I work hard to finish the apps that I was working on and the ones that I know I won’t be able to finish. I write out what should be done to finish them.
I only have a few hours before I need to be back here, so I leave and go down to the waterfront and take in the beauty that is all around me. It’s early August and as usual, the weather is amazing. I really do live in the most beautiful state. It hasn’t been an overly hot summer, only getting into the nineties.
There is a group of children with little boxes in their hands that the teacher has carefully handed out to them. They look so excited, I wonder what is inside that’s making them so still, but chatty. I hear them start a countdown and when they get to one, they pull the lid off the box as beautiful yellow and blue butterflies stretch their wings and take flight. As each child’s butterfly flies away, the child screams with exuberance that their butterfly is now flying free. The circle of life starts again. It’s the most magnificent thing I have seen in a long time.
I look down at my watch and know it’s time to head back to the office. As I walk back to my bike, I see an elderly couple walking along the path through the park. I wonder if I will ever get the chance to look at Char like this elderly man is looking at his wife. His eyes full of love, he holds her hand, paying close attention to her as if she was the only person around. He leans over and whispers something in her ear, then kisses her cheek in such a loving manner, and I long to be that couple. I want to worship her, adore her, watch over her and protect her.
I walk into the office and back to Beckett’s office. Both Beckett and Mitchell look at me. “You doing okay, Carson?” Beckett asks.
“As good as can be expected.”
“I have your gear, Carson. Did you bring your black pants and shirt?”
“Yes, I was here earlier and left them in my office.”
“Why were you in here earlier?”
“I had projects that I’ve been working on that I needed to finish before tonight, and the projects that I couldn’t get finished, I wrote up what needed to be completed on them.”
Both Beckett and Mitchell stopped everything they were doing and look up at me, as if I had two heads. Mitchell goes over and closes and locks the door. He walks over to me and is in my face with his finger in my chest, while Beckett leans against the front of his desk with his arms crossed across his chest, as Mitchell says, “What the fuck are you thinking, Carson? You’re not fucking going.”
“The fuck I am,” I say.
“NO! The fuck you’re not! There is no God damn way I am taking you out there to get yourself killed, and in your frame of mind, that’s exactly what will happen. I told you to make peace with it, not to just give up and bow down to it. What the fuck, Carson? Do you really want me to have to live with that kind of bullshit guilt?”
“I made peace with it and I made a deal with God …”
“Bull fucking shit! You DO NOT go into battle bartering with God. God has his plan for you, he will take you when he is God damn ready, but I’m not taking you so you can commit suicide. Not only would Raven have my balls, but so would Charlie, and she scares the shit out of me. So you might as well pack it up and go home, because I’m not taking you.”
“I have to go. I have to make sure Char gets out okay.”
There’s a knock at the door. Beckett goes to answer it.
“What the hell is all the yelling down here?” Raven asks.
“Carson has given up and he is planning on dying tonight to save Charlie,” Mitchell says.
Raven walks over to me. She’s in my face. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?” she screams at me and then slaps me hard across my face. “Ouch! Son of a bitch that hurt,” she says, as Mitchell and Beckett chuckle. “Carson, we are going to get her out, and we are all going to get out of there alive.”
“How can you be so sure?”
She looks at me as if I’m stupid. “Really? You’re going to ask me that question when everybody jokes about my twilight zone mind.”
“You really think we’re all going to make it out?”
“You’re questioning me again? Do I need to slap you again? Is your brain short-circuited?”
I raise my hand to my cheek she slapped. “No, once was enough thank you.”
“Good, because I think I broke my hand on your face.” I take her hand in mine, bringing her palm to my lip, and I kiss it.
“Thank you, Raven, I guess I needed that.”
“Okay, let’s get our gear on and then we will go back over the plans,” Mitchell says.
Just then, Richard walks in. He stops and looks around. “What did I miss? Carson, what happened to your face? There’s a hand print on it.”
I shake my head. “I’m going to change my pants,” I say as I leave Beckett’s office.
I walk back in. My shirt is off so I can put my flak jacket on.
Once I have it on and Mitchell inspects it, I slip my shirt back on. I clip on my tactical belt, slip in the stun gun, my knife, my gun, and zip ties.
Beckett has an aerial map of the compound. “We’re lucky that this is a newer motorcycle gang. As of now, they only have thirty-five full-patch members and most of them will be out drinking tonight. LeDoux has contracted out twenty-five men. That will make it a lot easier for us.”
“Richard, you and Beckett will pair up,” Mitchell says, “Carson, you and Raven will be together, and I will be with Davis. Between the six of us, we should be able to locate Charlie. Everyone will have an earpiece and a mic. If you get into trouble, let us know exactly where you are and we’ll come get you. DO NOT split up. Stay with your partner at all times. I want to be in and out within five minutes. Lastly, remember, it’s kill or be killed. If someone has a gun on you and you have the opportunity to shoot, take the shot, because if you hesitate, they will shoot you. We will only be taking one vehicle in. Let’s go and get our girl home.”
Everyone starts to head out of the office, but I call Mitchell back. He comes walking back into Beckett’s office. “Listen, Mitchell, I just wanted to say thank you for everything. I know I’ve been an ass and I’m sorry. I …”
“Carson, don’t even think about it. I know where your heart is, and I would have been surprised if you hadn’t acted like that. You’re not a fighter. This is all new to you, and you will do great out there. We are going to get her back, and we will get out of there alive.”
“Thanks, Mitchell.”
Mitchell slaps my shoulder. “What are big brothers for?”
We climb into Mitchell’s truck and start the drive to the compound. On the way, we all check out our mics and earpieces to make sure they work. We drive down a little dirt road and Mitchell turns off the lights, as we slowly creep down the secluded path. We come upon a couple of other vehicles that belong to some of LeDoux’s men. We put black stocking caps on, and Raven puts camouflage paint on our faces. She pulls her bow out of its case and attaches her quiver over her shoulder.
We walk in and meet the other men. Then we disperse and find our positions. I stay with Raven as she watches for any problems with the guards. We watch as the men work as well-oiled machines, quietly taking the guards out. Then we hear Mitchell coming through our headsets for Raven to C-4 an arrow and shoot it to the left side of the compound in a pile of old tires. LeDoux has the remotes for the C-4 since his men are out on the grounds. Raven is told to place a few more arrows around.
Mitchell gets a security card from one of the guards and slowly opens one of the doors. Davis is right beside him, guns drawn and ready as we all creep up to the door. Mitchell and Davis are in first whispering anything they see inside; then Beckett and Richard enter, and we follow, each of us taking different directions to search, trying to find the right room.
We head upstairs, not seeing anyone. I’m hoping they weren’t tipped off. I hear Mitchell say that there is a theater room and it sounded like there were a lot of them in there. We open the first door, but find nothing; the second one, nothing; the third one we open, t
here is a young girl on the bed reading.
She jumps, and then she says, “She’s two doors down on the right. She’s not alone, be careful.” I put my finger over my lip to say shh. She nods her head and stays sitting on the bed.
We open the fourth door, empty. My heart is racing. I don’t know what I will find when I open the door. My breathing is erratic. I reach for the door and my hand is shaking. Raven looks me in the eye and mimes, deep breath, in through the nose out through the mouth. I do it a couple times and my breathing is now under control. I reach for the door again and slowly turn the knob and push the door open. I see the tattoos before I actually see Char. She’s lying down on the bed. She’s crying as some fat slob is naked on top of her. In a low gravelly voice, I say, “Get the fuck off her.”
He makes a grunting sound as he tries to look over his shoulder. “Who the fuck are you?” he growls.
“I’m the fucker that’s going to put a bullet between your eyes if you don’t get the fuck off her now.” He starts to move off Char. “Hands behind your back.” We’re slowly entering the room, when one of the explosions goes off, surprising me. I jump, and he dives for me and we struggle.
Raven is standing beside the bed next to Char. Fat dude bends down, pulls a knife out from his boot beside the bed. He grabs Raven by the back of her hair. He’s holding the knife to her throat. “Say goodbye to your little cunt.”
There’s an evil smirk in his eye as he draws the knife out to stab her. I grab my gun and shoot. He stops and falls forward on the bed as Char screams.
Raven falls to the ground. Raven. I rush to her. “Are you okay? Did he cut you?”
“No, I’m good, let’s go.”
I flip open my knife and cut the straps as Raven gets clothes for Char.
“Char, are you okay? Do you think you can walk?”
She nods her head.
I talk into my mic. “We have her.” We hear cheers in our headsets. “Come on, baby, we need to move.”
We get her standing and she stops. “My phone.” She reaches under her mattress and grabs her phone. We start to walk out, when we get to the room with the girl in it.
“Wait,” Char says. She opens the door and looks at the girl. “This is your chance. If you want out, this is it.”
The girl nods and starts to follow between Raven and me.
We get down the stairs and there’s another explosion. We’re looking around to make sure no one is following us. I have Char, as we start to head out, followed by the girl, then Raven, when all of a sudden someone grabs me from the side. In a flash, Raven is there kicking the guy in the side of the head. He starts to lose his balance, as she swings around and kicks him in the face. I grab the zip ties. Pulling his arms behind him, I put them on him, and we walk out.
We start for the woods when we are met by Mitchell and Davis. Mitchell looks pissed. “I told you not to trust anyone.”
Char speaks up. “She helped me when I first got here. She’s the reason I got the message to you. She hid my phone. She’s a runaway that needs to go back home. If she were with them, she wouldn’t have helped me. I trust her with my life, T.”
“Okay, it’s against my better judgment, but okay.”
“Where are Beckett and Richard?” I ask.
“They haven’t come out yet.”
“Then we need to get them,” I say.
We are at the woods. “Raven, take them to the truck.”
“Okay.”
We are heading for the door as it bursts open. Two men have Beckett and Richard and they push them to their knees. I touch my mic. “Baby girl, we need you fast.”
“We found these two trespassing on our property. Breaking into our home. Obviously they didn’t read our “No Trespassing” sign that says violators will be shot on sight, so all of you can witness what happens when you don’t read.”
One of the men pulls out a gun and aims it at Beckett. I heard it before I saw it—the arrow hits his hand and sticks in the wall of the building as the man screams. Beckett and Richard both attack the remaining man. Beckett kicks him in the face as Richard sweeps his legs. As they start to walk away, the man picks up his buddy’s gun and points it at Richard. I run, knocking them both down as I hear the gun go off, then I hear the arrow. I feel pain in my side. I can’t breathe, everything turns dark. I hear a scream, then nothing.
I feel something wet on my face. I slowly open my eyes to see a beautiful angel looking at me. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”
“Don’t talk, were taking you to the hospital. The bullet broke a rib and collapsed your lung. I have something in your side to keep it from collapsing it again.”
“Marry me, Char. Marry me tomorrow.”
“You’re delirious, Zain. Don’t talk anymore.”
We pull into the emergency drop-off and someone gets a gurney and brings it out. They put me on the gurney and rush me inside.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Charlie
I SIT in the truck in shock and stunned. Mitchell helps me out. “Come on, I’m sure they are going to want to know what you did to help him.”
We walk in and we are escorted back to where Zain is. “I’m sorry. Only family is allowed,” the nurse says.
“That’s my wife and brothers,” Zain says to the nurse.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” the nurse says, embarrassed.
“Who did the chest tube and what is this tube made of?” one of the doctors asks.
“I did. It’s from an arrow, carbon fiber. Did I do much damage?”
“How many chest tubes have you put in, and where did you get a carbon fiber arrow?”
“That was my first.”
“I’m quite impressed, Mrs. Smith. What medical training have you had?”
“I was in nursing school up until last year.”
“You didn’t finish?”
“No, sir.”
“Why is that?”
“My boyfriend was murdered, I was pregnant …”
“Are you Charlie?”
“Yes sir, how do you know me?”
“You’re a walking miracle around here. I was one of the doctors that was working on you after you had your baby.”
“Oh.”
“So, when are you coming back to medical school?”
“I’ve just been approved to come back into the nursing program this fall.”
“I don’t mean nursing school, I mean medical school.”
“I … I never thought about medical school.”
“Well think about it. I expect to see your application on my desk by Friday. This is a teaching hospital and I will be teaching you.”
“Really? Why, why me?”
“For a person that has no training and instinctively knew what to do, that’s what makes good doctors.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Friday. Don’t forget.”
“Thank you, I won’t, sir. Will Zain be okay?”
“Yes, thanks to you. He’ll be sore for a while. Ribs are always painful when they are broken. He’ll be out of here by morning.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
“You are very welcome. We’re going to take him to x-ray to make sure there are no fragments of bone that can do any more damage. Why don’t you go to the waiting room and I will get you when we get back. Then I would like to know why he got shot in the first place.”
I look up at the doctor. Tears brim my eyes and I nod at him. “You might need a little time for that.”
“I will make the time.”
I turn to walk to the waiting room; Raven grabs my hand, squeezing it tight. “I let Destiny use my phone to call her parents; they are on their way here to pick her up.”
“Good, she’s a good kid, just got into the wrong crowd.”
“She told me what they were going to do to her and to you. Don’t you think you need to be looked at?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Jaxon, where is he? Is he okay? They were going to try to
take him and you. I’m so glad you got my message. I’m afraid to go back there.”
“You don’t have to worry. Carson had movers come and empty out the apartment earlier this week.”
“To where?”
“Most of the things went into storage. Yours and Jaxon’s went to Carson’s place for now.” Raven looks at Mitchell.
“I don’t even know where he lives.”
“Well, Katie has had Jaxon and has been keeping him safe.”
We enter the waiting room. Beckett and Richard jump up to meet us. “How is he?”
I let Mitchell talk as I see a man and woman walk into the waiting room. I look over at Destiny; her feet are on the seat of her chair, her forehead resting on her knees. “Excuse me for a second.” I walk over to the man and woman. “Are you Destiny’s parents?” Both of them have tear-stained faces. “I’m Charlie. It’s nice to meet you.” I take them over to where Destiny is sitting and I softly touch her shoulder as she looks up at me, then to her parents. Tears stream down her face and she has a look on her face that only a child could have as she looks for forgiveness from her parents.
“Mommy, Daddy, I’m so sorry.” She is pulled into a big hug as the three of them reunite.
I walk back to my family where I’m pulled into a big hug as well. Things could have been so much worse. There could have been no way that anyone would have been able to find me. “I don’t know what to say, other than thank you. If you hadn’t found me …” Tears are now falling down my face, as the emotion of everything that has happened the last five days is finally hitting me.
The doctor walks out and over to where I am standing. He addresses me, “I wasn’t surprised that the rib wasn’t a clean break and that there should have been several bone fragments that would have normally been a concern, but it seems that all the fragments were removed. May I ask how you removed them?”
“I had to make an incision to get to the lung. I could feel where the break was so I made the incision as close to it as possible. Mitchell had a medical kit in his truck and it had a small bottle of alcohol. I stuck my pinky into the incision and I could feel some of the fragments and used the pliers of a Leatherman to pull them out. I wasn’t sure I got them all out, but I couldn’t feel anything else.”
Anchored To Love Page 20
