by Lexi Blake
Alexei held the assassin off, firing another shot over the car. He yelled at his assailant. “The police are on their way. You should be running. Do you wish to be caught?”
“I’m getting this job done, Markov,” a deep voice yelled. “I can take you out alone or get your friends, too. But one way or another, I’m finishing this tonight.”
Holly put a hand on Alexei as though she could keep him there. She wasn’t about to let him walk out and sacrifice himself. “You are not going anywhere. Put that out of your mind.”
Alexei fired again. “Start moving back. We need to get somewhere where we can protect our backs.”
“We need to stop your bleeding,” Caleb argued.
Alexei shook his head. Even in the low light, she could see he was getting pale. “No time.”
Holly crawled to the back of the car, the concrete under her knees biting into her flesh. Ahead of her she could see the drive-in playing the movie of the week. Doris Day fluttered on screen, but all she could see was another woman creeping behind the row of parked cars. Jessie Wilson had that gun out now, and she was making her way toward them.
“She’s coming,” Holly whispered, terror making her heart pound.
They would be surrounded with nowhere to go.
“I am be coming out!” Alexei dropped the gun and stood with his hands up.
“No!” Holly shouted. She tried to reach for him, but Caleb pulled her down.
“Don’t. Don’t make this harder on him,” Caleb whispered fiercely in her ear.
There was a solitary shot that split the air. Holly screamed against Caleb’s chest, his arms tightening around her. He held her so close she could barely breathe.
Alexei slumped down, his hand reaching for her. His eyes were bright, and a smile covered his face. “Can you reach gun, dushka? Can you give to me?”
Caleb looked him over. “Where are you hit?”
“I wasn’t,” Alexei said with a tired smile. “Assassin is dead. We have a savior.”
“Just because I saved your ass doesn’t mean I like you, Markov,” Logan shouted from somewhere behind them. “It means I’m still a cop no matter what anyone says. And I know you’re in on this, Marshal. Nate is home with Callie. I talked to him five minutes before I got here. There’s no way you met with him. Is your partner dirty, too?”
“Michael doesn’t know anything,” Jessie called out. She sounded close. “I drugged his beer tonight so he wouldn’t give me trouble. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t mean to be the one to pull the trigger, but you know what they say. When you want a job done, do it yourself.”
“You’re going to jail, Marshal. You can’t kill all of us,” Logan said. He sounded like he was on the move.
Holly picked up the gun. She tried to hand it to Alexei, but he shook his head.
“My arm is numb.” He tried to move it but it lay against his chest.
“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Caleb pulled his shirt off, balling it in his hands before he put it on Alexei’s shoulder, covering the wound. “I don’t like the color of his skin. I think he’s going into shock.”
The gun was heavy in her hand. Alexei couldn’t shoot. Caleb was busy. She was the only one left.
“You want to tell me why?” Logan called out.
Jessie’s voice sounded closer. “You know what a government job pays, idiot. I got nothing. I bust my ass for years, put myself out there, and I get nothing. Why should I turn down a hundred grand to look the other way? All I was supposed to do was make it easy for the pro, but no, nothing is easy in this piece-of-shit town. But I have to finish the job or DiStefano will finish me.”
Caleb looked back at Holly. He pressed down on Alexei’s shoulder, putting his weight behind it. “We need to get him out of here. Maybe I can get him into the room now that the hired guy is dead.”
Where was Logan? Holly couldn’t see him. From where she was sitting, she couldn’t see anything. Her heart was pounding. That adrenaline thing was threatening to take over. Caleb and Alexei were counting on her.
“And it doesn’t bother you that you’re killing a man?” Logan asked.
Holly turned and realized she could see Logan creeping along. The lights from the movie screen shone down on the parking lot, illuminating it. She could see him in the shiny hubcaps of the SUV they were hiding behind. He was watching for the marshal, his gun in hand.
Jessie didn’t seem to mind the game of cat and mouse Logan was playing. “Markov is a criminal. I don’t give a fuck that he turned around. He should be in jail, too. I’m more than happy to off the asshole. My partner is a good lay, but not a smart man. He never did see things my way or this would have been easier. Ah, there you are.”
A gunshot rang out.
Holly stifled a scream as she saw Logan’s body fly back and blood bloom across his arm.
It was all going to hell. Logan was down. She couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. Caleb couldn’t run, and he wouldn’t even if he could. Caleb’s hands were on Alexei, trying to save his friend. In the distance she could hear a lone siren. There was only one siren wailing in the night, but she doubted Nate Wright was by himself. Soon every able-bodied man in Bliss would descend, but it would be too late.
“No one to protect you now, Markov. I guess you should have taken up with someone scarier than a doctor and a waitress.” Jessie’s boots thudded against the concrete. She came into view in the mirrored surface of the hubcap. She drew down every time she reached a new car. Two cars separated them. Two more cars and she would be on them.
“Holly, I want you to run,” Caleb whispered. “Give me that damn gun and get out of here.”
And leave them behind?
“No.” It was Caleb’s favorite word, and she gave it back to him. She was pretty sure he understood it.
Jessie was one car away. Holly found herself strangely calm. She’d never fired a gun before, but she would do it now. She would do it because if she didn’t, she lost so much more than her life. She lost her love, her heart, and her soul. Alexei was pale, so pale. Caleb couldn’t run. Logan wasn’t moving.
It was up to her.
Jessie took a step toward the car. “Nowhere to run, you piece of shit.”
She hated to do it, but Holly moved to the other side as quietly as she could. She couldn’t see Jessie in the hubcap anymore. If she stayed watching the marshal, she couldn’t shoot her. She could only see what was coming from behind her. She had to give up her line of sight in order to be ready to shoot.
Holly shifted, her eyes meeting Caleb’s.
“I love you,” he mouthed. He held on to Alexei, giving this job to her.
She felt his strength. They were united. He had his job to do and she was left to this. She would save them or they would all go down together. Not a single one was willing to leave the others.
Holly braced herself. She straightened her back against the SUV, protecting against the inevitable kickback. She might not have shot anyone, but she’d heard all the lectures.
She forced herself to focus. Only one thing mattered. One moment.
“I think this is the one, you piece of shit,” Jessie said. “Your running is over.”
The minute the marshal came into view, Holly pulled the trigger. She kept her eyes open and fired at the largest part of the marshal’s body.
Jessie’s arm dropped as blood blossomed across her chest. Holly watched as the gun the marshal held slipped from her hand and hit the ground. Jessie stared at her for a moment, a weird recognition on her face before her eyes went blank. She fell to her knees and slipped away.
“Holly, baby, don’t you ever do that again! I love you. I love you so fucking much, but don’t do that again.” Caleb kept his hand on Alexei’s chest, but there was no denying the horror in his eyes. “I’m going to let him spank the hell out of you. When Stef gets back from his honeymoon, we’re going to talk about paddles and whatever the hell that thing is with all the tails. That’s what I’ll use.”
> “Thank our woman.” Alexei managed to bring his head up. “Caleb, stop yelling and thank our woman.”
Holly’s hands shook as she let the gun go. She crawled to Alexei. They could thank her later. “Logan got shot. He’s down. I don’t know if he’s alive.”
Caleb reached for her hand. “Use your weight on this. Don’t be afraid to put a little force behind it. We have to stanch the bleeding until I can sew him up.” He looked down at Alexei. “You don’t go anywhere. You understand me?”
Alexei smiled up at him. “I will live to annoy you, Doctor.”
Caleb nodded and forced himself to get to his feet. He grimaced as he moved, but he was obviously determined to see about Logan. He held on to the car above them as he hobbled away.
“I am so sorry, my dushka. I should not have come here.” Alexei placed his good hand over hers.
She pressed against his shoulder, praying she could keep the blood in his body. “No. No more of that. I love you. Caleb loves you. No apologies, and if you think you can run, you’re wrong. You’re never allowed to leave.”
He smiled. “I must listen to such fierce woman. I wouldn’t want to be on side of you that is so bad.”
She didn’t bother to correct him. He would never really be on her bad side. “I love you.”
“And I you. I will not go. I will never to go.”
His eyes closed, and Holly prayed he could keep his promise.
Chapter Eighteen
Two weeks later
“Doc, I am never listening to you again. You are the worst baby deliverer ever!” Zane Hollister said with a grin from his seat on the sofa in his cabin. The Hollister-Wrights had just gotten home from the hospital and settled in. He cradled a tiny baby boy in his hands. Little Alexander Grant Hollister-Wright was perfect.
And so was his brother.
“Stop your bellyaching, Zane,” Nate said, patting Charles Stephen’s back. “He did a fine job delivering the babies. But he can’t read a sonogram.”
Holly laughed. Caleb was bad at that. “He’s going to work on that because I don’t think the women of Bliss are anywhere close to being done with babies.”
Caleb shrugged. “I told Stef I wasn’t an obstetrician.”
“You are great doctor,” Alexei said, slapping his partner on the back. “You save many lives. You cannot help that one boy hide behind the other.”
Caleb’s face went red. “Well, I might have seen an extra leg in there somewhere, but to be honest, given everything I’ve heard about Zane, I thought the kid just had a really big penis.”
Callie’s laughter pealed through the room. “I can see where you would make the mistake, Doc. I don’t mind. I’m just glad all my boys are healthy.”
“Hello to the house!” Rachel said, knocking on the door as she entered. Jen and Stef were with her, along with her husbands.
“You had to show us up, didn’t you?” Rye asked as he walked inside.
Caleb’s arm went around Holly’s waist, and he hauled her close. “You think you ever want to try something like that?”
“A baby?” She was too old. She looked at the sweet babies in the room. Screw that. Age was just a number.
Caleb’s voice was warm against her ear. “Yeah, the big guy and I have been talking about it, and as soon as we make an honest woman out of you, we thought we might give the baby-making thing a try. I really like Mick. I think I might like to have a family.”
She leaned into him. He would be an incredible dad. He and Alexei had already proven to be good to Micky. “I think I would like nothing more.”
“And I will enjoy the practicing.” Alexei pressed against her other side, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
She looked up at him. Alexei wasn’t back to a hundred percent, but he was getting there. Caleb was the most thorough of doctors. And all thoughts Alexei had about leaving them seemed to be gone. Eli Sommerville had brought down a ton of hellfire on DiStefano’s head. It would make anyone who considered revenge on Alexei think twice.
“Look here, little guy, we’re going to have a talk, you and me,” Max said to one of the boys. “I catch you looking at my daughter, and we’re going to have trouble.”
The baby yawned, his tiny mouth opening and forming a perfect O. He didn’t seem intimidated by the big man threatening him.
“Max, you leave those boys alone.” Rachel held their daughter, who was doing her damnedest to reach for the baby closest to her. Paige babbled and reached out her chubby arms as though trying to get to the boys. “I think Paige is the one we should watch.”
Max shook his head. “That’s not true. Paige is perfect. It’s those boys who are going to cause trouble.”
“You know it, Harper,” Nate said with a big grin. “The Hollister-Wright boys are going to be hell on wheels.”
Holly sighed as the men started arguing good-naturedly. The small cabin was filled with friends and family and love. The thought of kids running around Bliss made her heart skip a little beat. She was forty. Did she really want to start again?
Hell, yeah.
Alexei announced that it was time for him to go and open up Trio. Good-byes were said and hugs given. Holly and Caleb followed him out of Callie’s cabin. They opened the door and found Logan standing on the front porch next to Wolf Meyer. Logan was pale and paced nervously. His eyes came up.
“Logan, are you all right?” Caleb asked. “Are your stitches okay?”
Caleb had dug the bullet out of Logan’s lung. It had been touch and go, but Logan was strong. At least physically. He looked a bit frail as he began to talk.
Logan shook his head. “I’m fine, Doc. I wanted to talk to you three. I wanted to apologize.”
Wolf held out a hand, shaking both Alexei’s and Caleb’s. “I’ve been watching out for him, Doc. He’s good. He’s been following orders. His moms have taken great care of him, but he insisted on coming here.”
Logan swallowed. “I know I was an ass. I’ve been in a bad place for a long time. I know I have to find a way to get out of it, but I don’t think I can do it here. Alexei, I hope you can forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive.” Alexei’s words sounded choked in the back of his throat. He’d been worried about Logan. He didn’t want the younger man to hurt.
Logan cleared his throat. “Thanks. I appreciate it. When I heal up, I’m going to Texas with Wolf for a while. Nate’s giving me some time off. Maybe a lot of time off. Wolf’s moving down to Dallas for a job. His brother lives there. According to Wolf here, his brother is good at dealing with guys like me.”
Wolf smiled. “My brother is a shrink. He loves this shit. Bringing Logan to him is like giving him a present. Leo’s going to talk to Logan for fifteen minutes and think I gave him a trip to Disney World. It might actually make him not be a douchebag for a day or two. I wish I could take that other guy with us. He’s a ball of torture right now. Leo would eat him up.”
“Michael?” Holly asked, frowning.
Wolf nodded, his face turning grave. “Yeah, I’m joking about it, but that guy is in pain. He rented out a cabin on the mountain. He hasn’t left it yet.”
Holly could remember the look in Michael Novack’s eyes when he’d stumbled out of his room right as Nate had placed a sheet over Jessie’s body. He’d practically howled. And then when he’d heard the story, a terrible silence had come over the marshal. He’d gotten up and walked out. This was the first she’d heard he hadn’t left town.
“I hope everything’s all right with him,” Holly murmured, staring off at the mountain where the marshal was now residing.
“I think he needs this place for a while,” Caleb said. “I know I did.”
“And I have to leave.” Logan’s eyes cast down.
Holly stepped close. She hugged Logan gently. For all he’d said before, she could still see the young man he’d been. “If you need anything, you know where home is.”
He nodded, his arms going around her. “I need to find me again. I need it
so bad.”
“You will. I’m behind you,” she whispered. “Always.”
“We all are.” Caleb shook his hand. “Anything you need, you know where to find it.”
Wolf and Logan went into Callie’s cabin, and Holly was left alone with her men.
She looked at them, each so perfect in their own ways, each oddly incomplete without the other. No person was an island. She’d lived like that for far too long, forgetting what it was to find the pieces that were missing, to be whole and complete.
“I could use a beer. I’m not going to try anything else. Your screwdrivers suck,” Caleb teased.
“My screwdriver is perfect. Holly say so.” Alexei slapped at his partner’s arm. The men stepped off the porch and started toward the truck.
“Holly lies because she wants to get some,” Caleb joked.
“I am okay with this. And I will to be giving her some,” Alexei said. “I think I will be giving her some on Zane’s desk. We will see how he likes it. The sheriff gives us permission.”
She laughed and hurried after them, pushing her way in between the men and grabbing their hands.
That was her place. Always between them.
* * * *
James, Hope, and a new arrival to Bliss will return in Pure Bliss, coming March 5, 2019.
If you’d like to know what Wolf and Logan do in Texas, check out Siren in Bloom, coming November 6, 2018. Click here to purchase.
Author’s Note
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