Shades of Gray - Maya Banks Page 0,51
life won’t be worth a shit now that Brumley knows for certain she’s after him.”
“It’s a through and through,” Cole said to Donovan. “Not too bad, but she’s lost blood and she’ll need antibiotics and stitches.”
Donovan ran a hand through his hair and grimaced in Steele’s direction. “All right. You guys take the scene. Make damn sure none of us can be implicated. KGI doesn’t need this kind of notoriety. I’ll go with Cole and P.J. and cross the border into the Czech Republic. When you guys are done, get your asses out of Slovakia and we’ll hook up after I’ve evaluated P.J.’s condition so we can get the hell home.”
Cole turned away, not waiting to see if there was anything further to be discussed. He wanted to get P.J. out of here. Away from death and blood and painful memories. She was hanging on by a thread. Who even knew what kind of private hell she’d been through over the last several months?
Dolphin stepped away as Cole got to the back of the SUV. P.J. was still sitting, hunched into a ball. She seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible.
“P.J., you’re going with me and Van and we’re leaving now. You need medical attention, and before you protest, we’re not giving you a choice. You’ll cooperate or . . .”
He sucked in his breath over the mistake he’d nearly made. He was going to threaten to drug her. What an insensitive asshole it made him to even think it.
“Let’s go,” he barked back to Donovan.
Before he put his foot even further into his mouth.
“You drive,” Donovan said. “Dolphin, you and Baker push the back seats forward so she can stretch out. I’ll need to start an IV on the go and I need space to maneuver.”
Then he turned to Cole. It was the first time Cole resented not having the medical training that Donovan had. He wanted to be the one taking care of P.J. and be at her side. He damn sure didn’t want to get stuck driving.
“Get us into the Czech Republic. I don’t care if you have to make a road. Find a way that doesn’t put us in a position of having to identify ourselves or suffer any scrutiny. Leave all the gear with Steele except the bare essentials. We can’t afford to be stopped with a woman with a bullet hole in her leg and an arsenal in the back of our truck.”
Cole leaned into the back and slid his hand over her hair and to her nape, pulling her gently forward. It never occurred to him to be reserved in front of his team. He wasn’t thinking about the team, and he didn’t give a damn what they thought. All he cared about was P.J. and he wanted her to know that she was safe and, more importantly, no longer alone.
She stirred against his touch and looked up, their gazes connecting for a long moment. There was so much in her eyes that hurt him.
“I’m getting you out of here, P.J.,” he said in a low voice. “Van’s going to take care of you, but once we’re safe, you and I are going to have a long talk.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead and then broke away to hurry to the driver’s seat.
CHAPTER 21
P.J. was grateful that Cole was driving as Donovan quietly attended her wound. It gave her time to collect her thoughts and regain her composure.
She’d broken down like some fucking weak-ass ninny who’d never made a kill, who’d never seen blood. She closed her eyes, horrified by the way she’d allowed her team to see her at her most vulnerable. What the fuck were they doing here anyway?
“You okay, P.J.?”
She opened her eyes to see Donovan look worriedly at her. She tried to nod but ended up bumping her head as the SUV hit a series of potholes on the crappy-ass road Cole was driving.
“Yes,” she said, trying to infuse strength into her words. But she still sounded faint even to herself.
Donovan lifted the bag of fluid and secured it to the window with several strips of heavy-duty duct tape. Donovan was nothing if not a master of improvisation.
“I’ve started antibiotics and I’m also going to give you something for pain,” he said. “It’ll make cleaning out and bandaging this wound a hell of a lot easier. I’ll have to stitch you up later. No way I’m going to try to use a suture kit