“I’m going to kill you for that, you stupid cunt.” His vicious, irate words boomed through the space and through my deafening pulse that thumped in my ears.
I pulled Jules to her feet, ignoring her injured protests, and slung her arm around my shoulders. She could barely stand. Her face was caked in blood, her hair matting into the dark liquid.
“I got you,” I whispered, focusing on the task and not the threat; it was the only way we were going to make it out of there. “We have to get out of here. I know it hurts. Just hang on.”
I pushed us out the front door of Roasters just as the first shot rang out. I didn’t look back to see what he’d hit. It didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t either of us. The cool burst of air sharpened my senses. I needed to get to a public place—and fast.
Quickly scanning for any building still lit at this time of night, I let out a strangled cry when the first business I could see that was still open was the bar three blocks down.
Three blocks wasn’t far. Except when you were carrying the weight of an extra person and there was a man intent on killing you closing in on your heels.
But it was our only hope.
“This way,” I instructed, hobbling as fast as I could with Jules slumped against my side. “We just have to get to the bar, Jules,” I broke off, needing all my strength to move.
Each deep breath was soaked with the metallic sweetness of Jules’ blood and tears slipped from my eyes, knowing how wounded she was.
“Almost there,” I reassured us both.
I walked as fast as I could with her stumbling alongside me. My head turned, hearing the door of the coffee shop fly open, the new bell we’d installed dinging violently.
Oh, God.
He hadn’t gone after the deed like I’d hoped. He was coming to take care of us first.
Adrenaline pumped like hot fuel through my veins. It dulled the burning in my muscles and gave me a strength I didn’t know I possessed.
I pulled Jules over to the edge of the building, practically lifting her with each step until we reached the alleyway on the other side of Diane’s studio. I ducked around the corner, spinning Jules with me and sheltering us from Blackman’s gaze. For the moment.
My chest heaved and I shushed Jules as she moaned in pain against my side.
I needed to think. I needed a new plan.
Blackman was outside. Headed toward us. We’d never make it to the bar.
My pulse hammered.
“You stupid cunt.” The words cracked like thunder on the silent street. “You won’t be able to escape me.”
Getting as close to the corner of the building as I dared, I peeked down the road, seeing twin bright beams pull onto Ocean Avenue from the bar’s parking lot.
My head tipped back against the brick siding. If I could get the driver’s attention before Blackman got us.
I heard the expensive tap of his dress shoes pause, probably at the driveway to Roasters. He was wondering if I’d taken her toward the back where I’d parked Eli’s truck.
I hadn’t. I was afraid if he went out the back of the building, he’d catch us too easily.
His soft chuckle floated through the silence. “You should’ve just sold it to me when you had the chance. Now, you’re the one who’s going to pay.”
The approaching vehicle grew louder. I looked again, seeing it was a truck still a block away. But it was my only shot.
I squeezed my eyes shut, sucking in breaths like I couldn’t get enough air, and prayed. If I could distract him long enough, maybe at least Jules would be safe.
Do what you can.
Blackman’s shoes clicked closer. A ticking time bomb and split seconds was all I had.
“Don’t move, Jules. You hear me? Don’t make a sound. It’s all going to be okay,” I whispered harshly, crouching so I could sit her down and rest her back gently against the side of the building.
My pulse hammered. If heartbeats could have horsepower, mine thundered with a thousand hoofbeats in my ears.
Do what you can.
The light glinting off the emblem on the side of the white truck as it slowed. Madison Construction. My heart stopped on a dime.
It was Mick.
There was no time to think. There was only time to do what I could.
I stood and stepped from the alleyway. “MICK! HELP!”
My scream was bloodcurdling as it ripped through the silken silence, quickly echoed by the shriek of brakes. Bright red flashed in my peripheral before I ran.
Not away.
Not to the truck.
I ran straight toward the lethal black eyes of the man who wanted to kill me. His gun glinted off the streetlight as he turned toward me, his body partially obscured where he stood in Roasters driveway.
I thought he’d be closer.
I’d hoped, with the element of surprise, I could reach him and knock him down before he could fire.
The space between Blackman and me closed in slow motion. The smell of his cologne hit me first, professional and deadly. The sound of the gun cocking was like a sonic boom.
But when it fired? I heard nothing.
This was it.
I only saw a flash in front of me as my feet skidded to a halt.
I’d done everything I could.
My eyes dropped down.
I hoped it was enough for Mick to be able to save Jules.
My arms fell to my sides as I looked for blood.
But there was nothing. No blood. No pain. No wound.
How was this… My thoughts faded as I looked back to Blackman, half-expecting a second-shot to slam into me.
The half-cocked smile on Blackman’s face melted in front of my eyes as he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
“Laurel!” My name whipped me back to reality. Sounds, sights, movements. Everything returned in an instant.
I turned and saw Mick, the third person in the triangle of him, Blackman, and myself. He stood in front of Roasters, his truck parked cockeyed toward the sidewalk, his kind blue eyes burning with something fierce and a smoking gun in his hand.
“Mick…” My voice was barely a whisper as all the adrenaline flooded out of my body like a bursting dam, leaving me spent and frail.
Like a combination to a lock, all of the numbers clicked into place and revealed what had happened.
I hadn’t been shot. Mick had fired on Blackman.
Mick had killed him and saved me.
Gingerly, I stepped toward the heap of black and bleeding suit, needing to see the wound. Needing to see for myself that the threat was gone.
“Are you okay?” My gaze snapped up to Mick standing in front of me, his giant hands reaching for my shoulders as he peered down with worry creasing his brow.
“Yeah, I’m—” I broke off and spun. “Jules!”
Mick’s gaze followed mine to see my cousin, sliding herself from around the corner of the building, drawn out by the gunshots.
I reached for him, pleading and pulling him with me. “We have to get her to the hospital. He hit her with the gun. Call 911. We have to—”
Another truck screeched to a stop at the curb. “Laurel!” Eli jumped down from the cab and sprinted toward me.
Mick moved out of the way, dialing 911 as he jogged over to Jules. I caught Ace out of the corner of my eye heading over to where Blackman lay dead on the pavement, pulling out his own cell phone. And then there was nothing else because Eli was there, pulling me into his arms, and making me safe again.
“Eli!” I sobbed, collapsing against him… into his warmth.
It wasn’t until I saw him that I knew everything was going to be okay.
Somehow it was all going to be okay.
“Jesus Christ, Laurel. I was so afraid. So fucking afraid, sweetheart.” He held me so tightly. So securely. From having a gun pointed at me to being in his arms, I’d gone from vulnerable to safe in a matter of seconds.
“I love you,” I murmured against his pounding heart. I needed t
o tell him.
It was the only thing that mattered.
“Are you okay?” He pulled back and demanded, brushing my hair back from my face, examining me for himself before I could answer. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “I’m okay. Mick saved—”
“What the hell were you thinking, going after him like that?” Fear abated into anger—anger that I’d put myself in danger. Anger that he’d almost lost me.
“I didn’t have a choice.” I shook my head, tears spilling easily and fluidly down my cheeks. “I had to do what I could—what I could to save her. She’s my only family. She’s…” I choked and curled against his chest.
“I know—fuck.” He let out a ragged sigh and reached for my face, wiping my tears away like only he could. “I know, Laurel. You just scared me. Seeing you run toward him—” I reached up and kissed him, needing to put a physical end to his fears.
“Jules… we have to get her to the hospital.” My vision was blurry as I moved us toward where Mick was crouched to the ground, holding my cousin like a rag doll against his chest. “Did you call the ambulance?”
Mick nodded, and I’d never seen his friendly face so enraged before. “What happened?” he asked with a low voice.
“He had her.” I glanced at Eli. “He had a gun to her head the moment I walked inside. When I told him I didn’t have the deed, he hit her. I had to save her. I had to,” I broke off with another sob as the images assaulted me. Eli wrapped me in his arms as every fear and horror I’d held inside suddenly unleashed, safe against the steady beat of his chest against my cheek.
“Mick, what happened?” Eli demanded. “How did you get here?”
“I was down at the bar checkin’ on Miles.” He paused with a grunt. “I was just gettin’ in my truck when I heard a shot. Know that sound anywhere, growin’ up in Texas.” He let out a wry laugh. “Drove up the street slow to try to see where it was comin’ from when I saw the lights on at Roasters, didn’t seem right so I was goin’ to stop. Then I heard Laurel screamin’ like a banshee for help, so I pulled over and grabbed my gun and that’s when I saw him about to shoot her. So, I fired.”
I felt Eli tense against me. When I looked out from his embrace, I saw Ace standing beside him, his hands on his hips and a hard frown etched across his Viking features.
“Give me your gun,” he said with a low voice.
“What?”
“You need to give me your gun and you need to get out of here,” Ace insisted with a deadly calm.
“What the hell are you talkin’ about? I’m not leavin’ her like this.” Mick tightened his hold, looking ready to take down anyone who tried to take Jules from him before the ambulance came. The fierce look of protectiveness in his eyes made my breath hitch.
Ace’s nostrils flared. “This isn’t Texas, Mick. California doesn’t give a fuck whose life you saved or what evil you stopped,” he bit out with a vicious tone. “You have a license here for your gun?”
Mick’s gaze faltered. “In Texas, yeah. Haven’t had a chance to apply here since we moved. Haven’t needed it.”
“Exactly.” Ace stepped forward and bent down until he was eye-level with the other man. “You shot someone. You shot someone with a gun you don’t have legal right to have. They don’t fucking care if the man you killed was the goddamn scum of the earth. They won’t care that you prevented two murders tonight. They will care that you used an unlicensed firearm to kill a man.”
My blood chilled, the thought that the law would punish a man for saving my life—for killing someone who would have willingly and enthusiastically taken it, made me feel sick all over again.
Sometimes the right thing lived outside of the law.
“Give me your gun and get out of here. I will handle this.”
The facts were met with a beat of silence, the sound of approaching sirens getting louder.
“Mick,” Eli broke in. “California doesn’t care what good you do when that good involves a gun. We’ll make sure Jules is okay, I promise. Just get out of here otherwise they will arrest you.”
I stepped away from Eli and bent down, reaching for my cousin as I murmured to my friend, “Please, Mick. Do what they say.” My lip trembled. “I can’t watch them arrest you for saving my life.”
I’d never seen such a hard, harsh look on my Friendly Giant’s face before—a look that said friendly was all well and good until someone innocent was harmed… then friendly turned fierce.
He took a deep breath before letting out a low, feral growl and shoved his weapon in Ace’s direction. Just before he gave me Jules’ weight, I caught him murmuring something in her ear, as though he’d been in the middle of a conversation when we’d approached. And, as he shifted her weight over to me, even in her condition, she appeared to not want to let him go.
“Call me as soon as the doctor sees her and let me know how she is,” he instructed me softly.
I nodded and watched him go.
Ace wiped the gun as I gave him the rundown of what happened, Mick’s actions shifting ownership to the man who was legally allowed to fire a weapon at a bad man. Almost as soon as I was done, the ambulance appeared on the street.
Giving us a nod of confidence and an offer of good luck, Ace waited for the police as Eli and I climbed into the ambulance with Jules. I refused to leave her side and he refused to leave mine.
Laurel
“Is there anything I can get you?” the young nurse, Gwen, at Carmel General asked as I stood outside Jules’ hospital room. I’d been there for the past hour and a half, watching… waiting while they ran tests and bandaged her up.
“No, thank you.” I gave her a small smile. She’d been so kind and helpful since the moment we got here, even though the hospital was busy for this time of night.
“Here, let me take that from you.” She extended a hand for my empty cup. I’d stepped out to grab a drink of water. “She’s going to be fine, Miss Ocean.” We both looked at Jules as she spoke. “That one is a fighter.”
I could only nod. She was right. Jules was a fighter. She’d always been strong and sure and determined. But now, it felt like she wasn’t even stepping into the ring. As soon as she was feeling better and out of here, there would be no skirted answers. No dismissed questions or backtracking on bottled-up truths. I was going to get a straight answer as to why she wasn’t living the life she wanted, because tonight had proven just how fragile that life could be.
And then, I was going to ask her if she’d ever seen Blackman at the resort—if she knew him.
There were things that didn’t add up.
How he knew the lawyer had given me the deed.
Why he’d chosen Jules.
And why he’d taken her from the resort tonight.
But I had to focus on the most important things right now.
She was okay.
Blackman was gone.
“How is she?” I turned to see Eli standing beside me in the spot where Gwen had just been; I hadn’t even realized she’d walked away.
He placed his hand on my lower back, warmth suffusing through my body like a blanket of strength.
I looked through the glass door at Jules lying peacefully in the bed.
Her head was bound and even though they’d wiped her face, I could still see the faint stain of blood where it would have been too painful to scrub off right now. The blanket on her covered what I knew was a patchwork of nasty-looking black and purple bruises, wrapped over with more bandages. At least they had given her something for the pain and to help her rest.
“Concussion. Broken rib and a few bruised ones. But as of now, no signs of hemorrhaging in her brain and no sign of internal bleeding.” I winced just hearing the list of injuries all over again.
“Christ.”
I shivered as he pulled me securely back into his arms, both of us knowing just how much worse it could’ve been.
“They want to keep her for a few days to make sure t
here’s no major swelling,” I went on, hearing my voice thicken. “The doctor said—” I broke off and swallowed. “He said she might have some memory loss when she wakes and, depending on how the next few days go, it may not come back.”
Eli pressed a kiss to my head. “But she will come back, Laurel.” He tipped my head up to his. “She is alive because of you.”
I looked away. “She almost died because of me.”
“No.” His low growl made me shiver. “She almost died because of that piece of shit who tried to kill you both.”
As I looked into his eyes, I heard the unspoken ‘You almost died because of that piece of shit, too.’
“The craziest part,” I told him. “I never thought he’d be there. He was the last thing on my mind the moment she called.”
“I’m sure that was his plan. He didn’t want you to expect him otherwise you would’ve acted differently.”
I shook my head. “But if you heard what she said… I don’t think he made her call me, Eli. I think the call was real. I think her wanting to meet me—to tell me something was real.”
“Why?”
“The things she said…” My brow furrowed. “The way she talked about her family.” I glanced over my shoulder. “If he’d made her do it, I don’t know why she would’ve mentioned the things she did.”
“Unless he really wanted her to make it believable.” His hand moved in small circles low on my back. “Laurel, look at all the things he’s done to try to take possession of Roasters. To have Jules say things… insinuate things… to make you feel the utmost urgency to meet her is the least of what he was capable of.”
I inhaled slowly. I couldn’t argue with him. He was right.
But I still didn’t believe I was wrong; I still believed Jules called me on her own.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and ask her when she wakes up,” I murmured, turning to look at my cousin again as though I expected her to sit up any moment. “If she remembers.”
“You gave her the chance to remember, sweetheart,” he reassured me, nuzzling my head.
“I wasn’t going to lose someone else. Not if I could help it,” I confessed quietly.
Beholden: A Small-Town Standalone Romance (Carmel Cove Book 1) Page 30