Page 17 of Unlawful Seduction

Fuck.

Taking a deep breath, I ignored the pain in my arm as I scrambled forward, forced to crawl over the man’s body so I could get to Jax. I snatched the fucker’s weapon just before racing toward my baby boy. I shoved it into my jacket, my heart hammering. If anything had happened to Jax, I’d hunt down the fucker’s entire family and kill them.

As I knelt, a wave of emotion tore through me. “Oh, buddy. Why did you follow me?”

His tail thumped twice and he even opened his eyes. “I’ll get you out of here.” Very carefully, I hoisted him into my arms, holding him as close to the heat of my body was possible as I headed toward my truck. As luck would have it, snow began to fall. I cursed the sky and made it to the passenger side, thankful I kept a couple of blankets in the back. When I had him safely secured on the backseat, I used the light of the cab to check the severity of his injury. It was tough to tell if the bullet had gotten lodged anywhere close to a major organ.

But he needed medical attention.

Now.

All because I’d fucked up.

“Hold on, buddy. I’ll be right back and we’ll get you some help.” After covering him with the blanket, I closed the door and jogged back toward the assailant’s vehicle. Normally, I’d take the time to detail the man’s entire world, checking for anything that would provide me with answers.

I didn’t have the luxury. Nothing was more important to me than Jax.

All I would allow myself the time for was checking the interior cab. As expected, there was nothing to identify the truck’s owner. I also wasn’t able to tell if the vehicle was a rental although it was fairly new.

After checking the man’s body, I did find a wallet and a cellphone. The marks of an amateur. Interesting. I pocketed both, wanting nothing more than to carve the man to pieces for injuring my pup.

Now wasn’t the time to take a gander at my discovery, but I would spend whatever time necessary to find out who the fucker was. Even the dude’s clothes didn’t indicate a typical hired gun. More like somebody I’d pissed off in a bar making a point by threatening me. I rubbed my jaw, glancing up and down the darkened streets before sliding my arms under the assailant’s, dragging him toward the driver’s side.

Whoever he was didn’t matter at this point.

He’d soon be considered toast.

I’d done this before, finding the perfect stick after positioning his body in the driver’s seat. After setting everything in motion, I placed the stick in the appropriate position and turned the wheel. While there’d be no skid marks on the road, that wouldn’t mean he hadn’t taken the angle sharply, hitting the edge of the cliff before realizing and only then attempting to over correct.

I shifted the gear and took a step away waiting as it rolled forward then careened over the edge. Once upon a time there’d been some joy in catching and killing an enemy to the cause. I’d relished the methods I’d used, keeping trinkets of the event for future memories.

Now I couldn’t care less. My life was completely different now, my needs also changing over the years.

As I jogged back to the Ram, I heard the crash at the bottom and knew instinctively it had burst into flames. There shouldn’t be anything left of the man to identify, but I’d done everything I could to clean up the situation since being out of the business for over a year.

Once inside the cab, I roared the engine to life, taking a quick glance over my shoulder. Where the hell was I going to get him some help?

Almost immediately I jerked out my wallet, riffling through the few cards I had inside until I found her business card.

Dr. Mallory McGregor.

She’d offered her services free of charge.

I took a deep breath and rolled out, heading back to town. Time for her to make good on her offer.

CHAPTER 5

Mallory

Thank fucking God my staff would arrive sprinkled throughout the next couple of days. While the practice wasn’t large by any means, I’d thought I’d have a quiet first week, which would allow the new hires and a few of the old staff who’d stuck around long enough to settle in.

I’d been wrong.

The night would be spent handling paperwork, including processing insurance claims. Pet insurance seemed to be all the rage here.

“You are such a delight, dear,” the older woman said. “I don’t know what I would have done.” Mrs. Samuels had been a regular for years.

“My guess is you and little Sammy would have been fine, but now, he can get the rest he needs. Just have him take the antibiotics for the next seven days in the morning with his food. Okay?”

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