Page 55 of Revenge

“That’s a lot of blood, Ash.” Axel presses his shirt into Carl’s side, the gray material turning crimson.

“We need to stop it.” I refuse to believe this is the end for him.

“I’m sorry, Ash. We can’t. He’s lost too much blood.” Zane’s mouth presses together into a firm line as he shakes his head.

I glance up at my friend’s face and see that he’s fading fast. His fingers twitch and I grip his hand to let him know he’s not going to die alone. Something hard hits my hand, but I’m not taking my eyes off of Carl. Not until he takes his last breath.

“I’m not going to let them get away with this. I promise you that.”

Carl wheezes a few more times before his chest stops moving and the sound fades away. His eyes stare unblinking as the life leaves his body.

“Rest in peace, my brother.” I close his eyes and bow my head, allowing him that last respect. My hand squeezes his one last time, and when I let go, I see what he was holding.

“Goddamn it!” A vein throbs in my forehead as I see red.

“What’s wrong?”

I glance up to answer Zane when a flashing light from underneath one of the kitchen chairs catches my eye. Things have just gone from bad to worse.

“Outside, now!” I grab my brothers by the arms and haul ass out the back door. We only get a few feet away from the house before the blast hits. The force of it knocks us forward a good distance. We land in the grass, face first. Hands cradle our heads to protect our faces from flying debris. When things settle, I roll onto my feet and help my brothers up.

“They knew we were coming.” Axel coughs and brushes himself off.

Images of dark hair and green eyes flood my mind, and heaviness settles into my gut like a lead weight. This is not fucking good.

“They did.”

“How?” Zane pulls his eyebrows together.

“This.” I slap the badge in Zane’s hand.

Axel’s eyes narrow as he takes in what I’m holding. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It is.” I swallow down the bile of betrayal building in my throat. “I should have figured this shit out sooner. If I did, I could have…” My words get lodged in my throat.

“Don’t go there, brother. It’s not your fault.” Zane’s words do nothing to stop the ache that spreads across my chest.

“But, it is. It was my case that brought them to my house that night. They’re dead because of me. Because I failed to protect them.” The words feel like acid on my tongue, but it doesn’t make them any less true.

“You can’t shoulder the blame for this. It’s on those fuckers who put the bullet in Lauren. Axel and I know it. And the fuckers will get everything that’s coming to them, in spades.”

“Damn right they will.” Axel nods. I’ve never seen him so pissed.

This situation is more fucked than I could have ever thought. “We have to get back to the house, now!” I race to the truck with my brothers close behind. My foot hits the gas and I gun it toward Charlee, my heart in my throat the entire time.

I know something’s wrong the second we pull up to the door and she doesn’t run out to greet me. My feet tear up the gravel and into the house the second I kill the engine and everything is quiet. Too fucking quiet.

“Charlee?” I call out for her, hoping that my instincts are wrong. Silence answers me back. I run through the entire house, but come up empty. This can’t be happening.

The sound of my phone ringing cuts through the empty house like a knife. When I pull it out and see Carl’s number, my teeth grind together. I press the answer button and hold it up to my ear. “You’re fucking dead.”

A laugh—one that I haven’t heard in six years—echoes through the phone’s speaker. “I see you got my message.”

“If you hurt her, I’m going to make you fucking suffer before I kill you.” My throat burns with every word I speak, but I somehow manage to keep my shit together.

“She’s too pretty for that. And besides, Marco has plans for her.” The way he’s referring to Charlee like she’s a toy has my fists aching to break his neck.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.”

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