Page 85 of Shadow Redemption
Ruth frowned. “Who?”
“Sapphire Willis and Tom Hatcher. When the lights went out and the crowd panicked, I lost track of them.”
Sapphire and Tom? Ruth couldn’t see them stooping to cutting someone to get ahead. Besides, why attack Ben? He wasn’t a professional rival.
Her breath caught. Unless one of them meant to hurt her in the chaos. When the lights had gone out, Ben moved her to his right side so she was cocooned between his body and the wall. Did one of them mean to cut her and cut Ben by mistake? “Your injury is my fault.”
“Won’t be the last injury I have on the job.”
She kissed his temple. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“I’m not, especially if you call me sweetheart again. My job is to protect you from everything, including knife wounds. I’m just sorry I didn’t move fast enough to get both of us out of danger.” He sounded disgusted as well as weak.
“Stop talking, Ben,” Sam said. “Rest while you can. As soon as we reach the safe house, I’ll break out my suture kit.” She grinned and wiggled her still gloved fingers where he could see them.
Ben groaned again. “You enjoy working on me way too much.”
“Don’t present me with injuries to suture so often,” she tossed back. “Shut up and conserve your strength.”
“Brat,” he grumbled.
“Watch it,” Joe said, his tone mild.
Ruth wrapped her hand around Ben’s and held on tight as his eyes closed and he lapsed into silence.
A few minutes later, Sam applied another bandage, then grabbed a vial of medicine and a syringe. After wiping his arm with an alcohol wipe, she murmured to Ben, “A little stick. This is an antibiotic. I’ll save the good stuff for suturing.” Ben growled. Sam stowed the needle in a hard plastic case and dropped it into her bag.
The journey to the safe house seemed to take forever. Finally, though, Trace turned into a driveway and drove around the back of a darkened house.
When Ruth reached for the door handle, Ben squeezed her hand. “Wait,” he whispered. “Let someone check first.”
Ruth remained in place while Nico and Joe bailed from the SUV and scouted the surroundings. A moment later, a light came on inside the house and a white-haired man opened the back door. He motioned for them to come inside.
Nico approached the elderly man with caution, weapon in hand. After a short conversation, Shadow’s leader signaled the rest of them.
“It’s safe,” Trace said, turned off the engine, and opened his door.
Ruth scrambled from the SUV and moved out of the way as Nico and Trace assisted Ben from the vehicle and draped his arms across their shoulders. They carried him inside the house while Joe watched their host.
“Last room on the right,” Nico said when they were inside. “Mr. Lopez has a room ready.”
“Why is he helping us?” Trace asked, voice soft.
“He owes Maddox a big favor and isn’t a friend of the cartels or human traffickers. Lopez knows not to ask questions or talk to anyone about us. We’re safe for the moment.”
The operatives laid Ben on a bed with a thin covering of plastic over the comforter.
Mr. Lopez came into the room with a stack of clean towels, multiple cloths, and a large bowl of steaming water. He spoke to Nico a moment and left.
“What did he say?” Sam asked.
“He’s leaving for the rest of the night, staying with a friend who won’t ask questions. We’re free to use anything in the house, but we have to leave before noon before his son arrives.”
“Joe, wash your hands. I might need your help.” Sam set her bag on the floor beside the bed and grabbed a fresh pair of gloves. “I’ll work as fast as I can, Nico.”
“Do what you need to do. Trace and I will set up a perimeter watch. I don’t think anyone followed us, but if they did, we’ll keep them off your back long enough to work on Ben.”
Sam glanced at Ruth. “Sit on the bed beside Ben. Distract him while I work.”