Page 61 of Damaged

“He gave it to me,” Chandler said with a nod toward Rogue. “Is Rogue going to die?”

“No,” Wrath said even though he couldn’t be sure. He pressed tightly, but the bullet had pierced Rogue’s lung and there was nothing that pressure could do to ease Rogue’s ragged gasps for air.

Sirens sounded in the distance and Wrath sucked in a relieved breath. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but he could do surgery in the emergency vehicle if he had to.

“Do you know Rogue?” Crow asked Chandler.

“Yeah, I was taken by Solomon when I was six years old, but I escaped four years later,” Chandler said.

“Did Rogue help you escape?” Crow said.

“No.” Chandler shook his head, tears dripping down his cheeks. “Did you know that Solomon used to make Rogue eat dog food? And every week, he would make him play Russian roulette in front of us.” The boy squeezed his hands into fists. “Solomon would use Rogue as an example to keep us in line. He locked Rogue in a box one time that he could barely fit in and nailed it shut.”

Wrath tightened his arms, clutching Rogue. He wanted to take away all the pain and felt helpless that he didn’t have the power.

Winter spun and walked out of the barn. The man’s strides were quick, and his shoulders appeared tight. Perhaps the guy had his own demons to battle?

“How old are you?” Wrath asked, turning his gaze to Chandler.

“Twenty-five.”

If Chandler had been six when captured, it meant Rogue would have been thirteen at the time.

Wrath brushed the hair from Rogue’s forehead and bent his head down to listen to the man’s ragged breathing.

“Have you been with the Lister gang all this time?” Crow asked Chandler.

“No, I came to rescue my sister. They caught me, though.” The young man grimaced and pulled the little girl close.

“We will take you home as soon as Rogue is on his way,” Crow assured the younger man.

The EMTs barreled into the barn and checked Rogue’s vitals. They stabilized the man as much as possible.

When Rogue was finally taken from him, Wrath walked alongside the gurney. When they loaded Rogue into the back of the vehicle, Wrath jumped in.

After a quick glance at each other, neither EMT said a word.

It was a wise choice.

“I say we get the hell out of here,” Winter said as he entered the barn and Crow agreed.

Helping Chandler up and out of the dirty stall, Crow realized that the young man was injured and favoring one leg.

Slowly, they made their way out of the barn and over to the two SUVs now parked nearby. Winter had managed to move both vehicles closer.

“I’ll take them to the authorities and then home,” Crow told Winter.

“I’ll get Rebel and Boston back to Santa Barbara after they give their statements.”

“You should probably get that knot on Boston’s head checked out,” Crow told Winter after a long glance at the vehicle that held Rebel and Boston.

“Wrath checked him and said it was a mild concussion. I just need to keep him awake.”

“All right, who’s going to call Real?” Crow asked, walking backward toward his vehicle with Chandler and the young girl.

“I’ll do it. You’re going to have too many unknown ears inside your vehicle for that phone call.”

Crow smirked at Winter and gave the man a two-fingered salute before he bundled Chandler and the girl into his SUV.

---