Whispers in the Dark

CHAPTER 41

JOE and Donovan were just about to the front entrance when Swanny caught up to them from behind.

“Want me to take her?” Swanny asked.

“No, you go ahead with Donovan. Cover me and make damn sure P.J. knows we’re coming out,” Joe said tersely.

He hadn’t said a word about Shea’s condition, but the truth was, he was scared shitless. It was obvious she’d checked out. Her eyes were still open, but they were vacant and lifeless. Her vitals seemed normal. The lights were on but nobody was at home. Who the hell knew what all she’d endured this time?

“Get your asses into the trees,” P.J. said in an impatient voice. “My orders are to get you to the truck so you can haul ass out of here.”

They broke into a run, and Joe held Shea tighter against him so she didn’t flop like a rag doll. When they burst through the trees, P.J. rolled from her perch atop the rise where she’d taken position and fell in behind Joe to cover the rear.

“What’s her condition?” P.J. asked as they hurried back the way they’d come in.

“I don’t know,” Joe said shortly. “It’s not…good.”

“I’ll take a look when we get back to the SUV,” Donovan called back. “The important thing is she’s alive.”

Yeah, she was alive, but Joe wasn’t at all sure what that meant anymore. The longer she lay in his arms unmoving and unresponsive, the more dread gathered in his stomach. He didn’t want to think of what this would do to Nathan.

Nathan was finally coming around. He had fire in his gut again. He had purpose. The Nathan who’d come home from the hospital after recovering for weeks had been a stranger to Joe, and he hadn’t like it one bit.

He wanted his best friend back, and this could change everything.

Please, Shea. Come back to us. Nathan needs you. Show me you’re still in there somewhere. You’re safe now. They can’t hurt you anymore. I understand why you’ve gone away. But you can come back now. Come back for Nathan. He’s lost without you.

They broke into the small clearing where the SUVs were parked and still Shea hadn’t stirred in his arms. Donovan jerked open the back and motioned for Joe to lay her down. Joe was about to do just that when she went completely stiff in his arms.

She let out a cry of pain and seemed to ball in even tighter. Her breathing changed from the shallow, light respirations to fast, jerky bursts that seemed to tear out of her throat.

Joe sat her on the edge of the SUV, careful not to bump her head on the upright door.

“Oh Jesus,” Donovan breathed.

Joe followed Donovan’s gaze to see blood spreading rapidly over her side. “What the fuck? Van, she wasn’t hurt! I examined her myself. She wasn’t bleeding. I would have damn sure noticed that amount of blood.”

Shea’s eyes lost their glassy dullness. Her pupils dilated and sweat formed on her brow. Her fingers curled into tight little balls, and she bent over as if in unimaginable pain.

Joe caught her and then laid her gently on her uninjured side. He crawled over her, into the truck, and pushed at her shirt, looking for the source of the bleeding.

“Holy shit. She’s got a wound in her side, but I swear to you, Donovan, this wasn’t here before!”

Donovan pushed in beside him and then swore. “I can’t even move in here. Get her down. Lay her on the ground so I can see what I’m doing.”

Joe pulled her out. P.J. hurried in and helped him ease her down onto the ground. Swanny knelt beside Shea and gently pushed aside her hair in a gentle gesture that Joe found irritating. What the fuck was the man doing? She was going to bleed to death and he was worried about her hair?

“What’s happened to Nathan?” Swanny asked. “Talk to me, Shea. And listen. He wouldn’t want you to do this. He has people to help him. You can’t take this for him this time. Do you understand me? You’ll hurt him far more by doing this. You’re too weak to take this from him. Let him bear his own pain this time. I swear to you we’ll get him out. Do you hear me? Snap the fuck out of it and look at me, damn it!”

“Swanny, what the fuck?” P.J. demanded. “Get the hell away from her before I do it for you.”

Swanny ignored her and turned to Donovan. “Ask Sam what the hell just happened to Nathan. Do it. She’s taking his pain. She’s absorbing it just like she did before when he was being tortured. Only this time she doesn’t have the strength to do it.”

Fear grabbed Joe by the throat. Donovan went pale and he cupped his hand over the mouthpiece so the wind wouldn’t interfere.

“Sam, what the hell is happening in there? I need to know what’s going on with Nathan and I need to know yesterday. Our situation is critical.”

“Nathan’s down,” came Sam’s grim reply. “Took a knife to the side. Garrett’s trying to stop the bleeding now. We’re on our way with him now. What the fuck is going on with you?”

“Oh Christ,” Joe whispered. “How bad, Van? We need to know how bad.” He glanced at Shea as fear took a firmer hold. She’d give her life for Nathan. He knew it like he knew his own name. But Nathan’s life wouldn’t be worth shit without her, and her sacrifice wouldn’t mean a damn thing in the end. He couldn’t let this happen.

Instead of waiting for Donovan, Joe broke in. “You be honest with me, Sam. Tell me how bad it is. Shea’s in a bad way because she’s taking his pain and she’s bleeding heavily. It’s his injury that’s causing her bleeding. She’ll die because they’re connected and she thinks she has to save him. So you tell him to find his way to her and you make him tell her that he’s going to be goddamn fine. I don’t care if he’s lying or not. If we lose her, he’s lost to us anyway.”

“He’s not going to die,” Sam snarled. “You tell her that. You connect with her. Don’t you dare let her die. I’ll make sure Nathan knows what’s going on, but don’t you let her go in the meantime. You do whatever you have to do to keep her alive. Lie to her. I don’t care. Just get the job done.”

Joe dropped to his knees beside Shea and shoved Swanny aside. He lifted her head, holding her close, while P.J. put both hands over Shea’s side in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Donovan moved in with a med kit, and he and P.J. began to work on a pressure bandage while Joe focused his entire being on forging a connection with Shea.

NATHAN could tell whatever was being relayed to Sam wasn’t good and he cursed the fact that he’d lost his earpiece when Garrett converged on him to stop the bleeding. He knew he was right when his brothers and even the members of Steele’s team and Resnick regarded him with a mixture of fear and dread.

But what worried him more was that his pain was easing. The warmth he’d long ago associated with Shea spread through his veins, replacing the burn with soothing comfort.

And yet he couldn’t feel her. Not in the way he’d always been able to in the past. He could feel what she was doing for him and it made him furious. But it was as if there was some giant roadblock to Shea.

His stomach churned and his hands began to shake.

“Tell me, goddamn it,” he bit out. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

He threw off Garrett’s hand and tried to get up, but Garrett hauled him back down and forcibly kept pressure on his wound. Dread mounted in Nathan’s chest until he could barely draw a breath.

“You go, Sam,” Resnick said hurriedly. “My men and I will stay behind to do cleanup. I’m going to have to call this in and let the chips fall where they may. I may be out of a job, but until they tell me otherwise, this is hugely classified and I can’t just leave things here for anyone to stumble over. But I promise you this. I’ll get answers before I call it in. We’ll make these fuckers talk so we know what the hell we’re dealing with.”

“And if they decide to silence you?” Sam asked.

Resnick’s face hardened. “My team is loyal to me. They take orders from me. I won’t go down without a fight, and if that’s the way this is going to play out, then I won’t remain silent. I’ll go public in a big way. I won’t let this happen to Shea again. Grace is still out there. I won’t let this happen to her.”

“I don’t like leaving you,” Sam said.

“You’re wasting time,” Resnick said impatiently. “You heard what Joe had to say. Your priority needs to be her and Nathan. Now get the hell out of here.”

“Someone tell me what the fuck is going on,” Nathan snarled. “Where’s Shea? What happened?”

“She’s taking your pain,” Garrett said quietly.

“Yeah, I know that much. Where is she? Why are you all looking at me like that? Why can’t I reach her?”

Sam knelt by Nathan’s side. “You have to talk to her, Nathan. And we have to get you to her as soon as possible. She’s bleeding heavily. She’s sensed that you were hurt but she’s out of it. She’s been out of it ever since Joe found her. He hasn’t been able to break through. You have to or we’re going to lose her. Do you understand me? She was in no condition to take this on, but she’s afraid you’re going to die. You have to convince her otherwise and break the connection before it kills her.”

All the blood left Nathan’s face. Fear knotted his gut and panic rolled over him like a tidal wave. No. Oh dear God, no. Not again. Never again. She’d taken more for him than she ever should have taken.

“Take me to her,” he demanded. This time when he pushed upward, Garrett didn’t stop him. Instead he and Ethan each got an arm and hauled him to his feet.

“You’re not going to like this, but we can move a hell of a lot faster if we just carry your ass,” Garrett said.

Without waiting for Nathan’s response, Ethan and Garrett hoisted him up and took off double time for the back exit, Steel and his team leading the way.

Shea. Baby, where are you? You have to talk to me. I’m okay. I’m not dying. It’s just a flesh wound. The knife didn’t go deep. Do you hear me? Shea, you have to listen to me. You have to break off. Somehow you’re connected to me even though you aren’t aware of what’s going on around you. It’s our bond. It’s unbreakable. No one can take that from us. But baby, I need you to break away. Please, you have to do this. For me. I can’t lose you, and you’re too weak to endure this. For once let me be strong for you. This wound is nothing. I wouldn’t lie to you about that. I’ll need a few stitches and I’ll be good as new.

He sucked in his breath. His heart felt near to bursting out of his chest. He had so much fear and he hated that he couldn’t find that pathway to her, couldn’t break through the wall of silence that seemed to shield her on all sides.

She was protecting herself. She’d erected the wall to keep the pain away and now he couldn’t break through.

Don’t do this. Please don’t do this, Shea. Let go of me. Let me take this for you. You’ve protected me for so long, baby. For once let someone else take care of you.

I love you. I love you so damn much. Come back to me.