Page 47 of Captured Pawn
Nick’s words to me in the car at the cemetery came rushing back to me.
This is not police business. This is family business.
Which meant I needed family help.
I took off running back in the direction of the bedroom. Nick looked so pale lying on the floor. I had to hurry.
Grabbing his hand, I pressed his thumb to the home button of his phone to unlock it. Scrolling to his contact list, I went to recent calls and found the numbers for Stevie and Pops and pressed send for the first one on the list.
“Hey, I didn’t think I’d hear from you tonight,” Stevie answered with humor in his voice, assuming he was talking to his boss.
I released a shaky breath. “It’s Sophie. We’re at the beach house. Nick’s been shot and then I shot Angela. We need your help! Bring a doctor!”
“Jesus… fuck… we’ll be right there!” Stevie shouted. I could tell he had already taken off running before hanging up.
I knew it wouldn’t take them long, but it seemed like forever. I felt helpless as I applied pressure to his wound, waiting for aid to arrive. In the distance I heard shouting and then the front door of the beach house crashing in.
“Nick! Sophie!” It was Pops’ voice.
“We’re back here!” I called before leaning down closer to Nick’s chalky white face and telling him, “Hold on. Help is coming.”
“Shit, what the fuck happened?” Stevie asked, bursting in with his gun drawn.
“Angela. She was the mole. We need to call an ambulance for Nick,” I answered.
Pops knelt next to me, lifting the comforter to look at his boss’s wound as Stevie went to check on Angela, which pissed me off.
“Leave her to die,” I said coldly, surprising myself. “It’s Nick who needs help. Why aren’t you calling 911?” I asked, regretting not calling them after all if no one was going to help.
Nathan’s voice answered from the doorway behind me. “This is a family matter.”
Just like his brother.
I was about to lose my shit on him when he added, “I already called our on-call doctor. He’s only five minutes away.”
Okay… that sounded better.
A hand clamped onto my shoulder from above. “I’ll take over.”
I started to argue that I wasn’t going to leave Nick when Nathan knelt next to me before adding, “You should put on some clothes.”
Until that very moment, I’d completely forgotten I was naked. While a sliver of my old self felt embarrassed, I realized how much I’d changed in the short time I’d been at the Knight compound because all I wanted to do was stay close to Nick.
“I don’t want to leave him,” I argued.
“Nick wouldn’t like you being naked in front of the guys.” He paused before adding as he reached out to take over my job. “Go… find a robe. Then come back,” Nathan said, this time with more compassion than I thought possible of him.
As I pushed to my feet, I glanced at Nick’s brother and for the first time since I’d met him, I believed he truly cared for his brother. Up until now, I’d only witnessed them arguing. I could see the worry on his furrowed brow as he took over applying pressure on the wound.
Remembering the robe hanging on the back of the guest bathroom door, I ran in that direction. The reflection of myself in the small mirror as I threw on the robe was frightening. My hair was askew, but it was the smears of blood covering my hands, arms, and even legs that freaked me out. Even knowing the blood wasn’t my own didn’t help since I knew most of it belonged to Nick.
Nick.
An hour ago, I’d been sure I’d have to walk away from him when this was all over. Now, the thought of him dying like Matty and never being with him again almost brought me to my knees. We’d just found each other. Surely God wouldn’t be so cruel as to take him away from me too?
Before going back to the bedroom, I rushed to the sink. My hands shook as I tried to rinse off as much blood as I could under the spray of water. But I was too impatient to get back to Nick to finish the job, so I rushed back to the bedroom as I dried my hands on a small towel.
Nick’s room had filled with more security guards in the short time I’d been away. Stevie had taken control of the room, barking orders for someone to go escort the doctor from the front gate while telling others to bring him a body bag.
