Reditus Page 2

  Rafe moved out of the vehicle and straightened to his full height. His hands were shaking and he seemed slightly unsteady on his feet. His face held a fine sheen of sweat, despite the relative coolness of the day. He turned to face Bree and Rylee.

  “He needs rest now more than anything else I can do for him. I think I got here in time, but he may still need medical attention. He lost a great deal of blood.”

  Rylee threw her arms around the huge man’s waist and squeezed him tightly. Rafe endured the hug but didn’t return it.

  “Thank you,” Rylee said in a tearful whisper. Rafe only nodded before gently disengaging himself from her hold. Rylee and Bree turned their attention to Jon as Sawyer climbed out of the vehicle, moving to follow Rafe as he walked away from the SUV.

  Declan wasn’t sure what he should be doing. The adrenaline and stress of the morning seemed to be leaving him all at once and he was suddenly exhausted. He didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry or pass out. He walked to the back of the vehicle to give himself time to get his emotions under control. His legs threatened to give out on him and he leaned against the bumper taking several deep breaths to steady himself. After a few moments, he stood and noticed Rafe and Sawyer standing a short distance away, their hands and arms streaked with blood. Opening the back of the SUV, he found several bottles of water and wordlessly brought them over. They used it to wash the blood from their hands as best they could.

  Now, he leaned against the building and watched Rafe and Sawyer have an animated conversation. He couldn’t make out the words but they seemed to be arguing at first. Then Sawyer appeared to give in to whatever Rafe was saying. She nodded before reaching up to touch Rafe’s arm. It didn’t seem to be a romantic gesture, but Declan wouldn’t even know what romance and Sawyer might look like, so how could he say for sure? He wondered if something was between them. Rafe appeared to be older than Sawyer but he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t even know how old Sawyer was but he thought she was close to his own age. The sound of the motorcycle starting pulled Declan from his thoughts. Rafe was leaving. He watched the large man on the bike grow smaller as he put distance between himself and the bloody scene at the gas station. He hadn’t even had a chance to thank Rafe for saving Jon. He would forever be grateful to the stranger for keeping Bree’s father alive.

  Chapter 2

  When Jon came to, the first thing he noticed was that the car was no longer moving. He opened his eyes slightly, the light making him wince.

  He heard Sawyer’s voice speaking from a short distance away. Then a male voice he didn’t recognize said, “He needs rest more than anything else. I’ve done all I can do, but he’s not out of the woods yet.”

  Sawyer said, “Thank you, Rafe. You saved him. I owe you, now. I wish you’d come back with us. I know why you left, but we need you.”

  “No,” he said. “I can’t ever go back. We’re even now. But don’t call me again, Sawyer. I mean it. I’m out.”

  “Rafe,” she said, her voice slightly pleading. “We can make them listen.”

  “No,” the male voice came again, harder this time. “It’s better this way and this is my choice. They can’t know I was here.”

  “I know,” she said, sighing. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t an emergency. Thank you, Rafe.”

  Rylee spoke now, “I don’t know how to thank you. If you ever need anything…”

  “No,” the man’s deep rumbling voice interrupted her. “I owed Sawyer a debt. Now it’s paid. I wish you and your family all the best.”

  “He’s waking up!” he heard Bree call out. Bree! She’s alive. He felt his lips curl up in a smile.

  “Hey, kiddo,” he whispered.

  “Daddy,” he heard her say in a tear–filled voice. “You scared us.”

  Jon heard the roar of an engine starting a short distance away. He felt a hand on his cheek just before he heard Rylee say, “Bree, can we have a minute?”

  “Sure, Mom,” she said and he felt her kiss the back of his hand before lowering it gently across his waist. It was only then that he noticed the pain in his abdomen was nearly gone. It was a faint twinge where before it had been fiery agony.

  “What happened?” he asked in a voice he almost didn’t recognize as his own.

  He opened his eyes fully and saw Rylee sitting beside him with her face in her hands. She was shaking and he could hear sobs coming from her. “Ry?” he asked. “Why are you crying?”

  Her head came down to rest on his shoulder and he could feel her shaking. With a lot of effort, he managed to bring his hand up to rest on the top of her head. He didn’t remember ever feeling this weak. “Shh,” he said. “Hey. Please don’t.”

  Rylee’s head came up and she met his gaze, her eyes swimming in tears that spilled down her cheeks. “You almost died, Jon,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I held you while you stopped breathing and there was nothing I could do. I thought you were dead.” Her eyes closed and she seemed to struggle against another bout of tears. This Rylee was a stranger to him. He hadn’t seen her cry since the day Bree was born and she’d held her in her arms. Those had been happy tears. This was something else entirely. He’d never seen her this way. She so rarely let her emotions show. When they’d lost Jacobi, she’d internalized everything. She’d shut down, barely speaking, only eating when he reminded her of the baby she carried. This person was foreign to him. He wasn’t sure how to handle this version of her. It scared him.

  “I’m here. I’m okay,” he told her. “Don’t cry. Please.” He wiped her damp cheeks with his hand and she let her eyes fall closed for a moment.

  After several minutes, Rylee stopped crying and seemed to pull herself together. Jon studied her expression carefully as she met his gaze. He didn’t understand what he saw in her brown eyes, but he was transfixed by her gaze. His thumb gently stroked her cheek. This sort of intimate contact wasn’t usually allowed but she wasn’t pulling away from his touch and Jon enjoyed the stolen moment. She continued to look in his eyes and he found that he couldn’t look away from what he saw there. He’d known her nearly all his life and he would have sworn he could read her every expression. Rylee had never been a very talkative person, but she could say a lot with a single raised eyebrow or a quirk of her mouth. But right now, Jon had no idea what she was thinking or feeling and that scared him.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “I’m okay.” He could barely believe it himself but he needed her to believe it. He had no idea why he was alive right now, but he understood that it had something to do with the stranger he’d heard speaking a few moments ago. While he might be alive, the reality was that he felt awful. The edges of his vision were growing hazy and the effort of keeping his hand on Rylee’s face was requiring all his strength. He wasn’t feeling any pain but he was guessing the loss of so much blood was catching up to him. Still, he needed to reassure her. “Rylee,” he said, trying to make his voice sound stronger than he felt. “We’re okay. We made it.”

  Rylee took a deep shaky breath and gave a small nod, reaching up to cover his hand with her own. After a moment, she gave his hand a squeeze and removed it from her face. Her expression went back to its customary neutrality but Jon thought he still saw the hint of that unidentifiable emotion in her eyes. Right now, he was finding it hard to keep his own eyes open. He felt his eyelids droop and forced them to open once again. As they closed a second time, he felt Rylee press her lips to his forehead.

  “Just sleep,” she whispered softly.

  Declan heard gravel crunching and looked up to see Bree walking toward him. He straightened and walked the few feet over to meet her. She was exhausted and covered in blood, but uninjured. There was something in her eyes that hadn’t been there the day before. A shadow. Some sort of intangible difference that he couldn’t quite explain. Declan thought that if he looked in the mirror he might see that same haunted look in his own. The events of the morning had changed them both and he didn’t think they’d ever b
e the same. Despite this, Bree shot him a dazzling smile that hit him like a punch in the gut. She was filthy, covered in dust and blood and her hair was a mess, but Declan couldn’t help but smile back. She was beautiful.

  She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. He hugged her back, his arms tight around her. He realized again how close he’d come to losing her today and clung to her for a moment longer, memorizing the feel of her in his arms. As she pulled away from him, she gave a small laugh.

  “He’s okay,” she said just before her eyes filled with tears. Her hands came up to cover her face as her shoulders shook. Declan pulled her head to his chest and held her close while she released all the emotions brought on by the day’s events.

  Bree’s crying spell didn’t last long but she still looked embarrassed when she pulled away from him. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “I don’t know what that was about. I’m fine.” She was wiping at her tear–streaked face and wouldn’t meet Declan’s gaze.

  “Hey,” Declan said, reaching out to touch her cheek. She stopped her movements and looked up to meet his gaze. He gave her a small smile. “It’s okay,” he said softly, wiping a tear from her face. “You’re allowed to fall apart a little.” They were the same words he’d said to her the first time she’d cried on his shoulder all those weeks ago at her parents’ house. Bree returned his smile and gave a little nod. She took a deep breath and blew it out in a rush. Declan put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side for a moment. He knew he shouldn’t, but right then she needed the comfort and if he were being honest with himself, so did he. They were both still reeling from the events of the morning and emotions were high. She leaned into his embrace for a moment before he pulled away, forcing himself to put some distance between them.

  Chapter 3

  The three of them helped Jon to sit up. He’d slept for only a short time and the effort seemed to tire him, but he claimed to be fine. Declan thought he looked far too pale, but then he’d lost a lot of blood. He probably needed a transfusion. He was turned toward the open door, head leaned against the backseat. He was wearing a clean shirt but he still looked weak. Rylee stood next to him in the open doorway. Bree stood near Declan and they all seemed to be watching Jon for some sign that he might fall over at any moment. He remained upright for the time being. Sawyer walked over to join them.

  “We need to talk,” she said in a serious tone. Everyone’s focus immediately shifted from Jon to Sawyer. “How did they find us at that motel?” she asked. “They could have followed us, but I doubt it. I would have noticed a tail. Or they planted a tracker on one of us or the cars. That seems more likely.” She kept speaking but it didn’t seem as though she expected an answer from any of them. “Sure, they could have killed us sooner if they could find our car. But maybe they wanted to wait until they could get us all at once. The other option is tapped phones. I don’t know how they could have pulled that off, but anything’s possible.”

  Declan didn’t like what Sawyer was saying, but she made sense. How had Ephraim’s people found them? He trusted these four people completely and he knew they wouldn’t have talked to Ephraim. So how had they known exactly where and when to find them? “I think the tracker on my car is the most likely option,” he said into the silence. The others nodded their agreement. He said, “If they put a tracker on one of our cars, this one probably has one too. It’s only a matter of time before they find the mess at the motel and come looking for this truck. We need to dump it and get another ride. Fast.” Bree’s eyes widened at his words. Sawyer’s expression hadn’t changed. It was obvious that she’d already come to that conclusion on her own.

  They all exchanged glances, waiting for someone to speak. Sawyer looked resigned but firm as she said, “We don’t have a choice. I need to call in an extraction.” She didn't give them an option to agree or disagree before using her phone to dial a number. She pressed the phone to her ear and after a moment began to speak in short, one–word sentences.

  “Williams. No. 5. Yes. 1 serious, 2 minor. Understood. Yes. Yes.” She hung up the phone and slid it into her back pocket. “Everyone back in the truck,” she said as she began walking toward the vehicle.

  Declan moved to help Jon turn in the seat and get back into the vehicle. The sight of the blood pooled on the seat and floor gave everyone pause. They used what was left of Jon’s ruined shirt to clean the seat enough to sit on. It was still a mess, but it didn’t matter. This was the only vehicle they had for the time being so they all piled inside, eager to put as much distance between them and the motel as possible.

  Sawyer drove this time and Declan was happy not to have to focus on that task. Bree sat in the backseat with her parents. No one spoke and the silence that settled over the vehicle felt somehow appropriate. After the noise and chaos of the day, they all needed the quiet. Declan wondered briefly where they were going but realized that it didn’t matter. They needed to get somewhere safe and Sawyer was getting them there. That was all that mattered now.

  After a half hour of silence, Bree’s voice came from the backseat, “Where are we going?”

  Sawyer replied, “We’re heading to the designated meeting point. We’ll meet the team and ditch the truck. They’ll take us the rest of the way to the compound.” She met Bree’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “We’ll be safe. I promise.” Bree nodded, her face expressionless.

  Bree’s mind wandered as they drove. She tried to recount the events of the last 24 hours, but her thoughts kept becoming a jumble of gunfire, explosions, blood and fear. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm herself. Studying Declan’s profile, she thought back to their first meeting and considered all they’d been through since that night.

  Finding out the man she’d dreamt of her whole life was more than just a figment of her imagination had been such a shock. Her life had changed so much since that moment. She and Declan had been hunted and nearly killed. It was only Sawyer’s presence that had saved them the night Benson had attacked. Bree remembered the nearly crippling fear she’d felt that night. Glancing over to her father who was sleeping deeply, leaned against the window, she understood just how much worse things could get. Sawyer had told them. Her parents had tried to explain it to her. Hadn’t her mother asked her to run? Sitting on the couch in her parents’ living room, Rylee and Jon had told her what the war had cost them. They’d talked about losing their friends, watching people die. They’d told her of their own decision to leave that life behind, but Bree had stubbornly decided to find out more about the Praetorians. She’d thought she knew what she was signing up for, but after this morning, she realized that she’d had no idea.

  She let her gaze roam from one person to the next, taking in the scratches, bruises, blood and exhaustion that marked each of them. She knew that this was what Sawyer, Rylee and Jon had been trying to make her understand all those weeks ago. This was the reality of the Praetorians’ war against Ephraim. Her heart clenched painfully as she realized again just how close to death they’d all been. Was she really ready to risk all of them? Bree swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure she had a choice any longer. No matter what came next, she knew she’d face it head–on. She leaned against the tinted glass window and let the rushing blur of scenery lull her into an exhausted sleep.

  Declan glanced back at the three sleeping forms in the backseat before turning back to Sawyer. “Do you know who we’re meeting?” he asked in a low voice.

  Sawyer gave a noncommittal shrug but didn’t take her eyes from the road. “It’ll be someone I know from home. Dispatch didn’t say who. Don’t worry. I’ll know them when I see them and it’ll be someone I trust.”

  He nodded. He was beyond tired. He trusted Sawyer and if she trusted whoever they were meeting, that was enough for him. He leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. He didn’t sleep but stayed in that place between asleep and awake until he felt the car roll to a stop nearly an hour later.

  Declan opened his eyes a
nd looked out the window. They were in a parking garage. It appeared to be empty. At least, he didn’t see any other cars parked on this level. Glancing over at Sawyer, he saw that she was also looking around, her expression wary. He was instantly on his guard.

  “Where are we?” he asked in a quiet voice.

  She didn’t look his way when she answered. “Garage for a condo that’s still under construction. Our ride should be here soon.”

  Her eyes scanned the dark corners of the empty garage. Declan studied her as she did. She was clearly exhausted. Her eyes were rimmed with bruise–like circles. She also had a very real bruise beginning to appear on her jaw. He noticed her breathing was shallow and his mind went back to her showing up at his apartment the night before, injured and covered in blood. She hadn’t had time to explain what exactly she’d been through before they fled in the night. She’d mentioned her ribs and Declan thought maybe she was more injured than she wanted them to know. None of them were exactly 100% but Sawyer and Jon had taken the worst of it. He’d known she was a great fighter, but now he saw how tough she was as well.

  “Hey,” he said, touching her shoulder gently. She jumped slightly at his touch but tried to mask her surprise as she turned to meet his gaze. There was a haunted look in her eyes that she tried to hide. Declan wasn’t fooled. “You did fine, you know?” he said. At her confused expression, he continued. “You kept us all safe. You did your job. We’re alive because of you. Thank you.”

  Sawyer looked away from Declan but not before he noticed her face take on a sad expression. “Barely,” she said. “If I’d been faster, maybe…” she trailed off, her head shaking.

  “Sawyer,” Declan spoke more firmly this time, hoping to make her really hear him. “You saved our lives last night and again this morning. And you got Rafe to Jon in time. You saved that family,” he pointed to the back seat where Bree and her parents slept. “Don’t focus on almost and might have been. Look at what is.” Sawyer looked at Declan for a long, silent minute before nodding slowly.