Page 81 of Prettiest Little Thief
She nodded and threw one of her brother’s arms over her shoulder. Lucas let out a grunt of pain at the movement. I picked up his gun from the floor and then grabbed the keepsake off the coffee table, the box tucked under one arm and the weapon in my free hand.
“Knight, what do you want us to do with this asshole?” Evan asked, kicking Joseph in the leg.
He struggled. “You fucking shot my brother. I’ll kill you all.” His face was beet red with rage.
“Tie him up but leave him alive,” Lucas ordered. “I don’t want to be responsible for two deaths today.”
“See you later,Joey,” I said as we made our way toward the front of the house.
Evie and Fox stormed into the house, the front door slamming into the wall. Fox came to assist Sarah with Lucas, and they slid my husband into the backseat as I slipped into the front to drive.
“Are you okay, Roe?” Evie asked as she grabbed the chest from me.
“I’ll let you know when we get out of this,” I replied and shut the door.
“You don’t want to be in the back with Lucas? I can drive if you want,” Sarah said.
I glanced back and shook my head.
Lucas just chuckled and held out the car key to me. “She’s a professional. I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
The engine roared to life, and Evan hopped into the passenger side just before I took off. Jericho could catch a ride with Evie and Fox.
My mind was a jumbled mess of emotions, and the crashing thoughts jumped from one thing to another. My grip on the steering wheel tightened as I realized how much blood coated my fingers. My husband’s blood.
“Let me check your wound,” Sarah said to her brother.
“I’m fine.” His words were slow and slurred.
“The bleeding hasn’t stopped, Lucas. We have to get you to the hospital.”
“I’m headed there now,” I said as I peeked in the rearview mirror. It didn’t look good.
“Fuck, man, you’re bleeding pretty bad.” Evan stared at Lucas.
“No hospital. Too many questions. Questions bring the cops, and we don’t know the ones this far from home.” Lucas’s deep timbre was low.
“Does anyone have a belt?” I asked. “We might be able to tourniquet it right above where the bullet went through.”
Evan started to undo his belt and passed it off to Sarah in the back seat.
The roads were winding left and right, the switchbacks nauseating. Or maybe that was just because my nerves were shot.
“Pull it as tightly as you can, even if it hurts.” Tourniquets were one thing I’d learned in nursing school. My gaze kept going between the road and my injured husband in the back.
Lucas grunted in pain as his sister tugged on the belt as tightly as she could to slow the flow of his bullet wound.
“I still don’t see Fox or Evie behind us. Can you get ahold of one of them?” I asked Evan.
He didn’t hesitate as he dialed Fox’s number and it connected to the speakers.
“Where are you guys?” Fox asked.
“I’m headed toward the direction we came from. I saw a hospital on the way here,” I answered.
“Fuck. I got turned around.” The sound of tires screeching through the speakers came through.
“Just meet us there as soon as you can.” I ended the call and pressed my foot down on the accelerator as much as I could as we zigzagged through canyon roads.
