“I’d be glad to. But, dude, you need to hurry.”
He turned back to Tango, moved toward him once more. “We’re here to bust you out.” He’d meant it as a joke, but it fell flat, his smile unable to take hold as he drew close and got a good look at his friend.
“God, what’d they do to you?” he whispered.
Tango forced himself upright, teeth gritted, grunting with pain. Aidan knelt and helped him, arms looping around his ribcage.
Tango’s eyes glittered feverishly through swollen lids, but his gaze was nevertheless steady. “What’s going on?”
“Like I said. This is a rescue mission.”
“The club…?”
“Just me. And the kid. And Fox. You know how he is, crazy like a motherfucking fox, always looking for a good shootout.”
Tango groaned. “You shouldn’t have…gone against wishes…”
“Shut up,” Aidan said, gently. “You didn’t think I’d leave you here, did you? I’m trying to turn gay, remember?”
“So not funny.”
“Right. Come on, can you stand?”
Tango flung an arm across his shoulders, but his eyes snapped wide – as wide as was possible, given the swelling. “Whitney,” he gasped.
Aidan darted a glance to the girl, saw her staring at them with her lip caught between her teeth. “Is that you?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“I’m not leaving without her,” Tango said. “You get her out too, or you leave me here.”
“Leave the little bint,” Ian said, sharply.
Aidan frowned, but he wasn’t about to squabble over something as minor as one little chick. He jerked his head to Carter. “Get her.”
Then he took a firm hold of Tango. “We’re gonna stand up, alright?”
Tango nodded, and he tightened up in Aidan’s arms.
“One…two…three…”
Tango let out a strangled sound, but he managed to lock his knees and keep his feet.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
Like hell, but there was no choice. Aidan began walking them slowly toward the door, knowing it was too slow, teeth grinding in anxiety. How were they ever going to flee like this? How could he get Tango through the hole in the fence? Up the hill? Shit, Carter would have to help carry him. That was if Fox wasn’t already dead and could provide cover.
Ian came around to Tango’s other side, drew the guy’s arm across his shoulder. When Aidan saw his expression, the absolute devastation of it, he felt a little guilty for what he’d said before. Ian Byron was a lot of things, but his feelings were genuine. This was as difficult for him as it was for any of them.
Carter had gotten the girl – Whitney’s – cell open and she rushed now toward Tango, face creased with worry.
“Oh, he’s hurt so bad,” she said, voice choked with tears. “He’ll be fine,” Aidan said, thinking that was probably a lie. But he didn’t have time for truths. “Lead the way up,” he said to Carter. “Let’s see if our fox is still alive up there.”
It was a long, slow, painful trip up the stairs. Tango cursed and muttered, but he managed to make his feet cooperate. Ian pulled his weight – or Tango’s weight, as it were. When this was over, Aidan decided he owed the guy a thank you.
“One foot after the next,” the Englishman whispered to Tango. “That’s it, darling. Not much farther.”
