Page 1 of Dark Horse

PROLOGUE

GRANT

TEN YEARS EARLIER

“Oh fuck…”Jesse mutters as we get to the car and load the bags in the trunk.

“That bad?” I ask.

The deal hadn’t gone well. Frankly, everything had gone to fucking shit the way I thought it would, but if he wanted to break out on his own, I didn’t want to be the one to stop him.

“Hurts like a motherfucker. I think when I fell, I broke a rib or something. My chest, my stomach… Doesn’t fucking feel right. I might have to go to the hospital.” He pulls up his tattered shirt, and both of us go silent. There’s a bullet wound just below his ribs on his right side.

I close the distance between us, circling him and lifting his shirt at the back. Nothing. No exit wound.

Fuck.

Fuck.

FUCK.

“Sit down. I’m going to call 911.”

“You can’t fucking call 911. Are you insane? Bring them and the cops here while we’re sitting on dirty cash. No. No fucking way,” he yells, shoving me away from him and making his way to the passenger side of the car.

“You caught one. There’s no exit wound. You need a doctor now,” I insist, following him as I pull out my phone. He bats it down, his brow furrowing.

“I just need to get in the car. You can drive me and—” He collapses backward into the car seat, and the overhead light illuminates just how pale he is.

“Okay. I’ll get you to the hospital,” I mumble, my heart racing with the need to get him there as fast as possible. We don’t have time to wait on emergency services to come to us. He doesn’t have much time left, and we’re miles away from a hospital that could deal with this kind of injury.

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it, brother. I think this might be the last one.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“Listen to me.”

“No. Not if you’re gonna say shit like that. We’re gonna get you to the ER down here. They’ll stabilize you and get you on a medical flight. They’ll treat you in the Springs. Just let me drive while you save your energy.” I have a plan. I always have a fucking plan. Tonight might not have been my plan, but me getting him to a hospital in time? That’s a plan I can make happen.

“Grant…” His head lulls to the side, and he looks at me. “I need you to be my friend right now. You have to listen.”

“I’m listening. But I’m driving while I listen.” I gun the engine and peel out of the spot. The roads are slick, and the car fishtails for a moment before I can straighten her out.

“You’ve got to take care of her. If I don’t make it. It has to be you. Dakota, she…” He tries to take a deep breath, one that sounds almost as weak as he looks. “She’s on the verge of going down a bad path. I put her in that private school to help keep her out of trouble. You gotta keep her there. She needs someone who cares about her. I don’t want her going into the system. It’ll destroy her.” I can hear the panic in his voice as he realizes that he might not be around to take care of his younger sister.

“What am I gonna do with a seventeen-year-old? I’d be a terrible replacement. So you’re not done. You gotta hang on. Fight to stay with her. She needs you, not me. Not anyone else. Just hang on, okay? I’ll get you there.” I make a promise I don’t know if I can keep, but I need him to focus his energy on himself right now.

“She’s gonna need you…” He struggles to take another breath. “She won’t trust anyone else. You know how hard she’s had it…” His next breath is even shallower than the last. “Promise me you’ll take care of her. Keep her safe. Keep her out of our kind of trouble.”

“Youhave to do it.You’reher brother. She needsyou. Not me. Save your energy, and just let me get you to a hospital.” I plead with him. “You’ll keep her safe. You’ll keep her out of trouble.”

“Grant… please. I need to know you’ll…” His breath rattles in his chest, and my eyes dodge off the road and over to his side of the car to make sure he’s still with me. His lids start to fall shut, but he fights to keep them open. His chest still rises andfalls, but it’s barely perceptible, and his hand slides off his side where he’d been holding the wound.

The life is slowly draining out of him while I watch, helpless to do anything but try to drive faster in this snow. His eyes plead with me, silently asking what he no longer has the breath to say.

“I’ll take care of her. If the worst happens… I’ll protect her with my life. I’ll keep her out of trouble. Whatever I have to do. I promise. Just fight for her. Please fucking fight. I’ll have you there in a couple of minutes.” I swear to him.

“Keep her safe.” The words are barely audible as his eyelids get heavy and his head droops to the side.

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