Page 21 of Not This Time

The sound of Ethan's voice echoed through the night, the urgency in his tone palpable as he ordered Tom to drop his weapon. "Put it down, now!" he bellowed, the gun in his own hand pointing steadily at the Clark.

Rachel could feel sweat prickling across her brow as she knelt beside Jack, quickly assessing the damage done by the bullet. Blood soaked through his shirt, pooling on the cold ground beneath him. She forced herself to focus on her training and not the multiple distractions occurring around her.

"Stay with me, Jack," she said softly, ripping a piece of cloth from the rag she'd recovered to create a makeshift bandage. Carefully, she applied pressure to the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood. Jack grimaced in pain but didn't cry out, his eyes locked onto hers in a silent plea for help.

"Rachel," Ethan called out, his attention still on Tom. "We have to get him out of here."

"Working on it," she shot back, her fingers trembling as she fumbled with the torn fabric.

"Keep talking to him," Ethan advised, his voice strained as he continued to hold Tom at gunpoint. "Keep him conscious."

"Jack," Rachel began, her voice steady, though her nerves were frayed. "Listen to me. We're going to get you help. Alright? You're going to be fine."

She wasn't sure this was true. Was this man his wife's killer? How was Tom involved in this?

As she spoke, she worked quickly and efficiently to clean the wound, her hands steady now as she focused on the task at hand.

"Rachel, we need to move," Ethan urged, his eyes darting between Tom and the dark mountain road that stretched out before them. "We're running out of time."

She glanced over and noticed Tom was now disarmed, his hands cuffed behind him. The fight seemed to have left the man now that he'd shot Jack.

Rachel wasn't sure what this meant.

She gestured at her partner.

"Help me lift him," Rachel said, her jaw set with determination. Together, she and Ethan carefully hoisted Jack onto their shoulders, taking care not to jostle him too much as they moved toward the truck parked nearby.

"Keep an eye on Tom," Rachel reminded Ethan, her voice low and fierce. "I don't trust him for a second."

As they loaded Jack into the vehicle, the tension in the air was palpable.

"Jack, I need you to sit up," Rachel instructed, her voice firm but gentle as she helped him into a sitting position. He gritted his teeth against the pain, sweat beading on his forehead as he fought to stay conscious. With one arm wrapped around his waist and the other bracing against her shoulder, she managed to heave him to a sitting position in the passenger seat of Tom's truck.

"Remember to breathe, Jack," she reminded him. With some difficulty, she secured the seatbelt around his trembling form before slamming the door shut.

"Is he all right?" Ethan asked, still keeping a watchful eye on Tom as Rachel climbed into the driver's seat.

"He's stable for now, but we need to get him to a hospital," she replied, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Call it in and keep an eye on our friend back there."

"Understood," Ethan said, pulling out his radio. He gestured with his gun at Tom who kept stuttering, "I was trying to help! I was protecting you!"

Ethan and Tom got into the back of the truck, pulling themselves into the open compartment.

With Jack secured in the truck, and her partner keeping an eye on the shooter in the back, Rachel pulled away from the cabin, tires crunching on gravel as she navigated the narrow driveway. The mountain road ahead was treacherous, but she pressed down on the gas pedal with determination. As they picked up speed, the wind whipped through her hair.

The darkness seemed to close in around them, but she refused to let fear slow her down. Her entire body tensed with each maneuver, her muscles straining as if she were physically dragging Jack along the ground herself.

She stole a glance at his pale face illuminated by the dashboard lights. What secrets was he hiding? Why had there been two suitcases upstairs? Had he known his wife was leaving him?

And what about the note she'd found? The cryptic rendezvous...

Was he the killer? Had Tom known it and gotten revenge?

Or was something else going on here?

"Rachel, I've got HQ on the line—they're directing us to the nearest hospital," Ethan informed her, his voice strained but steady over the radio chatter, shouting through the open window behind the cabin. "We need to get off this mountain and onto Highway 35. It's about ten miles from our current position."

"Got it," she said, her voice barely audible as she calculated their route in her head. "Hang on, everyone."

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