Page 37 of Dangerous Lies

“I'm scared.”

Ginger breathed through the pain.

“We got this, but if I go down, run to the nearest store and call your mom then 911.” His vision faded for a second. Blood trickled down his leg. He needed more than the homemade tourniquet. “Let's go, bud.”

Tyler gripped his fingers as he climbed up the side of the small hill back to the road. Then, Ginger's fingers slipped from his grasp, and he fell to the ground. Tyler stopped and his little lip quivered. “I’m really scared, Dad.”

His heart clenched for the boy, but he felt so weak and each second his vision faded a little more.

“Gogethelp.”

“But I don’t want to leave you.”

“I need you to get to safety and call for help. I’m hurt and need help Tyler.” Tyler turned and ran up the hill.

He pulled himself from the ground and limped a few yards.

A car buzzed by, but not one person stopped. When he madeitto the top of the hill, Tyler stood waiting for him. He grabbed his son's hand and set his eyes on the strip mall a thousand feet away. With each step, his vision faded in and out.

Tyler tugged at his hand. “We're almostthere, Dad, and then we can have ice cream.”

“Okay, buddy, remember to call your mom.” Ginger stumbled forward.

A large arm grabbed onto his bicep.

“Sir, we need togetyou to the hospital,” a man said.

Ginger tried to look at the man, but his vision was too dimmed to make out more than light and shadows. He swayed in his spot as he struggled to find words.

“Help him,” Tyler pleaded.

Ginger’s legs gave out, and he slumped in the man’s arms.

“Yes, I have a male bleeding from his leg,” the man said, sounding far away. “His eyes are closed.”

The world faded, and no matter how much Ginger tried to hold on, he couldn't. Tyler's cries were the last sounds heheardbefore his world faded black.

14

ROSE

Rose clutched the leather seats as the plane hit another bump. They shouldn’t be on a plane. They needed to head back to Las Vegas and put Ginger back in the hospital bed his team had taken him from. She partially understood they were in danger back home but taking him from a hospital a day after surgery seemed next level crazy to her.

The hospital staff hadn’t said a word as a team of doctors waltzed in with fancy equipment. Xavier stood in his designer suit and directed the team he’d hired. They moved Ginger from his bed to a stretcher and pushed him out.

Nobody gave her time to grab a single item from her house or to feed her spiders and insects. There was no negotiation when it came to Xavier. The man was an asshole who made demands, and nobody said no. She’d tried to stand up to him and explain why his idea was insane, but he’d threatened to tie her up and shove her in the cargo area of the plane. He wasn’t giving her a choice.

Ginger’s chest rose and fell. The side couch had turned into a full medical bed. Rose would think about how Xavier’s plane was equipped with a medical pull out bed later. Two nurses and a doctor kept track of his vitals. Rose hadn’t seen his eyes since their fight yesterday, before he had taken Tyler to soccer.

Her son curled up in the bedroom of the plane. He’d cried himself to sleep. He had told her his dad had saved him. She couldn’t be upset with Ginger for telling his son.

The plane dipped, and a monitor beeped.

“I’m sure there is some rule about flying after surgery,” she grumbled and pulled out her phone.

“It doesn’t matter what you find on your phone,” Grim said. “He’s not going to turn the plane around. Especially since I’m going wheels up tonight.”

Rose’s finger stopped mid google. “Wheels up? My sister got back to you guys with the intel?”

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