Safe at Last (Slow Burn 3)

Gently he lowered her hand to her abdomen and then simply rested his hand atop hers. He had no idea what was going on around him and he didn’t care. He simply knelt there, drinking in the sight of Gracie. Alive. Hurt but alive.

“Eliza,” Gracie said, her features contorted with worry.

Zack swung around to see Dane and Wade hovering over Eliza. Wade looked coldly furious and yet his movements were extremely careful as he touched Eliza’s face, almost as though he was afraid of hurting her.

To his further surprise, it was Wade who gently picked Eliza up and cradled her in his arms. He barked an order to one of the others to get him a blanket to cover her. Zack lifted an eyebrow to see other DSS members paying heed to his order. But then, when it came to a fallen teammate, any pissing matches were permanently put on hold.

Beau had wrapped Ari in a blanket as well and held her there, in the middle of chaos, rocking her back and forth muttering, “Never again. Fuck this. You are never doing this again, Ari.”

She issued a faint smile without opening her eyes and whispered back, “You know that’s not true, but if it makes you feel better to say it, then by all means roar away.”

Zack felt a clenching in the region of his heart. Then he turned back to Gracie and yelled for someone to bring a med kit. He needed to get her to a hospital fast. The others could do cleanup and get the information they needed from these assholes.

Already Isaac, Capshaw and Caleb were interrogating the men. They started with the first downed one. Dane strode over, evidently satisfied that Eliza was in good hands, and he was a scary sight. It wouldn’t have surprised Zack if the guy pissed himself before it was over.

But when they questioned him about how many more there were, where they were based, where could they be found, all they received was a smug, triumphant smile.

Gracie stiffened beneath Zack and struggled upward, attempting to push herself into a sitting position although it obviously pained her.

“Whoa, baby, where do you think you’re going?”

Gracie turned earnest eyes on him and uttered in a low voice.

“Tell them not to spend too much time on each man. Have them question them all. No matter what they say, I can pick up on what they think. And when they asked the first one where the others were and how many, he immediately thought of the place and numbers even though he refused to say anything. They all need to be questioned quickly so I can glean what information I can.”

Zack stared at her in awe. Here she was, having already been beaten to hell and back by these bastards. Because of Zack and his history with this fanatical group. And yet she’d gone to the wall for Eliza at great risk to herself. Jesus, if Zack’s aim had been the slightest bit off, and God knows he’d been shaking like a leaf, Gracie would be dead.

He touched her cheek again, the sting of tears burning his lids. Then he lifted his head and quietly called for Dane.

Dane looked annoyed at being pulled off interrogation duty but he came, his expression inquisitive.

“Gracie says to question them all and not spend too much time on each one. She said that when you questioned the first one, he immediately thought of where the others were and how many. If we can get that kind of information from all of them, we can take them out for good.”

Dane’s sharp gaze flew to Gracie. It seemed to soften and admiration was reflected in his eyes.

“Are you sure this isn’t too much for you?” Dane asked quietly. “You should be getting to the hospital right now. You’ll need stitches. A lot of them,” he added wryly.

Gracie shook her head. “This is important. They’ll never talk. But they don’t know what I can do.”

Dane merely gave a nod and then stalked back over, pulling Isaac, Capshaw and Caleb away. After only a few seconds of conversing, they left the first guy entirely and moved on to the second, asking him the same questions. Each time Dane would glance at Gracie and she’d give a nod to let him know she’d picked up information.

The longer it went on, the more worried Zack became. Gracie was growing visibly weaker and she was completely pale. She didn’t even have the strength to hold herself up and so Zack slid his arms around her, anchoring her against his frame, careful not to cause her further injury by aggravating her wound.

His jaw was tight and pained from clenching his teeth so tightly. It was all he could do not to haul Gracie out of there that instant and get her to the hospital. But she soldiered on, focusing her efforts on each of the men being questioned.

As she’d said, no one talked. They sneered arrogantly at each question and told Dane to fuck off. Dane was barely keeping it together. The tension was explosive and it looked as though the team leader was precariously close to taking out each and every one of them.

When the last man was questioned, Dane strode back to Gracie and then hunkered down so he could look her in the eye. He took one of her hands and gently held it, his expression gentle.

“Tell me, Gracie. Can you identify these men? Are they the same men who took you and beat you?”

She swallowed hard but slowly nodded. “I remember them,” she whispered.

Dane looked almost . . . disappointed. He sighed, resignation lining his face.

“I’d prefer to just kill them,” he said bluntly. “God knows it’s what they deserve. But if you and Lizzie can both identify them, then we have an airtight case against them. And we have the others to go after now. Were you able to get enough information? Can you tell us enough to find them?” he asked Gracie.

Again she nodded.

And then Dane was all business again. He stood and barked orders to call it in to Ramirez and Briggs. Two ambulances were called, though Gracie insisted that Eliza be the first to go.

Gracie kept gazing anxiously in Eliza’s direction, worry etched in every facet of her face. In response to her silent question, Zack gathered her more closely in his arms and gently lifted her and carried her over to where Eliza was being tended to.

When Gracie saw that Eliza was conscious, she lost it. Tears streamed down her face and she struggled from Zack’s hold and wrapped her arms around the other woman.

“Thank God,” Gracie said brokenly. “Thank God. I was so afraid we were too late.”

Eliza held on to Gracie for a long moment, tears glimmering in her own eyes. Then she carefully pulled away, also mindful of Gracie’s injury, and she looked solemnly into Gracie’s eyes.