Page 93 of What I Should Have Known

Mikey’s face paled and twisted into confused rage. He stared down at the man who’d only a moment ago been speaking. So casually.

“Kat?!” A voice shrieked.

My brows knitted together. Kat? There was no one out here with the name of—

Feet crashed past me, a blur of jeans and cowboy boots thrashing through mud as I remained locked in a squatted position.

“KAT!” the man shouted again.

A man I knew. Not Mikey.

Wyatt.

Blinking rapidly, the rain resumed, cold on my neck.

Kat.

The ATV crystallized in my vision again, and there she was, slumped backward against the front of the four-wheeler, unmoving.

“No,” I roared, spinning around as a body slammed into me.

This wasn’t happening. Nobody was shot. I hadn’t failed to protect her. The sound, the frenzy was all because of… of Duncan? Of… Kat?

Sludge slid up my nostrils as I gasped for air. Pressure against the back of my head kept my face shoved into the mud. Water beat down upon my body.

I’d failed.

Again.

Releasing a guttural bellow, I slammed my palms against the mud and threw myself backward. I needed to get to her. I wouldn’t be the reason she died too. As I rolled to the side, I caught the wrist of the man who’d kept me pinned to the ground and crashed on top of him. With a glance at the wrist in my hand, a spider tattoo peeked out beneath my fingers.

And his fist slammed into my jaw.

Stars swirled in my vision as the dust settled around me. Cold concrete beneath my feet sent shivers up my spine as a pounding against my skull heightened. I shook my head in a daze.

I’d failed to protect Duncan.

His lifeless body, crumpled at my feet, was all that remained of the man who’d just been joking with the rest of us. Mikey seemed as frozen as the ice crystallizing in my veins. But despite the intense shock, I knew I needed confirmation for myself. I needed to know if he was truly…dead.

Stooping, I placed my fingers to his neck, desperately begging that a pulse would pound beneath my touch. But nothing.

Another rattle through my jaw split the scene in front of me.

The dust and concrete zapped away, and my knees sunk deeper into the mud. Beneath me, a man covered in sludge squirmed, and he twisted his wrist caught tightly in my grasp.

Wait, spider tattoo. Cartel.

“KAT!” I shouted, glancing up from the assailant as I slammed my hand around his free forearm, blocking a third blow.

Shouting echoed amongst the downpour, a jumble of curse words and instructions crashed from a swarm of people rushing toward the one woman I cared about. They all sprinted after Wyatt who slid to a stop in front of Kat. I released one wrist I held and slammed my elbow against the nose of the enemy keeping me from reaching her.

“KAT!” I bellowed again and pummeled the man once more. Like dry wood splitting, his bones shattered beneath the force, and he fell limp.

Rising, the world swayed and spun as rain flashed to dust and then back to a blurry scene of a different man rescuing my woman. Wyatt scooped Kat’s body into his lap, and he whipped his head around in a frenzy.

I sprinted forward, and like a wrecking ball to brick, a body barreled into my back. The world turned dark as mud coated my vision and flew up my nose. Rolling to the side, I thrashed at my new attacker and managed to throw him off to the side. Scrambling upright, I wiped the sludge off my eyes to the best of my ability.

Wyatt raced around to the side of the four-wheeler, climbed up, and grabbed the handlebars with Kat flopped carelessly across his lap. Two hands latched around my ankles. With a jerk, the man ripped me to the ground again. Digging my fingers into the mud, I attempted to drag myself toward Kat.

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