Chapter 41

CHAPTER

FORTY-ONE

Tori continued to barrel forward, even though she knew it could be a death wish.

But she didn't want to hit anyone either.

"Keep going!" Kai yelled.

Despite her hesitation, she charged straight ahead.

Straight toward the man.

Kai raised his head to watch and held his breath.

When she was only a few feet from hitting the man, he dove out of the way.

Just like Kai thought he might.

"Keep going," Kai told her. "You can do this."

He saw the apprehension in her tight shoulders. The white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. Her wide eyes. The slight gleam of sweat across her forehead.

She continued pressing the accelerator. As they zoomed away from the warehouse area, Gage called out directions.

The wind hit them in the face, bringing a chill with it. Every once in a while, a stray speck of glass flew back and hit one of them.

They could deal with that much more easily than they could deal with being shot.

Speaking of which . . .

Kai glanced back at Stephen. "You okay?"

He touched his shoulder and grimaced. "I think so."

As Kai looked closer, he noticed the bullet hadn't just skimmed Stephen's arm. It had gone through his shoulder. Blood covered the man's shirt.

He grabbed a towel from the back and pressed it into his wound. "Hold this over it."

Stephen took the towel. "Where are we going?"

"That's a good question," Tori called over her shoulder. "Do we go back to the motel? Or is that too risky?"

"I say we get away from here and pull off onto the side of the road to check this wound out before we decide what to do next," Gage said. "We can't take any chances."

"Good call," Kai said.

Gage continued to give directions. A few minutes later, they pulled to a stop on the side of a country road. So far, they hadn't been followed.

But they couldn't afford to let down their guard.

"Tori, this is Stephen. Stephen, Tori. She's a nurse." Gage introduced them.

They both nodded at each other.

"Tori, could you check out his shoulder?" Kai asked. "I know we're asking you to do a lot of things you never signed up for. But we don't have much of a choice right now."

She glanced at them in the rearview mirror again before nodding. "Of course."

She climbed out and walked to the door behind her, opening it. As she did, Kai shone his flashlight on Stephen's wound.

Tori cringed when she saw the gaping hole. "That one had to hurt."

"Just a little," Stephen said through gritted teeth.

"I'm going to need to see that shoulder."

Kai pulled a knife from his pocket and cut the sleeve from Stephen's arm to the collar.

He glanced Tori as she stared at it. "What do you think?"

Tori frowned as she leaned closer to better examine the wound.

But Kai knew that taking Stephen to the hospital wasn't an option.

That was one of multiple reasons Kai prayed her news wasn't bad.

Tori looked at the wound and frowned. "It's rough, but it looks like the bullet hit right where the chip would have been. I don't see how it could still be there. However, Stephen's not in a position for me to dig around under his skin and confirm."

Kai nodded slowly, his emotions perfectly controlled. "Then we need you to make your best guess."

She stared at the wound another moment, nibbling on her bottom lip. Finally, she nodded. "My most educated guess is that the chip has been destroyed."

"Do you think you can clean up that wound?" Kai asked.

She flinched at the thought. "It's going to be painful. But the bullet went straight through. That's a good thing. Nothing needs to be dug out. I don't see where it hit any bones or anything."

"Good to know," Stephen said through gritted teeth.

"However, what I don't know is . . . if the bullet hit the chip . . . what if pieces of that chip are still inside him?" She frowned as she said the words.

"Will you be able to see that once you clean him up?" Kai narrowed his eyes as he seemed to think it through.

"Maybe," she answered honestly. "I'll see what I can do back at the motel. We still have the first aid kit so I can use that." She glanced up at him, still not knowing what had transpired in the conversation. "Can we trust him?"

Kai nodded from behind Stephen. "We can."

She hoped Kai was right. He had better instincts about these things than she did.

But her nerves were still on edge.

"Gage, please say you're going to drive now." She glanced at him, her gaze pleading.

"Absolutely," he answered.

She released the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Then she climbed into the passenger seat.

They would get back to the motel, and she would clean this stranger up.

Then Kai and Gage would hopefully share more about what they'd learned.