Free Seized (Hostage Rescue Team Series, #7) by Kaylea Cross

sure,” Sawyer told her. Had to be one of the guys coming to check on him.
    She went to the door and looked through the peephole before opening it. Through the open bathroom door he saw DeLuca stood in the opening, the brim of his Chargers cap pulled low enough to shadow the upper portion of his forehead, but Sawyer could already tell he was scowling.
    “Hi,” Carmela murmured and stepped back.
    “Hi.” After the terse greeting their commander walked past her and headed straight for the bathroom. He paused to lean against the doorframe and folded his arms over his chest, regarding the two of them with a stony expression. “What the hell happened?” he said to Sawyer.
    Schroder shot him a good luck, dude look and kept on working. “Stumbled upon some kind of a drug deal gone bad in the parking lot stairwell,” Sawyer answered. “Guy had a switchblade.”
    “And a pistol, I noticed,” DeLuca finished, his expression closed.
    Oh yeah, the boss was pissed. Either he’d seen the SUV or one of the guys had already told him. “I left you a voicemail. But no, that was the other guy he’d been fighting with when we showed up. Evers and Blackwell are taking care of the SUV for me right now.”
    “Yeah, that’s how I found out, I saw them in the underground parking.”
    “I called you.”
    “I know. I was in a meeting.” He sighed then jerked his chin at Sawyer’s shoulder and directed his next question to Schroder. “Well, Doc? What’s the prognosis?”
    “Don’t think we’ll have to amputate,” he joked, pulling another suture through near the end of the gash. “All his shots are up to date, so no tetanus or anything to worry about and I’m gonna give him a shot of antibiotics once I’m done with this. Nineteen stitches in total, but only the upper four inches of the wound was deep. No nerve damage and he’ll still have full range of motion, but he’ll be sore for a few days. Wouldn’t recommend PT or anything for a bit. He’s mission ready if we need him though.”
    DeLuca shifted that penetrating green gaze to Sawyer. One of the deadliest snipers in the world, and he still hadn’t lost that edge. All the guys respected the hell out of him, and he was a great guy to work under. “So you’re good?”
    He nodded, made sure his gaze conveyed his certainty. “I’m good.”
    DeLuca seemed relieved. He looked over his shoulder at Carmela, poised on the foot of the bed once more. “What about you?”
    She blinked once in surprise. “I’m fine. Thanks. Not even a scrape.” Her gaze shifted to Sawyer and he saw gratitude there he wasn’t sure he deserved.
    DeLuca’s attention shifted back to him again. “Heard you guys have already talked to the cops?”
    “Yeah. They already interviewed us for the basics and their forensics people looked at the SUV. I promised we’d go down to the station to give our official statements as soon as Doc’s finished with me.”
    “Which is in about five seconds,” Schroder answered, tying off the last stitch before cutting the thread. Sawyer glanced down. Nineteen neat, perfectly spaced stitches held the edges of his skin together. The whole area was still numb, but he could already see the swelling around it. He was going to be a hurting unit over the next couple days.
    Schroder filled a syringe and turned to him with an evil grin. “Drop your drawers, soldier.”
    “You just said my shots were up to date.”
    “Yeah, well, this is antibiotics. Lose the pants, my friend.”
    Sawyer scowled at him and undid his jeans, then rolled them and his boxers down a little on one side to expose the side of his hip. “That’s all you’re getting. Perv.”
    “What, you shy with me all of a sudden? I’ve already seen everything you’ve got, more times than I wanted to, trust me.”
    Sawyer’s lips twitched in a hint of a smile but he didn’t answer as Doc injected the antibiotics into the side of his ass. He barely felt the needle go in.
    “Okay, you’re good to