cold.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I screamed and fought harder against my ties, this time standing and slamming the chair into the floor. No way in hell was I letting him do this.

Franks walked to the desk and picked up another syringe. “Your turn.” He punched me in the sternum, knocking the wind out of me. I struggled as he held my arm still, easily finding my vein and shoving the needle into it.

“You suck at this.” All my straining against the ropes had created just enough wiggle room for me to yank my arm away, causing the needle to tear my skin. The rope prevented me from head-butting him like Cate had.

The drug acted fast in my undernourished body, rendering me mostly immobile. I tried yelling, but my words sounded like gobbled garbage as Franks spun my chair, forcing me to witness his assault on Cate.

Gunfire sounded from down the hall. They’re getting closer . I prayed we could hold on long enough for my father to find us.

Would they find us before Franks shot us?

Please hurry .

He yanked Cate’s hair back and slammed his mouth over hers while grabbing a breast and squeezing. She didn’t cry out. Didn’t flinch.

She couldn’t.

Unable to control her muscles, her eyes stayed open. Which meant I saw her pupils widen as tears rolled down her cheek. He’d drugged the fight out of her, and she had to watch as he closed the distance again.

Rage and fury burned through my veins but I was helpless to stop him.

Footsteps in the hall made Franks stop. Stepping back, he said, “Time’s up.”

No, no, no.

There was nothing I could do as he drew his gun, aimed it at me, and fired. I barely had time to register that he’d missed, before the door crashed open.

Franks didn’t bother checking to see if he’d hit me, instead aiming at Cate and firing again. She wasn’t as lucky; her body jolted before blood stained her shirt.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I struggled against the drugs in my system, which were already wearing off thanks to the needle tearing out of my vein before the syringe was empty.

More shots sounded before Franks hit the floor and the team rushed in.

I couldn’t see who’d entered, but knew they’d clear the room before helping us. Precious seconds ticked by as blood continued to flow from Cate’s wound and her head drooped forward .

Jack sank to his knees in front of me and asked if I was hit. I tried to answer, but my tongue felt like it was three times too big for my mouth and made of lead, so all that came out was grunts and squeaks. He searched my eyes, looking for answers, so I blinked and turned them to Cate.

“I got you, little brother.”

A half a second later, AJ slung his rifle and dropped to his knees in front of Cate.

Jack needed to leave me and help Cate, but my mouth refused to work so all I could do was plead silently for him to get the message.

AJ applied pressure to the upper right side of her chest. The bullet missed her heart, but did it puncture her lung? AJ said, “She’s been hit.”

Hearing that, Jack checked me for bullet wounds before helping AJ.

I tried to move, but couldn’t. Fear and frustration consumed me as I sat there helpless to help them help her.

Jack cut the ties binding Cate while AJ continued applying pressure.

“I need a chest seal,” AJ said.

Jack leaned her forward and checked her back. “We need two.”

Please don’t die . I didn’t realize I was crying until the salt from my tears made the cuts on my face sting. Please don’t die .

As soon as they had her on the floor, AJ pushed her torn shirt to the side and applied the first seal. They carefully rolled her over so he could apply the second.

The sound of more people entering the room wasn’t enough to pull my attention from Cate’s body. She was unconscious but her chest was rising just enough for me to know she was still breathing. Still alive.

I tried to move again. “Cate?” I cried out. It sounded more like a long hard ‘A’ than a word.

“Jaden?” My father’s voice caught my attention. Shifting my focus made me dizzy so I waited for him to step in front of me.

He kneeled down in front of me, held my face in his hands, and stared into my eyes.

Seeing my father caused relief to flood my system as I struggled to breath through my fear. Under normal circumstances, I’d use combat breathing to control my heart rate and calm my racing thoughts, but I didn’t have that much control over my muscles.

I opened my mouth but all that came out was a garbled mess.

“It’s okay, Jay. We’ll get you out of here.”

I shifted my focus to Cate and watched helplessly as Jack and AJ helped her.

“She’ll be okay. The ambulance is on the way.” As if summoned by his words, sirens sounded in the distance.

I tried to lean forward, but the rope still held me to the chair.

“Help me cut him free,” Dad said a few seconds before the ties holding me up fell away, causing me to collapse forward in his arms .

“I’ve got you,” he said as he helped me to the ground. Someone must have asked because he wasn’t talking to me when he said, “He’s banged up, and they’ve drugged him, but he should be okay.”

The sound of sirens grew louder while I sat on the floor, held up by my father, as Doug conducted a head to toe check for injuries. I gave up trying to speak.

All I could do was watch and wait.

I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.

“Hold on, Max, help is coming,” Jack said as he assessed her for other wounds.

We made it this far. Don’t you dare die on me now . With what little control I had, I leaned towards Cate. “Help me,” I grunted, the words nothing more than noise.

But my father understood; he and Doug shifted me closer to Cate.

It took every last ounce of energy I had to reach out and touch her hand.

Her lashes fluttered. The vacant look when her eyes opened briefly scared the hell out of me. The drug in my system might have rendered most of my muscles useless, but not my heart. It was beating a mile a minute as precious seconds ticked by.

Please, God, let her come back to me. Don’t let her die. I begged. I pleaded. I prayed.

I don’t know how long it was before my father pulled me away, saying, “The paramedics are here. Let them help her.” My focus never left Cate as my dad and Jack sat me back in the chair .

I watched and listened as they checked her wounds. They were about to start an IV when Doug interrupted, handing the small female paramedic a syringe. “Got it, thanks,” she said.

Before long, more people arrived. I assumed paramedics and police officers, though I didn’t take my eyes off Cate to verify.

After handing my care over to the new paramedics on scene, my father told Doug to stay with me while he talked to the LEO in charge of the scene.

Cate remained unconscious while the paramedics rolled her onto a board, lifted her to a gurney, and strapped her in.

When I tried to get up, to go with Cate, I fell into a paramedic.

“You need to sit still so we can treat you,” he said, his stern voice meant to stop me.

It didn’t work. She shouldn’t be alone . I needed to go with Cate. If only I could make my tongue work better.

“Give us a minute.” After the paramedic stepped away, my father said, “Jay, I know you want to be with her, but there’s nothing you can do right now.”

I grunted out, “I need-”

“I know. I know.” He turned my head so I had no choice but to look at him. “But you need help, too. You’ll be at the same hospital and we’ll make sure she’s okay.”

It wasn’t enough. And if my stupid body worked properly, I would’ve fought to stay by her side.