Page 73 of Knox

But Brown is already out of reach.

Damn it!

I break into a sprint after the fool, and that’s when I catch the movement: a mercenary crouching by the right wing raises his rifle, locking his sights onto Brown’s chest.

“No!” I shout, sprinting forward.

I throw myself through the air, tackling Brown to the ground just as a burst of bullets flies past us.

THWACK!

“Fuck!” I gasp as a bullet tears through my left shoulder, grazing the muscle and shredding my sleeve.

Then, a stray bullet ricochets off a rock and hits Brown in the stomach.

No!

Growling through gritted teeth, I grab Brown by the collar and drag him toward the damn plane.

As we close the distance, Leif tosses a smoke grenade between the SUVs and our position, creating a wall of fog that blinds the mercenaries.

Good.

We reach the ramp, and Leif leaps down to help me haul Brown inside.

Finally, the ramp closes, and the plane starts to move.

“Hold on!” the pilot screams over the engines, pushing the plane forward and tilting it up into the sky.

I pin Brown to the floor with my body as the plane steeply climbs. The pain in my shoulder heightens, and dark spots move across my vision.

WHOOSH!

The plane reaches altitude and levels out.

I roll off Brown’s body and collapse against a bench. My chest heaves as I clamp a hand over my bleeding shoulder.

It fucking hurts.

Tae pops open the medical kit, tossing trauma shears and field dressings to Leif.

“Leif, cut Brown’s shirt open!” Tae commands, dropping to his knees beside me. “Check if the round hit any vital organs.”

I wince as Tae shears away the shredded fabric around my chest and arm.

“How bad?” I grit out.

Tae wipes the blood away with a sterile sponge. “Flesh wound. Missed the bone, missed the main artery. It tore up the muscle, but you’re not going to bleed out. It’s going to hurt like hell when I clean it, though.”

“Do it,” I say.

“In three…” Tae immediately pours antiseptic over my open wound, and I grit my teeth.

“Your counting is getting worse!” I hiss, and he laughs.

“How is Brown?” I ask.

“The idiot is alive, but he lost a lot of blood… he’s not waking up.”