Bound by Shadows

Chapter 5

Gabriel grabbed the Kevlar vest and pushed it over his head and down his torso until it was in perfect position - covering all his vital organs. Then he worked on the straps, making sure the vest stayed in place.

Of the three penthouses at the top of the hotel, Edward’s sat in the middle and it was the only one that only had one occupied bedroom, which Edward and Talia used. They had left the second bedroom vacant, but it also served as their hidden storage room for their equipment, even though each penthouse had a safe for weapons.

It hadn’t always been like this, all five of them living under the same roof. At least, not after they all hit adulthood and craved some freedom. Edward, Trey, and Trick had moved out and lived on their own in different towns. Only Gabriel had stayed with Lorenzo.

But after s**t started hitting the fan, they had all decided living together was for the best. Especially when Lorenzo started cleaning up their businesses. Something his friend had decided after he met Abigail.

Gabriel liked the new arrangement of everyone together. Even though they were in the heart of the city more often than they were at the forest house. The only problem with being in the city, they had to hide their extra-curricular activities more carefully. Hence the hidden safes which contained only a third of their preferred weapons.

The tense but familiar sound of weapons being checked both calmed and knotted Gabriel’s insides in equal measure. He kept an eye on the two men in the room with him, Edward and Trick, and tried to remind himself that his friends were not amateurs and that everything would work out just fine.

Gabriel reached down at the foot of the bed and retrieved his backpack to make sure he had everything he could easily carry that would be useful in case of a medical emergency.

A pack of hemostatic powder and wound dressing, gauze, and self-adherent wrap. Gabriel placed each item carefully on the bed while checking the mental list in his head. Sterile alcohol prep pads came out next, followed by a palm-sized zipped bag that contained his scalpel, needle, blade, and tweezers. Everything he needed to clean and suture any kind of wound.

Vials of epinephrine, painkillers, and an anesthetic, along with pairs of surgical gloves, completed the bag. Gabriel frowned at the items. It certainly felt like it wasn’t enough.

As though reading his mind, Edward walked over and looked at the items. “That will have to do,” the larger man said with a frown of his own.

Edward was trained in first aid and was the only other person in the building Gabriel trusted could keep a person alive under dire circumstances. The man had done it before, even without the help of all the modern stuff he had spread on the bed. But Gabriel was still reluctant to accept his friend’s words.

“I can still squeeze some other things in, just in case.”

Edward turned and scowled at him. “You are not going to perform heart surgery. Relax.”

“With Trey, you never know,” Trick muttered from the other end of the room as he secured a second Glock in his holster.

“Trick is right. I should probably pack more hemostatic powder.”

Edward shook his head. “No, you shouldn’t. Besides, it will do little good even if you pack twenty. None of it will be used until we get back to the helicopter.”

His friend’s words brought Gabriel’s brows together right above his nose. He looked away from the items and studied the man. “What am I missing?”

“Damn it, Edward!” Trick suddenly shouted. “He wasn’t supposed to know until we were already off.”

Gabriel had the feeling he already knew what was happening, and he didn’t like it one bit. Still, he asked through clenched teeth. “What am I not supposed to know?”

***

Gabriel was mad. Actually, mad didn’t quite describe the fury he felt coursing through his veins.

He couldn’t believe his friends had pulled this s**t on him again. Leaving him behind with the helicopter like he was a toddler who couldn’t be useful in a fight.

“f**k!” He punched the glass and promptly regretted it when pain shot up his hand to his shoulder. For a moment, he feared he had just done something stupid like breaking a bone. That would have been a disaster when four men were depending on him to fly in and pick them up when the fireworks started.

Thankfully, he realized his hand was fine, if only a little bruised on the knuckles, but nothing serious. With a sigh, Gabriel settled down and listened to the voices over the radio that told him things were about to start.

In truth, Gabriel shouldn’t have been shocked Lorenzo had decided to stick him with the job of a pilot. Ever since Trey had gone missing, their friend had been climbing the walls, bouncing back and forth between being overprotective and vowing to burn the entire city down.

Gabriel, being the youngest of the five, had seen him on the receiving end of Lorenzo’s mama bear annoying personality. It was as though the man saw him as the ten-year-old malnourished, scared boy he had rescued two decades ago. He hated it.

Right then, Trey called over the comms. “Gabriel? Are you in position?”

The mention of his name grabbed his attention and stopped him from going over all the choice words he planned to give his friend once they were back home. But he didn’t immediately respond.

“Gab? Are you in position?” Trey pressed.

Gabriel clenched his teeth, but finally pressed the button to respond. “Of course, I’m in position. Where else would I be? You bloody left me in the helicopter like I’m some f*****g kid!”

A brief silence met his outburst before he heard Lorenzo’s voice, trying to pacify him. “Someone needed to stay with the helicopter. That’s our getaway.”

“Don’t patronize me! We are seriously going to have words when this is over.”

“Can’t wait,” Lorenzo deadpanned.

Gabriel huffed, but decided to keep quiet and just listen. And for the next half hour, he listened to the chaos unleashed on his friends and he was powerless to do anything. The sound of gunshots and shouting filled his ears until he thought he was going to crawl out of his own skin with anxiety.

Every muscle in his body was tense. His brain screamed at him to start the helicopter and fly over to his friends already, but he had to stick with the plan or risk making things worse.

And then he heard what he had been dreading. Trey was shot. That was the final straw. He switched on his comms and snapped.

“That’s why you carry a doctor with you! You don’t leave the doctor behind in the helicopter!”

“I’m fine!” Trey shouted. “Geez, it’s just a scratch.”

Just a scratch! Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment and drew a deep breath. f**k it! He was done waiting and listening to his friends face the fire alone. Gabriel started the helicopter. He would be damned if he let someone die while he was seated on his hands, miles away.

Several minutes went by and Gabriel already had the bird in the air when he heard Edward’s breathless voice ask, “Trick, how far are we?”

“We are almost at the clearing,” Trick answered, then added, “Gabriel, are you in position?”

“Almost.” Gabriel was glad he had followed his gut instinct and started the flight before he was given the green light. It sounded like things were bad and he couldn’t get there fast enough.

A few seconds passed, and the horizon of trees finally broke. Gabriel could see the clearing they had agreed would be appropriate to pick them up from. Relief hit him, realizing everything would soon be okay. He couldn’t yet see his friends, but he knew they were there based on the chatter on the comms.

But then, out of the blue, Gabriel heard Trey’s frantic voice shout. “Gabriel, pull back. Don’t approach!”

“What?”

Trey shouted again. “Gabriel, don’t…”

In a split second, Gabriel understood why his friend was shouting for him to pull away. Bullets came flying toward the helicopter. One went through the glass and missed his head, but he could already hear more hit the aircraft.

Gabriel quickly changed course, hoping to evade the assault, but the ringing controls told him things were already bad.

“Gab-” Trey choked on his name.

“f**k!” Gabriel cursed as he tried to control the helicopter that was quickly dying on him. He was going to crush, he realized with a sinking feeling. But he was hoping he could at least make it as smooth as possible and walk away alive. But the more the helicopter turned and swayed in the air, the less hope he had in accomplishing his goal.

Voices were filling his ears on the comms. Trick was frantically trying to communicate with him and instruct him on what to do to avoid crushing. Gabriel almost laughed at the madness of it all.

The treetops came rushing toward him and the last thing Gabriel could do was close his eyes and hope for the best.

The first rough jolt took his breath away. And the only thing that kept him in his seat was the safety harness restraints. A cacophony of sounds filled his ears even as he felt the aircraft crush through the branches.

Then agonizing pain flooded his head. Gabriel snapped his eyes open, but it was already too late. The world around him spun and grew dark despite the sunlight shining through the branches. Before the helicopter could stop moving, Gabriel lost consciousness.