Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,23
knew most of the others had been returned to their homes or moved to safety, so what was she still doing hanging around and why on Earth would they trust her inside a secret compound with supposedly high security?
It had been bothering me even more after Painter and the team had left. I’d tried to go back down and warn him. I stood at that door for over an hour knocking and hitting the buzzer until Archie finally had it and came out of his hole. He’d made it clear there was no way he was letting me in without Painter.
I wanted to scream, “But you let her in?”
What was he thinking? I just wanted to help, but I wasn’t going to give up my human form to do it. That was my safety net, my exit card.
I went back to the room. I knew where Painter’s safe was. There were extra passports, a spare gun, and plenty of cash in there. I could take it and disappear. There might even be enough to get me home.
I paced back and forth trying to go, convincing myself to stay. I was so confused. This was my chance. I had to take it. Why was I even stalling? I should have been hours away from here by now, but I couldn’t make myself go.
It was early in the morning. The sun hadn’t even peeked out yet. I’d been up all night struggling with the decision and worrying about Painter. He’d been upset when he left, stressed. I could feel it. He was getting irritable and a part of me feared he was done with me, fed up with my games or something.
That should have been great news, so why did it feel like I’d just been punched in the gut?
There was a knock on the door. I waited and listened. I heard the beeping of the keypad and ran to hide. There was no way Painter was back already, or at least I didn’t think so. He made it sound like he could be gone for days, not hours.
The door opened and I cowered.
“Emma? Emma it’s Clara. Are you here?”
Relief propelled me out of hiding. I halted when I saw she wasn’t alone.
“It’s okay. This is Shelby. She’s Ben’s mate.”
Shelby closed the door and started pacing the floor. She was stressed.
“The team walked into a trap.”
My heart dropped. Painter.
I started panting and thumping the floor in agitation. I’d been through some terrible things in my life, but I had never been as scared as I was right then.
“You have to stay calm Emma,” Clara urged. “What they do is dangerous. It’s probably just another day for them. We just wanted to come and prepare you. They’re on their way back now. We don’t know how severe the wounds are, but Painter’s been shot.”
I sat down hard. My entire body was numb. My gorilla couldn’t protect my heart. I started shaking my head. This couldn’t be happening. Painter was bigger than life. He was fine. He’d be home soon. This was all just some sort of sick joke. He couldn’t…
I wouldn’t even let myself think as a tear slid down my hairy face.
Shelby ran over and threw her arms around me and held me until the tears subsided. I didn’t even know how long we’d sat there, two strangers bonding over Bravo team.
“He’s going to be okay,” she said. “I know it’s scary, but he’s going to be okay.”
Her phone rang and she pulled back and wiped tears from her own cheeks.
“Ben? Tell us everyone’s okay.”
“Dammit, Patrick already called you?”
“Yeah. Clara and I are here with Emma. How is he? How are you?”
“We’re all fine, baby. Don’t worry. Painter took a graze to his cheek and a clean shot to his leg. Grant was able to retrieve the bullet and patch him up. He’ll be in his gorilla form for about forty-eight hours to speed up healing. He’s fine though. He’s already shifted, or I’d put him on.”
“You hear that, Emma? He’s fine. He’s going to be just fine.”
I hugged her and suddenly I didn’t feel like I was in my fur. I felt more human than I had in a long time. It scared me. Humans were weak and vulnerable. Gorillas were strong. But mostly, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to give up my gorilla to fully embrace humanity again. It hadn’t exactly worked so well for me the last time.
The girls stayed with me chatting while we waited. They