by Mary Malcolm
“No!” I screamed, kicking backward. My heel connected with bone, and he let go, falling away from me. Another bullet hit metal above my head. I scrambled on all fours up the stairs.
Once on the upper level, I ran toward the open doorway, Ben right behind me. “Fucking bitch, fucking little Lucy bitch. I’m going to kill you!”
Fight or die, I kept thinking. My lungs ached, my heart fought for each beat. My thighs burned, but I kept running, my life literally depending on it.
“Run if you want, Lucy,” Ben called. “I can kill Ana tonight instead of you. I know where she is. And it isn’t as if she knows where you are right now.”
His words slowed me. Oh God, no! I stopped and ducked behind a box.
“You have a choice,” he shouted, closer now. “You or your friend. Are you willing to die for her, Lucy?”
I stifled a cry, not sure what to do. If I came out, I would certainly die. If I stayed hidden, Ana would be this psychopath’s next victim. With shaky legs, I decided to step out from behind the box just as a hand clamped down over my mouth.
“No,” Eli hissed into my ear. “She’s safe.”
I turned to him, eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”
“John tracked your phone to this part of town, and we’ve been searching the warehouses to find you.”
“He has a gun,” I whispered.
“C’mon.” He took my hand.
I followed in a low crouch, hoping Eli knew the way out. We only went a small distance before the footfalls grew stronger. “He’s behind us!” I whispered, frantic now that Eli’s life was in as much danger as my own.
“Run!”
We made a break for it, but Ben overcame us. He caught me, and we tumbled to the floor. Up ahead Eli stopped and turned. Ben positioned his gun on me, holding me around the neck.
“Detective Reyes. Couldn’t save your girlfriend, huh?”
“Let her go, Ben. She’s not worth it. She’s a pain in the ass and truly not worth the cost of your bullet.”
“I am too!” I insisted, before I could stop myself. Eli’s words stung.
Ben’s gun wavered for a moment. I held my breath as I waited to see what he might do.
“C’mon, man,” Eli continued. “We know what you did now, and you have nowhere to hide.”
“Oh, that’s not true,” he said in a deadly calm voice, his gun arm now rock-steady. “I have plenty of money. And plenty of places to go.”
“There are officers crawling all over looking for you,” Eli said. “If you give yourself up now, you might make it out of this alive.”
“You and I both know that if given even a small chance, I will be shot on sight. Lucy is my insurance. Now drop your weapon.”
“Not happening.”
Ben cocked the trigger and pressed the gun hard to my temple. “Can’t see me well, can you, Detective. I could easily kill her and still make it out of here. Do you want to take that chance?”
“Okay, okay.” The gun clanged as it hit the concrete.
Ben had no reason to keep me alive any more. Unarmed, Eli had no protection. Ben would kill us both.
His arm tensed around my neck, and I knew what was coming. “No!” I screamed. I let my body go limp, and the bullet blasted above my head in a rush of heat. The entire weight of Eli’s body crushed my hand and I screamed. He dove past me, tackling Ben.
The men fought hard. Their bodies thudded against the floor, limbs flailing. I felt around in the dark for Eli’s gun and found it at about the same time Ben’s slid across the concrete floor.
Sickening sounds of knuckles against flesh echoed through the warehouse along with grunts and curses. I aimed the gun but couldn’t tell one man from the other. They bashed into a wall and back to the floor again. With the sound of cracking bone, it was over. Oh, God! Please don’t let it be Eli. The body on the floor didn’t move.
The other man stood. “Stop!” I screamed, shaking violently, unable to hold my aim steady but praying he couldn’t tell. “I have the gun now.”
“Lucy, it’s me,” Eli said, weakly. He shuffled forward and leaned heavily against me.
I welcomed his weight and his warmth. “Eli! I thought I was going to die. I thought you were dead.”
He pulled something from his pocket. “Suspect in Warehouse 34, grid 5,” he said, not an ounce of energy left in his voice.
A few minutes passed, and then the sound of boots on concrete echoed nearer. Lights came on and bodies swarmed through the far doors. Ben lay on the floor, hand reaching for his gun.
“Look out!” I screamed, aiming Eli’s at him. On instinct, I pulled the trigger, arm recoiling painfully from the blast.
The two guns went off. Eli knocked me to the floor. Blood trickled down his arm. “Are you shot?”
“No. My stitches probably tore. You okay?”
“Yes.” I bent my head around Eli and the sight of Ben made me cry out. He had bullet hole through his neck, head cocked at a strange angle, and blood squirted and pooled all around him.
Eli turned my head away and shielded my face with his hand and took the gun. “Shhh,” he said. “It’s over now. You’re safe.”
“No! No!” Pain made my fingertips numb. I fought my way out of Eli’s arms and over to Ben. I pressed my hand against his neck; warm, sticky blood covering my hands entirely. “No,” I cried again. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
****
I woke the next morning to a hospital room full of people I loved: Aunt Dolores, Ana, John, and Eli.
And a few I didn’t, namely Captain Matheson.
My body was a riot of stiffness and aches. A giant goose egg on the side of my head from where I’d been cracked with the gun, and the top of my head had staples where the bullet grazed my scalp. My hand was also bandaged and two fingers splinted from where Eli stomped on me on his way to Ben, but the pain didn’t matter. We were all safe.
“You’re lucky to be alive, young lady,” Captain Matheson said, jowls jiggling. “You put a lot of people’s lives in jeopardy and got one of my detectives shot. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“What do you have to say, sir?” I asked, tired of him deflecting the blame to others and no longer willing to play nice. “You locked the wrong person in jail, someone innocent of all this, and stopped looking for the real killer. If you had done your job half as well as I did, none of this would have happened.”
His face puffed out and turned red like he had so much to say he might pop.
“Edgar, back off,” an older man said from the doorway. He wore a suit, but from the way Eli straightened and Matheson shut up it was clear he was someone of importance. “This young lady is right. She, for all practical purposes, singlehandedly solved your case, and she will be rewarded for her efforts.”
“But Commissioner—”
“No buts. The city will eat this up.” He looked to me and smiled. He appeared grandfatherly with his white hair and big nose, but a keen sharpness shone in his eyes. This man was calculating, his actions precise. “That is, if you don’t mind a couple of press conferences?”
“Natalie is free?” I asked, priorities first.
“As of this morning.”
“And Detective Reyes will resume his normal duties?”
The commissioner looked toward Eli. “I believe he’ll even receive a commendation.”
Eli’s chest visibly expanded. “Thank you, sir.”
I loved how this man didn’t even introduce himself, knew it wasn’t necessary. The reaction of the people around me was enough to let me know he was in charge.
Matheson’s face stayed red, but he didn’t speak.
“One more thing,” I said, feeling bold in my backless hospital gown, wrapped in bandages and hooked to monitors. “I’m probably going to lose my job over all this. My aunt needs me to be working. Is there any way you would consider letting me work on other cases in the future?”
“Th-that is not something that will be h-happening,” M
atheson said, in his fast response.
The commissioner cut him a look, then turned back to me. “Come by my office Monday, and we’ll discuss bringing you on as a consultant. It isn’t always steady work, but as long as you continue to prove your value…”
I smiled despite the frown on Dee’s face. “Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you, Ms. Carver. There is a passel of reporters downstairs. I know you’re set to be released later today, so I’m going to have Mr. Brown, my press advisor, set up our first press conference for two hours from now.”
I nodded.
The commissioner turned to leave, but then motioned for Captain Matheson to follow. He did so, reluctantly, and not before flashing me one last dirty look.
“That was unexpected,” Dee said. “Now you. What you did was reckless, dangerous—”
“Aunt Dolores, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you what I was doing—”
She held up her hand. “Stop, just stop right there.” Dee pulled a chair beside my bed, then sat next to me and took my hand. Her face softened. “Lucy, you did what you did to try to help a friend. Do I wish you hadn’t done it? Hell yes. Do I wish you told me? No. Not in a million years.”
“I don’t understand.” I shot Ana a look.
“You have some amazin’ gifts, baby girl, things I wish you didn’t. For you to truly figure out who you are in this life, you’re gonna have to do things I don’t always like. You saved someone last night, and you did so knowin’ you might be puttin’ your life at risk.
“You are brave and loving, and I admire you. I also appreciate that you didn’t want me to worry about where you were and what you were doin’ all night.”
I chewed the skin around my thumbnail, then looked up to Eli and back to Dee. “So don’t tell you?”
She smiled and pulled my hand from my mouth, then squeezed it. “Tell me what you think I need to know, but understand I love you and trust you no matter what.” She leaned in and hugged me.
“Dee, you’re sentimental and sappy, you know that?” Ana said, breaking us apart.
Aunt Dolores sat up and shot a glare her way. “And you’re a pain in my tuchus. Going off on a date with some poker killer and not even thinking twice.”
“He wasn’t the killer!”
“You didn’t know that. Lucy, I trust. You, I think, will end up splattered on the ground someday if you don’t keep your head on straight.”
“I was an integral part of the plan,” Ana said. They left the room arguing.
“Integral my ass,” Aunt Dolores shot back before the door closed behind them.
That left me alone with Eli and John. I looked between the two. “John, do you mind if I talk to Eli for a few moments?”
He smiled, though slightly strained, and nodded. “Sure. We’ll talk later. I have to go to work anyway.” He kissed my forehead and squeezed my good hand. Leaning in beside me, he whispered, “Don’t forget those Bond moves you want to show me.”
My cheeks heated at his reminder. He stopped in front of Eli. “Thank you for saving her.” He reached out to shake.
“She kind of saved herself,” he answered. “But of course.”
The door closed, leaving Eli and I alone in the room.
“You came for me.”
He sat in the chair where Dee had been. “What the hell were you thinking?” His face broke into a million bits of worry and pain. “You were almost killed. That man murdered other people, and you didn’t even consider that before putting yourself in harm’s way.”
I sat up straighter, feeling I couldn’t fully defend myself lying back in bed. “You heard my aunt. I have things I need to do, and I can’t always have people worrying over me as I get them done.”
“Bullshit.”
My mouth fell open.
“You nearly got yourself killed. If John hadn’t tracked your phone signal to the warehouse district before it went dead, you would have been killed. I don’t care what your aunt says, you had no business being out there.”
“You didn’t believe me.”
“I never stopped believing you. I couldn’t protect you,” he said, voice rising passionately. “Goddammit, Lucy! Can’t you see anything past your own stubborn nose?”
I opened my mouth to argue when without warning he pressed his lips to mine. Kissing me. Softly at first. Teasingly. Heat flooded my face.
I tensed, pushing at him, then slowly melted. My lips parted, and I tasted peppermint.
He pressed his hand between the pillow and my head, furthering his hold on me. My body reacted to his fingertips massaging the base of my neck. He held me tight while unthinkably we became one.
Then, as quickly as it started, he pulled away. His dark pupils returned to normal, though my body begged for more. My fingertips shot to my still-tingling lips. “You kissed me.”
He ran his hand through his hair and stood to walk away. Turning back, he said, “I can’t be with you, Lucy. But that doesn’t make me not want you. Or make me not want to protect you.”
“I’m with John.”
“I know. He’s the least of my obstacles. Matheson doesn’t like you, if you haven’t noticed. And he’s my boss. If I even tried to date you, it would ruin my career. I can’t do that. I can’t risk everything I’ve worked for, not even for you.”
I wanted to be with John, but I could no longer deny my feelings for Eli. With me still reeling, he left the room.
Chapter Sixteen
“I can stay longer,” Ana said, twisting the shirt she was supposed to be folding into a wrinkled mess. “I mean, it isn’t as if I have plans or anything. I don’t have to go visit my parents right now.”
It was time. “You can stop that. I know the truth. Besides, you haven’t talked to your parents since Christmas last year.”
Her cheeks turned dark pink. “What do you mean—you know the truth?”
I folded one of her tops and placed it in the suitcase, then took the shirt from her. “I know you’re going to Milan for a photo shoot next month. I also know Bobby set it up for you.”
Ana ducked her head. “How did you know?”
“He told me, at the bar, when I answered your phone. Why didn’t you want me to know, Ana?”
She tucked away a pair of jeans and sat on the bed. “I’ll be gone for a while. Longer than normal.”
I sat next to her. “You’ve been gone a long time before. Remember when you went to Chicago for three months?”
“This is different,” she said, sounding a bit like a little kid going away to summer camp for the first time. Excited but miserable. “I’ll be in a different country. You can’t come see me whenever you want. I won’t be able to fly down if something happens.” She grabbed another shirt and stared at it for a moment. “I’m kinda scared, Lucy.” Looking up, her lashes glistened with tears.
I grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and pressed it into her hand. “You deserve a life of your own, Ana Angel. This is your chance to have it. And it will be amazing. I’m good here, we’re good. And when you’re done, you’ll bring me back some amazing designer heels, or one of those sexy Italian men.”
“What if it’s somewhere else after this? Then somewhere else again?”
“Then we’ll have to work harder at seeing each other,” I said, pressing myself into her side. “You are more a sister to me than I’ve ever known. And I apparently had two.”
She laughed at my black attempt at humor.
“People who grow apart are the ones who don’t work at staying together. We are not those people.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder. “We better not be. Who else am I supposed to go on crazy misadventures with if not you?”
“And who am I supposed to corrupt into doing bad things if not you?”
A honk sounded outside. I looked out the window. “They’re here.” Bobby sent a town car to pick her up even though I’d have preferred taking her to the airport myself.
Pretty much out of time, we smashed the rest o
f her clothes into the bag and smooshed it shut. “Love love love,” she said to me, squeezing my neck.
I grabbed her suitcase and carried it down the stairs. “Love love love love love,” I answered, walking her to the car. “Be safe, have fun. Don’t let them try to change you, you’re perfect the way you are.”
With that, she left.
****
Later that night, I spoke to Natalie for the first time since she’d been freed, and it was good to hear her voice. She was back home with her folks. “I don’t want to stay at HGR, but I don’t know where else I’m supposed to go,” she said.
“Wherever you want,” I told her. “It isn’t as if you have anything holding you back. Clive loves you. I won’t be there, but we can be friends no matter where we go, right?”
“Maybe I’ll go back to school,” she said, wistfully. “I always thought I was pretty smart. Maybe I’ll get a degree in law or something.”
“Maybe.”
I could hear her smiling over the phone. “Thank you for everythin’. Truly. I still can’t believe it was Ben. I didn’t like the guy, but for him to go this far is psychotic.”
At the mention of his name, a picture of him dead flashed before my eyes. I’d have to talk to someone about that. It kept me up at night. Him, the white room, Diana’s body. It was more than I could deal with on my own.
John had agreed and said as much. “I don’t think I could sleep if I’d been through what you went through.”
We still hadn’t been fully intimate. Turns out watching someone’s life drain from them created a fair-sized crimp in my libido. Probably for the best. But still, John was a good guy and not pressuring me. I asked him what Ben said, about if he loved me. He didn’t. Not yet, he’d said. But also that I’d be the first to know when he did.
Eli stayed on my mind constantly too. Which is probably another reason I hadn’t been able to go all the way with John. The kiss at the hospital lingered in my mind like some sort of last leaf that refused to fall from the tree. And I wasn’t sure I wanted it to. It proved one thing to me: Eli had the same feelings I had for him.
Feelings I couldn’t have. Especially now that I was to be a consultant with the Fort Worth Police Department. Captain Matheson didn’t like it, but I hadn’t expected him to. “Don’t think you’re getting away with anything in my department,” he had said as I fill out paperwork. “You are here because the commissioner wants you here for publicity, nothing else. You will work with Detective Reyes and only Detective Reyes, and if you so much as set one eyelash out of line, I’ll have you out of here so fast your head will spin.”
