Page 100 of Death Wish

Blood drained from Simone’s face, leaving her sheet white. She went limp. Sawyer caught her as she slumped to the side.

Jesse used Boudreax’s knife to cut Simone’s shirt far enough to check her shoulder. Another through-and-through. “Nasty wounds but barring complications she should heal well.” He’d make sure there weren’t any complications. Simone wasn’t leaving his sight until she was out of danger.

He hoped Simone meant what she said in front of the Gruesome Twosome because he planned to make a pest of himself until he felt comfortable enough to leave her. The way his emotions were running riot, Jesse was positive he’d never want to leave Simone’s side.

Since she was out and wouldn’t feel his next actions, Jesse cleaned the wounds and applied pressure bandages to both the entrances and exits to stop the flow of blood. Once he got her on the jet, he’d stitch her wounds, pump her full of antibiotics and pain meds, and monitor her as they flew to Texas, the first stop for wounded Fortress operatives and principals once they reached the US.

He sat back as Simone stirred. “You with me, Simone?”

She moaned.

He’d take that as a yes. “You ready to get out of this jungle?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Sawyer, grab my mike bag. Sweetheart, I’m going to carry you out of here.”

“I can walk,” she muttered.

He smiled. “Not this time. I’m carrying you. Get over it.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get used to me giving in all the time.”

Jesse slid his arms beneath Simone’s back and knees and lifted her from the mud.

Simone hissed, her body arching as pain shot through her. “Hurts.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll take care of the pain as soon as we board the jet.”

“My computer. Can’t leave my computer here. We need our stuff from the house, Jesse.”

“We have everything in the vehicles,” Sawyer said. “Someone from Artemis gathered all our gear before we converged on Dragon Alley.”

“The five of you mounted an assault on DA?” Jesse asked as they walked. “That’s impressive. Boudreax has at least 20 security guards around the DA campus.”

“We had a little help. Shadow Unit was back in the area.”

“Nice.” Shadow Unit was the best of the best as far as Jesse was concerned. They worked in the shadows and focused on freeing human trafficking and kidnapping victims. They ran into their share of terrorists as well. Their missions were the most difficult and gut wrenching of all the Fortress black ops teams.

Simone rested her head against Jesse’s shoulder and nuzzled his throat. “I might get used to being carried around like this.”

“Fine with me. Let me know when you want a lift.”

She laughed, then moaned. “Oh, man. Hurts. Don’t make me laugh.”

“Sorry.” He kissed her temple. “Rest. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Sawyer walked ahead of them with his weapon at the ready and Jesse’s mike bag slung over his shoulder.

They finally made their way to the top of the gorge and saw Iona keeping watch over Sophie Westlake who sat on the ground with her hands secured behind her back with a zip tie.

Iona’s eyes flicked to Simone. “She okay?”

“She will be, no thanks to Westlake. Simone has two gunshot wounds. I need to get her to the jet.”

Her eyes went cold and hard as she turned her attention to Westlake. “What do you want me to do with her?” Iona’s voice said it all. She would end Sophie Westlake without batting an eyelash if Jesse wanted her to take care of the problem.

“She’s coming with us.”

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