My hands curled into fists. We needed to get to Ash fast so we could deal with this situation. I couldn’t let Rory down. He was my fucking responsibility. He’d always been.
“Okay, she says she’s standing by the road now.”
I scanned the area but still couldn’t see her.
“For fuck’s sake, I swear the bloody tracker said here,” I growled.
“Hold on,” Eric said, glancing at the SatNav. “We need to go further up.”
He put his foot down and all of us were jerked backwards, including Xav who cursed as he slammed back against the seat.
“Fuck, E, calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. We need to get to them.”
“Shut up you two,” I said, trying to concentrate on keeping my eye out for Ash. “STOP! She’s there.”
Eric pulled up to where Ash was whilst I fumbled with my seatbelt, getting it off and opening the door before the car even came to a standstill. I was out and rushing towards Ash the next moment.
“Little girl.”
“Quinn, quick, come.”
She was about to dash off through the gap in the hedgerow, but I caught hold of her arm.
“Let me look over you.”
“I’m fine, we need to see to Ror.”
She tugged her arm out of my hold and I had no choice but to follow her. Xav and Eric were on our heels. The moment I saw the car wrapped around the tree, my heart stopped. How had the two of them walked out of it?
“Over here,” Ash called.
I immediately focused in on Rory sitting up against a tree with his head lolling on his shoulder. Jogging over, I squatted down and put my hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly.
“Rory, it’s Quinn… wake up for me.”
I shook him a little harder when he didn’t respond. And when I heard his groan, I breathed a sigh of relief. I vaguely heard Ash talking to Eric and Xav behind me, but my attention was on Rory. He blinked and opened his eyes. The smile which accompanied his consciousness when he looked at me had my breath whooshing out of my chest.
“Hello fucker.”
“The only fucker here is you for scaring the shit out of us,” I retorted.
“You going to help me up or what?”
I grinned unable to help myself.
“Xav, take this idiot to the car, yeah?”
I stood and watched Rory’s brows turn down. Xav came up behind me and grinned down at him. Next thing Rory knew, Xav had lifted him up like a baby, grunting as he did it.
“You’re fucking heavy, you know that.”
“I didn’t ask you to carry me,” Rory grumbled.
Xav set him on his feet before wrapping an arm around him and guiding him over towards the Range Rover. I turned to Ash and Eric.
“What are we going to do about that?” I asked, pointing at the destroyed Audi. “The police find it, we’re fucked.”
Ash’s brows turned down, then her face brightened.
“I’m going to call my dad.”
“Are you crazy? He’s going to lose his shit when he realises you got in a car accident.”
“Quinn, he has the resources to deal with this mess and he can get Ror a doctor, which he desperately needs if he’s broken his fucking wrist, okay?”
She shook her head and started fiddling with her phone before pressing it to her ear. I looked at Eric who shrugged.
“She’s right. Rory does need medical attention we can’t give him. I’m going to get the stuff she’s left over there and take it to the car, okay? Then I’ll help Xav check Rory over.”
I nodded and watched him walk over to the Audi. Ash was speaking in low tones down the phone. I took a step towards her, eying her carefully for any further signs of injury.
“Yeah… So if I leave a marker so they can find it, that should work… I’m okay, I promise… Well, Rory needs a doctor… Okay, so we bring him to you… Yes, I’ll let him check me over too… Thank you, Dad… I’ll see you in like an hour or so… Yes, bye.”
Ash tucked her phone back in her pocket. I tucked my fingers under her chin, forcing her face up to mine.
“Will you let me look you over now?”
“Yes… it’s just my chest that hurts, but I think the seatbelt did it. I was only out for a minute.”
She let me tug her t-shirt up and check her over. I couldn’t see any bruising. The relief I felt at knowing she wasn’t in a worse condition. Then I cupped her face, staring down into her beautiful blues.
“You’re really okay.”
She nodded.
“I know you were worried.”
“Where’s the gun?”
“In my purse.”
“What really happened with Carlo?”
She looked away, her face flushing a little.
“I’ll tell you in the car… We need to get Rory to Viktor. He said he’ll have his doctor there by the time we get to his house.”
Eric had already gone back to the car. I walked over to the Audi, pulled out the keys and shut the doors, locking them. Then I left the key on the hood.
“Are they coming for it?”
“Yeah, Viktor’s arranging it. Hold on, I need to text him our location.”
I grabbed her phone before she could and typed in the address closest to here. Then I handed it back to her.
“Thank you,” she muttered as she finished off the text.
We made our way back to the car. Ash dug around in her bag and found something she could use as a marker. She tied a little ribbon to the hedgerow where the gap was and then sent another text to Viktor to let him know.
We all climbed in the car. Xav sat in the front with Eric and I was in the back with Ash and Rory. She insisted on sitting next to him in the middle so she could keep an eye on him. Then Eric set off back towards London.
Ash looked Rory over to make sure he was comfortable. It looked like Xav and Eric had
