Page 98 of Barbed Wire Hearts

We all climb in a side-by-side and head out, some of the others following behind in another. Everyone is armed. When I tuck a small handgun into Kate’s hand, she looks up at me in question.

“just in case,” I whisper. “Safety is here.”

She nods and tucks it away, her eyes worried, but her chin held up strong.

“You gonna be okay?” I ask, worried for her.

“Yeah,” she answers. “I’ll be fine. I never really cared for him much. It was only a year long stressful relationship and when he stole from me, that ruined any feelings I might have still had. With this Crow business, it makes me hate him.”

I shrug. “I didn’t mean if you liked him. You just seem worried.”

She meets my eyes. “For you. For the three of you.”

Warmth fills my chest and I tug her closer. “We’ll be fine, Katie Cat.”

Dakota gets in no hurry as he pulls up about fifty feet from the gate. We all walk forward as a unit, stopping about ten feet from the gate where Josh stands with his hands hanging over it, waiting. His eyes look just as terrible in person as they do on camera. I forget I didn’t warn Kate about his appearance until she covers her mouth.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asks, her eyes taking in his appearance.

“I need your help, babe,” he rasps, his body clearly hurt. He’s wearing a baggy jacket zipped up despite the weather, his clothes all hanging from him as if he lost a lot of weight recently. “I need your help real bad.”

“I can’t help you,” she says.

“And don’t call her babe,” I growl.

Josh’s eyes go to me and take in the way I stand close to Kate before he does the same to Levi and Dakota. I see the moment it dawns on him.

“Wow,” he says, chuckling darkly. “And here I thought you were picky about who you fucked, Kate. Hillbillies? Really?”

Kate stiffens. “If that’s all you came here to do, you can leave.”

She turns and he holds out his hand. “No! Wait! I. . . really do need your help.”

“With what?” she asks, her eyes narrowed on him. I can feel her unease though and her guilt. “Who hurt you?”

“Who do you think?” he laughs. “When I couldn’t pay my debts and you ran, they weren’t happy with me. In fact, they nearly killed me.”

Guilt flashes in her eyes despite the hell this man has caused her. But that’s Kate. She never wanted anyone to get hurt, but she had to do what she had to do. That’s life.

“I’m sorry for your suffering, Josh,” she says. “I never wanted that, but you threw me to the Crows, and I couldn’t let that happen.” She straightens. “I can’t help you. You should leave.”

He sighs. “I thought you’d say that,” he rasps, his head hanging in defeat as he slides to his knees. We can see him through the gate panel clearly. It doesn’t really stop people from crawling through, only cars from driving in. “You always were a worthless bitch,” he says.

Anger fills me at the insult, but fear quickly follows when he tugs open his jacket and reveals the bomb strapped to his chest. I spent enough time in Afghanistan that I recognize it. Panic fills me.

“Bomb!” I scream, grabbing Kate and throwing her to the ground before immediately covering her with my body.

I hear the shouts of everyone else, hear their panic, but there’re literal seconds before the bomb beeps. I cover as much of Kate as I possibly can before the explosion rocks the air around us.

I grunt in pain when I’m peppered with small bits of shrapnel.

Beneath me, Kate begins to scream, but it fades when the ringing in my ears takes over.

ChapterFifty-Nine

Kate

I’d seen relief on Josh’s face as he’d pulled open his jacket. Fucking relief. I can’t even begin to think about what’s happened to him since I left. If I do, I’ll fall into a pit of guilt, but none of that hits me as hard as the terror does when Wiley grabs me and throws me to the ground before covering me with his body. I’d had just enough time to tuck myself into him as much as possible before the world exploded.

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