Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents 5)

“Drew?”

“I’ll need your help, Doc.” Sure, he’d taken out bullets on his own before, but when he’d stitched them up, he’d done hack jobs on his body. Besides, with the way he was feeling, Drew was afraid he might pass out halfway through the bullet extraction.

He went back to the front of the shack. The door was locked, so he just pulled up his strength and kicked it in.

Inside, dust coated the place. The shack smelled closed-in—but, lucky for them, there weren’t any critters.

And the place had been a house. Once. He pulled a flashlight from the pack and shone the small ray of light around the interior. An old bed. A table. Some chairs.

He hauled the chairs back against the door and braced them under the now-broken doorknob.

Drew dumped his pack on the wobbly table. He reached inside and pulled out another flashlight. Drew handed it to Tina. “We can’t keep the light on for too long. If the folks looking for us come this way, it will alert them.”

She nodded.

He lifted the phone.

He realized that Tina was holding her breath.

He hated to break it to her but... “There’s no signal here.” He’d try to go outside. Walk the perimeter. Maybe he’d find—

His knees buckled. He almost hit the floor. And he almost took Tina down with him.

“Drew!” She braced him against her.

“Sorry, Doc, stood as long...as I could...” He licked his too-dry lips. “Do me a favor?”

“Of course! Anything, I—”

“Dig out the bullet.”

She grabbed for the first-aid supplies and helped him to the bed. He fell back and she came tumbling down with him. When he hit the mattress, she fell in close to him. Her mouth was just inches from his. “Want you,” he managed to rasp, and maybe he was starting to get a little delirious from the pain and blood loss because he hadn’t meant to tell her that. Talk about bad timing. “Got to...stop bleedin’ first... Can’t die on you...”

“No, you can’t.” Her voice was sharp. She pushed up to stare down at him. But he’d dropped his flashlight when his knees buckled, and he couldn’t see her face clearly. Just the darkness.

He wanted her mouth again.

He also wanted to just sleep.

Then he heard fabric ripping. He realized his eyes had sagged closed. He opened them and saw the flash of light. Tina still had her flashlight, and she was shining it on him.

She’d ripped away his shirt.

“How were you even moving?” Tina whispered. “You drove for so long.”

Soldiers didn’t stop moving. Not until the mission was done. He’d needed to get Tina to safety.

He had.

“Drew!”

He realized that she’d been calling his name. Again and again. He frowned at her.

“I’m going to remove the bullet, and I’ll sew you up, but I don’t have anything to numb the area. The kit had some alcohol and some antibiotics, but—”

“Do...it,” he growled. They’d have to run again, soon. He needed the wound closed by then.

She climbed over him. With them bound, he knew that Tina had to be creative with her movements.