Page 104 of Carbon

“Better? You bloody shot him! How could that possibly be a good thing?”

“No witnesses.”

“I can’t believe you!” I tried to hug Ben, but he kept flopping over, and he smelled pretty bad too. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

He groaned a little, but that was it until he keeled sideways. I tore off my cardigan, rolled it into a makeshift pillow, and tucked it into the crook of his neck, all the time giving Emmy death glares through the gap in the seats.

“Is this normal?” I asked.

“Reasonably so,” Sofia said.

She’d gone back to looking worried.

“How can you stay so calm?”

“Would you rather we all panicked?” Black asked.

“Well, no...”

I trailed off as dark streets rushed past, the passers-by outside oblivious to the wanted man now unconscious in the backseat beside me.

As the adrenaline wore off, I came to the sickening realisation that the worst was yet to come. My focus on finding Ben had overshadowed the difficulties still facing us—proving his innocence, catching Leroux, and working out whether our fledgling relationship could survive the hell that bastard had unleashed on it.

But for now, I simply held Ben’s hand. Sofia did the same on the other side, which I thought was sweet until I realised she’d done it to keep an eye on his pulse rather than out of compassion.

Did she care as much as I hoped she did? Because if I’d misjudged her, Ben’s future was on the line.

28

Back in the underground garage, Ben was still breathing quietly as Black undid the ankle cuff, scooped him up, and carried him into the elevator. Ben wasn’t a small man, but Black’s muscles bulged as he lifted him like he weighed nothing.

“What happens now?” I asked, hurrying in behind them.

“We get him comfortable, and then we wake him up,” Emmy replied.

“Comfortable” meant propping him up on an expensive-looking leather sofa and shackling his legs together. I hated to think what they’d consider uncomfortable.

“Is that really necessary?”

Gideon walked through the door, trailed by Xav. “For a man with Ben’s skills, very much so, at least until we can explain what’s going on. Otherwise, he may be tempted to fight first and ask questions later.”

Could they blame him?

“Ready?” Emmy asked.

Sofia nodded, and I noticed her hand trembling as she reached out and injected a vial of clear liquid into Ben’s forearm.

“What’s that?”

“Just something to reverse the tranquilliser,” Emmy told me. “A couple of minutes and he’ll be wide awake.”

He was. Wide awake and glaring at everyone with murder in his eyes. Except for me. No, when his eyes met mine, I got a sense of betrayal followed by sadness. I’d rather have had his anger.

Nobody spoke until Gideon stepped forward.

“Mr. Durant. It’s been, what, two years?”

“Something like that.” Ben spoke through gritted teeth, but he sounded more lucid than I thought he would.

---