Chapter 40 - KNIGHT
KNIGHT
Terror fills me as I listen to the sound of my brother dragging Harper away from Izzy through the phone, my chest heaving with the unknown. How could I have let this happen? I should have fought harder. Should have begged her not to go into that house. And now Izzy . . . fuck.
I’m too far away. I’ll never make it in time.
They’ll both be long gone before I even hit the driveway.
Ace follows me in the SWAT truck with my team as we tear through the streets of Blackstone, and despite the deafening noise coming from my revving engine, all I hear is the heavy silence from the phone, every passing second only making it worse.
I try to keep calm, trusting that everything will be alright, but Harper’s agonizing screams tear through my mind, etching themselves into my brain for all eternity.
The gunshots. The twins wailing. Harper’s terror-filled gasps as she realized her friend had been shot.
But the agony in her tone as she begged Izzy not to leave her will forever scar me.
It’s been almost three minutes by the time we reach the open gates of the elitist community they live in, but those three minutes have the potential to change my world.
I race through the open gates, Ace in the SWAT truck coming in right behind me as I weave through the winding streets.
Ace doesn’t let up, keeping right on my ass, and as I find the familiar house, I aim straight for the driveway and slam my foot down.
My truck roars with its mighty power, and as I barrel toward the security gate at the end of the driveway, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel.
Within the very next second, I collide with the gate, and the force tears it right off the hinges, sending it flying up over my truck and crashing to the ground behind me, just in time for Ace to roar in after me, crushing the gate under the weight of the SWAT truck.
I speed right up to the top of the driveway, not stopping until my truck is directly beside Harper’s Honda, and as I cut the engine and throw myself out onto the driveway, the SWAT truck screeches to a halt behind me.
Police sirens sound in the distance, and while they got the call at the same time as my team, they’ll never be able to match our speed. The boys pile out of the truck, suited up and ready to go, meeting me by the front door, already falling in line.
If this were any other case, any other women, I would take the time to plan out our attack. I’d check blueprints, work through the ins and outs of the building. Figure out hostages versus assailants. I would do my due diligence. But not tonight.
Izzy is bleeding out on the ground, potentially already dead, the twins are God knows where with a woman carrying a gun, and Harper . . . fuck. Harper is in the hands of my brother.
Ace and Diesel are right on my six, and as we make our way to the door, Diesel hands me a bulletproof vest and my gun. Without skipping a step, I suit up just moments before I step up to the massive front door.
I slam my foot against the expensive wood, breaking the whole fucking door right off its hinges with ease, and the moment it flies out of my way, my team floods in.
After finding Elias’s fucked-up little basement a few weeks ago, I had my team run exercises based on the very layout of this property, and as I point both to the left and right, my team breaks up into three smaller tactical response teams, already knowing exactly what they need to do.
As they sweep the property, clearing it room by room, Ace and Diesel remain on my six.
I lead them straight to the living room.
“Izzy,” I tell them, preparing them for what they’re about to see and giving them everything I know, needing them to be on their game when they see her.
“She’s down. Gunshot wound. Potentially lethal.
Mae is armed and took off with the twins. ”
“Harper?” Diesel asks, his gaze sweeping through the insanely big home.
“Elias has her,” I say, refusing to let my voice break. I can crumble later. Right now, these girls need us to do what we do best. “We’ll check the basement, but he knows we’ve found that. My gut’s telling me they’re long gone.”
Ace nods, but his expression morphs into horror as we turn into the living room and find Izzy motionless on the ground, blood pooled around her. “Fuck,” he grunts, racing ahead as Diesel and I cover his ass, quickly scanning the room and making sure it’s clear.
Ace drops down beside Izzy, his fingers immediately pressing to her throat, frantically searching for a pulse.
“Come on, baby. Please. Please. Please. Please.” His expression darkens, his face beginning to fall as the seconds tick by, and then just as he looks up at Diesel, his heart on his sleeve, his expression morphs again, his eyes widening in shock. “Oh shit! I’ve got a pulse.”
Diesel drops down beside Ace, grabbing Izzy’s bloodied pajama top and tearing it down the center, searching for the wound before applying pressure, and doing everything in their power to save her, but until that ambulance gets here, there’s not a lot they can do.
They’re each covered in blood in seconds as I hear the subtle sounds of my men clearing the mansion room by room.
A door is kicked in from the upper level, followed by the sound of tiny screams, and my back stiffens, realizing the boys have found the twins. Only a commotion breaks out a moment later, yelling and screaming tearing through the house, followed by one single gunshot.
My feet pound against the Italian stone, soaring up the stairs two at a time when I find Mae face down on the plush carpet, Hunter hovering over her while fixing cuffs around her wrists. “The girls?” I ask him wide-eyed.
“Unharmed but scared,” he tells me, deep regret in his eyes. “They’re in here.”
Relief pounds through my veins, and just as I move toward the room, movement at the bottom of the stairs catches my attention. I glance down just in time to see a whole team of paramedics racing in and heading straight for Izzy.
Thank God. She might have a chance.
Heading into the room, I barely get through the door when two little faces glance up, their eyes widening as they recognize me among all the strange faces. They instantly start crying and get to their feet, racing toward me as I quickly hand my gun to Hunter.
I drop to my knees, and as I welcome them straight into my arms, they each bawl for the trauma they’ve experienced here today.
“Everything’s going to be alright,” I tell them, hoping like fuck we hear from Emily and Jonah soon.
“Your mommy and daddy are going to be here soon. You’re safe. You’re both safe now.”
“Gr . . . Grandma Mae had a gun,” Taliah tells me. “She hurt Izzy with it, and then Izzy bleed all over the floor.”
“I know. Izzy is very hurt right now, but the doctors are here, and they’re going to take her to the hospital in the special ambulance so that she won’t be hurting anymore. Does that sound good?”
They nod in unison, and I try to wipe the tears off their little faces. “Now,” I say, trying not to let them see the fear in my eyes. “Have you seen your Aunty Harper? I think she’s playing hide-and-seek. But she’s too good. I can’t find her.”
Haylee shrugs, and I turn to Taliah to see her shaking her head as well.
“Okay,” I say, not wanting to push them on it.
After all, from what I could gather, Mae had taken the girls away long before Elias got his hands on Harper.
“Okay, well, I need to go find her because I think she’s a little bit sad right now.
So could you girls keep being brave and go with Hunter?
He’s going to help you find somewhere safe you can go while we wait for your mommy and daddy to come back. ”
The girls nod again, but as they start to step around me, Haylee glances back. “You could give Harper a hug,” she suggests. “When I’m sad, my mommy gives me a big hug, and it always makes me happy again.”
“You know what?” I say, offering her a small smile. “I think you’re right.”
Getting up, Hunter hands my gun back, and just as I go to walk past him, he catches my eye, a hollowness lingering in his broken stare.
“This is on me,” he tells me. “I failed again, and now Harper is out there with her attacker, the twins are traumatized, and Izzy is on the ground bleeding out. I’m going to be there to help in any way I can.
I need to see this through and ensure we get Harper back where she belongs, but once this is done, I’m handing in my resignation.
I clearly need to continue my training. I’m not up to scratch to be a member of this team, and I apologize for letting you down. ”
I stare at Hunter. I know the guilt he’s feeling. We’ve all been there at one point or another. It’s just part of the territory, but I’m not about to let him throw away everything he’s accomplished because my girl managed to manipulate him and slip away. Twice.
“The fuck you are,” I tell him. “I won’t accept your resignation. Now, take Mae down to the dining room. We need to interrogate her on Elias’s whereabouts. We can deal with a suitable punishment after Harper is back home, but until then, get your head in the game.”
After completely clearing the property and confirming that no one else is here, I make my way back downstairs just in time to watch the paramedics rolling Izzy out of the house on a gurney.
Ace and Diesel follow them out to the ambulance, and I’m right behind them. “How’s she doing?”
Diesel shakes his head. “Not looking good,” he says, his face grim. “She’s mostly stable, but critical. She needs to get into surgery now.”
I nod and watch as they each go to make their way to the back of the ambulance, intending to ride along with her, but I pull them up short. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
“To the hospital,” Ace grunts, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind.