by Dale Mayer
He gently peeled away her fingers and put a cool washcloth over the wound. He put firm pressure on it, making her cry out.
“It’s bleeding pretty badly. I have to clean it up a bit to see just how bad it is.”
“How bad? I presume I’m going to the hospital.” She stared out the window at the animals. “The cats and two dogs. Can you handle them?”
“Sure can,” he said cheerfully. “Though the priority isn’t the animals, but getting you to the hospital.”
“True enough, but they have to be scared. There has been an awful lot of noise here. This is not the environment I wanted for any of them.”
“And it’s not likely to ever happen again. Once we get this resolved, you can go back to that nice peaceful way of living.”
“And why is it that it sounded like boring was the next adjective you would use?”
He laughed. “Flynn took the big truck,” he said. “You okay if I drive your car?”
She nodded. “Not a whole lot of options.”
“Not unless you want to pay for an ambulance.”
She snorted. “Not only am I not paying for one, but it’s nowhere near bad enough for it. I can probably drive myself, if you want to stay here and look after the animals for me,” she said hopefully.
“Not happening. I suspect Flynn will be back fairly soon, and he can look after them.”
She had to be happy with that because no way would Logan budge. With her hand again holding the washcloth firm on her arm, Logan reached for her purse, then tucked it over her other shoulder. Afterward he grabbed up her keys, turned out the lights, reset the security and got her to her car in a minute flat. He gently helped her into the passenger side, buckled her in and jogged around to the driver’s side.
“You don’t have to treat me like an invalid. I won’t break.”
“But we don’t know how long that will hold because right now, you’re leaking.”
She looked at him, startled, then burst out laughing.
With a big grin on his face, obviously happy he had shifted her mood, he drove her straight to the nearest emergency room.
As he drove, she asked, “It was the same truck, wasn’t it?”
He nodded. “Flynn and I recognized the driver. It was Brendan for sure.”
“He’s really not going stop until Flynn is shot, is he?”
Logan glanced over at her sideways. “And even then he’s not likely to. He’s quite fixated on Flynn. Chances are it’ll end up with somebody getting killed.”
“As long as it’s not Flynn.”
“Agreed. But I don’t want to see you or any of the rest of us hurt either.”
She shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t be very nice.” She stared out the window, a real deep hatred burning inside her for the man completely destroying her life. “I hope Flynn catches and beats the crap out of him.”
“You can be guaranteed that we will catch him. If it’s not today, it’ll be tomorrow.”
“He has to be stopped before he hurts anybody else. He just has to.” She couldn’t live with anything else.
*
No way in hell would he let Brendan get away with this. He’d heard Anna’s cry of pain and knew she’d been hit. He’d checked it quickly, found it wasn’t bad, then raced for the truck. But after that round of bullets hitting the house, he couldn’t be sure. He knew Logan would look after her. What Flynn had to do was get this asshole and run him down. Somehow. They had to put a stop to this forever.
Brendan had a head start. Moving around a street corner, Flynn caught sight of the truck several blocks ahead. He picked up speed, catching the light just before it turned red. Then gave chase. The cops would be after both of them. An APB should already be out on Brendan’s truck from the last one. He couldn’t believe the cops didn’t catch him, but then, like Logan said, Brendan had been damn good. It was going be hard to stop him. If Flynn could follow Brendan someplace, see where he was roosting, that would be a different story.
Still a block behind, he watched as Brendan made a sharp left. He followed and watched Brendan take another turn into an alleyway.
That could be good or bad. He drove past it to see what Brendan was doing and saw the truck taking a turn about halfway down, into what appeared to be a backyard.
Flynn quickly pulled off to the side, turned off the engine and lights, and ran on foot down the alleyway. If he could at least find the truck, he would know where Brendan had gone to ground. At the halfway point he slowed, studying each property as he went. These were run-down houses. He’d have to say it was more of a shady area of town from the looks of the backyards, but it could just be a poor one. As he came to an open road, he saw a truck parked halfway in, and it looked like the one Brendan had driven. As he sorted things out, he saw Brendan busy throwing stuff into the back of it.
Flynn stopped and considered his options. It would be stupid to go in without backup, but no way could he afford to lose track of Brendan. Flynn stepped back and pulled out his phone, quickly texting Levi this location. Flynn only had a general guess as to the street he was on. He clicked on his phone’s GPS and sent the coordinates to Levi as well.
Still huddled in the alley keeping an eye on Brendan, he sent the next text to Logan. When there was no answer, he frowned. He didn’t know how bad things were at home, but he could only hope this wouldn’t be something he’d regret.
Levi sent back a confirmation.
Stay there out of sight. Cops are on their way.
He stared down at the message and wondered if that was a good or bad thing. Because if they came in with guns blazing, Brendan would be out of here. And no way would Flynn be able to stop the truck on foot.
Brendan walked to the back of the house. If Flynn could disable the truck, Brendan would be stuck on foot, and it would be a whole lot easier to catch him.
The backyard was a wide open grassy area, and the truck offered no cover. As he studied the neighboring houses, he saw the closest one offered privacy with their fenced yard. He creeped over the back gate of the neighbor’s yard to where he could jump the fence close to the truck. He listened carefully and peered through but saw no sign of anyone. Gathering his strength, in one smooth movement he cleared the fence, landing softly on the other side.
He pulled out his knife and stuck it into the tire on the rear right side, then moved to the left and did the same. At least now Brendan couldn’t use this vehicle to get away. Inside the garage was a small car. But without moving the truck, no way could he get the car out either. Flynn crept to the front of the truck and stabbed the front tires as well. He stood up to take a look inside the front seat. It looked like Brendan had packed for a long trip.
If he opened the truck door, it would likely sound an alarm, turn on the lights, and all that would alert Brendan. As Flynn peered into the back, he saw duffel bags, several of them. As if Brendan was heading out of town for good. Or at least until he could formulate his next plan of attack.
Well, good luck with that. Flynn planned to have this one locked down before Brendan could make another move.
The back door of the house slammed. Flynn had no place to hide. There was just enough room between the garage and the neighbor’s fence to squeeze behind it. Brendan threw another bag into the back of the truck, then stopped and stared. And then he started swearing.
“Jesus Christ, what the hell happened to my tires?” He turned and glared around the yard, searching for the culprit. He ran inside the garage, then down the alley. Finally, he walked back toward the vehicle, shouting obscenities.
Flynn was about to stand up, only to realize the jam he was in. He didn’t have any way to sneak up on Brendan. As he opened the truck door, pulling out his bags, Flynn came behind Brendan, grabbed him by the neck and slammed his head into the side of the door. Brendan dropped and rolled, his legs kicking, catching Flynn, and down he went. Brendan was on him in an instant, his hands latched around Flynn’s throat.
Flynn tucked his knee
s up, caught Brendan in the groin while reaching up to press his eyeballs deep into his skull. Brendan roared. But they’d both been trained with military tactics, and it was a fair fight.
Only Flynn had a little more at stake–Anna.
The thought of her bleeding right now was enough to keep Flynn punching and kicking wildly. In the background he dimly heard sirens filling the air. Suddenly, Brendan was hauled off Flynn and held down to the ground.
Guns were pointed at Flynn. He raised his hand and said, “I’m Flynn. He’s the shooter.”
The cops didn’t believe him. “Roll over on your belly with your hands straight out in front of you.”
He complied. This would be sorted out with time. The best thing he could do was comply. All he could think about at the moment was that they caught Brendan. Thank God, they’d actually gotten him.
Now to tell Anna so she could rest easy too.
Chapter 15
“Any word from Flynn?” Anna asked as she sat on the hard bed in the emergency room.
They were waiting for the doctor to arrive. Logan had told the nurse how Anna had been shot, so she suspected it wouldn’t be all that long to get medical attention. On the other hand, this was a big city. Shootings happened almost every single day. She was now a statistic.
“He texted to say he’d run Brendan down to a house. Cops were on the way, and Levi already knew.” Logan pulled out his phone. “But there’s been nothing since.”
“Maybe you can contact Levi and see if he knows anything more.”
“Already in progress.” Logan nodded, his fingers busy on his phone.
When Logan was finished, he sat back and studied her. “You still don’t have any color in your face. How are you feeling?”
“Shaky.” She gave him a wan smile. “When we know where Flynn is, I’ll feel better.”
Just then the doctor came in. “What’s this I hear about you being shot, young lady?”
“Shot at,” she corrected. “Actually, I have no idea how bad it is.”
“Let’s take a look.”
And he did, poking and prodding. It hurt. She had tears running down her cheeks; she couldn’t hold them back. Logan walked to the curtain and stared out toward the waiting room. She figured it was to give her a moment of privacy. All she really wanted to do was curl up on the pillow and bawl.
When the doctor was done, he said, “It could be much worse. The bullet went through the fleshy part of the arm.”
She stared at him. “Pardon?” She stared down at her arm but couldn’t see anything. “I didn’t think I had a fleshy part of my arm,” she said in disgust.
The doctor grinned. “Sometimes it’s an advantage not being a pure bone rack.”
From near the curtain, she could hear Logan snigger.
“Yeah, sure, you’re having fun with this. Now you can go tell everybody I’m so fat that the bullet couldn’t miss me,” she joked.
“I never would,” he said. “Besides, the last thing you are is fat. You could easily use another ten pounds.”
“I could not. I’m just fine the way I am.” She appealed to the doctor beside her. “Right, doc?”
“I’m not getting in the middle of this one.”
She glared at Logan. “See? He agreed with me.”
Logan opened his mouth to retort and then snapped it closed and shook his head. “I’ll put your lack of logic down to you being injured. Obviously it’s a handicap.”
She glared at the doctor and said, “You didn’t actually tell me how bad it is.”
“Nope, I didn’t. It’ll need some stitches and cleaning. It will be a few days before you can use it at all.”
She looked at him in shock. “You know it’s my right arm, correct?”
“You know how many people I get through here who tell me something similar?” He picked up his tablet and started to walk away, adding, “I’ll send the nurse back in to clean it. Then I’ll return to stitch you up.”
“I guess that means I’ll be here for a while?”
Logan nodded. “I’ll step out to make some phone calls.” He turned to look back at her and asked, “Will you be okay?”
She waved him off. “I’ll be fine. Go find out where Flynn and Brendan are.”
When he was gone, the nurse came in. Anna was very grateful Logan wasn’t here because she became a blubbering baby. She kept apologizing to the nurse.
The nurse said, “Just relax as much as you can.”
Finally the nurse was done. Wiping back her tears, Anna asked, “Can I lie down now?”
In fact, the nurse helped her to lie flat. “I’ll give you a shot so when the doctor comes and puts in the stitches, you won’t feel it.”
“Will it hurt?” She was feeling like a baby. This was so not like her. But then she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had any kind of physical trauma. And she would blame as much of this on shock as she could. She felt really woozy too. The pain for the last half hour made her body ache. And she was chilled.
The pain of the needle wouldn’t be as bad as cleaning the wound had. The nurse reached down and touched her forehead. “Are you cold?”
Anna nodded, and her teeth started chattering. “It just hit all of a sudden.”
“I’ll get you a warm blanket. You just lie here and rest.”
The nurse took off her gloves, tossed them in the garbage and disappeared. Anna rolled over so her injured arm was higher than her legs and curled up into a ball. And then the tears poured. They were so damn hard to stop. By the time the nurse came back, Anna was shaking from the cold. A warm blanket was draped over her shivering form.
The nurse whispered, “Take it easy. You’ll be fine now. This is just shock. Give yourself a few minutes to adjust.” Then she was gone again.
Finally her tears stopped, and the shivering calmed down. And warm once again, Anna closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
She was awakened rather rudely when the doctor came in and asked in a bright, cheerful voice, “You ready for those stitches now?”
She stared up at him and shook her head. “Is anybody ever ready for them?”
He gave her a quiet smile. “Well, the alternative would be much worse. Let’s get this sewn up.”
She lay quietly in that position while he went ahead and did what he needed to. Thankfully, it was just a few tugs. Nothing bad.
When he was done, he said, “I’ll write a prescription for some pain medication. You need to see your doctor in ten days. If you have any sharp pain, pus from the site, red lines running up and down your arm, or any kind of problem, you get to your doctor immediately. Better yet, come straight back to emergency.” He waited until she looked him directly in the eye before he added, “Do you hear me?”
She nodded. “I hear you.”
“I’ll make sure she’s fine,” Logan said from the doorway.
The doctor looked at him. “Are you her boyfriend?”
“No, a good friend.”
Logan stepped closer. “Her boyfriend went after the asshole who did this to her.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. I presume I will have another body in need of repair soon enough.” He handed the prescription to Logan, walked out, calling back, “Glad she has someone looking after her. We all need that.”
Logan studied Anna’s face as she still lay under the blanket. “Do you need to stay overnight? I might be able to arrange that.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.” She looked up at him. “But it’s awfully hard to move.”
He gently pulled back the blanket and held out his arms. She grabbed him with her good arm and slowly leveraged herself to a sitting position.
Just then the nurse came bustling back in. “Oh, good, you’re up. I came to bring you a sling. Keep the arm elevated to take the pressure off the joints, and don’t use it for several days. Do you understand?”
At this point Anna found it easier to nod at every instruction. She’d do what she had to, and do the best
she could. But honestly, how could she possibly not use her main arm? That would be damn near impossible.
Thankfully, the bullet hadn’t hit a bone or artery, and it was a small injury compared to having a bullet tear through her organs. This was an inconvenience, but she would live with it.
It could have been a lot worse.
*
Flynn called Anna. No answer. Had they remembered to grab her phone before they raced to the hospital? He could only presume that’s where they were. It was where he’d have taken her. But since she wasn’t answering her cell phone…
Quickly he dialed the number to the shelter and got the answering machine. Next he called Logan.
“She’s fine,” Logan said. “The bullet went through the soft tissue of her arm. She’s got stitches, and it’s bandaged. We’re just heading to her car to drive home.”
“Oh, thank God.” Flynn pinched the bridge of his nose as he gave a silent prayer of thanks. “When I ran out like that, after the second barrage of bullets, I wasn’t sure how badly hurt she was. I was just about to race to the hospital now to see if she was still there.”
“We have to pick up a prescription, and that’ll take at least ten minutes, so we should be home in half an hour. She’s tired, still a little in shock, but fine and in fighting form, evidenced by the fact that she wouldn’t stay in the hospital any longer.”
“No, I don’t think she likes hospitals.” He could be wrong, but he didn’t think so.
“I don’t think anybody does. Anyway, can you meet us at her house? I want to get her into the vehicle and moving as fast as possible. She’s looking a little on the pale side.” Logan sighed.
In the background, Flynn could hear her snapping, “No, I’m not. Tell him I’m fine. He’ll just worry.”
And that—more than anything—made Flynn feel so much better. If she was in a feisty mood, then she was doing just fine. “I’ll be home as soon as I can,” he said. “The police have Brendan in custody. But I’m hanging here just in case they need me. I don’t want the cops to come back to the place tonight. She’s been through enough.”
“This isn’t your fault. Think forward.”
