Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

“Plan?” Coop turns to Seth.

“He has a gun and he’s planning to run.” Seth sighs. “He’s killed before. We need to ambush him before he can shoot any of us.”

“He’s in the bathroom. If we can get him into the kitchen, we could surround him.” I want to rush in, but I also don’t want to get any of us killed. “Coop can get in through the open window when Patrick goes past.”

“I’ll go to the kitchen. Blake, you come in through the front door. Keep an eye out, Coop, and give us the bird whistle if he changes locations.” It’s the bird whistle we came up with as kids to not alert the other team in capture the flag. Seth looks us both in the eyes before he nods. “Let’s go get our girl.”

We ease back toward the window. Coop stops and gives us a thumbs up. Seth and I continue to the front door. I stop and Seth grabs my shoulder.

“Wait until he passes you.”

I nod and watch Seth move around the corner. My heart thunders in my ears but I know what I have to do. We’re in this together. We’ll get her out of this together.

Water runs in the kitchen. Footsteps come down the hall. Coop lifts himself into the bedroom. I watch through the window next to the door until I see Patrick pass. The gun is in his hand. I swallow and open the door quietly.

He’s at the entrance to the kitchen when I step in and a floorboard creaks. He spins at the same time I charge. A gunshot rings in my ears and something tears at my arm. But the adrenaline keeps me going.

Seth grabs Patrick from behind and they struggle. I grab Patrick’s arm that holds the gun, pushing it out to the side, but he fights me for it. The gun goes off again, but Seth wraps his arm around Patrick’s neck. He gasps for air, but Seth cuts it off. Patrick slowly stops struggling.

I take the gun from his hand and set it on the table. Seth lowers Patrick to the floor and checks his pulse.

“We need rope,” Seth says.

I glance around. Coop sits against the wall in the hallway. Blood smears the wall behind him. His hand holds some rope.

“Coop!” Fuck, I rush over to him and lift his chin.

“Is he . . . ?” Seth doesn’t say it.

Coop opens his glassy eyes. His chest shakily moves with each breath. His hand grips his side.

“I found some rope.” He holds up his other hand. “But I got shot.”

I take the rope and chuck it over to Seth. Seth’s face is pale, but he takes the rope and ties up Patrick. We just need to control this situation and make sure we’re safe before calling in reinforcements.

“Hold on.” I rush into the room with Madison, who is still but breathing. Grabbing a towel from the bathroom, I hurry back to Coop. My arm hurts, but I ignore it.

“Move your hand.” I kneel beside him and quickly replace his hand with the towel, applying pressure. Blood pools a little below him. A bullet is lodged in the wall behind us. But I’m not sure if that’s the one that hit me or him.

“Fuck, no signal.” Seth runs out the door.

“Just hang on, Coop. The police should be here soon.” I wrap the towel around his back and press against the wound there too. At least it went through him and isn’t inside still. I need to keep him alert while we wait.

“She’s safe?” He grabs my arm weakly. His eyelids droop.

“Yeah, but she needs you.”

His smile is weak. “I’m going to marry her.”

“We’ll see about that.” I don’t know what to do besides apply pressure and keep him talking.

“Nah, I put a ring on her first. I got dibs.” He’s pale. Fuck.

I shake my head. “She didn’t know she was agreeing to marry you, you pompous asshole.”

“Yeah, but she will. You watch. Don’t worry. I know what my wife wants and needs, so you all will live with us.” He takes in a deep breath and groans. “She likes that big cock of yours.”

“How gracious of you.” I roll my eyes. I should have known Coop would be like this when he’s hurt.