Page 58 of Trapped (Sheppard & Sons Investigations #6)
Ashley
“ Y ou can’t die, Nathan. I won’t let you.” I yelled while struggling against the person trying to pull me away.
“Ashley, you need to give them room,” Jay said. He yanked me off the ground and carried me away from Nathan. When he put me down, he held me tight so I couldn’t go back.
Not that I stopped trying.
“What’s he doing?”
“Kroup’s applying a tourniquet to his leg and Cate’s bandaging his side.”
Al shot him. Twice.
I looked around Jay to see Jack and Jamie bent over John. “Oh God. Is your dad okay?”
“He will be.” He sounded confident, and I wanted to believe him, but Jamie and Jack looked scared. “Fucker stabbed him and shot Blaszek before AJ snapped his neck.”
“We need to get him to a hospital,” Cate said.
“Search Perpura for keys,” Kroupa ordered.
AJ bent and reached into the dead man’s pockets. “Got ‘em,” he said, tossing the keys to Kroupa.
“Sheppard!” Three heads turned to Kroupa, who seemed to be the one in charge. “I’m taking Blaszek and Ashley in Perpura’s SUV. I’ve got room for one more. Sharpe, you good to drive everyone else?”
“Yes, sir,” Doug answered.
“I’ll ride with you,” AJ said.
“Stay on comms. Cate, call 9-1-1 and have them meet us on the main road. Send the coordinates as soon as you have them.”
“Yes, sir,” Cate said. AJ dug in Al’s pockets, found his phone and tossed it to Cate.
“Sharpe, help me lift him. Sheppard, help Ashley to the car.”
“I got her,” AJ said, picking me up without effort despite the bandage on his leg. “Jay, go see your dad.”
I clung to his neck as he limped behind Kroupa and Doug. “Will he be okay?” I asked.
“They’ve stopped the bleeding, so he should be.”
“Should be?” More tears threatened to fall.
“I’m sorry, Ashley. It’s the best I’ve got right now,” AJ sounded as worried as I felt.
After AJ helped me into the back seat, Kroupa arranged Nathan so his head rested in my lap and his legs were elevated.
When Kroupa whistled, Havoc jumped in the back of Al’s SUV.
“Please don’t die,” I begged as I stroked Nathan’s hair.
The ride to the cabin had seemed rough, but it was nothing compared to the ride out with Kroupa driving as fast as he safely could.
“AJ, are you okay?” I asked after hearing him grunt for the third time.
“Yeah, some fucker shot my leg. It’s not bad, but the turbulence isn’t helping,” he joked.
“Is Havoc okay?” I could hear him whimpering every time big bumps jostled us off our seats.
“He will be. The cut isn’t deep, but he’ll need stitches and lots of rest,” Kroup answered.
“Can I pet him?”
“He’d like that,” Kroupa said. He issued an order two seconds before a wet snout nudged my shoulder. “Now you can reach him.”
“Thank you, Havoc.” I sniffled. “I’m sorry you got hurt trying to save me.”
“No one blames you, but if you need to hear it. He forgives you,” Kroupa said.
I needed to hear it. Not just from Havoc, but from AJ, Jay, John, and Nathan. And from Jamie and Jack because their dad got stabbed. And from Cate because her fiancé got shot.
I needed to hear it from everyone because the guilt was piling up.
If only I’d been stronger and hadn’t needed time to process the negative pregnancy result.
If only I’d stayed inside at the clinic.
If only I’d screamed, alerting Nathan that something was wrong.
If only I wasn’t the reason my friends had gotten hurt.
“Ashley,” AJ yelled my name.
“What?”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No, I’m not. This is all my fault.” I finally admitted.
“No, it’s not,” AJ said.
“Not even a little,” Kroup added. “Perpura was a sick bastard.”
Havoc nudged my hand, which had stilled while I confessed, so I rubbed his head again. The other hand was alternating between rubbing Nathan’s head and caressing his cheeks.
After a particularly jarring bump, I heard my name whispered with a gravelly voice and looked down to see Nathan’s eyes fluttering.
“Nathan!”