Protecting My Heart

by David Horne

  “That’s what I thought too.”

  Tristan sighed. “You don’t have much food in the house though.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking about ordering in for dinner. What do you want?”

  “What are you in the mood for?” Tristan was already pulling out his phone.

  “I was thinking about pizza or Chinese?”

  “Chinese. I ordered pizza for lunch. There’s most of a pizza leftover in your icebox.”

  “Icebox?”

  Tristan laughed. “Sorry. My dad always called it that. I guess I picked up the habit.”

  “It makes you sound like an old man.”

  “Old man?” Tristan was incredulous.

  “You’re the one that used icebox.” Zeke countered.

  “Hey, you’re older than I am.”

  “Only by a year.” Zeke shot back. “I’m not that much older than you. Not enough to really count for anything.”

  “Still, it means I’m not even the oldest person in this room.” Tristan grinned him.

  Zeke laughed. “It’s nice to see you in such good spirits.”

  “The way I see it, I have two choices. I can either cry and moan about how bad my life is at the moment or I can try to stay positive about it.”

  “That sounds a lot easier than it is.”

  “I mean, yeah. Of course, it does.” Tristan shrugged. “It always sounds easy. That doesn’t mean that it is but I’m going to try.”

  Zeke thought about it. “Are you ordering that food?”

  Tristan started. “Yeah. Sorry. I got distracted.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “What do you want?”

  “General Tsao’s chicken. Sub Lo Mein for the rice.”

  “That’s a pretty specific order.” Tristan shook his head with a soft chuckle. “You must order that a lot.”

  “Which place are you ordering from?”

  Tristan held the phone up. “This one.”

  “That’s the good one near here. The food always comes hot and fresh.”

  “Guess I got lucky then.”

  “You kind of did.” Zeke nodded. “Or you just picked the one with the best reviews and the shortest delivery time.”

  “I take it that’s how you found it?”

  Zeke nodded. “Yeah, that’s how I found it.”

  “Great minds think alike.” Tristan plopped down on the couch, hitting the last few buttons on his phone. “You didn’t happen to stop by the bakery, did you?”

  “Yeah, I did,” Zeke replied.

  “Did you pick anything up from there?”

  “What did you need?”

  “I left my laptop in the back room. I don’t know if it’s still there or not.”

  “I can call the guys there and ask them to pack it up and get it somewhere safe until I can pick it up if it’s still there.”

  “The least I can do is keep up on my books. I know it’s not great, but I want to get some work done.”

  “Are you planning on reopening?”

  Tristan nodded. “Yeah.”

  “When this is all over?”

  “As soon as I can. I want my people to be able to work.”

  “So they can pay their rent and stuff?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got some money saved up, but they can’t survive on profits. They need the checks.”

  “I see,” Zeke said.

  “I also want to send out the direct deposits for the checks and maybe see if we’ve got the money to keep paying them while we’re out of business.”

  “Are you that worried about doing the right thing?”

  “They’re really good employees, I wanna help them out if I can. None of this is their fault.”

  Zeke nodded. “I get that.”

  “Is it possible to call them?”

  “I can get that all set up. Then, you can talk to them and let them know that they’re still getting paid and everything.”

  “Thanks.” Tristan sighed heavily.

  “No problem. Let me make those calls and we’ll get it all set up from here.”

  “All right. I’ll wait for the food.”

  Zeke let himself into the bedroom so he could talk to all of the people that he needed to. He could hear Tristan in the front room. The man was pacing. He knew what that feeling was like. That inability to understand what was really happening. That realization that he was in deeper than he thought. And the desire to not appear to be broken. Zeke flinched as he spoke to the desk sergeant and arranged for the calls to be put through to his personal cellphone via a secure line.

  It didn’t take long to arrange and he stepped out of the room. “You okay out here?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” Tristan plopped down on the couch. “The food turned up.”

  “That sounds good,” Zeke said as he sat down. “It’s all been arranged.”

  “How is this going to work?”

  “The safe houses are going to call the station and they’re going to patch it through to my phone. Makes it harder to track.”

  “Do you think they’re tracking our phones? Can they even do that?”

  “I know the cops can track your phone.”

  “But these guys aren’t cops, are they?”

  Zeke shook his head. “Pretty sure that they’re not.”

  “Then why would they be able to track my phone.”

  “You can pretty much guarantee that any technology that the police have the bad guys can get their hands on.”

  “Doesn’t that stuff cost a lot of money?”

  “A lot of money that isn’t that much if you happen to have a steady supply of businesses paying your bills.”

  Zeke shrugged. “Better safe than sorry.”

  “You don’t know if they can or not?” Tristan asked.

  “Technology is constantly evolving and becoming cheaper. It’s hard to tell what’s possible and how much it costs anymore.”

  “Isn’t it hard to track a phone?”

  Zeke sighed. “It’s not really that difficult. If they could have gotten a hold of your phone for a short while it wouldn’t be outside the realms of possibility.”

  Tristan nodded. “Maybe I should watch my phone a little closer.”

  “I’m not saying that they did, but let’s keep your phone secure for a bit longer, all right?”

  “Uh, I ordered food on it? Is that going to be all right?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll just have to get you to a new safe house with a burner phone, hopefully soon.” Zeke didn’t want to show how nervous he was.

  Tristan was fidgeting. The man was clearly nervous. Zeke almost regretted saying anything. “I didn’t even think of it.”

  “You’re not expected to. It’s fine. Why don’t you turn the phone off now and leave it off? We’ll get this all figured out.”

  “Okay. Sorry.”

  “Hey, it’s not your fault. Everyone in the world treats their phone like a second skin. I didn’t even think about it.” Zeke reached his hand out and placed it on Tristan’s shoulder. It was a comforting gesture that seemed to work.

  Tristan smiled softly, but he was still a bit nervous. It didn’t take the trained eye of a cop to recognize the fact that the man was feeling a bit odd about the entire thing. “Should I be here?”

  “You’re fine.”

  “Maybe I should get a hotel room.”

  “Would that make you feel better?” Zeke frowned.

  “Yeah. I think so.” Tristan nodded.

  “All right. Grab your stuff. We can get you transferred. Let me call up an escort for us.”

  Tristan quietly moved to pack up his gear. Not that there was much of it. He hadn’t brought anything of note with him. A small bag that Zeke had gotten for him along with a few things from his car before he had left it behind. Tristan frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” Zeke looked over his shoulder.

  “It’s just—I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “Think of it like camping. I can send the gu
ys watching your place to check it out for you.”

  “I need some clothes. And you brought my almost empty deodorant. And my shaving kit.”

  Zeke nodded. “Don’t worry. That will all be taken care of. You’ll have it tomorrow. Give me a second and let me pack some stuff up.”

  “Are you coming with me?”

  “I’m not going to let you sit there alone and in a panic.” Zeke sighed heavily. “What kind of person would I be to do that to you?”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tristan couldn’t help but notice the worried look on Zeke’s face as they walked out the door. “What’s wrong?”

  “Back inside, now.” Zeke’s voice was a harsh whisper.

  Tristan found himself almost compelled to follow the order. Tristan ran back into Zeke’s place, Zeke hot on his heels. “Take it easy. Stay low. Away from the windows.”

  “What can I do?” Tristan asked.

  “Just stay safe.”

  “I don’t think we can keep them out if they really want to get in.”

  “Probably not, but here’s hoping we can hold them off until backup arrives.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to secure the place as best I can,” Zeke said in a low voice.

  “How?” Tristan asked.

  “Start blocking the door. I’m going to cover the windows.” Zeke was giving orders. And they were easy for Tristan to follow.

  Tristan was pushing the couch in front of the door as he called out the question that was burning on his mind. “What did you see?”

  He immediately regretted asking the question. There was a possibility that he really didn’t want to know what was going on. Whether or not there was going to be a fight in the near future.

  He vaguely wondered if it was worth asking these questions. If it was worth knowing, but Zeke seemed quite willing to answer them. Before Tristan could say that he didn’t want to hear it, Zeke was talking.

  “A few cars pulling up,” Zeke said.

  “Are you sure they’re coming for me?”

  “I don’t know.” Zeke shook his head. “I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong.”

  Zeke had his phone out as he worked, blocking off the living room windows. There were almost impossibly quick texts being sent off.

  “Are you checking on back up?”

  “Yeah. Just be careful.”

  “I am,” Tristan said nervously. “Do you see anything?”

  Zeke peeked through the curtains and around the furniture he was loading up to block the window. “It looks like they’re coming this way.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “No. I’ve got to go cover the back windows. Come with me and stay in the hall where they can’t see you.”

  “All right.” Tristan nervously glanced at the door and windows before he followed Zeke back. “How long do you think this will hold them?”

  “Not long. People are on their way. Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”

  “How can you say that?”

  Before Zeke could respond they could hear someone knock on the door.

  Tristan started to walk back to check the door, but Zeke motioned for him to stay right where he was as he checked his phone again. He shook his head.

  Tristan felt his throat go dry as he heard the pounding on the door grow louder. Zeke sped up, starting to cover up the windows in the back rooms. It was done surprisingly quick, but it wasn’t great. Zeke sighed.

  “Get in the closet!” Zeke instructed.

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

  Tristan climbed into the closet. There wasn’t much time to argue. And he held his breath. He didn’t know how long it was, but it couldn’t have been long before he heard the glass shatter and the bullets start to fly. Then Tristan heard unknown voices chattering.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s not here.”

  The bullets still boomed through the house.

  “Our guy saw him.”

  “Your guy is an idiot.”

  More shots. They took a moment to reload.

  “You best watch yourself.”

  Tristan couldn’t believe that they were shooting back and forth while they discussed this.

  How could anyone talk while there was a firefight going on? It didn’t make any sense at all.

  The noise was deafening and terrifying. Tristan wanted to cover his ears. But he knew he couldn’t. His hands found some sort of long case. It took a couple of seconds for him to recognize what it was; a rifle case. Zeke had a rifle in the closet. He felt around for it while the bullets were still flying. There was no lock. For a moment he wondered how Zeke could be so strangely casual about a rifle in his closet but didn’t want to press his luck.

  “Never look a gift horse in the mouth,” Tristan mumbled and pulled out the rifle.

  “Bullets.” The scuffle was still going on outside, but the shots had slowed down.

  Someone was screaming outside. “Where is he?”

  Zeke didn’t answer, but another shot sounded. He hoped that it meant that Zeke was okay. But there was no way to know. Tristan shivered as he felt around in the box looking for some kind of ammunition.

  Shots were being fired again. It was becoming more frequent. That bothered him. It didn’t sound good. He fumbled around more, hoping to find something to protect himself with. He needed bullets.

  After a few moments, he found the box and started to load the rifle in the dark. He just hoped that he remembered how to load the rifle like Zeke had shown him. It seemed to take forever. He fumbled rushing, but only ended up dropping bullets on the floor. He froze as they clattered to the ground. Even with all the noise going on outside it was terrifyingly loud.

  “What was that?” the angry voice asked from outside.

  He heard Zeke grunt. It sounded like it was right outside the door now. Right outside of the room that housed the closet that he was hiding in.

  The shouting got louder. And then he heard Zeke yell. Zeke was being hurt. His heart started to pound and he rushed, actually getting the rifle loaded. It was an older model, lever-action that made that distinctive noise as he cocked the weapon.

  And it was time to be a hero. He had to do something.

  As he burst through the door, he heard men shout from the front of the house. Zeke’s back up. “Secure the front. They must have gone through the window.”

  He didn’t wait for long. Tristan leveled the gun in front of him and went to throw open the door. This was a bit more complicated than the movies made it out to be.

  He managed to figure it out, throwing the door open just as the guy that had taken a baseball bat to his shop was stepping over Zeke’s body to reach for the door.

  Tristan felt his heart nearly drop out of his chest. Seeing Zeke there almost broke him, but he couldn’t let himself focus on that. He refused to look. It could be dealt with later. Instead, Tristan pointed the gun at the man. “Leave. Now.”

  The man pulled his own pistol up to point at Tristan. Tristan felt his hands shake, but the distraction proved to be just long enough for the sound of five more guns cocking to be heard.

  “Freeze!” The police had arrived.

  “Zeke’s down!” Tristan called out.

  The man with the gun was taken down, captured easily now that he was outmanned and outgunned.

  “We’ve got three more outside and in the front room,” one of the policemen radioed.

  Tristan dropped to his knees to check on Zeke. The shoulder of his shirt had blossomed red with blood.

  His hands sought out the wound and he held his hand over Zeke’s bloody shoulder.

  Tristan tried not to think about Zeke’s blood on his hands as he applied pressure to the wound. “Please be okay. You have to live through this.”

  Zeke groaned slightly, but he was only semiconscious with the pain.

  Another officer walked
up and put his hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “An ambulance is on the way. Just keep pressure on it so he doesn’t bleed out. You’re doing the right thing.”

  Tristan sobbed. “I hope he’s going to be all right?”

  “If there’s anyone who can live through anything, it’s Zeke. You’re going to be fine too.”

  “I’ve never had someone try to kill me before.”

  “It’s going to be fine.” The officer offered a comforting smile.

  “Did you kill any of them?” Tristan asked.

  “Luckily most people are cowards and give up the moment they realize that they’re outnumbered.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “This isn’t the movies. It doesn’t look like he’s that bad off.”

  “Are you trying to be comforting?”

  “I’m just trying to tell you that it’s all going to be all right. I’ve seen enough gunshots. You kept him from bleeding out. He’ll need some time to recover, but he’ll get there,” the young cop said.

  “Will you know if you have them all?”

  “That’s a little harder to figure out, but we’ll do our best to shut them all down.”

  Tristan frowned as someone pushed back the cop. “How is he?”

  It was Zeke’s partner. Tristan shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s still breathing.”

  “That’s good at least. It looks like it was just in the shoulder,” Jennie said.

  “Then why did he pass out?” Tristan asked, concerned with Zeke’s condition.

  “Probably blood loss. We have to keep the pressure on it.”

  “Right. Like this?”

  “Push down hard. As hard as you can. Don’t be afraid to hurt him, you have to stop the bleeding. That’s worth a little bit of pain.”

  Tristan nodded. “How long are we going to have to sit here. Where’s that ambulance?”

  “They’re on the way.”

  “They’re taking too long.” He felt himself start to panic. “They should be here already.”

  “Take it easy. He’ll be on his feet by Thanksgiving, I promise.”

  Then, Jennie squatted down next to Tristan and said, “It’s going to be fine. It’s only been a couple of minutes since we knew to call. It takes some time, but it won’t be long now. They’re on their way. He’s a downed officer. He hits pretty high on the priority list. I’m sure they’ll get here soon.”