Micah (18 page)

“
You trust me?” Micah
nodded without hesitation. “Good. She’s fine. The younger woman,
I’m assuming that it’s your mate, Reggie. She’s awake now. And if
you touch her, you’re going to piss off a great many people in
there that are trying their best to piece together what might have
happened.”

“
And why would me touching
her have anything to do with that.” David just cocked a brow at
him. “I understand evidence, but if she’s being helped, I want to
see her.”

“
She’s not letting them
touch her. Or Gracie.” Micah frowned. “She regained consciousness
about five minutes ago and has a gun. They don’t want to have to
hurt her, but she’s keeping them from their job. She thinks they’re
the men.”

“
You came to find me.”
David nodded. “And you want me to see if I can get through to her
so they can take the gun. You really think that me being in there
with fifty other men around her is going to be a good
thing?”

“
Yes and no. You’re too
good a man to kill those that are helping her. You might have to
take a lot of deep breaths to do so, but you’re going to do it. But
if you don’t have her drop the gun, someone is going to get testy
with her and harm her. Will you?”

Instead of answering him, Micah walked
around the other man. But before he entered the barn, he looked
back at David. “Can you make them get out? I mean…if one of them
hurts her, or tries to hurt her, I’m going to kill them. My cat is
pissy enough.”

“
I’ll see what I can do.”
David paused by the door before going in ahead of him. “She’s
hurting, Micah. I mean, she can barely hold up the gun until they
come too close. I think her leg is broken…it is broken. The bone is
protruding out of her calf. There is blood all over her and your
mom. Not to mention…the blood isn’t all theirs, just so you know.
It’s mostly the perps. Your grandda was in there for a bit. He said
that she was out of it while he tried to get her to talk to him.
She has a bad cut on her head, and I’m not sure she can see anyone
either.”

Too much. It was suddenly too much.
And as soon as David went into the barn, Micah leaned heavily
against it. All he could think about was he’d not been there to
protect her. Not even a little. As the other cops filed out, each
of them looked at him. He wanted to reach out and see what they
were thinking, but was afraid of what images they might have to
share. So when David came out, his grandda was suddenly standing
right beside him, and Micah grabbed and held his hand like a
lifeline. He hadn’t even realized that he needed it until
then.

“
The medics are staying.
They’re worried for her, and think that as soon as you can get her
disarmed, they’re going to need to step in. Don’t eat them.” David
had been trying for humor, Micah supposed, but he was too scared to
catch it. “They won’t come between you and her. One of them is a
friend of Con’s and a wolf. He’ll protect the other guy. Oh, and
your brother is in there; the doctor, Burke.”

Nodding, Micah tried to prepare
himself. She was hurt and needed him. But above all that, he had to
remain calm. He had to keep his cat in check. He looked at his
grandda when he said his name softly.

“
You can’t fall apart on
her now. She needs you.” He nodded and his grandda smiled. “She’s
going to kick your ass if you embarrass her. You know that, don’t
you?”

“
Yes. And you know what?
I’m going to let her.” Hugging his grandda, he entered the
building. His first sight was the headless man a few feet from him.
Christ, she’d been everything he hadn’t. And then some.

Making his way to her, he said her
name. The gun pointed at him and he stopped moving. “It’s me,
Micah. Put the gun down.”

“
You’re not going to hurt
her. You hear me? You’re not going to touch her.” Reggie moved
closer to his mom, but he didn’t look at her. His entire focus was
on Reggie.

“
Reggie, I love you.” She
paused in swinging the gun. He could see now the effort it was
costing her. “I love you with all my heart. And I want you to let
these men care for you.”

“
I don’t want her hurt.”
Her voice was less harsh, more fearful now. “They were going to
hurt her, and I can’t help her anymore. You have to know that I’m
in pain, but that won’t stop me from killing you dead if you try
anything stupid.”

“
I know you can’t, love.
But you saved her and you for me. I love you. I want you to put the
gun down and these men will help you. Then I can hold you.” She
shook her head. “I love you, Reggie, and I want to hold
you.”

“
Micah?” He nodded, too
overwhelmed to speak for a moment. “Where the fuck were you? You
said you were coming for us. I had to take care of them…I killed
them, Micah. Will you care for Boyd for me?”

“
Boyd? What’s Boyd…?
Honey, do you think they’re going to arrest you?” She nodded, the
gun now resting in her lap. Micah moved closer to her against the
advice of the medics. “No one is going to arrest you. You did their
job for them. How would it look if it got out that a mere woman
showed them up?”

“
I hurt, Micah. I think
I’m broken.” He nodded and moved closer to her as she continued. “I
think I broke my leg, and my shoulder feels like I lost some of the
parts that hold it to my body. Will you hunt them down for me?
Maybe they can glue them back on or something.”

“
Your leg is broken, love,
but they’re going to give you something for the pain if you let
them. Would you like that?” She nodded, then shook her head.
“Honey, they will help you. Then I can hold you.”

“
Don’t hold me.” His heart
tightened at her words and the venom in them. “You’re so neat all
the time, and I’m covered in goo. I think…his head came off and it
splattered on me.”

“
You’re the best looking
woman I’ve ever seen. Next to my mom that is.” His mom snorted, and
Reggie took her fingers off the gun. No one was sure she wouldn’t
pick it up again, so they stayed where they were. “Reggie, can you
pick up the gun and throw it to me?”

“
You don’t have one? I
think I…Micah, I can’t do it. I would love to, but I’m failing fast
here.” She shifted to one side and her arm gave out on her. He
started forward, but she touched the gun again. “I can’t toss it to
you, so you can come and get it for yourself. Just…when they take
me to prison, will you care for Boyd? Please?”

“
Yes.” He figured to ease
her mind and nearly cried out in relief when she fell over, her
hands falling away from the gun just as the medics moved almost as
one. Burke caught him before he knocked them out of the
way.

“
Let them work on her
first. And if you don’t get in their way, I’ll let you go hold her
hand.” Micah growled at him. “She’s hurt worse than we thought,
Micah. Let them do their job without getting in the
way.”

“
How bad?” He looked at
her as the men, five of them he just noticed, worked on her. David
was taking the gun away in a plastic Baggie and talking on a
walkie. Micah looked at Burke when he didn’t answer him. “How
bad?”

“
She’s been shot twice.
Once in the arm and once in the leg. Her ankle and leg both are
broken, badly. She’s lost a great deal of blood too. Those are
minor compared to her head.” Micah watched his brother’s face,
almost afraid of his next words. “She’s concussed badly enough that
we can see blood on her ears. There might be some heavy bleeding on
her brain, the reason she can’t see. It’s why…I think that’s why
she wouldn’t let anyone near her or Mom, she can’t see anything.
Her left ear is bleeding too. Not a good sign. I’m having Nolan
prepare an OR for her and life flight is on their way. Micah, she
might not have enough strength to survive this.”

“
Yes she will.” Burke said
nothing, and when someone touched his arms, Micah was suddenly
engulfed in slight arms. Micah held his mother to him as she sobbed
about how much she loved Reggie. How much she loved him too. Then
she looked up at him with tears on her cheeks.

“
She was so brave. I
couldn’t believe how brave she was while they tried to…oh Micah,
you have to save her. You have to make her a cat to save her.”
Micah looked at Reggie, who didn’t seem to be breathing. “Don’t let
her die. I love her too.”

The next hour was the hardest one he’d
ever had. They lost her once and brought her back with the paddles
as he watched them work. Then as they lifted her onto the bed that
would take her to the awaiting helicopter, he was told he couldn’t
ride with them. He nearly took one man’s head off when he tried to
stop him.

“
If you go, you might as
well kill her now.” The man stood there. His wolf, just on the
surface of his skin, seemed to understand that Micah was bigger,
but he was going to save Reggie. “You can change her when we get
there. It’s the only way to save her. You understand what I’m
telling you?”

“
She’s not going to die.”
The man nodded. “I don’t…how do I change her? I don’t even know the
first step to make it happen.”

“
Fuck.” The man, Steven
his name tag said, paced back and forth right outside the
helicopter. “You’ve never done this, seriously? Never even had a
family member do it?”

“
No. We’re all purebreds.”
His entire family was born what they were. “Do you know how to
change a human?”

The shout that they’d lost her again
was followed quickly by the sound of cheering. A big, burly man
started sobbing. Micah knew just how he felt. Steven looked at
him.

“
Yes. I can’t imagine it’s
much different. Mother fuck, this is bad.” He pulled him along with
him as they entered the back of the chopper. “You’re going to have
to do it quickly. Because if you’re not done by the time we land,
you might as well not even begin.”

As they entered, Steven started to
explain what he had to do. Micah nodded, not sure that he would be
able to do half of what he was being told. Then he saw her hooked
to IVs and monitors, and knew that this he had to do, for
her.

~~~

It was her turn to sit with her, and
Katie was glad for it. The poor thing had been through so much that
it was nice just to see her resting. Katie pulled out the article
she’d cut from this morning’s paper just for her turn.

“
Before I begin, I want
you to know that I finally got Micah to go to rest. I have orders
to call him when you wake. Imagine that, him giving me orders, his
grandmother. But he is very worried. It was difficult for him to do
this for you.” She pulled the paper out. “Okay. Yesterday they had
you marked as a woman scorned. Today they’ve changed their
tunes.”

She stared at the picture of the two
men who had done so much to her family. She wanted to find them and
kill them all over, but knew that would be a waste of energy. Katie
was doing all she could now to keep everyone in better
spirits…especially her own mate.

“
I talked to Howie today.
He feels like he’s failed you in some way.” She thought over the
conversation and then wiped at a tear that fell. “He and I lost our
son not too long ago. It was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever
had to endure. Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children.
And he…he was all we had. Well, all we thought we had. Gracie was
wonderful to give us six grandsons. Six of them, and one of them
was marked for you.”

She looked away from the child on the
bed as she continued. “He would have loved you right from the
start. Micah, our son, loved life and people. He could be stern
with them if his family needed it, but it wasn’t often that he ever
had to raise his voice. But when he did, it was with great respect
that people listened to him.”

Picking up the paper again, she
started reading. “Reggie Webster Bentley was wrongly accused this
weekend by this paper. We have since found out some information
that has us not only retracting what we said, but also apologizing
for the poor way we conducted ourselves. It’s not often that we get
something so terribly wrong.” Katie huffed as she continued. “On
Thursday night, a week ago, Mrs. Bentley, as well as her
mother-in-law, were kidnapped. Two people were killed during this
action. A man by the name of Nile Jameson, who was shot while
trying to protect them, and a man by the name of Waylon Pierson.
Mr. Jameson worked with Reggie, and Mr. Pierson owned the
restaurant where Reggie and Nile worked. It is unsure at this time
why the mother-in-law was there, but it was said she was visiting
her daughter-in-law before taking her shopping. Mr. Pierson had
stopped by, according to his wife, to check on things after their
long vacation and to give Miss Reggie a well-deserved
raise.”

Katie looked at Reggie as she spoke
her mind. “What a thing to say. They make it sound like my Gracie
has a life of leisure. When in truth, she works harder than most
men I know. Taking you shopping. I think you’d rather order online
than go to a mall. And your boss. Why didn’t he have better
security in place? What was he—?”

“
I would.” The voice from
the bed startled her, and Katie held her breath. “She was there to
bring me back my lunch that Miss May made for me. I tried to tell
her I worked in a kitchen, but she was insistent. Keep reading
please.”

“
All right.” Katie tried
to remember where she was, and Reggie reminded her. “Yes. Taking
her shopping. Two men, Keith and Nestor Curtis, had different plans
in store for the two of them.