Page 82 of Unchained

CHAPTER 25

Cam sat numbly on the back of the truck while the cops interviewed the guys. Cole had approached them in the woods, but when she and Brooks reached the road, she’d looked back and Cole was gone.

Police scurried around the scene. The woods were alive with flashlights and the calls of radios and voices. A buzz of life so intrusive in what should be a tranquil setting. She watched as the ambulances’ doors were closed, her mom in one and the wounded guard in the other. After Cam had left her mom, Linda had passed police on her way back and turned around to return to the tent. Thankfully, because Cam would have been sick with worry at the thought of her mom driving all that way after the trauma she’d endured.

Black body bags were carried out of the tent and woods, one after the other. She closed her eyes as one in particular passed her. The direction the paramedics had come from indicated the thick plastic held Leonetti. A hand settled on her shoulder. She jerked up her head and found Brooks. Without waiting for his invitation, she dove against the wall of his chest. She’d been checked over by the paramedics, given her statement, and now all she wanted was to get far away from the density of the action.

He tipped up her chin and stroked his thumb over her cheekbone. “That bastard. I’d kill him again just for hitting you.”

She kissed his knuckles. “I’m fine. What did they say?” she whispered faintly. There was a lot at stake, and she’d been scared shitless she’d slip up and say the wrong thing, getting one of the brothers in trouble or worse, offering a clue that Cole had been around.

“There’s nothing to worry about for now. I told them they could test my blood for the drug, and it will correlate with everything Leonetti was working on—now that they have access to the files he’s left behind,” he said, nodding at the tent.

“I told them I have a syringe of Axalantheum. They can use that in their investigation, too.”

He gave one nod. “Good.”

“And your leg?” She turned her attention to the bloodstain on his jeans.

“It’s fine. Just a graze, which they bandaged up after checking my vitals. They want me to go to the hospital for observation, but no fucking way.”

Cam grimaced. She couldn’t blame Brooks for refusing to go to the hospital, but she’d have to keep a close eye on him.

“For now, we’re free to go, but I suspect we’ll be called in for more questioning.” His hand smoothed back her hair, and she pulled the wool blanket a paramedic had given her tighter around her shoulders. “When Dare and Nash are done giving their statements, we can go. How’s your mom?”

Curling her fingers around Brooks’s waist, her face contorted with sadness. “They said they’d likely keep her for a night or two. She has a concussion from when one of the guards hit her.” Cam swallowed over the anger that threatened to trap the words in her throat. “They said they’ll know more once tests are run.”

“You should be with her.”

“Maybe you guys can drop me off at the hospital?”

Brooks smiled. “Of course. And your feet?”

She curled her bare toes inside her mom’s shoes. “They’re fine.” She looked at her ankle and surveyed the neat bandages.

He pulled her into his side. The air stirred with his breath and unspoken words. Instinct told her he was struggling to stay in one spot. His body needed to expel the drug’s energy. She lifted her hand to his heart, and its rapid beating made her cringe. “You need to release some of that adrenaline.”

He snorted. “Can’t exactly run it off right now.”

Dare approached. “Let’s get the fuck out of here, shall we?”

Cam nodded. Brooks swept one arm under her knee and the other around her back and carried her to the truck. Dare opened the back door for them. Brooks slid her inside then climbed in next to her. Nash got in the driver’s seat and Dare took the front passenger’s seat.

Cam squished her side against Brooks, and he wrapped his arms around her. Nash pulled onto the main road, checking the rearview mirror. “Why do I feel like we just dodged a bullet?”

Brooks gazed through the window. “A lot of things played in our favor. The fact that Leonetti had no permit to work or set up shop on this land helped.”

“Not to mention Lexi’s connections,” Nash said. “One of the detectives told me she filled them in on everything Leonetti’s done and reported Cam’s kidnapping.”

Cam leaned forward. “Should be an open-and-shut case then?”

Brooks winced.

Nash scoffed. “Not likely. While Lexi has great contacts, too many detectives are fixated on Cole. They’ll want to tie anything they can to him.”

“Why?” Cam asked.

Silence filled the truck. “It’s best we don’t go into those details,” Nash finally said. “Let’s be grateful the cops were able to discern the truth here, and not hold our breath.”

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