Till I Found You: The Broken Hero Series—Book One

by Fernandez, Michelle

  Ace lit another cigarette and let out a billow of smoke. “More is good,” he chuckled. “Now that Red and Larry are locked up, it’ll be split two ways.”

  “My mom would never be so cruel,” Chloe gritted out. “She would never use the money to pay off low-life scum—”

  “Who are you calling scum, bitch? The plan was brilliant.” Ace’s jaw pulsed to weaken Chloe’s stare.

  “Oh, but she was, Chloe,” Reyna feigned. “She was cruel and a thief from the very women she sheltered.”

  Anger flowed hot in Chloe’s veins, refusing to believe Reyna’s words. The woman was sick in the head, psychotic. Mom would never turn away Dad’s lost child, let alone pay Reyna off to keep her out of Dad’s life.

  “Why tell us this when you’re going to kill us anyway?” Chloe asked, fear and anger knotted inside her.

  “Because I want you to suffer as I have.”

  “So why kill her if you needed her to keep giving you money?” Frank blurted, grit in his voice.

  “Since she was the only one who knew about our little secret, I asked her where the funds were coming from. At first, she refused to tell me. But since I had the upper hand and would reveal our secret, she eventually told me it was coming from her precious charity funds.”

  Reyna paused, a repulsive grin spread over her face. “Once I figured out who your accountant was, it was so easy to get any banking information from Mr. Two-Time-Cheating Russell Kollsson. A man puts his dick in a woman’s pussy, he’ll give you anything your heart desires. Isn’t that right, Chloe?”

  “Fuck off, Reyna,” Chloe clipped through clenched teeth.

  “Actually, I don’t mind if I do. Luke’s waiting for me back at the hotel.” Reyna licked her lips. “The poor guy thinks I’m out shopping.”

  “Reyna, please let Chloe go. She’s done nothing to you. I’m the one who’s guilty.”

  “Oh Daddy, you most definitely are and you are in my courtroom. I am judge, jury, and executioner. Your sentence is death. It’s time for you to pay for your crime.”

  “You can’t do this!” Chloe screamed. “He told you he didn’t know about you!”

  “Will you shut the fuck up, Chloe?” Reyna turned to the tattooed man and pointed to a piece of cloth on the floor. “Ace, put a muzzle on both of them. I’m tired of their whining.”

  Ace pushed himself off the wall, picked up a dirty rag from the floor, and tore it in two. He punched Dad, knocking him out, then tied the cloth around his mouth. Ace moved to Chloe and wrapped the other around her mouth.

  Next, he pulled Reyna into his arms and their lips crashed together.

  “Rey, I need to fuck you before you go back to your loser boyfriend.” His voice was low and brusque. “You’re fucking hot when you’re angry.”

  “I’m not in the mood, Ace.” Reyna’s hands framed his face. “But you can have my sister.”

  Panic surged in Chloe’s stomach. Julian was her first and the thought of having Ace’s hands on her made her want to vomit. She sent up a silent prayer, hoping Julian would find her before Ace set his eyes on her.

  “Come on, Rey… You know my dick can satisfy you better than that Jensen boy.” Ace licked his lips. “By the way, when are you going to kill the poor bastard?”

  “The date is set. Once I’m his wife and the life insurance policy’s signed, we can be together.”

  “God, you’re fucking brilliant.” Ace pulled on Reyna’s hair and his mouth was on her neck.

  Chloe gasped through the muzzled cloth. Reyna looked over Ace’s shoulders and chuckled, her dark eyes narrowed. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… Oh Chloe, do you still love Luke? You were such a tease, leading him on. God, the look on your face when you found us together.”

  “Enough talking to her, Rey. I want to fuck you, right here, right now.” Ace’s mouth crashed on Reyna’s.

  Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the bile creeping up her throat at the sound of their kissing and moans. She tuned them out as pain circulated her body. Chloe concentrated on the numbness in her dislocated shoulder.

  She only saw darkness behind her eyelids, as she was biding her time with the terrifying realization.

  She would never see Julian again.

  The heartache was more excruciating than the earlier blows to her fragile body. The thought of never seeing his beautiful face, his dimples and his chocolate eyes that could see into her soul tore her apart.

  Images skittered through her mind as she remembered the time she spent with Julian. The moment she had landed at the airport, Chloe knew immediately there was something special about him.

  Their flirty banter and his wisecrack comebacks. Their first kiss on the dancefloor and seeing his protective side that night. The hilltop picnic and surprises that never ceased to amaze her.

  She laughed to herself, remembering when she punched him in the jaw during their Ronda Rousey session. And the last several days, making love to him, feeling his arms around her. Just twenty-four hours ago, they were on their date he promised her the first night she arrived on the island. And then, making love in the rain.

  She clung to the memories as she would to a life preserver in a stormy sea.

  The sound of Julian’s voice filled her head when he told Chloe he loved her. The thought of Julian going through this a second time, of losing someone, intensified the pain in her heart.

  Chloe gathered her drifting thoughts and took a fortifying breath. She had to grip every ounce of strength she had left.

  Julian had told her, ‘If you feel pain, that means you’re still alive.’

  All Reyna and Ace had to do was make a mistake. And as revolting as it would be for them to have sex in front of Chloe and Dad, it may be their weakness in letting their guard down.

  Determination boiled in her veins and she was going to do whatever she could to stay strong and get out of this hellhole.

  But how?

  Julian needed to rein himself in.

  All he wanted to do was barrel through the doors, mark his target, and lodge a bullet in the unknown male and female’s heads. But he had to be smart, keep his cool, remain in control.

  Chloe and her father’s lives were at stake.

  Lincoln covered the back of the house while Julian covered the front entry. Julian, Lincoln and Tyco had done a radio check to confirm they could hear one another. Tyco was on standby, ready to contact the local authorities and medics when it was time.

  Tyco was able to confirm the woman’s identity as Reyna Donovan, daughter to single mother, Denise Donovan, who committed suicide when Reyna was seven. Father unknown and no next of kin, therefore putting Reyna in the foster care system until she aged out. Studied nursing. Born and raised in Las Vegas until she moved to San Francisco and worked in SF General Hospital the last three years. Tyco also discovered this was the same woman Luke Jensen had hooked up with.

  But it was still unclear to Julian why Reyna wanted Chloe and Frank.

  Julian took measured steps. The hallowed planks below his boots creaked with every move. Beads of sweat coated his skin and he wiped his dewy forehead with the back of his wrist.

  All his senses were on hyperalert and he relied on his heightened natural abilities and years of training.

  Julian muted out the sound of the surf, the whistling wind and the seagulls that gawked. His shoulder barely touched the splintered shiplap exterior. His ear was close to the wood so he could hear something, anything, on the other side.

  The muffled voices of a man and a woman.

  Footsteps and shuffling.

  Julian cautiously lifted his head and peeked through a dull window.

  Reyna’s hair was in disarray, her hip leaned on the table slipping her panties on. She then grabbed a gun next to her and pointed it to Frank. Frank’s body, hands tied behind his back and feet bounded together, lay on the floor. It wasn’t clear if Frank was still alive.

  The unknown man, belt buckle undone and his jeans hung low, had a cigarette dangling fro
m the corner of his mouth as he checked his gun. If Julian were to guess, they must’ve finished having sex.

  “Charlie-one to Charlie-two,” Julian whispered. “What’s your status?”

  “I’m at the back door now. Locked and loaded.” Lincoln’s whisper could be heard loud and clear in his earbud. “You got eyes on them?”

  “Two targets. The bitch and her bastard. Both armed. Frank’s on the floor, status unknown.”

  The man buckled up his pants, handed his gun to Reyna then moved across the room. His hands swooped under Chloe’s armpits and he dragged her to the empty chair. He could see her mangled hair, ripped dress, scrapes and bruises marking her bare skin. Her limp body showed there was no more fight in her and it tore him apart.

  Julian gritted his teeth, his grip tightened around his Glock when the bastard backhanded Chloe across the face. Her head swung, and the blood from her nose and mouth was soaked up by the threads from the dirty rag gagging her mouth.

  “That fucker just hit Chloe.” Adrenaline filled his body.

  The man stretched out his hand and grabbed his gun from Reyna, then raised it to Chloe’s head.

  “Fuck! He’s going to shoot her. Go, go, go.”

  Julian kicked in the front door, in one fluid motion, his gun aimed at his target.

  The man aimed his gun at Julian, fired and missed.

  From Julian’s peripheral, Lincoln stood with his weapon poised and ready upon the man. In unison both agents riddled their intended target with bullets.

  The poor bastard stood no chance, fell to his knees, then toppled down like a redwood tree, his finger still pressed to the trigger as random shots rang out.

  Reyna evaded the bullets, her own gun still in hand. She lunged for Chloe who was still sitting in the chair.

  Both women stumbled to the ground.

  Reyna quickly shuffled to her feet, holding Chloe in her arms, using her as a human shield. With the barrel of the gun lodged in Chloe’s neck, Reyna took faltered steps toward the door behind her.

  The gunfire, smell of burning metal and trails of smoke seeped from the barrels of their guns. In an instant, there was an eerie silence, a ringing in Julian’s ear. But his eyes followed Reyna as she neared the front door.

  Julian’s jaw clenched as tears streamed down Chloe’s bruised and bloody face. The fear in her eyes just about shredded him to a million pieces. He needed to stay focused and as much as it hurt him, he couldn’t continue to look at her. His eyes locked on Reyna’s glare. He needed to get one clean shot, but with the tip of her barrel pressed into Chloe’s neck and the woman’s finger on the trigger, it was too risky.

  Lincoln moved about the room, closer to Julian’s side, their guns aimed at Reyna.

  “It’s over,” Julian threatened.

  “Stay back,” Reyna hissed, panic in her eyes.

  “You’ve got nowhere to go, Reyna.”

  “Are you blind, dickhead? I have a gun pointing at your girlfriend.” Chloe whimpered when the metal pressed deeper into her neck. “I will shoot her.”

  “Let her go,” Julian gritted, his voice more aggressive, determined.

  Chloe grimaced under the muzzled cloth when Reyna tightened her grip.

  Embers of rage boiled in Julian’s blood then a full-on inferno as sweat trickled down his back. He just about had enough. Julian met Reyna’s evil olive-black eyes staring back at him.

  He steadied his aim and pulled the trigger.

  It was all in slow motion. Julian could see the bullet slicing through the air before catching the center of Reyna’s forehead. Chloe flinched as blood spurted on her face from the hole the slug made.

  The bitch fell to her knees, bringing Chloe down with her.

  Another shot rang out—from Reyna’s gun. The last shot from the dead woman’s gun struck Chloe’s fragile body as her head hit the wooden floor.

  “Chloe! Fuck. No, no, no, no.” Julian ran to Chloe, afraid to touch or move her, so as not to disturb the bullet’s penetration. “Tyco, call the paramedics,” Julian yelled into his mic. “Chloe’s been shot.”

  “Fuck,” Tyco yelped through the line. “They’re on their way.”

  Julian removed the rag from Chloe’s mouth and gently pressed it to her abdomen where the bullet punctured her frail body. She didn’t flinch. She was unresponsive.

  Flashes cut through his thoughts, an excruciating déjà vu. An image of Amber, then a vision of Chloe, Amber and back to Chloe. Sirens came from the distance, but it felt like an eternity before they arrived.

  “Come on, Doc. Open your eyes. Come on, baby. Let me see your pretty blues.” Julian caressed her face, attempting to wake her. Chloe warbled in and out of consciousness, opening and closing her eyes, yet still unresponsive.

  Time stood still as the ache in his heart grew, making it difficult to breathe. Chloe, his lifeline and she lay there, motionless.

  “Sir, please step back…sir, please let her go…” the medics’ voices echoed.

  Julian didn’t want to leave her side. He didn’t want to break the connection, wanted to continue holding Chloe’s hand, somehow letting her know he was still there.

  “Booker, you gotta let her go. Let them do their job,” Lincoln’s voice called to him.

  Tears burned Julian’s throat as he gave the medics room to do what was necessary.

  He looked down at his bloodstained palms.

  So much blood.

  Her blood.

  Chloe’s body lay on the gurney as the medics wheeled her into the back of the ambulance. He was not going to leave her side. He clutched her hand and watched as the medics moved in such a high-paced rhythm in the small space, their medical battlefield.

  Undisturbed by Julian’s presence and the bumpy ride, the medics cut Chloe’s blouse open, her torso exposed, as they applied pressure to the bullet wound. They gave the necessary IV fluids and applied an oxygen mask to her blood-splattered face.

  All he could do was pray and hope they could keep her from bleeding out before they arrived at the hospital.

  A haze of darkness all around.

  Where am I? Oh God…the pain. It hurts so much.

  “Come on, Doc. Open your eyes. Come on, baby. Let me see your pretty blues.”

  Julian, is that you? Where are you? I can’t see you. The fog is too thick. Chloe raised her voice, but Julian was nowhere to be found.

  A dim light, a flash of his beautiful face.

  I see you, Julian.

  Then darkness again.

  “Booker, you gotta let her go. Let them do their job,” came Dylan’s voice.

  “I’m not leaving her.”

  Julian…don’t let me go. Stay with me. I’m scared.

  Chloe tried to move her arms, but they wouldn’t budge. Feeling trapped, a heaviness bore down on her chest and pain knotted in her stomach, making it hard to breathe.

  I was shot.

  Unfamiliar voices muffled, beeping sounds in the background.

  I’m so cold.

  “Blood pressure is dropping below one hundred.”

  My blood pressure is dropping? Shit, I’m losing blood.

  “Hang in there. Three more minutes to base.”

  Three minutes. I can do three minutes.

  Warm hands gripped Chloe’s. “Come on, Doc. Stay with me. I need you.”

  I need you too. You’re my lifeline. Please don’t let go of me, Julian.

  Doors opened, a rush of her body in motion.

  “What do you got?” another voice called out.

  “Female. Late twenties. Single gunshot to the abdomen. Administered IV and fluids. Going in and out of consciousness. She’s stable…”

  “Okay…on my count. One, two, three.” Chloe’s body was lifted from the gurney and transferred to another.

  Holy hell. This bullet fucking hurts.

  “Meds are in,” a female voice said. “Heart rate 128. BP dropping below 100…”

  Don’t die… Hang in there, Channing.

  �
��Prep her for surgery. Now.” A male’s voice called out in the cold room. Chloe’s body hurt so much, she wanted to give up now.

  I could just slip away…

  More voices called out various numbers. A cold fluid seeped into her body, numbing the pain, covering her in blackness again.

  Julian wanted to rewind the clock.

  Go back to the hilltop where they last made love in the rain. Or go back even further, to the day they first met. Maybe things would be so different now. The one woman who had helped him with his brokenness, healed the deep scars of his heart and awakened his dark soul now needed to be fixed.

  Agony.

  The only thing Julian felt was pure hopelessness and he wanted to jump off the ledge. The lead of guilt weighed down his stomach and fire raged within him. His blood-soaked cargo pants and dried blood on his hands were reminders of the fucked-up rescue and recovery that had gone completely wrong.

  Waiting.

  That’s all he could do. Time had no place within the sterile white walls of the hospital. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like an eternity. Julian paced the laminate floors of the long corridor as the blur of nurses that passed by him started to make him dizzy.

  Julian’s boots moved him into the waiting room. He leaned against the doorjamb and scanned the room. Sam’s head lowered, face in his hands as Sage’s arm comforted him. Ezra and Olinda, their foreheads touching, embraced one another for support and comfort.

  Guilt stirred in his chest when his eyes met Phoebe’s. Julian swallowed the lump in his throat and slightly shook his head, sending her unspoken apologies.

  Phoebe rose from her chair and put her arms around him. She pulled back slightly and framed his face, wiped a tear that escaped his eye.