Page 141 of The Saviors: Part One

“What’s wrong with your leg?” I ask.

“He got fucking shot and is bleeding out back here,” Sean answers. “Now let me look at it.”

I quickly glance back, and blood is seeping through Axel’s jeans on his thigh. “Holy shit, man.”

“It’s just a goddamn flesh wound.” Axel dials on his phone again, and Chelsea’s voicemail filters through. He tries Nolan, and the same thing. “Why the hell aren’t they answering?”

“We’ll find them. They can’t be that far ahead of us,” Kai says, turning around in his seat to look at Axel. “Let Sean look at your damn leg.”

“Fine,” Axel growls. He pulls the knife from his pocket, flips it open, and splits his pants leg open.

“That’s not a flesh wound! You have a hole in your fucking leg!” Sean yells. “And you’re losing a lot of blood.” Sean pulls off his shirt and shoves it against the wound. “I need to see if there’s an exit wound.” Axel rolls his eyes but leans toward the door so Sean can see. “I don’t see one, which means your hard-headed ass has a bullet lodged in his thigh.”

I look at Axel in the rearview mirror and finally see how pale he is. This is so goddamn bad, but I know if I say anything, he’ll just deny anything is wrong.

“Ari,” Axel barks into his phone. “Are you still at Chelsea’s?”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

“I need you to figure out how to use Nolan’s computer and track his phone or tracker.”

“Okay,” Ari says slowly. “What’s going on, Boss?”

“We got ambushed leaving Abbs Valley. Gavin has Chelsea and Nolan, and they won’t answer their fucking phones.”

“Gavin? As in Ghost’s brother, Gavin?”

“Yes.”

“Axel also got fucking shot,” Sean adds. “And the bullet is still in his leg.”

“Jesus fuck,” Ari mutters. “Do we need to head your way?”

“No. Find them. We’ll be fine.”

I glance in the rearview mirror. “We have company.” Two black SUVs are flying up behind us.

“Got it,” Sean says. He slides into the hatch over the backseat, aims his Glock at my back glass, and pulls the trigger. He kicks it the rest of the way out and starts firing. Axel turns in the seat and starts doing the same.

I stomp the gas, taking curves way faster than I should but don’t have a choice. “Do you have anything hidden in here?” Kai asks.

I shake my head. “I just cleaned it out and haven’t reloaded.”

“Good call, Cole!” Sean yells. “Because we go everywhere without fucking weapons!”

“Shut up,” Axel barks, reloading his clip. “Kai, keep fucking calling them.”

Kai dials both numbers, and when it goes to voicemail, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them and glances at me, his eyes are dead, already preparing himself for the worst. I can’t even say anything because my stomach is already in fucking knots. We just got her back; she can’t be taken from us now. None of us would survive. And if we lost Nolan? That would be a fucking disaster for everyone. He’s become such a massive part of the team, and it would be like a hole in our lives.

One of the SUVs smashes in the back of me, making me swerve. I grit my teeth and hit the gas harder. My phone starts ringing, and I can’t explain the feeling when Chelsea’s name flashes across the screen.

I stab the button on the steering wheel to answer. “Ladybug?”

The laughs that filters through runs shivers down my spine. “I’m assuming Ladybug is that stupid little bitch I told you guys to stay away from.”

“Charlie,” Axel spits. “If you hurt her—”

“You’ll what? Kill me? Come on, Axel; you can’t even find me. All that training, and you can’t even track down one old man?” He’s the one that founded the Saviors, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, he was the best for a reason.