Nick nodded. Uncertainty clouded his eyes, but his sense of right and wrong won. If that meant revealing his true identity, he could live with that easier than knowing he’d let a fellow agent die in his place.
What seemed to take hours had literally only been seconds. The events escalated so quickly, Shadow lost count of the number of shots that had been exchanged. He raised up from behind the overturned table and aimed his gun at Axle. When Nutcrusher saw Shadow’s movement, a broad smile of victory covered his face. Shadow knew Axle had taken all suspicion off Nick and him.
When Nutcrusher turned his gaze back in Axle’s direction, Shadow adjusted his arm and his cross hairs. Directly on Nutcrusher’s temple. He centered and squeezed the trigger, incapacitating him instantly.
“You want Bone, or want me to take him?” Shadow whispered to Nick while Axle and Bone continued to exchange fire. Screams of terror emanated from the garage, echoing off the high ceiling with every shot.
“I’ll take him. I’ve hated that guy for two fucking years.”
Nick eased around the table and crouched behind a chair, lining his sights up with Bone’s head. While Axle had him occupied, Nick pulled the trigger. Just as the bullet left the barrel, Bone dropped his extra clip and bent to grab it. The shot whizzed by, obviously coming from a different direction. Bone jerked his head up, his eyes met Nick’s, and the disgusted expression on his face confirmed he knew Axle wasn’t the only undercover officer. Nick’s choice was gone—he couldn’t let Bone live and expose them to the other 300 chapter members.
Axle sprinted to a new position and squeezed off another shot. The bullet hit Bone’s shoulder. He spun around and fell to the floor with a howl of pain. Axle moved closer and fired another shot just as Bone rolled behind the door. Silence filled the clubhouse one heartbeat too long.
“Bone! You can’t hide from me for long. Come out here and face me like a man, you pussy!” Axle yelled.
“Move to that side and check. I’ll take the other. Let’s get this motherfucker.” Shadow took a covering position beside the door, and Nick joined him on the opposite side. With precision and determination, Shadow slowly pushed the door open to give Nick a better view inside. Not seeing Bone in his field of view, Nick moved farther into the room, his gun drawn and his senses heightened.
“He’s gone!” Nick yelled. “He’s fucking gone. There’s a hidden hallway behind this fucking room!”
Shadow bolted toward the garage, where he’d left Elle waiting. Where he thought she’d be safest. Where she was now a sitting duck for an evil man who would kill her simply out of spite. He jerked the door open and flew into the open room, seeing the ladies huddled together in terror. All he could see was Elle—he had to get to her and protect her from Bone’s wrath. An arm extended toward Elle. A finger slid across the trigger. A second passed while Bone focused his aim.
A shot rang out, the noise amplified by the echoes, quickly followed by a second shot. The first one tore through Shadow’s upper side, and the second bullet hit his upper chest. Shadow stumbled as he turned, using his body as a shield for Elle. He raised his gun, seeing Bone was injured worse than he originally thought, and fired six shots into his body—the final shot hitting his head.
The white-hot pain seared his torso, making it hard to breathe. The room began to spin, and his vision began to fade as he turned to Elle. Every move he made took tremendous effort and used up what little strength he had left.
“Elle,” he choked out then coughed. He looked down and saw blood on his hand.
Her eyes were wide, filled with fear, and her face was wet with rivers of tears. She wanted to run to him, to comfort him, but she was frozen in place by the growing bloodstains on his shirt. The two enormous spots were quickly becoming one. Her gaze traveled up his body to meet his eyes, and she snapped out of her haze instantly. The sparkle in his eyes that made him unique, that enhanced his entire personality, was fading.
He collapsed to the floor as Nick emerged from the hidden hallway, and Axle appeared in the doorway from the kitchen. “Call an ambulance!” Nick yelled and ran toward Shadow.
Elle lurched from where she’d knelt on the floor and sprinted to his side. “Devon,” she cried repeatedly while stroking his face and hair. “Talk to me, Devon. Stay with me.”
Sirens rang out from many blocks away, but Elle only heard her own wails when Nick yelled into his phone.
“Tell them to hurry! He has no pulse—I’ve lost him! He’s dead! Man down, we have a man down!” Nick dropped his phone and began doing chest compressions, yelling at his friend to hold on with each push. “Don’t you dare die on me now.”
Axle opened the roll-up door and flagged down the ambulance. The paramedics rushed to his side and took over CPR from Nick. Elle watched in shock and anguish while they attempted to revive him. Chest compressions continued once they had him loaded into the back of the ambulance.
“I’ve got no pulse, no respirations. Pupils are nonreactive to light. Patient is nonresponsive to pain stimulation. We’re running emergency with lights and sirens. Have the trauma team on standby for our arrival,” the paramedic relayed through his radio. The back doors of the ambulance were closed, and they sped away.
23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Elle and Beth rushed into the emergency room, frantically searching for Devon. The agents who’d swarmed the old clubhouse told her she couldn’t leave. The cops who showed up after the federal agents forbade her from leaving before they’d completed their paperwork. Axle had been her saving grace in that moment. When everyone else told her to wait, he told her to go—before it was too late.
“Where is Devon Kane?” she shrieked at the triage nurse.
“We don’t have anyone here by that name,” the nurse stammered. “When was he brought in?”
“About thirty minutes ago, by ambulance. Gunshot wound.”
“Okay, I know which patient you’re talking about now. Are you family?”
“She’s his wife,” Beth interjected. “She’d like to see her husband.”
The nurse looked at her computer screen and back up at Elle. “He’s in surgery. They took him straight to the operating room when they got here—didn’t stop in the emergency room at all. Go up to the fifth-floor surgical waiting room. The surgeon will come out and talk to you when they’re finished.”
Elle and Beth made their way to the waiting room, expecting to be the only ones there, but they found a room full of sad, anxious faces instead. They found two seats and sat quietly, holding hands and waiting for an update from the doctor. Elle’s eyes stayed glued to the door, willing the surgeon to magically appear, though she could feel eyes on her. She waited for the moment cell phones emerged to snap pictures of her to sell to the paparazzi or for someone to tip off the media where she was.
But she didn’t care. She needed answers. She needed to understand what had happened. She needed an explanation that made sense of the chaotic state her emotions lived in.
How can he be part of this?
All the time we spent together, was it all a lie?
No, it couldn’t have been. But then, why did he do this?
Is he in trouble? Was he forced to help them?
Doesn’t he care about me at all anymore?
Has this been his life all along? Is this why he never let me be part of his life? Why he said it was too dangerous?
Some of the federal agents who’d rushed in after Devon was shot walked into the waiting room. At first, she thought they’d tracked her down, but they moved past her and sat against the wall. Their expressionless faces gave nothing away of their intentions, but Elle assumed they wanted to question Devon almost as much as she did.
“Beth, we have to call our families and Devon’s. I’ve been so crazy, I didn’t even think about them until right this second.”
“That makes two of us. When I saw him get shot, and all that blood, I think my brain just shut down. I’ll go call them right now. You can wait
here.”
Elle was lost in her thoughts when she heard familiar voices from the hallway. She looked up to see her parents and brothers enter. She rushed into her parents’ open arms, feeling safe for the first time in weeks. With hugs and kisses and tears all around, they had a family reunion in the hospital waiting room. She couldn’t answer their questions about anything regarding her time held captive by the gang. There were too many aspects of it she needed to understand first.
Her father wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the chairs. Beth stepped in front of her and knelt. “Elle, my parents are taking me to the station to answer their questions, then we’re going to the apartment. I’ll grab some clothes for you. Do you need anything else?”
“No. Thank you, though.” She touched Beth’s face, thankful to have such a loyal friend.
Beth squeezed her hand and smiled through her tears. “You and I will need therapy after this. You know that, right?”
“Without a doubt.”
Beth kissed her cheek before leaving, then lingered in the doorway when second thoughts clouded her mind. She gave Elle a questioning look, but Elle waved her on. It had been quite an ordeal, and Elle understood her need for normalcy, or a semblance of it.
Elle watched Beth disappear around the corner, then kept her vigil over the door while waiting on any news about Devon. Time seemed to stand still and fly by at the same time. She was desperate to know. When a tall doctor’s frame darkened the doorway, she decided she was definitely not ready to hear.
“Kane family?” he called into the room.
Elle and her family stood to greet the doctor, and she was startled when eight others quickly stood and gathered around her. She glanced at the men and women around her, not recognizing the first face. She met the doctor’s surprised gaze when he asked, “You’re all here for Devon Kane?”
“Yes,” came the simultaneous reply.
“Okay, looks like we have the room to ourselves. Please have a seat.” He waited until everyone sat before he began. “I’m sorry to tell you all Devon died during the surgery. We did everything we could to stabilize him, but the damage from the two bullets was just too much. We couldn’t repair it fast enough to stop the internal bleeding. I’m very sorry.”
“No! God, please, no!” Elle began screaming. The emotional toll of the past few weeks suddenly took a back seat to the pain rippling through her entire body. “Don’t tell me that. Tell me you got him back. He can’t be gone. It can’t end this way.”
Elle’s father pulled her close to him, and she sobbed into his chest.
“I’m really very sorry. We did everything we could,” the doctor consoled.
“Thank you, Doctor. We’re sure you did. It’s just a hard pill to swallow,” her father replied.
Cries filled the room as the news sank in. He was gone, and they’d never get him back. After everything they’d been through, losing him had never been a thought. It wasn’t ever an option. Facing one of their worst fears collectively but separately was their only bond. Everyone in that room loved Devon and felt the loss in their own way. That feeling of profound bereavement covered Elle like a heavy blanket, threatening to crush her and steal the air from her lungs. The pain was becoming unbearable and only increased with each tick of the clock.
“Can we see him?” someone in the room asked.
“I’m sorry. The federal officers have already taken custody of his body as part of their investigation. They’re collecting evidence and taking pictures of the gunshot wounds. When they finish, I’m sure we can arrange for you to see him.”
“Take me home,” Elle whispered to her father. “Please get me out of here. I can’t take it anymore.” The walls began closing in on her, and she felt as if she were in a shrinking box. If she didn’t leave immediately, the whole world would witness her complete and total breakdown. She needed the privacy of her bedroom to process her feelings and work through them one at a time. For as long as it took.
Sympathetic faces watched her stand and walk toward the door, but she couldn’t stop to address anyone. All her energy and focus were spent on simply putting one foot in front of the other. One step at a time away from the nightmare. One step at a time in a desperate attempt to flee from the pain and heartbreak. One step at time toward a life that would never be the same again.
The day of the funeral was harder than the day he died. Elle thought the pain couldn’t get any worse, until the morning she opened her eyes and realized that was the last day she would ever see him. Every night before she fell asleep, she prayed she’d wake up and all the events would fade away, like a bad dream long forgotten. But her prayer hadn’t been answered, and on that day, she had to say goodbye forever.
Goodbye to the only man she’d ever loved.
Goodbye to all the hopes and dreams of their future.
Goodbye to all the lingering questions and doubts that nagged her.
Goodbye to her heart—he’d had it in one way or another since she was a little kid. It was his as much as it was hers, only she didn’t want it anymore.
Tracey, Devon’s mother, had visited Elle at her apartment since Elle refused to leave home. Their conversation replayed through her mind, further driving her aversion to the memorial service.
“Elle, sweetheart, how are you doing?” Tracey sat on the edge of the bed and studied Elle’s appearance and demeanor.
“I should be asking you that, Tracey. This has to be your worst nightmare come true.” Elle covered Tracey’s hand with hers, their bond of mourning sealed.
“It’s our worst nightmare, love. We’ll get through it together.” Tracey smoothed her hair down. “Devon really loved you, ya know?”
“I thought he did,” she replied sadly. “He never said he did, until the day he left me.”
Tracey drew back and furrowed her brow. “Of course he did, Elle. He never brought dates around us. Only you. He never went on vacation with anyone else. Every break he had on his job was spent right here with you. Every decision he made was with you in mind—what you needed, what you wanted, what was best for you. He showed you he loved you with everything he did.”
“And helping my kidnappers? Was that out of love too?”
“There’s actually no greater love than what he did,” Tracey replied with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Which brings me to the other reason why I’m here. This is so hard to say, but I have to. Devon’s wish was to be cremated.”
“I remember him saying that.”
“So, we’ll have an open casket viewing for one hour only. That’s the longest we can do it…since he won’t be embalmed. They’ll take him away for cremation after that, but we’ll still have the chapel. Do you want to stand up and say a few words?”
“Tracey, I’m sorry to let you down, but I can’t speak at his funeral. I can barely make it from here to the shower without becoming hysterical. I’m not even sure how I’ll make it through the service at all.”
“It’s okay.” Tracey hushed her when the oncoming panic attack became obvious. “You don’t have to. I can’t do it either, but I didn’t want to take that opportunity away from you. Our pastor is coming to preside over it.”
Elle forced herself out of bed and into the shower. She moved through the motions of getting dressed—hair, makeup, dress, shoes. But every task only brought her closer to what she didn’t want to do.
“Elle, it’s time to go, honey,” Beth said from her doorway.
Elle’s eyes focused, and she realized she’d been staring at herself in the full-length mirror without even really seeing anything. “Okay.”
“Your mom came by last night. You were asleep. She left this and wanted you to take it before we leave.” Beth held her hand out and offered the small blue pill.
“What is it?”
“It’s for anxiety, to help you get through the day.”
She stared at the medication while making up her mind. Did she want to feel everything? Or did she want to simply move
through the motions and get it all over with? She snatched the pill from Beth’s hand and swallowed it quickly. I’ve felt enough, she thought. I can’t handle more feelings.
By the time they reached the funeral home, the effects had set in and rendered Elle next to numb. Devon’s casket sat at the other end of the room, amid all the flowers. A large US flag was draped over him, the corner of it attached to the inside of the casket lid so it flowed over him in memorium. His picture while on active duty in the Army was displayed on an easel at his feet. She walked on unsteady heels toward him, for the last time on repeat in her mind. The closer she got, the slower she walked, until she could no longer deny the truth.
Devon Kane lay in wake in the casket in front of her.
Her knees buckled, and she crumpled to the floor before anyone could grab her. She felt strong arms snake under hers and lift her off the floor then place her in the pew. She looked up and recognized the face of one of the men from the hospital waiting room.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
“You’re welcome, my dear,” he replied and went back to his seat.
The pastor was talking to Devon’s parents when he moved behind the pulpit. Her stomach dropped, knowing his memorial service was actually about to begin. It was all real. Every last horrible detail of it. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as if she watched from outside her own body.
“Shadow!” An older woman bellowing drew her out of her misery for a moment. “Get up out of that casket right now!”
“Liz, this is not the time,” one of the women hissed at her. Elle continued watching the scene play out, feeling detached from reality.
“It’s the perfect time. I’m not falling for his trickery. We all know he’s not really dead. This is just to throw everyone off his trail. Shadow, this is your last warning!”
One of the women jumped up and rushed to Liz, trying to stop her. But Liz was obviously a spry little old lady because she evaded capture and rushed the casket. While attempting to climb on top of it, she yelled, “I’m coming to collect my kiss, Shadow. And I’m going to use the tongue. You’d better jump up out of there unless you want le tongue in le French kiss.”
Wicked Shadows (Steele Security Book 5) Page 26
