Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel

by Charisma Chloe

  “How do you know that?”

  Because every time he got orders he would always say “Yes ma’am!” I figured it was some old lady or something. I went with him to pick up some money at someone’s house in Bel Air once also. ”

  “What else?”

  “Nothing man! I swear that’s all I know.”

  Jason knew he was telling the truth because he was shaking uncontrollably and he knew Marcus didn’t want to repeatedly get his ass kicked while he was inside of twin towers. His next move was obviously to find out who this Armando person was and also who this ma’am was he was getting orders from. If they were picking money up in Bel Air, then that probably was where this mystery woman lived. Bel Air is a very affluent community. It’s actually somewhere a person that was very rich would live; someone like a Hollywood star, an athlete, the co-owner of an exclusive lounge or…a politician.

  “It’s looking more and more like Beatrice is our girl,” Jason told Amour as they walked through the parking lot of the twin towers.

  “Why? Is that who he’s working for?”

  “No he’s taking orders from someone named Armando and he’s been referring to his boss as ma’am. He also told me that he’s gone to a home in Bel Air to pick up cash before with this guy. If I’m not mistaken, Senator Harrington lives there.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Not at the moment but I need to see if Chandra could possibly get Marcus’ phone records so I can see who he has been calling besides you.”

  “Do you think she can do that?

  “I’m sure she’s capable.”

  “Alright.”

  Jason slid his cell out of his pocket after getting in the driver’s seat of his truck and dialed before putting it up to his ear.

  After a couple of rings, a female voice answered. “West Side Community Station, this is Officer Winslow.”

  Good, she was still there. “Hey Chandra, it’s Jason.”

  “Hey! What’s up?”

  “I need you to try and get the cell phone records of an inmate at Twin Towers.”

  “Okay…who’s the inmate?”

  “Marcus Wright. He’s the one that kidnapped Amour last week.”

  “Oh, alright. That’s gonna take a little bit of work because our precinct didn’t handle that arrest but I’m on it.”

  “Thanks Chandra.”

  “You got it!”

  Amour looked up at Jason. “This all seems like quite a ridiculous thing to kill someone over. So they had an affair. Even if they would’ve gotten exposed so what? Pierce Harrington loses his job? Is that really worth murdering someone over?”

  He gave the guard at the exit to the parking lot his ticket and then drove out of the lot when the barricades lifted. “To someone like him, yes. Losing his seat not only means losing his job, it also means losing his status, his money, his reputation and all of his power. Beatrice would be felt sorry for instead of admired and revered. She and the senator would probably divorce and their whole lives would turn to shit. Once you get a taste of living on easy street, it’s hard to give it up and yes, some people will commit murder to keep it.”

  “I guess.”

  By the time they’d gotten onto the 10 freeway, Chandra had called him back. She’d gotten in contact with another officer at the Mid-City precinct and they’d given her the information she needed.

  “Wow that was fast,” Jason said to Chandra.

  “It’s not hard to get info from cops when you’re also one. They just assume that it’s business.”

  Before he could reply to her, he suddenly felt someone hit his truck from behind as they entered the 10 freeway causing him to lose control and swerve off to the other side of the highway. Amour screamed as he managed to gain control of the wheel again and avoid oncoming traffic. Shots were fired nearly shattering the back window of his truck as he tried to make his way back to the right side of the road and one of the off ramps.

  “Get down Amour!”

  She screamed again as two more shots were fired hitting the passenger side of his truck. He slammed on the gas pedal and headed towards the Crenshaw exit. He glanced out of his rear view mirror and saw a large black truck chasing him. He turned left onto the large street thanking his lucky stars that it was mid morning and it wasn’t a lot of traffic. Because of that, he was able to navigate quickly through the neighborhood in hopes of losing whoever this was after him. He had no such luck though. The other car was tailing him very well and very closely. He quickly turned into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, sped up and made a sharp right turn in the narrow alley in back of the place causing the other car to miss the turn completely and crash into the brick wall in front of them. The sharp turn also caused Jason to side swipe the wall and head straight for a homeless man pushing a shopping cart in his direction. He honked his horn at the man but it was too late to stop. He swerved to the right to avoid him and crashed head first into a large tree at the end of the alley.

  He glanced over and saw Amour curled up in a ball on the floor of the truck, trembling. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “N…No.”

  “Stay down.” Removing his gun from his waist band, he slowly stepped out of the truck and quickly but carefully walked around it to ensure that no one was there. From what he could see, the other car was still there crashed against the wall down the alley. He wasn’t sure if anyone was still in the car, but at the moment, his only concern was Amour’s safety. He reached for the handle of the passenger door and quickly opened it. Holding his hand out, he beckoned for her to grab his hand and step out.

  “I’m scared,” she said trembling.

  “I can’t drive my car anymore it’s wrecked. I need to get you somewhere safe so I can call one of the guys to come and get us.”

  “W…Where are the people that shot at us?”

  “I don’t know, probably knocked out in that car but I don’t want to take any chances. There’s a McDonald’s right across the street. I want to go inside there so I can make the phone call. We need to hurry.”

  She grabbed her purse and his hand and quickly stepped out of the truck. They had already walked about halfway to their destination when Jason felt a chill run down his spine. There was no need to analyze what it could possibly mean because he knew exactly why he’d felt it. He quickly shoved Amour in the direction of the restaurant. “Run! Now!” When she’d done so, he stood and watched her as she made her way to the door of the restaurant and also as he felt the barrel of a shot gut press against the back of his head.

  CHAPTER 34

  Amour paced back and forth in the bathroom of the McDonald’s Jason had told her to run to. Her whole body was shaking with fear with the thoughts of what could possibly be happening to Jason right now. She shouldn’t have left him. She knew he was just trying to keep her safe but still, she should be there to help him. He could take care of himself though. He’s smart and tough. Now if she could just convince herself of that instead of just saying it to herself over and over she would probably feel better about this. What was she going to do? She had to do something. She quickly left out of the bathroom and peeked outside of the window of the restaurant to see if she could see anything across the street. Nothing, absolutely nothing. She opened the door and poked her head out to see if she could hear anything but she heard nothing but cars passing by and random people wandering the streets. Every part of her body started to tremble even more. She was so scared for Jason that her stomach started to do flips and a tear ran down her cheek.

  “Are you alright my dear?” an elderly woman asked after stepping in front of her.

  He mind was so occupied she didn’t even realize the woman was there. “What?”

  “I said are you alright? Do you need some help?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  The woman made a face telling Amour that she didn’t believe her. “Honey if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. You’re crying, now something has to be wrong. People don’t
cry unless they’re happy or something is really bothering them and you don’t look happy to me.”

  Yes, something was wrong. Something was very wrong but she didn’t have time for this. She had to get away from this woman…now. “Umm…I just need to go to the restroom. I’ll be fine, thanks for your concern.”

  Before the woman could reply to her, she hurried back to the restroom. Once inside, she took a deep breath trying to calm down but she couldn’t help but feel responsible for all of this. Jason was out there risking his life over information that she came here to get. Although she knew that Jason wouldn’t see it that way especially since doing such things was part of his job, this was still her fault. Jason’s blood would be on her hands if anything happened to him. She had to do something, but what? She couldn’t call the police even though she was tempted to. If she did, they’d probably kill him before the cops even had a chance to arrive. Not wanting to betray Jason’s trust again by going against his orders and doing something foolish, all she could do was get down on her knees and pray.

  * * *

  Jason stood in the alley with a shot gun pressed to the back of his head and no clue how he was going to get out of this situation. He hoped to god Amour made it to the restaurant safely. If he was going to die today, he didn’t need her to join him. He took in a deep breath and tried to think of a strategy to get out of this mess but to no avail. It was looking more and more like he was a dead man.

  “Drop the gun!” the other man said as he continued to press the barrel to Jason’s head.

  He had no choice but to oblige if he wanted to stay alive so he did as he was told. Perhaps doing just that and trying to reason with this man would buy him some precious time. “Look man, just tell me who sent you after us and I’ll make sure they won’t find out you told me.”

  “Do you really think I’m stupid? I’m not telling you shit! Now get on the ground before I pull the trigger!”

  Ok…so that didn’t work. “Why? I can’t do anything to you and if I run you’ll just shoot me.”

  He shoved Jason causing him to stumble forward. “I said get your ass on the ground!”

  “Alright!” He slowly lowered himself on the pavement lying flat down on his belly. The other man kicked Jason’s gun off to the side and he heard it hit the wall. So much for using that.

  The man pressed the barrel of his gun harder to the back of Jason’s head. “I actually had strict orders to off that bitch but I think I’m gonna enjoy killing you as well.” He laughed softly. “Looks like you hooked up with the wrong chick!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Mighty big words for someone lying on the ground with a gun to their head. You seem to have a lot of balls to do the shit that you do! Did you really think that I wouldn’t find out that you paid Marcus a little visit today?”

  “I guess word travels fast when you’re in law breaking business.” He lifted his hand off the ground. “Look man; if you’re gonna kill me I’d suggest you do it now because if you don’t, I promise you there will be no other opportunities.”

  He laughed again. “What are you gonna do pretty boy? If you try anything I’ll put a bullet in your head.”

  “Then do it!” Jason exclaimed.

  “Fine, have it your way. Just so you know, when I’m don’t killing you, I’m going to find that bitch and do the same thing to her except her death won’t be so easy.”

  Jason heard the click of the man’s gun and knew he was about five seconds away from taking his last breath. His life flashed before his eyes with thoughts of his mother, Oscar, and even his father; but even more than any of them…Amour. He pictured her beautiful face staring down at him and slowly closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable as thoughts of her flooded his mind. When the pressure of the barrel increased in the back of his head, he breathed in deeply as the pebbles and debris from the pavement started to pierce the side of his face and the palms of his hands. He wasn’t ready to die at this point in his life but knowing his mother and Amour would be alright, he was able to accept it. He mentally counted from one in his head as a peaceful calm came over him and he prepared himself to leave this earth. One, two, three, four, five…He counted away as he laid there waiting for the blast.

  “Say you prayers pretty boy!”

  “Why don’t you say yours asshole!”

  Jason’s mind was very distracted but that almost sounded like…He lifted his head and looked behind him but he didn’t get up from the ground. His eyes widened in surprise when he’d realized who had said those words.

  The click of another gun sounded. “Drop it or I’ll blow you fucking brains out!”

  Jason couldn’t believe it. “Mack? How the hell did you find me?”

  “Don’t worry about all that. Just get your ass up so we can beat the shit out of this prick or whatever you plan to do with him.”

  Jason got up from the ground and went to grab his gun. By the time he’d gotten back over to the two of them, the other man had dropped his weapon. “Now I want your ass to get on the ground,” Jason said.

  “Please don’t kill me!” The other man pleaded.

  “I won’t if you tell me who you are and who you’re working for!”

  “I can’t do that! They’ll kill me!”

  Jason fired one shot in the man’s leg and he started to scream in agony. “I’ll kill you if you don’t!”

  “My name is Armando!”

  “Who in the fuck are you working for?” After Armando’s long hesitation, Jason fired another shot in his knee cap causing him to scream even louder in agony. “I said who are you working for?”

  He took in several breaths. “Mrs. H…Harrington.”

  He clenched his leg and Jason could tell he was thriving in pain. He turned to Mack. “Just as I suspected.”

  “Is he talking about Mrs. Harrington as in the senator’s wife?” Mack asked.

  “Yes. I’m afraid so.”

  “Get the fuck out of here!”

  Jason nodded as he heard sirens getting closer and closer to them. “Looks like the cops are on their way. I guess we can claim self defense here.”

  Mack chuckled. “Well I technically can’t, but I will.”

  Two police cruisers pulled up into the alley and stopped in front of the three of them. A female officer in the passenger seat of one of the cruisers got out and opened the back passenger door.

  “Jason!”

  He turned around to Amour hopping out of the back of the cruiser and running towards him. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tightly against her. A huge sigh of relief washed over him as he held her back. “Oh baby, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

  He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him and touched the side of his face. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? I told the police everything.”

  “No sweetheart, they didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.”

  She planted a kiss on his lips that lasted at least sixty seconds. “Thank goodness you’re alive. I was so worried!”

  The female officer who let her out of the car approached them. “Ms. Graciette I need you to come and speak with us.”

  She looked at Jason as if she needed his approval. “Go ahead sweetheart,” he told her. He glanced up to find Mack starting at him with smirk and a cocked eyebrow. “What?”

  Mack’s smirk turned into a full out grin. “Well, it looks like somebody’s been getting some.”

  Jason’s expression turned serious. “Really Mack? At a time like this?”

  “I’m just saying.”

  “Well don’t.”

  Mack threw his hands up. “Sorry…”

  Jason stopped Mack before he could walk away. “Hey!”

  Mack turned and faced him. “What’s up man?”

  Jason walked up to him gave him a hug. “Thanks man.” The hug lasted a few more seconds and then the two of them parted.

  “Don’t worry about it man. You would’ve done the same thing for me.”
<
br />   “You bet your ass I would have.” Mack gave him a salute but remained silent. “A man, you never told me how you found us.”

  “Chandra called me after she ran a trace on your cell when she heard you crash.”

  “Did she send the cops here?”

  “Most likely or somebody over here did.”

  “She said she had some info for me.”

  “She does. She wants us to meet her at her house after we’re done here,” Mack said.

  “Okay. I sure hope it’s something good because all of this uncertainty is really starting to piss me off!”

  “I hear ya man. Now let’s go talk to these damn cops and get out of here because I’m hungry as hell!”

  After Jason and Amour had their medical examinations, they’d gone home to shower and change before meeting up with Mack again at Chandra’s place. The four of them were sitting at her kitchen table when she plopped a large envelope full of a stack of papers on the top of it.

  “Here are the phone records of that inmate you asked about Jason,” she said before biting off a piece of one of the bread sticks that came with the pizza they’d ordered.

  Jason dumped the contents of the envelope on the table and studied them. After a few minutes he looked up. “I’ve noticed that he’s made a lot of calls to a lot of various numbers, but he’s called this five six two number quite a bit. As a matter of fact, he’s called it twelve times in the last few days.”

  “Well I can do a reverse look-up on it and see whose it is. That would probably be better than just calling them out of the blue. They’ll probably just get spooked and hang up anyway,” Chandra said as she grabbed her laptop off of the bar. She sat it in front of her on the table and began typing the number in the search engine. After a few second’s she looked up at Jason. “This number belongs to Carter Medical Center in Downey.”

  “Where’s Downey?” Amour asked.

  Chandra took another bite of her bread stick. “It’s about twenty minutes from here.”