The Sniper
Page 20
Nathan funneled all of his wrath, all of his desperate desire to stay alive long enough to save the woman he loved more than anything, and found a burst of energy explosive enough to propel him up off the floor and into Penelope like a raging bull.
They fell to the floor and the gun went flying. She screamed and clawed at his face, and she drew bloody track marks down his cheeks as he grappled with the surprisingly strong older woman. He grunted and hit her hard with his elbow. She took the hit like a man, the blow glancing off her cheek but not slowing her down one bit. She landed a knee to his groin and he groaned as he rolled away from her. She scrambled to her feet and they both ran for the gun. He managed to kick the gun farther away and she snarled as she surprised him with a viper-quick snap of her wrist that nearly broke his nose. “You ought to put that down on your resume of special skills,” he said, breathing hard as he wiped away the blood trickling from his nose. She grinned, her eyes glittering. “Wouldn’t your high-society bitches like to see you now? Somehow, I think they’d be surprised at how truly vicious you are.”
“You obviously know nothing about high society,” she quipped, only mildly out of breath from their altercation. They circled each other warily as she added, “Viciousness and cruelty are the hallmarks of any respectable well-bred family.” She whirled and swung her leg in a perfect arc, narrowly missing his head by the thinnest of margins. “The problem with most women today is they don’t appreciate the true value of staying in shape. Personally, I find martial arts training quite refreshing.”
Nathan moved out of the way just in time before she swung around again and nearly took his head off with another arc of her foot. He stumbled on a small table, sending a vase to the ground, shattering. She quickly followed, vaulting the small furniture in her way. “Come on, now, when are you going to give me a run? This is almost too easy. Surely you had some kind of special training in all your years with the Marines? Perhaps you went into the wrong branch of the military. I picked up all sorts of valuable skills.”
“I picked up plenty,” he bit out, tucking into a roll, diving for the gun. His fingers managed to grab the gun just in time to aim and fire and Penelope crumpled with a scream as she crashed to the floor. He panted against the pain as his vision began to cloud. He was losing too much blood. He rolled to his feet and limped over to Penelope’s fallen body. He nudged her with his foot. Her head lolled and she stared unseeing up at the ornate pressed-tin ceiling. “Seems my skills aren’t as rusty as you thought, you psycho bitch.” He winced as another wave of pain racked his body and he knew he didn’t have much time left. He stumbled to the phone on the marble credenza and dialed his brother’s number as he spied the memory stick. Penelope must have tossed it on the credenza, figuring she’d explore it later at her leisure. “I have what we need,” he gasped, blinking hard to clear his vision, but it was no use. He gripped the phone harder, determined to finish the job right. “Send in the troops.”
And then the black dots that had begun to swim before his eyes converged into one giant black hole and as his back hit the wall and he slid down to his feet he knew this was it. He didn’t see a light, just darkness. He managed a sardonic grin. What had he expected, angels playing harps? No, he should have known all that was waiting for him at the end of the line was an endless sea of darkness and an eternity alone. Hell, it’s what he deserved anyway.
* * *
Jake and his team entered Penelope Winslow’s mansion and saw the dead bodies everywhere. But when he entered the atrium he saw Penelope Winslow staring off into space, quite obviously dead, and Nathan slumped against the wall, his hand covering a seeping wound in his gut.
Something twisted hard inside his own stomach and he sprinted to his brother’s body. “Damn you, Nathan. I told you this would end badly.” He checked for a pulse, knowing in his heart his brother was dead but when his fingertips caught the tiniest flicker of life pulsing stubbornly beneath them he leaped into action. He called for a medic, and a specialized ambulance service used only by certain branches of the government when a no-questions-asked policy was appreciated came within moments of the call. Nathan was placed onto a gurney and loaded into an awaiting ambulance while the rest of the team cleaned up the mess left behind. Just before leaving, one of the medics stopped and pressed something into Jake’s palm. “We had to pry this out of his hand,” the medic said. “I figured it must be important if he wasn’t willing to let it go.”
Jake stared and a slow smile crept across his face. His brother was one tough son of a bitch. Even near death, Nathan had held on to the most crucial piece of evidence they would need to save their asses: the memory stick. “Good job, big brother,” he murmured, tucking the stick into his pocket.
That stick had the power to prove the fantastic claims Nathan had made against Penelope Winslow, otherwise, they might all be facing major prison time for killing the dear friend of several influential people in Washington, not to mention one of the most visible high-society matrons in Los Angeles.
Jake caught up to the medic and climbed in beside Nathan. It didn’t feel right to leave Nathan alone after all he’d sacrificed. “How bad is it?” he asked, prepared for the worst.
The medic looked grim. “I don’t even know why he’s still alive. His blood pressure is nearly bottoming out and his heartbeat is erratic, but he’s a fighter.” The medic paused and when he saw Jake’s expression, he assured him, “We’re doing all we can for him.”
“You do that,” he said. “He’s my brother.”
As they rode, sirens blaring, to the hospital, Jake shuddered with an awful realization. If Nathan didn’t make it, the task would fall to Jake to deliver the bad news to Jaci. And frankly he’d rather serve another tour in Afghanistan than do that.
Jaci might make him cry by talking about feelings and whatnot.
He looked to Nathan. “You’d better pull through this, buddy. I’m not kidding. Jaci’s your problem, not mine.”
Chapter 28
Jaci couldn’t stop the tears. No matter how hard she tried to get them to stop, they simply leaked from her eyes as if on a mission to drown her in salty wetness. It was unnatural to see Nathan lying there in that hospital bed, so still, hovering between this world and the next as his body fought an epic battle to stay alive.
“Don’t you dare die on me, Nathan,” she murmured, wiping away tears. “This isn’t fair. You’ve only just come back to me and now you’re trying to leave again. If you die, I will follow you into the hereafter and drag your sorry ass back so if you don’t want to be embarrassed in heaven or hell or wherever you’re going to end up, you’d better get your butt back to me because I’m not going anywhere until you do.”
All of her dreams and hopes of a future with Nathan seemed so far away as the steady blip-blip of the monitors reminded her that at any moment, fate could pull him away from her. His injuries were grave—the doctors had given him a less than thirty percent chance of survival—but somehow, he continued to defy the odds by making it to another day.
When she and Nathan had first started getting serious, she had daydreamed about a big fancy wedding, inviting all of her design clients to this grand gala, looking like a princess in a fairytale as she floated down the aisle to her handsome prince.
But now? After everything that’d happened, all she wanted was Nathan. She didn’t care about the big wedding, she didn’t care about backyard barbecues with the neighbors and she didn’t care if they never had a little house with a cute white picket fence. She just wanted Nathan, alive and in her life.
She was not the same person she was a mere week and a half ago. Since meeting Nathan, her life had changed in so many ways. She was stronger, more sure of herself and she knew more than anything that she loved Nathan in a way that didn’t seem possible to feel for another human being. It was the kind of love that made or broke people. She knew this because losing hi
m the first time had felt like losing a piece of herself.
And now that she was standing here, staring down at his battered and abused body as he fought to live because he’d done something incredibly brave and stupid, she wanted to hold him close and never let go. The bottom line was, she would take Nathan any way she could have him. And if it meant that they had to traipse around the world, a new zip code every few months—or new identities—she didn’t care. None of that mattered. And the fact that in the past she thought it had just went to show how naive she’d really been.
When she thought of herself and Sonia stumbling down that dark alley, oblivious to the danger that was heading their way, she bowed her head at her own foolishness. It had been her idea to take the back alley when the street would’ve been safer; it had been her stubbornness that had cost her dearest friend her life. And if Nathan hadn’t drugged her silly butt, she would’ve allowed that stupid sense of righteous indignation to put an end to her days for she surely would’ve been next.
Nathan had braved her rage, her hurt and her condemnation to ensure her safety and she didn’t know a man alive who would’ve done the same. Simply put, Nathan was her everything—just as she was his. The irony that she could finally recognize that plain truth at such a bleak hour was grief and fear at its most poignant.
She heard a shuffling sound and turned quickly to see James at the door, who was unsure if he should enter. “I know I’m not family, but I just wanted to see how he was doing,” he said quietly, adding with something akin to surprise in his voice, “I kinda like the jerk. He’s not really the sort of guy I would hang out with under normal circumstances but I respect him and he plainly loves you, so he can’t be all bad.”
Jaci gestured with a smile for James to come in. “I think if the situation were different, you guys might have liked each other. Yes, on the surface you’re totally different but you’re both passionate about what you do. He might not understand computer stuff and you don’t understand violent secret government stuff but you both share the same tenacious spirit.”
James grinned, accepting the compliment. But after a moment he sighed and confessed, “You know, I have to admit, when you asked to move in with me after your breakup my reasons weren’t entirely altruistic. I’ve had a thing for you for a long time but the fact of the matter is, I’m not the right guy for you. When I saw you with him, I saw you light up with a glow from the inside. I guess I never believed in all that soul-mate love stuff but you proved me wrong.” He exhaled a deep breath and added with note of chagrin, “Of course, now that I know soul mates exist, I have all this pressure to go find mine. Hopefully, she likes computers and spreadsheets and formulas, otherwise we’re going to start on a rocky foot.”
Jaci smiled, her eyes watering. “When you find the right woman, it won’t matter if you’re completely different or exactly alike. All that will matter is how you feel when you’re with her. But I know you’ll find an amazing person, James, because you are amazing. And even though I’m not the right one for you, I know that she is out there. You’re just too good of a man with an incredible heart to spend life alone.”
James ducked his head as if embarrassed, but she knew that he took her words to heart. They’d been friends for too long and they valued each other’s opinion. “I know he’s going to make it,” he said, surprising Jaci with his sudden assessment.
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“Because that man loves you. And there is no way he could live without you. Even if you drive him crazy.”
Jaci laughed, wiping away tears. “Maybe. I hope so. The doctors have done the best they can to repair the damage. But he lost a lot of blood. Thankfully Jake is the same blood type and he was able to donate a pint for Nathan. All we can do now is wait.”
“I can wait with you,” James offered.
“I’d like that.”
“So...Jake and Nathan... There’s a story, right?”
Jaci sighed and smoothed a lock of hair from Nathan’s forehead. “I don’t know all the details but I know they’ve got a lot to work out. I like Jake, though. I hope they can put the past behind them.”
“If I know you, you’re going to make that your priority. Well, your priority once Nathan is in the clear.”
Jaci smiled at James’s accurate assessment. Family was too important to throw away, especially when you had precious little of it. Nathan and Jake had to work out their differences. Jake cared about his older brother, even if he didn’t want to admit it; his actions proved it. And Nathan knew his brother had been the one person who wouldn’t let him down, in spite of their nine years without contact. She’d gladly take on the role of mediator to mend that rift.
But first...Nathan had to pull through.
She leaned forward and brushed a tender kiss across his brow. “Please come back to us, baby. We’re all waiting for you,” she murmured and squeezed back tears. Please.
* * *
Nathan floated through a sea of nothing, unaware of pain or pleasure. But a face floated through his consciousness like a beacon of light that beckoned and flirted and enticed him to follow. When he lost sight of that beautiful face, when the darkness enveloped and obliterated all trace of her features, he heard her voice whispering in his ear, calling his name. And when he couldn’t hear her voice, the scent of coconut and cucumbers teased his senses and tugged at his body until he had no choice but to follow. He didn’t know who she was but he knew somehow that she represented safety and home. Her voice warmed the cold cockles of his heart and her familiar scent chased away the fear crouched in his mind.
He heard the sound of her voice again as it penetrated the blackness and he rested as the sound flowed over him in a sweet caress. He could listen to her all day. He didn’t know what she was saying and it didn’t matter. It was the cadence of her voice that washed over him, wrapping him in a feeling of love and contentment. Was this heaven? He didn’t know, but he didn’t want to leave if it meant leaving that voice behind.
But something—and he wasn’t sure what—made him realize that he couldn’t stay in that oblivion forever. Something outside of this place awaited him. He became restless, no longer content with the darkness and the weightless freedom of his body. He wanted to know more about the sweet voice and the hair that smelled of cucumbers. Who was that woman? Jaci, a voice whispered. Yes, he thought. That was her name. And he loved her.
He pulled memories from his sluggish brain and focused until he could see them more clearly in his mind. He saw her laugh, the way her mouth opened with abandon as she heard a good joke; the way she bit her lip when she was nervous. Her red hair with the gold highlights glinted in the sun and her green eyes made him think of polished jade. Memories began to come back to him. Memories that weren’t as sweet or soft or smelling of cucumbers.
He remembered blood and gore. And rage.
He remembered lives he’d taken. He remembered justifications he’d made and now regretted. He saw a lifetime of messed-up choices—except for one: the choice to chat with a beautiful young woman in a coffee shop. That had been the best decision of his life.
Now he had to get back to her. He needed her the way his lungs needed air. He would die for her—gladly. But if he had a choice, he’d rather live his life beside her. He wanted to put his children in her belly; he wanted to watch her grow old. He wanted to do all of the things that he’d never dreamed possible for a man like him. He wanted it all with Jaci. He wanted to give her all of the things she deserved but most of all he wanted to freely give her something that she’d breathed life into from the moment they met. His heart had started beating a rhythm made only for her. She’d stolen his heart that day in the coffee shop; it was time he told her.
This time when he heard her voice filtering through the black cloud that surrounded him, he followed the sound. He followed it all the way until he was free from the dar
k oblivion. He slowly became aware of his body, and the myriad of aches and pains that collided into a symphony of agony nearly sent him running in the opposite direction. He gritted his teeth, determined not to shy away from the pain.
On the other side of that wall was the woman of his dreams. He would do anything for her. Suffer any amount of pain if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with her. He didn’t deserve her love but she didn’t care and she gave it to him anyway. Without Jaci, life wasn’t worth living.
His dry and parched lips moved as he tried to pull the feelings from his heart to form into words but he was simply too weak. He tried again. Just say the words, he told himself fiercely. It mattered. She needs to hear how you feel. How you’ve always felt, since the day you met. How you knew without a doubt that it didn’t matter what happened between you from that moment forward, that nothing would ever change. She had stolen his heart with one glance from those beautiful green eyes. She hadn’t known it then but Nathan had known and the knowledge had both fascinated and terrified him. Say it! Make it happen.
“I love you.”
The words were but a whisper and as his bleary eyes sought to focus on her face, he heard her sharp intake of breath and the sudden pressure of her hand against his cheek as she leaned forward. “You’re alive,” she said, tears of open relief choking her voice. “I’ve been waiting days for you to open your eyes, so scared that you were gone forever.” Wetness splashed his cheek and he realized she was crying. He would do anything to wipe away her pain. “Say it again,” she whispered, nuzzling his cheek. “Say it again, Nathan.”
He would happily say it for the rest of his life. “I love you, Jaci,” he said, his voice hoarse and barely a note above a murmur. “I love you.”