Page 73 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

At least Rush didn’t have to worry about Riggs and Braylon not having good street smarts. They were impressive for two guys who’d grown up in the lap of luxury.

Deke growled. “Those packs look like something rich people would have on them. Rich people like the ones who have a bounty on their heads.”

Rush shrugged. “Maybe that’s who we traded with.”

“I think we’ll take those off your hands, if you don’t mind,” Deke said.

Merv chuckled. “I think we’ll take them even if they do mind. If they did trade with the hostage-takers, maybe something in here will lead us to them.”

Rush’s heart nearly stopped the moment Deke aimed his gun at Riggs and put his finger on the trigger. In less than half a second, all hell broke loose. Deke fired at Riggs. Rush fired at Deke. And Rush had no idea who fired at Merv, but the man dropped to the ground at the same time as his friend.

Rush glanced to the side to see Riggs still standing, thank fuck. He was holding his arm, but he was not on the ground. Rush shifted his attention back to the two men on the ground and hurried toward them to make sure they weren’t still a threat.

Bray did the same. He took Merv, kicking the gun out of the man’s hand while Rush set his foot on Deke’s chest and stared down into his dead open eyes. He snatched the man’s weapon as he noticed there were two holes in Deke’s chest. Either shot would have killed him.

Storm and Haley ran back into the clearing. “Riggs? You okay?” Storm asked.

Haley was shaking, but she was holding her weapon in one hand. Hell, she was still pointing it at Merv.

Rush eased up to her and lowered her arm. “He’s dead, love.”

She nodded. “I shot him.” She lifted her gaze to Rush’s, her eyes wide and wild. “I shot someone. I killed him.” She looked panicked.

Bray took the gun from her shaking hand and pulled her into his arms. “I shot him too, baby. We didn’t have a choice.”

She jerked free of Bray and hurried toward Riggs. “You got shot. He shot you.” She seemed to just remember this fact and her panic kicked up a notch.

“I’m fine. Just a graze.”

Rush joined them and lifted Riggs’s hand off his biceps. There was a lot of blood. Rush grabbed two sides of the man’s shirt and tore it away from the wound.

Riggs flinched, but he didn’t move away.

Rush examined the wound. “It’s more than a graze, but the bullet went clean through. No bones are broken. I’ll need to stitch it up, but we don’t have time right now.” He grabbed his pack, rummaged around to find gauze and antibiotic ointment, and bandaged Riggs’s arm in under a minute.

The rest of them had their packs on and were ready to move when Rush lifted his and turned around. Haley was wearing Riggs’s pack, but when Riggs realized she was the one holding it, he glared at her and yanked it off her back with one hand.

She sighed. “Let me help.”

Rush grabbed her shoulders and faced her. “We need to run, love. Fast. That dog took off. He’s going to find his people and lead them here. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Then let’s move.” Rush took her hand and pointed in the direction he wanted them all to head.

They ran hard for twenty minutes before pausing to catch their breaths. Rush glanced at Haley every few seconds. He was damn worried. She kept up, but this wasn’t what he would want a pregnant woman to do. She wasn’t used to this kind of exercise, and she was breathing heavily when they stopped.

Bray swept her off her feet and set her on her butt next to a tree. He pulled out a bottle of water and held it to her lips. “Drink, baby.”

They all stood around her, watching.

Rush hated this. He was grateful none of them had been killed, but the danger had only increased. There was no telling how many men would have come toward the sound of gunfire. Could be a dozen. Maybe more. And they still had to worry about that dog. It could run much faster than they could and catch up.

“Now what?” Riggs asked. His face was scrunched up. He was clearly fighting the pain which meant it really hurt because his adrenaline was covering up part of it.

“We take a minute and then keep going,” Rush said. “We don’t have a choice.”

Storm lifted his head and held up a hand, silencing them. “Is that water?”

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