Read Online Seized (Hostage Rescue Team Series, #7) by Kaylea Cross - Free Book Online Page B

racist assholes too. But fortunately not everyone around here was like them. “I don’t want my dad involved with this.” He had enough crap to deal with as it was, and it would be embarrassing for Sawyer to have his dad step in and take care of something he needed to handle himself. Some people around here still treated them like second-class citizens just because of the color of their skin. As one of the only black ranchers in the area, his father didn’t need any more problems with the locals.
    Danny grunted in disgust and bent to grab Sawyer’s backpack, eyeing him as he straightened. “Got a spare shirt to change into before you go home?”
    Sawyer glanced down to see the blood staining the front of his T-shirt. Hell. Once his dad saw that, there’d be hell to pay.
    Danny slung Sawyer’s backpack over one shoulder and beckoned with a jerk of his head. “Come on. You can come home with me. We’ll get you cleaned up and I’ll lend you one of my shirts.” Then he grinned and added, “My mom’s making meatloaf for supper.”
    As if he’d needed another thing to tempt Sawyer with.
    Despite the pain in his split lip, Sawyer grinned back. Danny was a great guy and his family was awesome. Since he and Danny had become friends four years ago they’d always welcomed Sawyer at their house. A few times a week he came over after school and did his homework at the big, wooden farmhouse table with Danny, eating homemade chocolate chip cookies Danny’s mother served warm from the oven.
    To Sawyer, being at their house was like living in a dream world, and he savored his time there the way most boys his age savored a new video game.
    Those days he went over after school he enjoyed homemade treats and drank glasses of cold milk while finishing his assignments, stalling to stretch out the time as long as possible, knowing that Mrs. Decker would probably invite him to stay for dinner if he was there long enough. He’d eat with the family, help clear the table afterward and do dishes with Danny and his sister, Trina.
    Sometimes he even volunteered to wash the kitchen floor after, or help Mr. Decker and Danny with the animals. Anything that allowed him to stay in that warm, safe environment for a little while longer before he had to walk home to the cold, rigid home he shared with his controlling father.
    “Okay,” he said, already feeling warmer inside at the thought of going there instead of home.
    Danny gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder and they walked out of the trees together. At the fork they turned right, taking the path that would lead to the Decker’s place. Sawyer’s second home, but the one place where he felt welcome.
    The only place he’d ever felt truly loved.
    “Dude, you’re zoning out on me. You okay?”
    Schroder’s words yanked him out of the bittersweet memory. These days he chose to remember the good times with Danny, instead of dwelling on the bad. “Yeah, I’m good.”
    “Well, we always knew you had thick skin,” the medic murmured as he pulled the thread taut on the next stitch. “This just confirms it.”
    Sawyer grunted. “Okay, you’re enjoying this way too much, man.” Must be some weird medic thing.
    The former PJ grinned but didn’t look up from his work, needle driver in one latex-gloved hand and a curved suture needle in the other. They’d chosen to use the bathtub for easy cleanup. Sawyer had ditched his ruined shirt in the trash and his chest and stomach were smeared with blood.
    “Lucky for you, I’m handy with a needle and thread. And bonus that I’m not doing this while under fire. Means I can take the time to make the stitches all pretty for you. Pretty stitches make for pretty scars.”
    He didn’t care if it was pretty or not, he just wanted to get the bleeding stopped so he could get to the nearest police station to give his statement then talk to Carmela, alone.
    She sat up straight when someone knocked on the door. “Should I get that?”
    “Yeah,