Page 18 of Hunted, Season Three

Fighting.

Hoping.

Believing.

“Lift your shirt,” my boyfriend instructs while lowering himself to the medical bag we need.

I immediately do as I’m told.

“There’s my good, filthy, little fuck,” Nolan warmly acknowledges during the unzipping process.“Keep being good for me, and I’ll let you lick my lollipop later.”

Yet again, laughter creeps up in spite of the life-or-death timing.“How the fuck are you so calm right now?”

“You’re alive.”He grabs a thin package and rips it open.“I’m alive.”The dampness of the material is made colder by a random gust of wind.“I know Rabbit’s alive.”Cleaning gently and quickly continues.“And the calmer we are, the better fucking plan we can come up with.”His stare briefly shifts to mine.“What’s the problem with havin’ foggy headlights?”

“Reduced visibility.”

“And reduced visibility means?”

“Harder to see what’s ahead.”

Nolan nods while tossing aside the used material.“Exactly.”

This time, I let myself fully grin.

He’s earned at least that much.

I’ve been nothing but hell on two wheels since I fucking woke up.

But what does he expect?!

One minute I’m looking in his truck window, convinced he’s fallen asleep while waiting for us, and the next I’m the one waking up with him looking at me, convinced I’m dead.

A little stalling between gear shifting isn’tthatoutrageous.

Images of him being passed out in the space directly behind me are what prompt my investigating, “What happened to your zip ties?”

“I was zip tied?”One fluid motion is all it takes to rip off the back of the bandage.“When?”

“When I first got to your truck.”

There’s no hesitation to stick the covering in place.

“You were passed out with your hands zip tied between your legs.”

He cluelessly shrugs at the same time he secures the bag closed.“I don’t remember shit after he covered my face with a rag.”

“Chloroform?!”My shirt falls down as I squawk even louder.“That motherfucker chloroformed you?!”Disbelief violently races through my expression.“Who the fuck has chloroform thatisn’tthe villain in a fuckingMission Impossiblemovie?!”

Nolan struggles to swallow his snickers upon rising to his feet.

“Where the hell do you even get that shit?”

“Probably the same place he got the drugs he used to force Rabbit to take.”

Rage, which had momentarily been idling, quickly gets shifted back into gear, “I want him like Le Mans.”

“One step at a time, McQueen.”Post a firm pat to my shoulder, he inches over to the bed of his truck.“We have to find the sonofabitch first.”The medical bag gets carelessly returned to where it came from.“You remember anything else about the situation that might be useful?”By the grating sound, it’s safe to assume he’s now dragging over his toolbox.“Where he was parked?If he had a weapon?Was he alone?”

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