“I’m sorry about this,” he said to me in an oddly gentle voice as soon as I emerged from the bedroom. “Hopefully it won’t take too much time.”
I didn’t say anything. Simply glared at him, squared my shoulders and marched over to Heath who was standing in between the two men.
“Are we ready?” the older man whom the large gun wielder had called ‘Bunsen’ asked.
“Yeah,” Heath said, “I’ll show you.”
Heath led what felt like an ominous death march to the garage. I moved behind Heath, grasping his hand with both of mine.
Behind us were the two bikers, their guns drawn.
When we reached the door that lead to the garage, I saw Heath’s hand move, not to the garage light, but to the garage door opener.
Apparently, the large man caught this too. Because before Heath could press the button, the biker extended his gun towards him.
Heath stood staring at the man, his eyes wide. It was clear he had frozen.
“The garage light’s out,” I said, thinking quickly. “The only way to see anything once we close the hallway door is to open the garage door. Then the light from the front will shine in.”
It was a complete lie but, apparently Bunsun believed me.
The large man turned towards him and in the soft light from the hallway, I saw him nod to the other man.
“Fine,” the gunman said grudgingly as he closed the hallway door.
We were cloaked in darkness for several moments before the garage door opened and allowed several pricks of flood light to shine through.
It was still fairly dark. But, at least now we could make out each other’s faces and the items in the garage.
“It’s in my bike,” Heath said pointing to his motorcycle that stood in an open space right next to my car. “I’ll get it.”
“Don’t turn your back,” the large man said, extending his gun towards Heath. I barely saw Heath nod before I felt a strong arm reach around my waist and pull me roughly towards the large man.
I gasped in surprise before I felt the cold steel of the gun once again meet with my forehead.
“And if you try anything at all, I’ll shoot her first. You get it?”
Heath opened his mouth as though to speak but, in the end, he looked at me and simply nodded.
Never turning his back on the two men, he reached into what looked like a small compartment behind the front wheel.
When he came back up, he had a bag of white powder in hand.
“Here it is,” he said moving towards them. “All of it’s here.”
He was coming closer. He was going to hand it to them and I still didn’t know what to do.
That was when I remembered. That millisecond before the bag reached Bunsen's outstretched hand, I thought of the simplest, most primitive thing I could do to cause a stir.
Quickly, I reached my leg backward and kicked up into the large man’s groin. He let out a help of pain. As soon as he did, he let go of my arm, when Bunsun reached out to catch me, Heath dove back into the secret compartment just above the tire on his bike and fished out a key.
As soon as I heard the engine rev, I rushed to jump behind Heath just as the large man pulled the trigger.
A bullet flew just above my head.
“Move again and we shoot. No more warning,” the large man said. Both his and Bunsun’s guns were aimed straight for us.
Heath did not move from the bike and I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Hold on,” he muttered to me before turning the bike around and whizzing out of the garage.
I heard another gun fire, but I didn’t dare look back. I knew the two men were scrambling to get onto their own bikes which I’d seen parked in my front drive.
What’s more, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they caught up with us.
“How far is the police station from here?” Heath called back to me just as I heard two more engines rev in the distance.
“Not far,” I called back to him. “Turn right at this next corner then straight—”
The rest of my sentence turned into a yelp as a gun fired and yet another bullet whizzed past our heads.
I heard the engines of our pursuers’ motorcycles coming closer as Heath turned the right corner just as I had instructed.
I heard the squeal of tires behind us as we started down the street. I caught sight of the police station in the distance.
“There!” I told Heath, “It’s—”
I cut myself off again, this time with a cry of pain. I hadn’t heard the gunfire. I didn’t realize that the other two were so close until the bullet tore into the flesh of my arm. Blood spurted out of the wound.
“Kayla!” Heath shouted. He didn’t slow down.
As I wrenched my eyes closed in pain, I felt his bike swerving and swaying trying to avoid the bullets.
A moment later, I heard sirens begin to sound from the police station. I heard men yelling. We slowed to a stop outside the station.
As Heath helped me off the bike, I opened my eyes just long enough to see the two other bikers turning around and rushing the other way. Two cop cars were chasing them.
Heath put my arm around his shoulders and hoisted me up and over the bike seat.
The stinging in my arm had increased and I looked down to see streams of blood pouring down as Heath walked me into the station.
I saw cops swarm around us. I heard one call for an ambulance as Heath set me down on a bench.
“It’s ok, Kayla,” he said, “I’m here.”
I looked into his eyes and smiled before resting my head back and closing my eyes. After that, the world faded to black.
*****
I didn’t have to stay long in the hospital. Less than a week and that was more for safety reasons than because I truly needed it.
Heath spent every day with me at the hospital. He refused to leave my bedside and got angry with the nurses when they tried to tell him that visiting hours were over. It was only when I told him that I needed sleep, he agreed to leave me for a few hours every night to go back to the townhouse.
The police came in to see me twice. Once it was to take my statement about the break in. The two men they had been chasing had disappeared and they hadn’t been able to find them yet.
But, they did find the drugs.
Heath revealed that he kept a fake bag behind the tire of his bike in case he needed it. That was the bag he had given Bunsun and his gunman. It was filled with icing sugar.
The real drugs were inside the warehouse where I’d found him beaten two days before.
The warehouse was owned by the Bulls biker club. The police said that gave them enough evidence to arrest not just the two men who had chased us, but all the leading members of the gang.
The second time the police came was the day I was set to be released. They were accompanied by a man in plain clothes who identified himself only as Agent Murphy. He claimed he worked with the FBI.
“Why do the FBI want to talk to me?” I asked, confused. Heath, clutching my hand beside the bed, did not look confused. He looked wary, even defiant.
“Well, I had hoped to talk to both of you separately. But, Heath insisted—”
“Whatever you’ve got to say, you can say to the both of us.”
“Ok, then,” Agent Murphy said.
“We know that you’ve given evidence against the two men who broke into your home,” he said, “and that those men are still on the loose. We can offer you protection if you would like to take it.”
“What sort of protection?” Heath asked. Now pressing my hand so tightly that I was afraid the blood would stop circulating.
“We give you both new identities, move you to different cities, give you different jobs,” he said, “that way they’re less likely to find you.”
“What about the rest of our family?” I asked.
“The rest of your family should be safe enough,” the agent said, “the gang doesn’t know their names or where the
y are and it’s unlikely they’d be interested even if they did. What they’re interested in is you.”
I was silent for a moment. I knew I had to take what they offered. I would never survive if I didn’t.
Then I looked at Heath. His eyes met mine and I remembered what I had told myself. What I had decided the night I ended up in the hospital.
“Would you be able to place us together?” I asked agent Murphy.
He hesitated, looking from me to Heath and then to our hands clasped together over the hospital bed.
“The agency won’t place couples together unless they’re married,” he said. “If we put you in the same city...it would be too much of a risk.”
I nodded then looked to Heath. I was willing, prepared to turn back to the agent and tell him that, in that case, I couldn’t do it.
I opened my mouth to speak, but, Heath beat me to it.
“Can we have a few days to think about it?” he asked.
“You can take two days,” Agent Murphy said. “But, we need to know your answer by the day after tomorrow.”
With that, the agent left.
I wanted to ask Heath why he needed time. I wanted to know what there was to think about.
After all, that night, he had said that he loved me and I’d believed him. He’d stayed with me while I was in the hospital. I couldn’t imagine why he would want to think about being apart from me now. Unless he was trying to protect me. Unless he was going to pull some stupid noble shit and tell me, I was better off without him.
He was in for a fight if he tried that. Now that I’d decided I was sticking by Heath’s side no matter what, no one and nothing was going to pull me away from him.
Throughout the rest of the day, I tried to think of some way to tell him this. But, the timing never seemed right.
Before I knew it, I was checked out of the hospital and Heath was driving me home. He’d taken my car and left his motorcycle in the garage.
We sat in silence most of the drive. The silence stretched on as we entered the house.
Heath moved to the table and slumped into a chair beside it, exhausted.
I knew I had to say something. Anything. So, I decided I would.
“Heath I—”
“Kayla, do you want to marry me?”
I stared at him with my mouth hanging open for several seconds.
“I...what?” I asked lamely.
“I mean it,” he said looking up at me. With a sigh, he turned and moved towards me. I was still standing by the garage door, motionless.
“I don’t want to be without you anymore,” he said, “and if we go through with this protection and we’re not married, it means I might never see you again. I can’t do that.”
He moved closer to me and I backed into the wall. I was very aware that my mouth was still opening and closing like a particularly stupid fish.
“And I...I know I do stupid shit and I might not change overnight but...for you I will try. You could help me. We could help each other. I just think—”
Before he could finish the sentence, I had leaped forward and pressed my lips passionately to his. Not a moment passed before he was returning my kiss with equal passion.
Suddenly, I was being moved back towards the wall. I felt my back collide with it as Heath lifted me from the ground. I wrapped my legs around him as he pushed me further up the wall and took one hand to run it along my body.
He ran his hand down my leg and reached up to the place between my thighs where he pressed hard against the still covered fabric.
I leaned my head back against the wall and let out a low moan.
“Is that a yes?” he whispered in my ear.
“What do you think?” I asked pulling back slightly with a flirty smile on my lips.
He smiled back and his hand moved from between my thighs.
I was disappointed for one moment before I felt him unbutton and unzip my pants. Still looking at me with a naughty smile, he dipped his hand beneath the waistband of my underwear and touched my hot, wet center.
I moaned loudly once again as he said.
“I guess I will take that as a yes.”
Then he kissed me.
The rest of the night was spent in the bedroom, his body towering over mine, pressing into me, giving me more pleasure than I had ever felt before, I realized that this was the only man I would ever want to spend my life with.
We were married the next day.
Now, I guess you could say we don’t exactly live a traditional life. Our names are different. I had to start all over again in terms of becoming a doctor. But, in the end, that is not such a terrible loss.
What’s important is that Heath and I are together. As long as that’s true, nothing will be able to stand in our way.
THE END
Bonus Story 4 of 40
Jailbird
Saturday
When we finally made it home, it was late and I was emotionally exhausted and drained. Stopping at my parents’ house on my way home had left me feeling hopeless about an already bleak situation. After all of that running around to get the money together for Jordan’s bail, they tell me that he needs a second co-signer. Something told me that it would be much easier to break him out my damn self than to find another co-signer. I was the only fool stupid enough to co-sign in the first place. He had wanted my mom to co-sign, but I already knew from past experiences that he was barking up the wrong tree. My mom hadn’t even co-signed for my cousin, and he still sat in prison to this very day.
By the time I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex, the lot was full, as usual at this hour and I had to park further away from the front entrance. I parked and cut off the car lights. I took the keys out of the ignition and opened the front door. My one-year-old son was still awake despite the fact that it was a little after midnight. I was currently working on getting him back on a schedule, but that meant getting myself back on some sort of schedule as well. I slung the diaper bag over my shoulder, unbuckled the straps and freed my son from his car seat. Once I had everything, I shut and locked the car and began walking across the parking lot toward the front door.
Standing outside, a young woman smoked a cigarette and danced to music that only she could hear through her headphones. She smiled at me and I smiled back. At least someone’s having a goodnight, I thought as I passed her. I flashed my pass card to get into the building and headed toward the elevators. There was already one on the first floor so when I pressed the up arrow, the elevator doors opened immediately. I stepped inside and pressed the button for the second floor. When we got out of the elevator, I carried the two bags and my son all the way down the long hallway until we got to our door. Balancing him and the bags, I unlocked the door and let us in, not putting him down until the door was closed behind us. The apartment was just as we had left it. The Christmas tree was still lit like a bright beacon of hope in a corner of the living room. I turned on the other lights as I walked through the apartment.
I let my mom know that we had made it home safely and then proceeded to remove my sons coat and shoes, as well as my own. I could feel relief flood my body. Even though my spirits were low, it did feel good to be home. I tried to put Jordan’s incarceration out of my mind, at least for the time being, so that I could do what I needed to do for myself and my son. The serenity prayer flashed through my head as I realized that I had done all that I could and now I needed to accept that the rest was in God’s hands. It was a fucked up situation, but it was what it was. I was sad that Jordan was locked up but I was angry that he had put his freedom on the line like this. The last time that I had spoken to him, he had told me that if we didn’t bail him out this weekend, they would raise his bail to $200,000 on Monday. If they raised his bail, it would be close to impossible for us to get up the money to get him out. So, what did we do? We, the people who loved and cared about him, and didn’t want to see him rotting in a jail cell, scraped together what little money we had, money that was meant
for bills, or Christmas, and put it together and came up with enough money to bail him out. And after all of that, when I thought that he just might be able to come home with me, I find out that he needed a second co-signer. On top of that, even if we did find another cosigner, the bail bond wouldn’t be open again until Monday. So basically, he was fucked.
It hurt my head and heart just thinking about it. I headed into the bathroom to run my son a bath. My son followed me into the bathroom, watching me as I began to run the bathwater and then stopped, turning it off and leaving the bathroom, so that I could get the bed ready for after his bath. I was just about to change the bed sheets when I heard a splash and a thud. I raced back to the bathroom to find my son looking just as shocked as I was, fully dressed and soaking wet in the bathtub. I checked to make sure that he was alright before removing all of his clothes. The tub had drained slowly, so there had been a little puddle still in there that he thought was worth pursuing. Once he was stripped down to a full diaper that desperately needed changing, I began filling the tub once more. While the tub was filling up, I picked him up and left the bathroom to turn up the heat. I wanted the apartment to be nice and toasty for when he got out of the tub. Once the apartment was heating up, I grabbed some bath toys and we returned to the bathroom.
The tub was nice and full by now so I put my son down and removed his full diaper. Jordan Jr., or JJ as everyone called him, began tossing the bath toys one by one into the bath water. I checked the temperature of the water to make sure that it wasn’t too hot, before picking him up and placing him in the tub. As I bathed him, my thoughts returned to his father. Maybe this was a sign from God. Maybe God removed Jordan from my life so that I could get my life together. Maybe we both needed to be apart, so that we could get our priorities in order and grow as people, so that we could both be better parents to our son. I felt guilty trying to look on the bright side. I felt guilty trying to imagine a bright side that did not include Jordan. The guilt was quickly replaced by anger. It was his fault that he was in there! Life was all about choices and his own bad decisions had led to this, had put him in this predicament. I guess, most of all, I was hurt. I was hurt that JJ and I weren’t Jordan’s top priority. That he had once again put stupid shit over us, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it. I was going to continue handling my business and making sure that JJ and I were good, just as I had been doing.
Alien Affair Page 17
