Page 119 of Hunted

I reach out to touch it, but West grabs my hand. “Don’t.” My eyes shoot to his in surprise. “She might have broken ribs and internal bleeding.”

My eyes widen in alarm, and I pull out my phone, dialing 911 as fast as I can.

I grab her hand and watch her face as I beg her, “Darla, don’t you dare leave me again.”

It feels like hours pass before paramedics and cops are flooding into the room, although I know it can’t be more than ten minutes. Darla doesn’t wake up once. Not even when they take her away on a stretcher, telling us what hospital they’re taking her to.

“I need to go with her,” I tell the others as I try to follow her out the door, but several hands hold me back.

“Reece, you gotta talk to the cops, man. None of us were here, we didn't see what happened,” Bower tells me. “I’ll go.” He doesn’t wait for a response before jogging after her.

I turn back into the room, my eyes narrowing in on where paramedics are patching up my father.

Two officers approach, their eyes scanning the scene. One of them steps forward and asks in a firm, professional tone, “What happened here?”

“My father, Richard Benson, he shot Darla.” I say angrily, pointing to where they're strapping him to a stretcher.

“Did you shoot him in retaliation?” The officer asks.

“What?”

“Are you sure you didn’t you shoot the girl, too?”

“What?” I ask in frustration and anger, gritting my teeth and trying to stay calm. “I didn’t shoot anyone. My dad shot Darla, I knocked the gun out of his hand and punched him. I thought he was unconscious, so Iwent to check on Darla.” I pause, glancing at West. I don’t want him to get arrested, so I’m not sure what else to say.

“Who shot your father?”

“I did,” West states calmly, stepping up to my side.

The officer's eyes widen, as do mine as we stare at West’s stoic face.

“You’re admitting to shooting him?”

“I walked in and saw him about to stab Reece in the back.”

“We’re going to need you to come down to the station until we can work this all out,” one of the officers says, reaching for his cuffs as he eyes both me and West.

King places a supportive hand on my shoulder. “What seems to be the problem here, officers? We’d really like to be at the hospital when Darla wakes up.”

“Were you all here when the incident took place?” the officer asks, his eyes bouncing between the three of us.

“Weston, Bower and I arrived right after Darla had been shot, we saw Richard try to kill Reece, Weston saved his life. And there is no way Reece would have shot Darla, you’re wasting your time,” King says in defense.

“We’ll clear this up soon enough if you just come with us,” the officer persists.

“Give me your phone,” West says, holding his palm out to me. I frown at him, but the serious look on his face has me reaching into my pocket and dropping it in his hand.

He unlocks it, somehow knowing my password, and within a couple of seconds, he lifts it to his ear. “Agent Stavros? It’s Weston Callahan. Richard Benson just shot Darla.” There’s a pause before he continues. “We’re not sure, she’s been taken to the hospital. Yes, I shot him when he tried to stab Reece… Uh huh… Yeah, the hospital… The officers are tryingto arrest Reece and myself, they think Reece shot Darla for some reason.”

West nods his head, then holds the phone out to the officer. “He wants to talk to you.” He frowns down at it for a second before taking it.

“Yes? … Officer Lopez … No, I— ... Well, how do I know you—” He lets out a sigh as he turns his back to us and runs his hand through his hair. “Understood, sir.”

He turns around and passes the phone back to me, giving his partner an annoyed look. “That was Special Agent Stavros. Apparently, these men are all connected to a case his team has been working on. He said to secure the crime scene and let these three leave.”

Not needing to hear anymore, I pivot on my heel and head to the door with King and West right behind me. Time to go see our girl.

Chapter thirty-four