Page 77 of Property of Kevlar

His tattooed brother, whose left eye was swollen shut, appeared from behind him. “Yeah?”

Using his gun, Kevlar pointed to the passed-out woman. “Get her and get out.”

40

Kelsey

With her ears ringing and blood covering her body, Kelsey accepted someone’s offer of a shirt. The evening had passed in a blur. She was numb and unable to process anything more.

Who were these people? How had they gotten there?

Once she tugged the Henley over her head, she searched the parking lot.

Where was Carrie? Kev had told someone to get her. Had they?

Frantically trying to keep Kev from falling over, she scanned the crowd for her friend. Her heart hammered in her ears. She couldn’t be the only one who escaped alive. Carrie had to get out too. Did she survive? Had she been shot?

“Get in,” Kev ordered as someone opened the back door of an SUV.

She shook her head. “No.” She clung to him harder. “Where’s Carrie?”

“My brother has her,” he assured her. “We can’t wait around.”

Where? She had to put eyes on her friend for peace of mind. There was no way she could leave without seeing Carrie.

“I’m not going anywhere without her.” Kelsey hadn’t been able to stop Carrie from getting raped, but that didn’t mean she would abandon her friend to die there to protect herself.

“We don’t have time for this,” a blond man growled, wearing a stony expression and clad in black.

Kev nodded. “She’ll be in a different car. We have to go.”

Meeting his eyes, panting wildly, Kelsey had a choice to make. She could dig her heels in and refuse to flee the chaos so she could look for Carrie, or she could believe him.

Leaning into her, Kev brought his hand to her cheek. Their foreheads met. The pain in his eyes made her heart ache. There was so much blood. His. Hers. It all mingled together at this point. He could barely breathe, but he didn’t leave her side.

“Trust me, Kitten,” he murmured.

He’d gone into the fires of hell with guns blazing to rescue her. The least she could do was believe him.

With her bottom lip quivering and tears running down her face, she glanced around a final time, desperate for some reassurance that she had made the right decision.

There.

In the arms of the thin man Kev was often with was Carrie. He’d covered her with his own shirt. Her head rested against his shoulders, and her arms were around his neck as he carried her.

Kelsey released a breath and sagged against him.

Carrie was alive.

They’d both made it out of the house of horrors.

Swallowing hard, Kelsey ducked into the back of the SUV, the faint sound of sirens in the distance.

Kevlar

Kevlar’s head pounded. Agony throbbed in his shoulder. Breathing was difficult with the blade in his side. If that fucking asshole nicked his lung, he’d be royally pissed. They hadn’t established medical connections yet, and going to the hospital wasn’t an option.

Too many questions.