Chapter Twenty-Three
By the time Law pushed through the ER doors, the tracer on Sage’s phone had already updated twice, the last ping settling in place like a marker he didn’t have the luxury of questioning.
A hospital.
They came in with him—Rip at his shoulder, Syx already scanning ahead, Boston and Micah fanning out without a word.
The doors slid shut behind them, cutting off the night as the noise inside took over—coughing from somewhere close, voices layered over each other at the front desk, a television mounted high on the wall talking to no one who was really listening.
A baby cried sharply and suddenly from across the room, the sound cutting through everything else.
The air carried it all—antiseptic and stale coffee, something metallic underneath that hadn’t been cleaned away yet, the press of too many people packed into a space that never really emptied.
A security guard hurriedly approached, heading their way.
“Genesis?”
“Yes,” Law said.
“Follow me.”
The guard stepped ahead as they moved past the front desk, the man’s presence enough that no one stepped in their path. A nurse glanced up, took in the badge, the uniform, the look on Law’s face, and looked right back down again.
The tracer pulsed steadily in his hand.
Not moving.
That tightened something low in his chest more than anything else.
If Sage had stopped, there was a reason.
Law’s gaze lifted, sweeping the room in one steady pass—stretchers rolling through double doors, a patient arguing weakly with a nurse, kids playing somewhere off to his left, the steady beep of a monitor cutting through it all.
Blood marked the floor in a thin smear someone hadn’t gotten to yet, shoe prints tracking it farther than they should’ve.
None of it mattered.
He wasn’t here for the chaos.
He was here for Sage.
And then he saw him.
Sage stood just off to the side of the corridor, blood across his hands and shirt. A woman hovered near him, pale and unsteady, her focus locked on the double doors as a gurney disappeared through them.
Law didn’t slow as he closed the distance, cutting through the last few feet between them like there was nothing in the way.
His hand came up without hesitation, gripping Sage’s arm, turning him just enough to face him fully. The contact was firm, deliberate, fingers already tracking for what mattered—shoulder, side, anything that would tell him where the damage was.
He didn’t ask.
Didn’t wait.
His gaze moved over him fast, precise, reading what he could before Sage had the chance to step back or shut him out.
“The blood’s not mine,” Sage said quietly, like he was trying to soothe him.
Sage didn’t pull away. If anything, he stepped into him.
That was all it took. Law pulled him in.
His hand stayed on Sage, grip easing but not releasing, close enough that the distance never fully returned.
His thumb brushed once along Sage’s jaw before stilling there.
“You’re not fine,” he said quietly. It was there in Sage’s eyes—grief, worry, too close to the surface to ignore.
Sage tipped his head back, blond hair sliding out of his face as he held Law’s gaze. “It’s Rook’s blood.”
“That’s not what I asked.” Law combed the light strands back, slower this time.
“It’s what matters.” Sage’s face pressed into his palm.
Law didn’t move. Didn’t let him go. “It’s not.”
Sage’s mouth softened. He didn’t pull away. “I’m standing, aren’t I?”
“Barely,” Law said, low.
Neither of them stepped back.
Law realized that Sage hadn’t gone after the person who did this. He’d stayed with whoever was behind those doors.
“Sage?” The woman spoke softly, her voice shaking.
Sage glanced at her. “I’m here.”
Her fingers twisted in the fabric at her side, eyes tracking him like he was the only thing holding her steady.
“What happened?” Law asked.
Sage didn’t answer. His attention shifted back to Ashley.
“Stay here,” he said quietly. “We’ll be right back.”
She nodded, uncertain.
Law glanced at the team who’d stood quietly. “Stay with her. Shoot Black a text and tell him to wrap up Vegas. Rook is here.”
Rip was already nodding, on the phone. Boston, Syx, and Micah took up positions in chairs by the surgery doors.
Sage’s hand closed around his arm and pulled.
He went with him.
The stairwell door swung shut behind them, the noise of the ER cutting off. Not gone—just dulled, the chaos reduced to a low, distant hum behind the door.
Sage let go, turning back to face him, close enough that the distance didn’t matter.
The space felt tighter, quieter, the air cooler.
Concrete walls boxed them in, the sound catching and falling back on itself in the narrow space.
He didn’t step back. Didn’t give Sage room to slip away from this.
“Buckshot?”
“With Winter and Memphis.”
“Now tell me what happened,” he said softly. “Did Rook kill her?”
“No.”
Sage held his gaze. For a second, something shifted—small, but there. His teeth caught his bottom lip, a tell that didn’t belong to him, before he let it go.
Law saw it—and waited.
“Daniel Voss,” Sage said, steady now. “He’s been running the jobs. Using Ashley to control the rest of us.”
He didn’t look away. Didn’t hesitate.
“Jade wasn’t part of it,” he added. “He killed her to keep Ashley in line.”
Silence pressed in around them, the words settling with nowhere to go.
A small moment passed.
“So, you… went to his place?”
“Yeah. They were all three there. Rook, Ashley, and Voss.”
“And you didn’t kill him.”
“He had Ashley tied up,” Sage said, quieter. “Then shot Rook and fled.”
He frowned. “Work with me on this. You could’ve ended Voss a long time ago.”
Sage didn’t flinch.
“Why didn’t you?”
Sage exhaled slowly, like he’d already accepted how this sounded.
The breath echoed faintly, too loud in the tight stairwell.
“Ashley is Voss’s half-sister.”
It landed hard, the kind of truth that didn’t shift once said.
The words landed between them, heavy.
His jaw tightened.
“He kept her close,” Sage went on, steady. “Used that. Twisted it against me. I grew up with her on the streets—before Voss was even in the picture.”
Silence settled hard in the stairwell.
Contained. Pressed in. No space for it to dissipate.
“I didn’t know how far he’d take it,” Sage added, quieter. “Not until it was already too late to save Jade.”
“I don’t get it. She’s his half-sister? Why the hell would he send someone to kill her?”
“Because the last time I met with him, I told him I was done and taking her out of there.”
“The guy at Rusty Spur.” It wasn’t a question.
Sage’s gaze snapped up.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “You were there.”
“What was in the envelope you gave him?” he asked, nodding once.
“Cash. To keep Ashley and Jade safe.”
“So emotional blackmail.”
“Yeah. He kept threatening us all.”
“The phone calls,” Law murmured.
“Mhmm.” Sage released a deep breath.
Law squinted.
The decision settled in behind his eyes before he spoke.
“Then we go after him.”
No hesitation. No second pass.
“Yeah—and now that he tried to kill Ashley?” Sage’s hands closed into tight fists. “Nothing will save him.”