Desperate (Cunningham Security Series Book 3)

by A. K. Evans

  Unfortunately, a gust of wind unsettled the car even further and it rolled, sending it careening across the road and down the embankment. I threw my truck into park, hopped out, and raced across the two-lane road.

  Levi pulled his truck up to where the SUV came to a stop and kept the lights on so we could see. I was the first one at the car and I yanked open the back door.

  It was empty.

  Moving to the front passenger’s side door, I pulled it open and found that two men were in the front. The passenger was out cold. The driver groaned. I ran around to the other side, yanked open his door, grabbed him by his collar, and yelled, “Where is she?!”

  The expression on his face changed. It was unnerving. Then he said only one word.

  “Burning.”

  My eyes darted back and forth trying to understand what he meant. “Is she in the cabin still?”

  “You’ll be too late,” he goaded me.

  “Go, Dom,” Levi ordered. “I’ll deal with him and get the fire department and ambulance on the way. The rest of the guys are behind us.”

  I yanked him out of the car and didn’t wait to see him fall to the ground. Pierce, Trent, and I took off running back to my truck.

  We hopped in and I was swinging the truck around before I even had the door closed. I drove as fast as I could down the road in the opposite direction hoping I would make it to her on time.

  “Shit,” Trent muttered after we’d been driving for a few minutes.

  I glanced to the side and asked, “What?”

  He pointed out the windshield and said, “Up there.”

  Flames had lit up a patch at the top of the mountain. He lit the cabin on fire with her inside. She was burning as I watched.

  “I’m going to be fucking sick,” I warned them, driving faster.

  “Breathe, brother,” Pierce encouraged me as Trent opened the windows.

  I did my best to breathe through the awful churning in my gut.

  “The satellite image shows there’s an opening in the tree line just another half mile ahead. It’s a clear shot all the way up to the cabin.”

  I took in another breath and blew it out.

  I’m coming, Ekko. Please hang on.

  I turned off the main road and my truck slowly started climbing the hill. The snow had gotten so heavy and the hill was steep. It took some time, but we finally made it to the top about a hundred feet from the cabin. I jumped out and took off running.

  “Dom!” I heard one of the guys yell out.

  But I didn’t stop. I was going to get to her and I didn’t care if I was going to have to go through the fire to save her.

  Pierce was right behind me and, as we got closer, we realized just how much of the structure had been burned. We could see right through most of the walls on one side and the smell of kerosene was overwhelming. I moved to one of the adjoining walls that was compromised, but not completely engulfed. I blasted the wood with the bottom of my foot and watched the wall crumble. Then, I ran inside to find Ekko.

  Desperately searching the small space, I didn’t see her anywhere.

  “She’s not in there!” I yelled when I moved back through the opening where I’d kicked down the wall.

  “Dom!” Trent called from about halfway between the truck and the cabin.

  When we looked at him, he held up the flashlights and said, “There are tracks in the snow here. We’ve got to move quickly before they get covered.”

  She got out. My fighter got out.

  Pierce and I raced back to where Trent was standing and the three of us took off down the mountain on foot.

  “Ekko!” I yelled out, even though my lungs were burning.

  I was running as fast as I could without disturbing the footprints.

  The guys and I continued to yell out her name and listen for a reply, but we got nothing. The footprints continued. I was thankful for them because seeing them meant that she was still alive.

  “Ekko!”

  Silence.

  “Ekko!”

  More silence.

  “Dom, look,” Trent said, pointing his flashlight away from me. “Just ahead, two o’clock.”

  I followed the light and saw it. Ekko’s body was lifeless on the ground, her purple jacket standing out against the freshly fallen, white snow.

  “Ekko!” I called as I ran toward her.

  Seconds later, I knelt beside her, rolled her over, and moved the hair from her face. “Ekko, sugar, open your eyes,” I pleaded with her as I put my hands to her neck to find her pulse. It was there, but it was weak. Her face and her hands were ice cold and her clothes were sopping.

  The guys came over to help assess her. “We’ve got to get her to a hospital,” I stated. The dread in my tone was clear.

  Suddenly, we saw the lights.

  “Levi’s here,” Pierce announced. I stood with Ekko in my arms and began moving toward the path. The guys followed behind me, lighting the way with the flashlights as they pushed back the tree branches.

  We finally reached the clear path where Levi’s truck was waiting, and Trent opened the back door. I climbed in the back with Lorenzo. Levi took one look at her and immediately began backing down the mountain. “There are a couple of blankets behind the seat,” he noted as he kept his eyes focused on the road behind us.

  Just as he made it to the road, the fire trucks arrived. There was no ambulance in sight. Lorenzo pulled the blankets out from behind the seat.

  “De Luca, I need your help,” I said. “We’ve got to take this wet stuff off her before we wrap her in that.”

  “You’ve got it,” he replied as he started taking the shoes off her feet.

  While he did that, I took my jacket off and started working on hers. I got it off and unwrapped the soaked scarf from around her neck.

  “You want me to take off her pants?” Lorenzo asked.

  I didn’t, but we had no choice. “Do it,” I ordered through gritted teeth.

  As he struggled to remove her pants that were stuck to her legs, I got rid of her top. Once we’d removed everything and Ekko was there in just her bra and panties, I took off my sweatshirt and slipped it over her head before Lorenzo helped me wrap her up in the blankets.

  Then, I held her tight to my body with my lips pressed to her freezing forehead.

  Ten minutes into the drive to the hospital, Ekko moaned.

  “Are you with me, Ekko? Can you open your eyes?” I asked as I ran my fingers through her hair.

  “Sleep,” she rasped.

  “Okay, sugar. Keep your eyes closed, but talk to me.”

  “You found me,” she whispered.

  My throat tightened. Did she think I would ever stop looking for her?

  “I did,” I replied.

  “I saw your truck…” She trailed off. She paused and took a few more breaths before she finished, “That’s when I knew I could rest…I knew you’d find me.”

  She began squirming in my arms, attempting to remove the blanket. “You need to keep the blanket on. You aren’t warm enough yet.”

  “Shoulder,” she replied.

  “What’s wrong with your shoulder? Did you hurt yourself?”

  She shook her head. “Fight.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  Her lips trembled, but she nodded.

  My eyes cut to Lorenzo’s. The look on his face, I’m certain, mirrored my own.

  I readjusted her in my arms, careful not to jostle her too much.

  “Is that better?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  A few minutes of silence passed. I sat there and simply watched Ekko as she slept and took short, slow breaths.

  “I love you, Dom,” she whispered. My body tensed at her admission. I thought she had fallen asleep because she remained quiet for so long afterward. Suddenly, she spoke again. “I can’t give you babies, but I’ll love you forever.”

  What?

  “Ekko, sugar, what are you talking about?”

  She didn’t
respond.

  A few minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. I rushed her inside and then it was a whirlwind of events as the medical professionals took over all around me until one of the nurses ushered me out to the waiting room. The guys stayed with me while I waited for news.

  Some time had passed, and I needed to distract myself, so I asked, “What happened with George and Johnathan?”

  “We waited for the police to arrive,” Levi began. “I gave them a quick rundown of what happened and told them I’d follow up with Detective Baines. Once they had the Samuels brothers covered, we hopped in the truck and came down to help you.”

  Great.

  No distraction there.

  I stood and paced the waiting room. Finally, I leaned up against the wall crossing my arms over my chest and my feet at my ankles.

  I can’t give you babies, but I’ll love you forever.

  Was that what she wanted to explain to me? Or had some mild delirium set in from her being in the cold for too long?

  I thought back to the conversation Ekko and I had the day she told me she wanted to end things.

  You deserve so much more than I can give you. You deserve someone who can give you everything you want.

  The context certainly fit if that’s what she was referring to. But Ekko and I had talked about having children sometime in the future and that didn’t scare her off. Why, suddenly, would it have changed?

  I had a million questions I wanted to ask her, but my first concern was making sure that she was okay and that she didn’t suffer any permanent or serious damage from everything she’d been through over the last several hours.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door to the waiting room opened. I saw the doctor walk in. I walked over, and she asked, “Are you Ekko’s family?”

  “She’s my girlfriend.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to contact her family first before giving any medical information.”

  “She doesn’t have any,” I stated, deadpanned and frustrated. “I’m the closest thing to family she’s got.”

  “Sir, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to wait until Miss Rose wakes up and tells me that then. I can only release information about her to her family.”

  “When she wakes up?” I repeated her words. “All I need to know right now is that she’s going to wake up again. We can deal with everything else later. Can I see her?”

  The doctor hesitated a moment before she agreed, “Sure. Follow me.”

  I looked back at the guys who gave me encouraging looks. “We’ll wait here,” Lorenzo said.

  I gave them a curt nod and followed the doctor to Ekko’s room.

  “I’ll be back to check on her in a little while,” the doctor said before excusing herself and leaving me alone with my beautiful girl.

  Walking farther into the room, I made my way over to the bed. Ekko was completely covered in warm blankets. She was being administered oxygen and IV fluids. Otherwise, she looked as though she was just sleeping.

  Leaning over her, I pressed my lips to her forehead. She was warm. I kissed her cheek before grabbing a chair and sliding it over next to the bed. After settling myself in the seat, I slipped my hand under the blankets and held hers.

  Then, I watched her while she slept.

  The next thing I knew, I was being woken up by Ekko’s thumb stroking back and forth over my knuckles. I lifted my head and realized it was early morning. At some point, I must have fallen asleep.

  I looked over at Ekko to see she was awake. She gave me a small smile and murmured, “Hey.”

  That one word from her smiling, happy face was all it took. My emotions got the best of me and I dropped my head a minute, trying to rein them in. As I took a few deep breaths, she promised, “I’m okay now, Dom.”

  I stood up, framed her face with my hands, and kissed her. When I pulled back to look at her, I lamented, “I’m sorry, Ekko. I’ve never been so scared before in all my life.”

  “Me too,” she whispered.

  “I’m so sorry this happened,” I apologized again. “I had been working on the case for weeks, but I never thought it was going to come back to you. I swear I had no idea.”

  “George said you were responsible for his daughter’s death.”

  “I didn’t kill her, Ekko. I was undercover and part of the team that went in on a drug bust. It resulted in a shootout and she was caught in the crossfire. I’m not proud to admit that she died, but I didn’t kill her.”

  Her face softened. “I never thought that you did.”

  We stared at each other in silence for a bit before I asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Last night, after we found you and I got you in the truck, you said something to me.”

  “Okay?”

  “Ekko, you told me for the first time that you loved me,” I started. Her eyes immediately rounded in surprise, but I went on, “You then told me that you couldn’t give me babies.”

  Surprise turned to shock, which ultimately turned to disappointment. Tears spilled over and fell down her cheeks. I wiped them away and whispered, “Whatever it is, Ekko, we’ll deal with it together. Just tell me.”

  “I went to the gynecologist for a checkup a few days before you came by my house when I ended things between us. I explained all of my symptoms. After she did an exam, she told me that I have endometriosis.”

  I had no idea what it was, but I didn’t like the sound of it. “What does that mean?”

  “Tissue similar to what grows inside a woman’s uterus is actually found outside my uterus. There’s more to it, but ultimately, it means I’ll experience painful, heavy periods, fatigue, and possibly a bunch of other awful symptoms. The worst of them, though, is that it can lead to infertility. The doctor told me that it’s not impossible to get pregnant, but that it can be very difficult.”

  “Okay? So, I don’t understand why you broke things off?”

  “You want children, Dom,” she retorted.

  “So do you,” I challenged.

  “Yeah, but my years of bad luck is an indication to me that I need to be realistic here. I can’t expect you to give up your dream of having a big family when I may struggle to give you one.”

  My heart broke for her. It broke for the fact that she believed she wasn’t enough. “I love you, sugar. You. Kids or no kids, I love you. And if we get to a point where we are ready for kids and it doesn’t happen naturally for us, there are other ways for us to still be parents.”

  Her lips parted. “Really?”

  “Of course. You walked away from us because your doctor told you it could be difficult for you to have babies?”

  Ekko’s eyes filled with tears again. “I want you to have everything. I don’t want to ruin the dreams you have for your future.”

  “What have I told you about your future?” I asked.

  “Mine? You tell me to keep my head up and my eyes pointed forward.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if I do that and stay focused on what’s in front of me, that’s how I’ll find my future.”

  I grinned at her and dug deeper. “Do you know what I’ve been telling myself about finding my future lately?”

  She shook her head.

  “To keep my eyes on you.” My voice was low. “You’re my future, Ekko. No matter what that brings, I’ll be happy as long as I’ve got you.”

  After a few seconds of silence, she rasped, “You can kiss me now.”

  I gave her the biggest smile before I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. What started as an innocent, gentle kiss quickly turned into something more until we were interrupted by a familiar voice declaring, “Well, that’s one way to warm up.”

  I pulled back from Ekko and we both turned our attention to the door.

  “Hi, Kendall,” Ekko greeted her.

  “You’ve got some color back in your cheeks since I first saw you this morning,” Kendall remarked. “I came in to check your vitals
and you were both out of it.” Kendall’s eyes cut to mine. “If I wasn’t so happy for you right now, I’d be pissed at you.”

  “Why?”

  “I work here, and you never called to tell me that Ekko was brought in last night. You know I would have been here for you and for her.”

  She would have; I had no doubts about that. “It was the middle of the night and I knew you’d be in early this morning. I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Don’t ever do that again,” she scolded me before turning her attention back to Ekko. “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired,” Ekko replied.

  “That’s to be expected given everything you went through last night.”

  “When can I go home?”

  Kendall’s expression was contemplative. “Unfortunately, that’s not my call to make. I’m just here to draw blood. The doctor wants to have another round done so she can compare the results to the ones from when you came in. As long as no major organs are in jeopardy, she’ll probably have you out of here in no time.”

  Ekko held out her arm and croaked, “Okay, let’s get this over with then.”

  “I’m good with a needle, babe. I promise to be gentle,” Kendall said softly as she began working at Ekko’s arm. Then, she looked at me and ordered, “Hold her other hand and say nice things to make her feel better.”

  Ekko didn’t wait for me. She gave me her hand and leaned her head back on the pillow. “You heard the lady,” she teased. “Say nice things to me.”

  “I love you.”

  She was beaming when she proclaimed, “I love you, too.”

  I didn’t care that Kendall was there. Ekko told me she loved me. I leaned in and kissed her again.

  “Done!” Kendall boomed.

  Ekko and I turned our heads toward my sister. She held up the tubes of blood and reminded us, “I told you I was good with a needle.”

  “You aren’t kidding. I didn’t feel a thing.”

  Kendall winked at her. “You did. It just wasn’t this,” she explained as she held up the syringe.

  “Yeah. You’re right,” Ekko agreed. “Can I use the bathroom? I’ve got to pee so bad.”

  “Yep. Just be careful getting in and out of bed. I’ll unplug your IV from the wall, but make sure Dom plugs it back in once you’re settled in the bed again.”