“You saw two friends wishing each other the best. Nothing more. Not anymore.”
“Oh. I see.” Ivy grinned, feeling as foolish as Dace looked. “Why was she there so early in the morning if Sunday dinner at the Pub isn’t until midafternoon?”
Eli opened the back door for Ivy. “She was there with me. Well, leaving. She’d been there since last…night.”
“Oh. Ohhhh,” she said when it dawned on her what he was implying.
Dace lifted a brow. “Really? She’s special. Fuck it up, and I fuck you up.”
“I’d expect no less,” Eli replied, hopping in the front passenger side of the vehicle.
The convoy was underway and deployed together on the way back to Watermark. They had loaded the vehicles out in the open, so it was obvious which rig Ivy was in, should someone be watching. Splitting up at this point would have left each of them more vulnerable.
“Ma’s making all your favorites for Sunday dinner, Eli,” Dace chided. “How does she even know what your favorites are?”
“She asked me. So I told her. Said any family of Carter’s is a family of hers.”
“We really need to address how Carter being your brother came out of left field, bro. And it’s fucking crazy.” Dace laughed. “You better be hungry. If this meal is in your honor, she’ll be watching you. You skip anything, and she’ll call you out.”
“Ah, she’s a great cook, mate. Eating her food shouldn’t be a problem,” Eli said honestly. “Love your ma, she’s great – and a little scary. Said if I missed a Sunday without good reason…”
Before Eli could finish, a car came flying at them, hitting the passenger side. Hard. The SUV spun in the intersection before it came to a stop facing the wrong direction, and…they were under enemy fire.
“Ivy!” Dace yelled, unable to see her in the dangling mirror, ducking every time he heard ammunition against the metal. When he turned around, he found her slumped over and unconscious. “Ivy. Answer me, honey.”
He flew out of the vehicle after ripping off his seat belt and went to her. The rigs ahead of them in the convoy circled back while those behind pulled up next to them and fired back on the men who were coming at them from either side.
“Get her out of here!” Eli hollered as he painfully climbed out behind Dace. His door was too damaged to open. “I’ll hang back and cover.”
Ivy’s seat belt was stuck. It wouldn’t disengage, so Dace cut it with his knife and carefully pulled her out as Wylie pulled up between them and SUV that was shielding them.
“Ivy,” Dace continued to yell as he cradled her in his arms and ran to Wylie’s vehicle.
Eli watched their back only a step behind, firing on men coming their way on foot.
“Get out of here, O’Reilly,” Eli yelled into the vehicle as Dace and Ivy climbed in. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Dace didn’t take the time to look around. His only focus was getting Ivy to safety. When Eli slammed the door behind them, Wylie sped off. It was only then Dace looked up and saw what had come for them. Their SUV was smoking, the damage left it nearly unrecognizable, and there were guns firing everywhere. Eli was right in the middle, left arm hanging against his body with new blood on his hands. It was a war zone.
One of the Keeper’s SUVs pulled out behind them a few blocks from the scene, and Dace heard the screeching tires of one who came from the opposite direction to take the lead and get them home.
“Is she okay?” Wylie asked with panic in his voice.
“I-I don’t know? She’s breathing. But she…she won’t wake up, man.” Emotion coated Dace’s tone as he rubbed Ivy’s chest, arms, and anywhere else he could to try to wake her. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Her head is bleeding, but I don’t see anything else.”
“I’m calling ahead,” Wylie said. “You okay? Do you need a doc?”
Dace didn’t answer. His brother was rambling details to someone on the other end of the phone, and Dace couldn’t make out a word of it. He was laser-focused on Ivy. The fear he felt was much like that night he’d seen her in the hospital. The night they found her clinging to life in the alley.
He said the same prayer he did while at her bedside then. “Please God. Don’t take her. Not now, not when I just got her back.”
Pulling her to his chest, Dace held her tight, kissing the top of her head over and over as he continued to repeat his simple prayer as a single tear ran down his cheek. “Don’t take her, not now.”
They pulled into the underground garage when they arrived at Watermark Tower and secured the gate and steel door behind them. The place was a fortress, and nobody was getting in. They were safe now. Waiting by the elevator was Carly with a wheelchair – the help Wylie had called ahead for.
“A team is headed here with Mendoza – two minutes out,” Wylie shouted as he moved toward the steel door entrance.
“Let’s get her upstairs to her apartment,” Carly said, pushing the wheelchair forward.
Dace shook his head. “Get rid of that. I got her. We’re going to my apartment. She’ll be more comfortable.”
“Okay, hon,” Carly said, offering a weak smile while her fingers pinched Ivy’s wrist. “Her vitals are strong. That’s a good sign. It’s going to be okay.”
As they stepped into the elevator, Wylie hollered over his shoulder, weapon ready. “I’ll cover when they get here in case they have a tail. I’ll get him right up to your place. Go now, get her out of here just in case. We’re right behind you. They’re a minute out.”
Dace nodded, and Carly hit the button to his floor. When the elevator began to ascend, he felt an ounce of relief, but nothing brought him more comfort than Ivy’s subtle movement and faint groan.
“It’s okay. You’re safe,” Dace whispered to her. “I have you. They can’t hurt you. Nobody can. I won’t let them.”
He continued his prayer silently to himself.
Let her be okay. Please…let me keep her.
CHAPTER 29
“How’s Ivy?” Eli questioned when Dace entered the lair.
“Resting. Going to be fine,” Dace replied. “Doc says whiplash from impact and concussion.”
“Good,” Wylie said. “Seeing her like that…”
Silence spread through the group as they took a moment to say a silent prayer that they all walked away.
“Your arm?” Dace asked, nodding to Eli.
“Ah, just a dislocated shoulder. Carly, sweet girl, fixed me right up,” Eli said, lifting his arm and cringing. “Guess she was right about the ice pack. It’s a bit tender still.”
“Good. Thanks for that back there.” Dace patted Eli’s good shoulder as he walked by to take a seat at the table.
“That was insane,” Wylie said. “I pull up, and Eli here jumps out behind Dace and starts dropping guys.”
“I said you could trust me. My word is good,” Eli said. “It’s pretty much second nature, right? Jump in where you’re needed and all that.”
“I owe you one,” Dace said, before turning his attention to Wylie. “What do you got?”