56. For Fucks Sake
For Fucks Sake
CARTER
“Please. Please. Please.” I murmured, hurrying into what was effectively a medieval dungeon. Just when I thought my heart might beat right out of my chest, the sound of Sara’s voice trickled up to me.
“Is that—am I hearing that right?” Cade asked over the comms from farther up in the dark stairwell. “Is she singing— Popular ? From Wicked?” He chuckled grimly. “ Of course she is. ”
I ripped the comm out of my good ear, straining to hear.
“At least we know she’s alive.” Theo muttered, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for that realization.
The singing got louder, and when I finally rounded the last corner, several bullets went whizzing past me as gunshots rang out—I was shocked to find it was Sara with the gun.
“Don’t shoot.” I begged, hands up, as I quickly strode down the dimly lit corridor. “I’m here, baby.” I dropped to my knees in front of her, frantically looking her over. “Are you hurt?”
Her lips parted, and she stared at me as if she were looking at a ghost.
My breath stalled in my lungs as I shakily took her face in my hands, illuminated by the headlamps behind me.
“Oh my God, look at your face.” The sound of my voice was strangled as rage and relief simultaneously pumped through me—noting every mark, every bruise, every tear. I was gonna kill him. Slowly.
“You came.” She breathed. “ You’re alive. ”
“Of course I came.” I knelt before her, eyes shining. “I told you, there’s nowhere on this earth you could go that I wouldn’t find you.”
My eyes shuttered as she tentatively reached for my face, gaze roaming my chest in disbelief, and then her eyes slid past me, and out of nowhere she started laughing uncontrollably—I suddenly realized she was in shock .
“You all came for me.” She threw her head back, giggling deliriously, and that’s when I finally processed what she was wearing —a hideous wedding dress, so puffy she was practically drowning in it.
In fact, I realized she was basically lounging in a metal folding chair with her bare feet kicked up, as if she didn’t have a care in the world—and then I realized why at the same moment Theo did.
“ For fuck’s sake.” Theo muttered as I took the flask from Sara, smelling whiskey in it .
The corner of my mouth slowly pulled. “Are you drunk, pretty girl?”
She got suddenly serious and snatched the flask right back. “Oh, didn’t you hear? I’m getting married.” She snapped. “So yeah, I think I deserve it after this whoooooole fiasco.” She waved the flask around, sloshing amber liquid onto both of us in the process.
My gaze swept the corridor, finding a cell door open, and even though one of Theo’s men had secured the guard in the corner, Sara was still aiming the gun at him.
That’s when I noticed the many holes in the stone wall around his body, and I looked back at Sara with quiet surprise, a million and one questions sprouting in my mind.
Sara’s fingers were in the air, her words a bit slurred as she declared to no one in particular, “Just so we’re all on the same page, it is important that you know that I am not a lightweight.” With determined focus, she counted on her fingers, the gun suddenly waving in every which direction.
“ Watch it! ” Theo growled, ducking alongside everyone else.
“Easy there, Rambo.” I carefully took the gun from her and passed it back to Liam, who was eerily quiet as Sara stared at her fingers far too hard, and then announced, “I haven’t eaten anything in four days?
Five days? A week?” She barked a laugh. “I’m not really sure, cause there aren’t any windows down here.
” She sang, and any relief I’d momentarily felt evaporated in an instant.
“You didn’t fucking feed her?” Liam whirled and slammed Tag into the wall, and I suddenly decided Liam could have Tag all to himself because the only thing I really cared about was getting Sara out of this pit of despair. She’d been in the fucking dark for God knows how many days.
I reached into the pillowing layers of fabric around Sara’s waist to pick her up—only she winced when I grabbed her, and I pulled my hand away, realizing it was wet.
Pure shock washed over me as I discovered the warmth against my palm was blood. “Oh my God, are you shot?” I gasped in horror—how much blood had she already lost? Fuck! I jammed my palm against the injury, applying pressure, only?—
“Don’t you dare touch me, Carter.” Sara snapped, jerking away as hurt filled her eyes, as if the pain of her injury had suddenly reminded her exactly where we’d left off—fighting tooth and nail in Cade’s office, me pushing her away, breaking her heart.
Panic clawed up my throat, and I tried as gently as I could muster, “Sara, you’re shot. We need to get you medical attention. Right now.” I reached again, but she jerked away, making me hesitate.
“I am not going anywhere with you. ” Her eyes were teary. “Get away from me.” She snapped, and when I didn’t move, she screamed , her voice breaking, “I said get the fuck away from me!”
My ears rang, heart ripped clean in half as I took a dizzying step back, while the dense walls consumed her pain and wrath. She’d been through a lot, she was in shock, she’d been fucking shot, and she was acting like I was the one who’d hurt her, because I had.
Liam materialized, squatting down in front of her, his voice incredibly gentle. “Sara, please go with Carter. I’m begging you.”
Her lower lip trembled. “I can’t.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, one after another, as she lifted her gaze to Taggart, who looked like he was about to shit himself. “If I don’t marry him, they’re going to kill Dad.”
Liam took Sara’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about Dad, we’re going to find him, but first we need to get you somewhere safe, and you desperately need a doctor.
So please, I’m begging you, just go with Carter.
” Liam looked over his shoulder at me, glaring, before he returned his gaze to Sara’s.
“Whatever is happening between the two of you, he’s the only one I can trust to keep you safe. I know, you know that.”
“Not him.” Sara covered her face, shoulders starting to shake. “Liam, please. Why can’t I just go with you?”
“You know why. I have to stay here and make sure—” Liam’s voice lowered further, and my eyes slowly slid to Taggart.
One of Theo’s men was holding him. “I warned you.” I slid my gun into my holster. “You touch a fucking hair on her head and I told you what the consequences would be.”
“I bought her, and she’s still mine to do whatev?—”
I swung, and the sound of bone crunched as he reeled back, and then I was on top of him, still swinging. “You never should have laid a fucking finger on her.” I bellowed, and something warm and wet was dripping from my fingers as my hands found their way around his throat.
He’d starved her. Hurt her. Broken her.
I watched the life slowly drain out of him as I bore down harder.
“I should have done this a long time ago—the very first time you made her bleed.” My hands stung where he was desperately clawing for breath.
“I should carve you up, because that’s exactly what you did.
Didn’t you?!” I roared at him, not giving him an inch to answer.
“I know what you did.” He jerked underneath me, eyes wide with understanding, and I knew I should stop, knew I should carve him up slowly, just like he deserved, but I couldn’t seem to let go.
Someone squeezed my good shoulder as I realized Sara had bought into every lie I’d told the last few weeks and then some. “Get your girl and get her out of here.” Theo murmured. “Let us take care of the rest.”
Taggart jerked as everything in my head went quiet.
“Carter, take Sara, now!” Liam’s voice felt so far away, and I couldn’t seem to let go. “Do you really want her to see this? After everything she’s been through.”
No, I wouldn’t be the one who subjected my sweet, sweet girl to another horrific thing. I had to let go.
Taggart clawed for breath as everything inside me quieted—just me and him in that narrow space between life and death. Just another line of ink to add to my arm. I knew he deserved to die slowly, but I didn’t have the strength to pull away.
“Carter!” Someone was shaking me.
I had to stop.
For her. I had to stop.
But it’d be so easy to hold on for just a little longer. We were almost there— just a little longer, and then it’d all be over. For good.
I was panting as Cade appeared in front of me, his hands carefully sliding against mine, pushing me out of the way. “He’s not going anywhere,” Cade murmured softly. “Carter, I have him. Let go .” I met Cade’s gaze and gasped as his hands took over, falling backwards.
“We’ve got this, he’s not walking out of this room.” Theo promised and pushed something into my hands. “You know where to go, a doctor is already on his way.”
I was panting wildly as I wiped my wet hands against my pants and shakily pushed up, as my gaze finally drifted to Sara—who was just staring, stunned at what I’d done. Almost done.
“Don’t look at that, sweetheart, look at me.” I commanded softly.
Her eyes slowly lifted, and the look she gave me hollowed me out three times over. Now she’d seen me for what I really was, and her reaction was exactly what I’d expected. Horrified.
I extended a shaky hand. “We need to go.” But she stumbled back, something devastating flashing through her eyes, and I knew what I had to do. “I’m sorry.” I croaked, dropping a shoulder low to push into the mass of white fabric as I softly took her arm.
“Carter, please.” Sara protested tearfully as I tipped her over my shoulder in a gentle motion, doing my best to avoid her injury. “Why?” She demanded.
“I’m so, so sorry, Sara.” I muttered, feeling her go limp in submission and defeat—feeling shockingly grateful as I felt her shake against me, crying, because that meant she was still conscious and I had no idea how much blood she’d lost, how much time we had.
Theo closed in on Taggart, checking his watch. “Lucky for you, Taggart, my schedule just opened up.” Theo cracked his knuckles. “You should know, walk-ins are my favorite.”
“I—can pay you.” Taggart countered, wheezing hoarsely—hardly able to speak.
“We know you never had the funds to complete the transaction.” Liam hummed calmly as I hurried up the steps—and I suddenly recognized the lethal cold rage in his voice, knowing that I had mere seconds to get Sara out.
If that. “They were going to come for you one way or another, and you didn’t honestly think you could get away with this, did you?
” Liam mused calmly, far too calmly. Oh God.
“This is the second time you’ve laid hands on my sister, and you don’t have any idea how much you’re about to regret that.
” He laughed humorlessly. “There’s something you should know about me, Taggart— I’m a professional butcher.
I carve up all kinds of flesh all day long, and now, you waste of a human carcass, I’m going to carve you up.
” Liam promised darkly, his voice fading in the distance.
“Don’t worry though, I’ll be right here with you every step of the way. You can count on that.”
We were only halfway up the stairs when Taggart started begging. “Cover your ears.” I pleaded with Sara, sprinting hard, because a moment later, the screaming started.
Outside, the crunch of my footsteps against the crushed stone was practically deafening against the tense silence between Sara and I.
Gently setting her down on the steps of the circular stone fountain, I carefully cut open the side of her dress to inspect her wound, and she begrudgingly let me.
I stared at the injury for a beat and then my head dropped in relief as I blew out a slow steady breath—furious that she’d been shot, grateful she’d only been grazed.
The bullet had taken a chunk out of her side, and she’d definitely have a scar, but it didn’t appear life-threatening, thank God.
I didn’t even want to consider what would have happened if the shot had been an inch to the right.
Headlamps bobbed behind me as someone handed me fresh gauze, and I wiped down and then quickly packed Sara’s wound.
I took Sara’s face in my hands, feeling sick to my stomach as I gently examined the bruises, and a hard lump settled into my throat. “Did he hurt you anywhere else?” I asked hoarsely, “Touch you—” My voice cracked, hardly able to even ask the question.
She shook her head no, looking at her hands, and I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
“Thank God.” Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, my heart broke when she pulled away.
“Let’s get you a hot shower and something to eat.
” I offered her a hand that she ignored when she pushed up, but when she swayed, I scooped her up into my arms in the next instant, ignoring her scowl.
She was quiet as I loaded her into the car, shoving too much fabric in with her. “You know, no one would have guilted you for actually shooting the guard. It would have been self-defense.”
“I tried to.” She admitted quietly, “Turns out, I just have shit aim.”
I realized the halo of shots around his body weren’t mercy shots at all, she had gone for the kill shot.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
She’d fought for herself, and I was damn proud of her for it, but knowing she was alive, that she was going to be okay—I couldn’t help but find her shit aim a tiny bit humorous.
“If you laugh, I’m getting out of this car.” She muttered.
I looked down quickly, concealing an amused huff of air. “I’m not laughing.”
“Sure you’re not.” She scoffed as I closed the door. At least her sense of humor was intact. It was a shred of proof that she was going to be okay. That maybe we’d be okay. I hoped.
I rounded the car, climbing into the driver’s seat and stared at her, pure curiosity washing over me. “I have to ask, how did you manage to get the gun?” I was dying to know how she could have possibly outmaneuvered her guard, especially injured. I honestly couldn’t figure it out.
She stared out the window. “I promised him a kiss if he shared his whiskey with me, the rest was only a distraction.”
Now that —I did not like. Not a single bit. Not even if she was clever for playing to her strengths.