Free Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5) by Matt Ryan Page A

pointed his gun out front, waiting. “Clear,” Lucas called out.
    Joey motioned for the rest to go into the circle. He walked in last.
    “Get us out of here, Lucas,” Poly said.
    Lucas was already on the stone when it started to hum. He stepped back, and shot the rest of them a terrified look.
    “Here we go,” Evelyn said.
    “I didn’t touch the stone yet. Someone’s coming,” Lucas said.
    “Edith, get—” Was all Joey said before a figure popped into existence.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    “YOU FORCED ME DOWN HERE. You knew this was coming. I have no privacy with all these cameras watching my every move. I had to break them,” Gingy said. “I needed somewhere you aren’t studying me. I’m not a lab rat.”
    Gladius took a slow breath and watched the performance Gingy put on. It wasn’t bad and she felt the emotion from Gingy building with each word.
    “My sensors detect an elevation in room temperature. Are you sure you are alone?”
    “Maybe it’s because I’ve been sweating like a pig down here, wreaking this place up. If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll start breaking things he likes.”
    “There would be consequences.” The speaker clicked off.
    Gladius stared at her, locking in on her eyes. She didn’t want there to be any doubt, she’d gut her from hip to neck if she squealed to the computer. Tears fell down Gingy’s face and she wiped them with her sleeve.
    Leaning toward the coffee table, Gladius picked up a pad of paper and wrote a note on it.
    Is there a place with no microphones?
    Gingy nodded and pointed toward the kitchen door.
    Gladius got up from the couch and motioned to the kitchen. Keeping her knife near Gingy’s back, she walked behind her into the next room. Gingy stopped just inside of the kitchen and held a hand over her mouth.
    Gladius moved around her and saw blood spilling over the stainless steel counter top. Minter moved frantically, grabbing towels and filling a bucket of water. “We can talk in here?” Gladius asked.
    “Whisper,” Gingy said and looked pale, staring at Emmett laid out on the counter. “You have to save him.”
    Gladius huffed and pushed her forward. Gingy whimpered and moved next to Emmett. The gunshot on his leg continued to ooze blood. Gladius didn’t think she’d ever seen so much coming out of one person, although she held no pity for the man. To her, it’d be just fine if he bled out on that table.
    Hank slid a knife up Emmett’s pant leg and cut the slacks in half. She watched them ball up a handful of paper towels and push it on his leg, trying to get the bleeding to stop. Gingy cried next to Emmett, her hands hovered next to his mangled face, but she never brought herself to actually touch him.
    “We need to get the bullet out,” Minter said. “But if it hit a main artery . . .”
    “We have a machine down the hall. It can save him.”
    Minter pushed on the white cloth and they watched as it turned red instantly. He grabbed another and stared at Gingy as he applied it. Gladius wondered if he was going to pull out his gun and shoot her dead. She’d been with a lot of men in her life and she knew men like Minter were rare, along with most of the Six and their parents. Strange lot they were, when she thought about it. Anyone in their right mind would be letting this vile man die on the counter. Yet, here were her man and Minter, trying like crazy to keep him alive.
    “Is there a camera?” Minter asked.
    “Yes, two of them.”
    “If we have any chance of saving him, it’s going to be in that machine,” Minter said. “But if you try one thing, he dies and you die.”
    Gingy pursed her lips and sniffled. She took a deep breath and started to scream.
    Minter had his gun out in a fraction of a second.
    “Wait,” Gladius said, holding out her hand. She’d already seen the woman’s acting skills.
    Gingy continued to scream, picking up a pot and throwing it across the room. It clanked and clattered over the steel tops and crashed