Page 124 of Wrecked
Breathing hard, they stood there, staring at each other. That was his second hit to the chest. Now, his blood was whooshing through his veins, his senses on high alert for the smallest sound, any movement.
“Hall closet,” he murmured.
“Hawk,” Stryker said through the comm, “First floor office, near the front door.”
“On our way,” Hawk whispered.
They left the bedroom. Addison pulled open the closet, using the door as a shield. He stood, gun at the ready. Empty.
“Clear,” he murmured.
They hurried down to the first floor. The front door was open. Blinding light coming from the room, so they flipped up their goggles.
Tommy was performing CPR on Barry. Hawk crouched down. Barry had been shot between the eyes at close range.
“God, no,” Hawk bit out. “What happened?”
Tommy continued performing CPR while Stryker pulled Hawk away.
“Tommy said someone came out of nowhere and opened fire, then ran out of the house,” Stryker explained. “Tommy wanted to go after him, but he didn’t want to disobey your orders. He said he’d been in the kitchen, Barry was in here. He didn’t realize Barry had been shot until he saw him on the floor.”
“I heard nothing from him through the comm.”
“He told me the comm fell out,” Stryker said.
“What a cluster,” Hawk bit out. “What happened next?”
“He said he started administering CPR,” Stryker continued. “I found him when Emerson and I came upstairs.”
Hawk hurried back to Barry. Despite the discomfort from taking the bullets to his body armor, he said to Tommy, “I’ll take over.”
“I’m not getting anything,” Tommy said. “C’mon, Barry, breathe. You gotta breathe.”
Hawk knelt beside Barry. “Let me try.”
Tommy moved away and Hawk began compressing his chest, then pausing to breathe into him. Again and again, but Barry’s condition didn’t change.
“C’mon, Barry,” Hawk said. “Come back to me. Breathe.”
As Hawk continued trying to resuscitate his teammate, he knew it was futile. Barry was gone, and Hawk’s heart broke.
After another ten, Hawk called it. “He’s gone.”
“Are you sure?” Tommy asked kneeling beside Barry.
“We’ve gotta bring his body back,” Addison whispered.
Hawk had fucked up. He’d failed. A man had gotten killed on one of his missions. This had never happened before, but he could have prevented it if he’d partnered with his cousin. He would never have split from Tommy. They would have worked as a team.
“How many in the basement?” Hawk asked.
“Two,” Emerson replied. “They never woke. You?”
“Eleven,” Hawk replied. “Most of ‘em were active.”
“Fourteen, total,” Stryker said. “Counting the one who escaped.”
“You want me to call Cooper while you fly us back?” Emerson asked.
