Page 84 of Don't Let Go

“We’re here, Sugar Bear,” McQuade called from the same direction as the pair of bodies. I heard him on my headset and with my own ears.

I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. “Is—is Justus with you, still?”

“Yes,” Locke answered himself. “We’re here and we can see the bodies.”

“Hell of a shot, Sugar Bear, hell of a shot.” That was McQuade again. They were here.

The shaking in my soul translated to shaking in my arm and my hand. Everything trembled. The pain of keeping my arm pointed hit me and all the numbness holding me in position drained away. It left me pained and cramping.

“You can let them in,” Remy said, his words were so soft in my ear. It didn’t play in stereo like Locke or McQuade. Because Remy was still there, and the guys were here.

I flicked a look at the screen on my computer. They’d left the headlights on their acquired vehicle on. It illuminated Locke.

“It’s us,” he said, directly to the camera. Had he been talking to me through it since they got here? Like someone cut my strings, I sank to the floor abruptly and lowered the gun.

“Come in. I’m lowering the gun.” I barely seemed to have finished the words and Locke was there. He’d left the bodies to McQuade, who was checking them. When Locke plucked the gun from my hand, I let it go and then I was wrapped in his arms.

The adrenaline crash was profound. I fought the waves of nausea that hit and let Locke just hold me.

“You did good, Sugar Bear,” McQuade said and I managed to force my eyes open to meet his gaze. He was checking the bodies. “I’m gonna deal with this…”

“I can?—”

“Stay right here,” Locke said, before he slid an arm under my legs and lifted me off the floor. “In fact, you’re gonna take a little walk around to the other side. You don’t need to see this part.”

“Let them take care of you, luv,” Remy said, he was so solid. “I’ve still got eyes on these guys, but tell me right now, do you need me back there?”

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say yes really bad. “I do want you here…”

“Want is good, luv. But do you need me? Cause if you can let them look after you, I can stay on these guys and see if I can get us more.”

It was a choice. Eyes closed, I tucked my head against Locke’s shoulder. The steadiness of his heart helped. The fact he was holding me helped.

They came.

I hadn’t been alone this time. Or unarmed.

Wait, I’d been armed before. I just hadn’t been able to get to my weapon before they were on me. That reality dawned with crystal clear clarity.

Dammit.

Pain lanced through my head, an icy spike that seemed to stab deep into my brain. The tears burning in my eyes offered no relief, only anger. Gradually, the fact Locke rocked me slowly registered.

We weren’t near my computer anymore and my headset was off. Instead, he sat on the bed with me in his lap. The gentle sway accompanied the circular rubbing of his hand against my back. All of it worked to push back the nightmarish reality.

Nothing could make it go away fully. Nothing.

At the moment, I wasn’t even sure answers would fix this. In the past few weeks, I’d lost the security of anonymity. I’d beenfound by three men I trusted, but had never “met” before. At the same time, I’d been compromised and tortured.

The scars decorating my skin served as a road map to some of what had been done to me. I could imagine the rest. I had a very good imagination. If not for them, I would still be in the hands of my tormentors.

The information I’d taken might be the only currency and leverage I had left. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being herded in that direction. The plan they’d drawn out, how “release” might have been manufactured and allies created for me left me wondering how could I ever know if something wasreal?

“Here. I got this.” McQuade was back. Tenderness sanded down all the rougher edges in his manner and voice. I forced my swollen eyes open and then winced.

Oh that was a mistake.

“Careful, Fallon,” Locke cautioned and then pressed a cool, damp towel to my eyes. It was almost heavenly. I was not a cryer. I’d never been one. Right now, sobbing seemed to be my release for fear, for anger, and even for pleasure.

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