Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Oh, she hurt. Hurt so incredibly badly. Her left shoulder.
Her left forearm. Her left knee. That whole side of her body hurt.
She was also pretty sure that she—and the cushion for her that had been Bear—had bounced after hitting the pavement.
Had they bounced once? Maybe twice? Agnes hadn’t even realized that a human body could bounce that way, not when it slammed into the unforgiving pavement.
“Agnes!”
There were lots of yells going on. Lots of squealing tires. She could smell burnt rubber. And she really, really hurt. But that was a good thing, wasn’t it? If she hurt, then she was alive. Also, bonus, the ringing in her ears had stopped. So that meant no busted ear drum. Maybe?
“No, dammit, Ryan!” Another shout that she clearly heard. Nash’s shout. “Don’t stop! Stay on your bike! I’ve got her!” Hands fluttered around her. “Get after that van and the driver! Now, now!”
More roaring of a motorcycle.
Her eyes cracked open. She tried to push up. Only to have immediate, excruciating pain fly through her left shoulder and down her arm. A moan slipped from her.
She stared down and saw Bear’s neck. Bear’s face. His closed eyes. Was he breathing? As she focused, she realized there was a whole lot of blood spreading beneath his head.
“I’ve got you, baby,” a familiar voice promised as strong, but gentle fingers slid over her shoulder. The same voice that had yelled for Ryan to keep going. Her other brother, Nash.
Nash was talking. So Nash was okay. That was good. She loved Nash. He was a great brother.
But his touch was hurting her. “St-stop…”
“Agnes!” A roar. And…a crash. She wanted to turn her head toward both sounds, but she was currently trying to breathe through some pain.
“Tell him I’m okay,” she whispered to Nash. Because she knew the roar belonged to Cass. She really hoped that crash hadn’t been the sound of his motorcycle hitting the pavement.
“I’m not gonna lie to your biker boyfriend,” her brother groused back at her. “You are not okay. Your shoulder is dislocated, your left arm is a bloody mess…”
Yep, she was pretty sure a hunk of skin might have been torn away. And leave it to Nash to document her injuries. The man had completed two years of med school before disappearing into the web of the CIA, but he still loved to throw out a diagnosis about everything like he’d gotten his MD—
“And I can see the blood soaking your leg. Also, I’m about ninety percent sure that you’re on top of a dead man.”
“Gross,” she breathed. She was about ninety percent sure of the same thing.
“I need to check you for other injuries. Just hold still and stay on top of the dead man a bit longer.” His hands slid over her, particularly careful near her neck and spine.
“Agnes.” Cass dropped to his knees beside her. “Baby, you’re okay?”
“On…dead man.” That was not okay.
“Who is this fucker touching you?” Cass swatted away Nash’s hands.
“I’m her brother.”
“What?”
“He’s…almost a doctor,” she muttered. “Let him finish the exam. Nash will not be happy until he finishes.”
“Damn right, I won’t be,” Nash agreed. His hands went back to work on her.
Bear groaned.
“Oh, good.” She perked up. “He’s not dead.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Cass swore.
Nash lifted her up and off Bear. Thankfully.
Finally. He carried her a bit and eased her onto the ground that was off the road.
A good thing to do so that no other drivers might, oh, run over her.
When he moved her, she saw the other motorcycles that had just braked about ten feet away.
Javion waited near them. “Shouldn’t they be chasing the van? ” she muttered.
Cass ripped away the duct tape from her wrists, and he freed her ankles. “Javion, get the others and go the hell after the van!” Cass thundered as he tossed away the tape. “I’ve got her!”
They left. Fast. Which was good because she hadn’t wanted an audience.
Nash was still examining her, and Cass was hovering.
Cass’s dark eyes were wild. Agnes could feel his fear.
Her right hand rose—the hand and arm that didn’t feel as if every bit of skin had been scraped off it. “Snuck up on you, didn’t it?”
“What?” Cass caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Sweetness, I want you to just rest. I’m getting an ambulance for you. Just called while your brother was carrying you. You’re going to a hospital, and I am going to destroy the threats to you.”
She shook her head. “Just…need someone to pop my shoulder back in place.” She didn’t need an ambulance.
Nash swore. “Agnes is going to be difficult.”
Cass’s head turned toward him. Slowly. “Who the hell are you again?”
The others were gone, so they could speak freely. For the moment, anyway. Though someone should probably check on Bear. “He’s my brother.”
Cass eyed Nash. Big, tawny skinned, pitch-black hair, and two very distinct, multi-colored eyes. One blue. One brown. “You two don’t look a damn thing alike,” Cass rasped. “Let me guess…genetics? Like the other brother told me?”
“No, dumbass,” Nash returned without missing a beat. “Adoption. Like blood is the only thing that makes a family.”
She smiled. “I missed you, Nash.”
“You should not be here, Agnes. Gray was supposed to have you working in Atlanta! You are not supposed to be with this asshole…and do you know the things he’s done? Do you know what he is?”
Yes, absolutely. She turned her weak smile on Cass. “He’s mine.”
“Hell.” From Nash.
Cass frowned at her. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you should be smiling after what just happened. That fucker kidnapped you. You almost died when you jumped out of the van—and why in the world did you do that?”
To protect Nash. But, before she said that, more of an explanation might be required. “Ryan…” She had to lick her lips. The throbbing in her shoulder was driving her crazy. “Ryan was at the tattoo shop.”
Cass kept frowning. Had he and Cass exchanged first names?
For some reason, she doubted it. Ryan didn’t tend to be the chatty one.
Then again, Nash wasn’t chatty either. “My brother, Ryan. He signed that I was his sister. I saw him.” She sucked in a breath.
“I knew he didn’t come alone. Where Ryan is, Nash is close by. ”
“Someone has to watch his fool back,” Nash returned. “His and yours, Agnes.”
They’d been watching her back forever. “When I saw the motorcycle behind the van…saw the rider—I knew it was Nash.” She’d suspected it was him even before he’d flipped up his visor. “Couldn’t let anyone hurt my brother.”
“So you flew out of a van?” Cass shook his head.
“Not like I had a ton of options.” She wet her lips.
Nash cleared his throat. “Just so you know, that shoulder of yours is definitely dislocated.”
She was aware. “Push it back, would you? I have work to do.”
Cass shook his head. “You have a hospital to get to!”
Nope. “I don’t want to be benched. Please, don’t bench me.” She felt Nash’s fingers curl around her shoulder.
“This is gonna hurt,” her brother warned her.
“Can’t hurt worse than it already does.”
Bear groaned again.
About him… “He can use that ambulance you called for, Cass.” And speaking of calls… “We should call Gray.” Her stare flickered over Cass. “Snuck up on you,” she said again.
A line cut between his brows. “What did?”
“Me. The way you feel about me. I can see it. You love—ah!” A scream of absolute agony tore through her because Nash had just shoved her dislocated shoulder back into place. Dry heaves broke from her.
Cass immediately threw Nash into the air. “Don’t ever hurt her!”
He hadn’t been hurting her, well, okay he had hurt her, but the shoulder had needed to go back in place. The pain was ebbing, and it was more of a dull throb now. Plus, she could actually move her arm a bit, so, win.
But before she could share the winning news, Cass scooped her up into his arms. He began rushing away with her, and she was pretty sure he was rushing blindly. “Cass…I’m okay.” Mostly. Maybe she needed a few stitches. Hopefully not, though.
“Hospital.” Just one, snarled word from Cass.
“Cass, we are so close to our goal.” They could not stop now. “Raz and Bear were taking me to the bastard who did all of this. He wanted to kill me himself and leave my body for you to find.” Because he was a twisted SOB, obviously.
Cass’s face hardened. His eyes spat dark fire as he looked down at her. Rage burned and promised hell in his gaze.
“Let’s give him what he wanted,” she said. “We can do this. We can.”
“I am not giving you to anyone. You are mine, Agnes. Mine. I screwed up protecting you today, but I will never, ever do that again. Do you hear me? You matter. You. I don’t give a shit about anything else.
You could have died right in front of me.
When you came out of that van and hit the pavement I thought you had died. ” A hard, negative shake of his head.
She didn’t point out that—technically—she hadn’t hit the pavement. She’d hit Bear’s big body. At least, she hadn’t initially hit the pavement. Bear had softened her fall, but then she’d slammed into the pavement after she bounced off him. That slam had been centered all on her left side.
“You’re going far away,” he vowed. “Far away from this nightmare. I will get Gray on the phone. And then Gray is gonna take you away. You are gonna be safe. You will never face this kind of threat again.”
“Stop being adorable. I’m an FBI agent. I face threats each day. It’s part of the deal I signed up for.”
“We’ve got a vehicle approaching,” Nash said as he moved to stand beside them. He had drawn his weapon. “Coming fast. Unmarked SUV.”
Her heart slammed in her chest.
“No one is taking her,” Cass growled.
“Agreed.”
Cass gently lowered her back onto the ground away from the road. The two men took up protective positions near her. Not just near her, but in front of her.
The SUV came forward faster. Faster. It screeched to a stop.