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Both officers nodded wildly. Zoe went to Lexie. Seth reached for the radio at his shoulder. “This is Hayes. I’m at two Oak Drive, requesting backup and an ambulance immediately . . .”
The rest faded as Nico hurtled out of the barn and into the night. After picking his way through grass that reached his knees, he caught up with Frank at the ground-level window Esme had escaped through.
“Look at this,” Frank said, the beam of his flashlight reflecting fat droplets of crimson liquid leading away from the building. Wherever Esme was, she was bleeding heavily.
Nico let loose a sigh of reluctant determination. “She can’t have gotten far.”
They followed the trail into thick woodland, pausing periodically to listen for signs of a person running, or limping, for her life.
I’m coming for you. The savage thought felt good in the forefront of Nico’s mind, drove him on when ideas of circling back and returning to the woman he loved surfaced. No, he told himself. Not until I finish this.
Sirens wailed in the distance. The sound sent a warm flux of relief coursing through his veins. Not for himself, but for Lexie. If something happened to him, she would be safe. She would be taken away from this place and given the care she so desperately needed right now.
When they reached far enough into the dense mass of trees that the house, their cars, and everything else became lost amongst the thicket, Nico stopped and glanced uneasily at Frank. What he read in his face matched his own gathering sense of foreboding. A hush fell over the forest. The air pulsed with dread, growing icy and still.
The sharp snap of a twig close by brought both their arms up, weapons aimed in the direction the noise had come from. Then the piercing crack of a gunshot echoed through the quiet. Nico ducked while Frank let out a guttural shout and dropped like a stone. Two more shots came, clipping a tree above Nico’s head. He dove for dirt.
“Frank! You alright?”.
“I’m hit.” Hissed through clenched teeth, Frank’s words hit Nico like a bus.
“How bad?”
“Fucked if I know,” he growled back. “Bad enough.”
Nico scrambled for their dropped flashlights and switched them off. They couldn’t see Esme, but evidently she could see them. Keeping low, he army crawled over to Frank, felt the warm wetness spreading across his taut stomach, and winced.
“Goddamn it. Here,” he took Frank’s hand and pressed it against where he guessed—it was so dark; he couldn’t be sure—the wound was. “Put pressure on it.”
“Mother fucker!” Frank spat. “I’m gonna kill that rancid bitch.”
Despite the heavy weight of fear settling in the pit of his gut, Nico smiled at Frank’s outrage. Getting shot in the line of duty was something he’d proudly avoided during his long career. It appeared breaking that clean sweep was royally pissing him off. Surly candor aside though, if they didn’t get him to a hospital soon, Frank wouldn’t be making threats of revenge for long.
Nico grabbed his radio and got Seth.
“Shit, man, are you guys okay?” he asked. “We heard—”
“Frank’s been shot. Get some EMTs out here ASAP. Be advised, suspect is still armed and dangerous.”
Nico kept his ears pricked and his guard up, in case Esme decided to make another play, while awkwardly unbuttoning his collared shirt one-handed. The memory of putting it on that morning felt like eons ago as he removed it.
“Alright, copy that,” Seth said. “We’re on our way. You watch your ass.”
Left wearing only a thin white tee atop his jeans, Nico’s muscles tensed against the chill as he bunched his shirt and maneuvered it under Frank’s now drenched and slippery hands. They were shaking. His breathing had quickened to the shallow pants of a man in terrible pain.
“Don’t even think about it, old man,” Nico said, pushing his weight into the makeshift bandage. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Neither are you,” Frank grunted accusingly.
Nico understood what he meant. He expected him to continue the pursuit, to leave him behind. “Not a chance.”
“Fuck that. Don’t get”—he coughed, spluttered, and wheezed and Nico’s throat tightened—“soft on me, kid. Go on. Get after her.”
“No way. I’m not leaving you here like this.”
For a man losing copious amounts of blood, Frank’s arm was surprisingly strong as it shoved Nico away. “Go,” he urged. “You’re”—gasp, gurgle—“gonna lose her!”
“How far do you think she’s gonna get in these woods, huh? I’m staying right here, you hear me?”
