kind of like the “find my phone” feature on her smartwatch.
She heard the sound.
Zander twisted first. “Over there.”
Around the back of that huge, stinky trash bin, the phone lay on the ground. If Bridget’s heart hadn’t already hit rock bottom, it would have sunk even lower.
“She’s not here.” Bridget swiped up the phone and turned.
Zander just looked mad.
“Are we even going to find her?”
Before he could answer, Badger waved them to the back door. “Guys!” The others met them there, and all five traipsed inside the building.
The tension in Bridget grew worse as the minutes went on. It was like one of those wild goose chases—though she had no idea what one looked like. Probably a lot like hunting deer, something she didn’t remember with too much fondness. It meant extended time spent with her father, who only brought her along because she’d been too young to leave at home alone for five days straight. Instead, she’d had to miss three days of school.
“Hey.” Badger nudged her.
She blinked her way free of the memories. “What’s going on?”
Zander spoke to the cashier. The man nodded. Zander turned to them and said, “Four guys, blue van. But he doesn’t think they left with her, and their whole surveillance system is down but don’t tell anyone.”
Bridget didn’t like the sound of that. Had the attackers known no one would be able to get footage of them?
“There’s a blue van parked on the far side of the building.” The youngest teammate motioned with one hand.
Bridget hit the door first, pushed the glass, and ran outside. She rounded the corner and saw the van.
“We looked in the front windows, but it’s clean and you can’t see in the back.”
Zander pulled out a lock pick kit. She held out her hand and he actually gave it to her. Bridget swallowed her surprise and worked to get into the back of the van. It took a minute, but she got the back door open.
Zander motioned for her to back up.
She didn’t begrudge him taking the lead when there was a possible threat. She might be armed and wearing a bulletproof vest, but they worked so well together they could sometimes make a simultaneous move without even saying anything. Just by reading each other’s body language.
The door swung open.
Zander braced at the sight inside. Bridget peered around his massive shoulder and gasped.
Four men inside. All dead. Two had obviously been piled into the van after the fact, loaded on top of each other. The others had been shot where they were.
Sitting with her back to the side wall, Sasha was pale and unconscious and bleeding from her shoulder, just below her collar bone. The blood had soaked into the front of her shirt and down to her lap. A gun lay just beyond her fingers. She’d passed out and let go of it.
“Sasha.” Bridget wasn’t going to touch her, but she did reach for the gun. Just in case. Her friend’s eyes flung open, and Sasha grabbed the weapon. “Easy.”
Sasha’s gaze flashed with pain. Bridget laid her hand on the top of the gun, along the barrel. Thankfully, Sasha let go without too much prompting.
“Doctor Reece or a hospital?”
Sasha shook her head in the barest of movements. “Zander.”
“No. No way.” Bridget knew what he would do to cauterize the wound. The man was a barbarian, and she would never let him near a wound of hers. “He’s not treating you.”
“What?” Zander cut in. “I have field medical training.”
“We’re not in the field. We have access to proper medical care.”
“Fine.” Zander laid the back of his hand on Sasha’s forehead. “We need to move out. Now.”
Badger leaned in. “I’ll make an anonymous tip about these guys.”
“Do it fast.” Zander leaned in and lifted Sasha into his arms. “Why do I always have to save you, huh?”
“Pretty sure I saved myself before you got here.”
Zander grunted.
Bridget followed while the others wiped her prints from the lock of the van and closed the door. Badger made his call as they strode down the rear alley and headed for the elementary school at a fast clip.
As they approached the helicopter, Zander turned. “Badge, call the doc. Tell him to meet us at the hangar in twenty minutes. And bring a few pints of A positive.”
Bridget pulled open the helicopter door. “You know her blood type?”
“Let’s just go.” Actual fear moved across his expression. Before she could ask if her friend would be okay, he yelled, “Now!”
Eighteen
The address that came over the radio