“We need to get her to a hospital. I don't know if she’ll make it to the States.”

Shane went to the cockpit and spoke to the pilot. “We’ll land in Costa Rica. He knows someone. They’ll meet us as soon as we land.” I looked up to the heavens and said a silent prayer.

“ETA?” Ace asked.

“Fifty minutes,” Shane met my eyes. The look he gave me made me feel like he thought I was fighting a losing battle.

“She’s not gonna die,” I gave him a hard look, daring him to challenge me.

“I know, brother.”

“No, she’s not going to die. Are you, Charlie? You’re going to hang on.” My voice cracked and I realized I was fucking crying. “I have Gun. He’s such a good kid. You did so good with him. I promised him I’d bring you home, so don't you make me a liar to him. You hang on. You hear me? Hang on.” I was rocking her back and forth praying that I wouldn't lose her.

We landed at another airstrip in the middle of nowhere. A woman with a medical bag boarded the plane a few minutes later.

“She’s going to do what she can from here. Enrico still has reach here, and if he made it out of there and finds out we landed here, we’ll have more problems than we can deal with.” I nodded to Shane understanding.

I couldn't miss the way the woman sucked in a breath when she saw Charlie. “This woman needs a hospital. What happened to her?”

“A monster,” Ace answered for me. The lump in my throat was making it hard for me to talk.

She took a stethoscope from her bag and listened to Charlie’s heart, and then she felt her gaunt stomach. “Pulse is faint. Can you lift her, so I can hear her lungs?”

I cradled her front to me and moved the blanket revealing her back. A loud gasp escaped the doctor’s lips. “Lord have mercy,” she whispered. As I moved Charlie, she was completely limp in my arms. Her body felt lifeless. I couldn't let her die. It couldn't be too late.

“This woman is barely hanging on. In fact, I’m surprised she’s still breathing. Without a CT scan to make sure there’s no internal bleeding, I’m limited in what I can do. I’ll start an IV. She obviously needs fluids. I’ll give her antibiotics and hopefully, that will tie her over until you can get her to the States. You’ll have to change the bag, when this one is empty.”

I found my voice, “Will she make it, Doc?”

She looked at me with a small amount of pity. I hated being pitied. “If I were you, I’d pray.”

Ace led her off of the plane and ten minutes later, we were back in the air. I held Charlie close to me, rocking her back and forth. Ace and Shane remained quiet the rest of the flight. By the time we landed, Charlie’s skin looked a little better. She wasn't as pale. She was still unconscious, but the small amount of pink in her cheeks gave me a little hope.

“We can't bring her to the hospital,” Ace said as we exited the plane. I had been thinking the same thought, so I nodded.

Shane handed the pilot a large envelope. I had no doubt that everything the pilot did for us today would cost a pretty penny.

“We just pissed off a whole lotta bad guys. We bring her in, we’ll be a target.” Ace wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t already suspected.

“I think we all need to head to the mountains. Safe-house should be ready to go. I’ll make the calls and get Doc to meet us there.” Shane pulled his phone from his pocket and started calling the brothers.

He powered off his phone. “Reggie said your kid’s doing fine. He’ll pack up some things for him, and they’ll be on their way.”

My brothers helped me place Charlie in the truck that I’d left parked at the airfield. I hated to even move her from my arms, but their bikes were here and we needed to get to cover. We had just started a war and we had to be prepared.

Chapter Seventeen Gunner

“Her vitals look good. I’ll keep her on the drip for at least the next twenty-four hours, and then we’ll go from there.”

“Thanks, Doc. When do you think she’ll wake up?”

“There’s no telling, right now, exactly how much trauma she’s been through. She needs to heal right now, and the best way her body knows to do that is for her to remain asleep. Plus, her mind could be shielding her.” He rubbed his white beard while the wrinkles around his eyes softened, “If I were you, I’d talk to her as much as possible.”

I nodded and felt a little of the heaviness weighing on my chest lighten. Doc gave me hope that she was going to make it, and that’s more than I had a few hours ago. A knock on the door interrupted us, “Reggie’s here,” Austin, one of my brothers, poked his head in.

“Will you stay with her for a few minutes? I have to figure out what I’m going to tell my boy,” I asked Doc.

“You want some advice?”

Considering the whole parenting thing was brand new to me, I’d take any advice I could get, so I conveyed that to him with my eyes.

“I know she looks bad, but if I were you, I would let him see her. He’s been without her for some time now, so he’s probably already imagined the worst.”

He’d answered the question that I’d been going back and forth on. Truth was, a part of me was afraid to damage him even more, but I knew Doc was right.

“Thanks, Doc.”

I hated leaving Charlie, but my son needed me. Reggie was just grabbing a suitcase from the trunk when I approached. I didn't see Gun at first, and then I noticed him kicking dirt on the other side of the black sedan. “A Camry? Really?” I said to Reggie as I passed him.

“It’s my mom’s. I didn't really have much time to figure out how I’d get him here. I haven’t owned a cage in years.”

“Dad!” Gun rushed forward and threw his small arms around me. “You’re okay!”

I ruffled his sandy, blonde hair, “Told you I’d be back.”

“Where are we?” he asked.

“He was asleep most of the car ride. That kid of yours could sleep through anything. I even cranked up some metal.”

“Reg,” I gave him a ‘what the fuck’ look.

“We’re in the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania. It’s a few hours east of home. These are safe houses no one knows about.” I moved my head toward the five small cabins behind me. This place was once rented out to campers, but the owners went belly up and we bought it through a shell corporation a few years ago.