Chapter 37 Jackal #2
We stumble to Garrett and kneel down next to him.
Isla clambers to my side, and we both take one of his hands.
His eyes are glassy with shock, but he’s breathing.
There’s so much blood, it’s hard to tell what his injuries are.
Taking care with the cuts and bruises on his knuckles, I bring his hand to my lips.
“Bear,” I manage to say, and then, words fail. Everything fails.
The restraint of my tears.
The flood of relief.
My ability to stay upright.
I put an arm around Isla and hold her tight as she sobs.
“How bad is it?” I ask Garrett, my eyes tracking all over his body. “Are you shot?” It’s hard to tell with all the blood.
Garrett shakes his head a fraction. “He’s got…worse aim…than Smoke.”
Despite the terror, and the fury, and the way Paltrow is trying to get out of Grudge and Atom’s grip, it brings a chuckle from the brothers.
“When you’re well enough,” Smoke says, “I’m gonna kick your ass for that comment.”
“Should be ready…by summer,” Garrett says through gritted teeth.
Taking Isla with me, I lightly drop my head to Garrett’s chest.
His hand threads through my hair. Something I thought I’d never feel again. When I lift my head, I kiss Garrett gently, then Isla.
I slip out of my jacket and wrap it over Isla’s shoulders. “Be brave for just a few more minutes, Sunshine,” I say, and she nods at me tearily.
“Bravest thing I’ve ever…seen,” Garrett says. “Fought like a banshee.”
She touches his face and sobs. “You, on the other hand, need to learn when to lie down.”
Garrett closes his eyes. “Think I learned that, now.”
Wraith steps over. “Greer and Butcher are only ten minutes behind us.”
I cup Isla’s cheeks. “I need you to go outside with Wraith. We’ll be right out behind you.”
She hiccups as she tries to rein in her tears. “Okay.”
I lift Isla off the ground and hand her to him. “Take her outside, please, brother.”
He glances at Paltrow. I know Wraith wants to stay for what’s next. But he nods. “I’ll take Taco with me, and we can lead Greer in.”
I nod. “You,” I say to Garrett, “stay down. This won’t take long.”
“He threatened to take…Isla. Told her…if she let him touch her…he’d let up on me.”
Just when I think today can’t get any worse. “Did he rape her?”
Garrett smiles. I see the blood over his teeth. “She head butted him.” He twists to look over at where Atom and Grudge have Paltrow subdued. “The broken nose…is all Isla.”
I go to move toward Paltrow, but Garrett grips my hand and tugs me closer to him. “She thought about…letting him…to save me.”
“Fuck. Can’t imagine what an impossible decision that must have been for her.”
“The only person who ever…loved me that much…is you.”
I smile at what he’s telling me. That he sees how much the two of us love him. Words escape me for the billionth time today. Until I refocus.
“I’m going to kill him, now. Anything I should know before I do?”
Garrett nods. “He said a woman out of Florida told him where to find you. And I told him I was going to force feed him his own dick…and make him fuck my knife.”
“Then, that’s what I’ll make him do.”
I drop a soft kiss on Garrett’s forehead, stand, brush the dust off my jeans, and walk over to Paltrow, who heard every word I just said.
“Just shoot me,” he says.
“You know, there’s an irony that you’re shaking as badly as Isla was. And because I’m anxious to get to them, and not you, I’ll make this quick.” I reach for the belt buckle of his jeans. “But not that quick.”
It’s a team effort to hold him still and yank his jeans around his ankles.
“Must be terror shrinkage,” Atom says. “Look at the size of that tiny thing.”
Smoke leans back against the mine wall. “Not like he’s ever gonna use it again. Kiddy fiddler like this should have had it chopped off years ago.”
“Please,” Paltrow yells. I see fear there, close to what I saw in Isla’s eyes. And, somehow, balance returns to the universe.
I huff. “If you’re a praying man, I’d start now. Because you don’t have long left.”
My knife is terrifyingly sharp. Garrett prides himself on how sharp he gets all our blades. It moves through skin like it’s butter.
The guttural scream from Paltrow reverberates through the mine tunnel. Even though this is one dick I don’t want to touch, I grab it, and Atom forces Paltrow’s mouth open so I can shove it in there.
It’s bloody and slippery, and Paltrow gags against it.
Catfish has moved over to Garrett and is holding his hand. Guess that’s what it looks like when a man’s not afraid his brothers will belittle him for showing softness. “Remind me not to fuck with either of you,” Catfish says, wincing.
It takes another minute to turn Paltrow around and position him because his legs keep collapsing. He vomits profusely, throwing up his own cock, struggling with blood loss and shock as I complete the second half of Garrett’s promise.
At this point, Grudge and Atom let him go as he falls to the floor in a ball. But Grudge drops to the floor and grips Paltrow’s chin. “You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. Who told you where Jackal was?”
Paltrow shakes violently. “You’re killing me…whether I tell you or not.”
Grudge dips his head lower to meet Paltrow’s eyes. “You tell us who told you where Jackal was, and I’ll put you out of your misery. Don’t, I’m gonna let Jackal fuck you with that knife until he gets bored.”
I shove it in him again, then tug my knife from him and wipe the blade on his ass cheek.
He’s not going to tell us, I know it. I pull my gun from beneath my cut and walk back to Garrett. “You want in on this?” I ask.
His breath is coming fast. “Yes.”
My brothers move back and give us some space. Paltrow is too far gone to move or fight. Almost takes the fun out of it.
I kneel down next to Garrett, put the gun in his hand, place my finger over his on the trigger, and together, we send Paltrow to hell.
“It’s done now,” Grudge says. “Give your gun to Atom. He’ll make sure it’s disposed of. Let’s bury him outside. In the trees.”
“We don’t have shovels,” Smoke says.
“I do,” Butcher says, walking into the mine tunnel with a spinal board. “They’re in the ambulance. Let me and your brothers move Garrett. You should go check on Isla.”
And with one last kiss to the forehead of the man I love, I leave the mine and walk to the woman I love just as much.