Page 94 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

She’d been alive and obviously coherent when I’d pulled her out of the cabin, and the only thing I’d been thinking about was getting her as far away from further danger as quickly as I could.

But it wasn’t as easy as it used to be for me to compartmentalize on a mission, even though I’d tried like hell to close off my emotions.

Shelby wasn’t just another rescue.

Like I’d told Marshall, she was my whole fucking life. It was hard to close that shit down, especially when I’d seen that she’d been beaten, and I had no idea what else had happened in the hours that had passed before we could pull her out.

Because we’d worked together for so many years, Brock took point and resumed his journey without a word from me. He already knew that was what I’d want him to do.

I’d been the team leader, but my team hadn’t always needed to rely on my direction.

We pushed hard, knowing we had to get Shelby medical care as soon as possible.

I’d probably lose my shit once she was safe, but for now, I had to keep my personal feelings on lockdown.

We’d been on the move for a while when Shelby stirred in my arms.

“Wyatt?” she murmured, her voice sounding confused and strained.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I crooned as I kept my pace toward the helicopter.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said with a small moan as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I hurt all over. It’s worse than when I was in the cabin.”

Hell, she’d probably been so full of adrenaline in the cabin that she hadn’t noticed the pain as much as she did now. She was also getting bounced all over the place by my movements. “We’re almost there. Hang in there a little longer. I know you’re hurting, but we’re getting you to a hospital as quickly as possible.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said, sounding more alert, but breathless, like every inhalation was an effort. “What are you doing here, and how in the hell can you see where we’re going without tripping over something. It’s dark.”

“I’ll explain everything,” I promised. “After you get medical treatment and I know that you’re okay.”

I couldn’t think beyond her well-being, and we were in no position to have a long conversation about something important at the moment.

I hated myself for not telling her sooner about Last Hope because it was a meaningful part of my life, even if the rescues didn’t happen that often sometimes.

“I’m still not sure that I’m not hallucinating or in the middle of a hopeful dream of some kind,” she said weakly. “Are you really here? Am I really free? And if I am, is Ted chasing us?”

I hated the fear I heard in her voice, and I needed to remove those concerns immediately. “You’re really free, and that asshole isn’t going anywhere. He’s dead, Shelby. Do you understand? He’s never coming after you again.”

I’d gotten that radio message a few minutes ago, along with the news that they found the owner’s body outside, behind the cabin. Young had shot himself in the head after a short standoff. Once the FBI had arrived, he’d known there was no other way out.

“He killed the owner of the cabin, Wyatt. His body is somewhere on the property, but Ted didn’t say where exactly,” Shelby told me in a tearful voice.

Because it upset Shelby, it wasn’t a subject I wanted to discuss right now, but I’d sworn to myself that once I’d gotten her back that I’d never have another secret that she didn’t know. I wasn’t going to hide anything from her anymore. “They found his body. The feds came in right after we got you out. After a brief encounter with them, the bastard decided to kill himself.”

She was silent for a moment before she murmured, “Thank God. He raped and killed two other women, too, Wyatt.”

Fuck!Obviously, Young had bragged to Shelby about all of his crimes, which had probably terrified the hell out of her. “I know. Marshall dug up that information about the same time that you were kidnapped. The timing sucked.”

“I honestly thought I was going to die,” Shelby answered softly near my ear. “I don’t understand why you’re here, or how it’s even possible, but I have to be the luckiest woman in the world because you came for me.”

Christ!There was that gratitude…again. She would have been a lot more fortunate if the son of a bitch had never laid his hands on her in the first place.

“I’m always going to come for you, babe,” I said honestly. “You owe your supposed luck to the fact that you trusted me enough to keep that GPS tracker on.”

She sighed. “I didn’t do it because I thought I was in serious danger. I did it because you asked me to do it, and I trust you. I didn’t want you to worry about me. You saved my life, Wyatt. His plan was to kill me, and I don’t think I had much time.”

I had to force the next question out of my mouth. “Did he rape you?”

“No,” she said as her body shuddered. “He was so drunk that he wasn’t physically capable of it, which is why he beat the hell out of me. I lost consciousness for a while, and when I came to, he was out cold. Not long after that, I saw you coming through the window. I decided to keep my mouth shut and take my chances since the alternative was screaming, which would have woken up my kidnapper. God, how did any of this happen? I’ve spoken to Ted many times, and I’ve always felt sorry for him because he lost his family. I had no idea that he actually caused that accident. I never saw this side of him.”

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