Dangerous trio 2

by Jana Leigh

  “I am going to hide in the closet until Steve gets here. I won"t open the door for anyone, I promise.” She said and leaned up and kissed the big guy"s cheek.

  Jolly nodded and stood up and pushed her into the closet. He called Steve one last time to find out how long Bailey was going to be in the closet. Steve informed him he had pulled up to the building and was going to security. They should pass each other in the hall if all went well. Jolly nodded to the female agent and handed her the trench coat Bailey had worn. There was a hood on it and she pulled it up to cover her hair that was blonde instead of red.

  Jolly led the agent out of the room into the lobby area. He whispered for the agent to keep her head down and wait for him. Jolly went back to the conference room Bailey had been in, and was relieved to see the States Attorney, Mr. Trent, and another Marshall still in the room.

  “Bailey is done for the day. You can call my office to set up further appointments, but she is feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable here and wants to go home. She signed the papers, my company is her preferred security, and the waiver is right here. For her safety we are moving her now, and will be in touch when you can meet with her again.” Jolly said briskly and nodded to the States Attorney who was frowning. Jolly saw the look of frustration flash across Trent"s face, and knew they had made the right decision.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Vincent, is it? You and your partner Mr. Wade need to sign the waiver also.” Trent smiled smugly, thinking he had bought himself more time.

  “Done and faxed to your supervisor.” Jolly replied.

  “Oh… Well I guess everything is in order then.” Trent said disappointed. “I will go to my office and get it all filed then.”

  Jolly smiled grimly and turned to get the heck out of the office quickly. He figured Trent was going to try to intercept Bailey and wanted to draw his attention away from Bailey and Steve and onto him and the decoy. He pulled the female agent out the door with him and walked quickly to the elevators. He at least was able to breathe a sigh of relief when Steve stepped out of the elevator they were waiting for. They nodded to each other but did not stop to talk. Jolly would not feel better until Bailey was safe in the loft with Dallas and Noah.

  He made it to the car with no problem and had the agent get into the back seat. When he rounded the front of the car, he saw a Crown Victoria pull into the lot of the building.

  He grinned and jumped into the driver seat and buckled his belt. The 4 Runner was designed for him, because of his height; they had to special order the car to give him leg room. He instructed the female agent to buckle up, and threw the SUV in reverse and peeled out of the parking space. He decided to take the route around the downtown area because it had narrow streets, and was better for if he wanted to lose a tail. With his huge firm hands, he maneuvered through a maze of thirty blocks, but the Crown Vic refused to be shaken off. The agent suggested he go toward the old airport boulevard, the traffic was sparse and there was less chance of them involving a pedestrian or innocent driver in the chase they were about to have. She was using her phone to call her supervisors and keep them apprised of the situation. Jolly knew soon there would be back up, but he was guessing the other car was about ready to make a move, and they had run out of time.

  Jolly did not have long to wait, he saw the car increasing its speed, trying to pull alongside the 4 Runner. Jolly skillfully used the defensive driving techniques he taught his employees, and was a little more than irritated when the other driver seemed to be able to anticipate what he was planning. It must not be the driver from the other day because he had been a dumbass. Shit, that meant he was a professional and Bailey had been given a target on her back. Steve would not be happy when he heard that.

  Concentrating on staying ahead of the other car, and listening to the agent keep him apprised of where their back up was, Jolly did not see the huge Hummer headed right for them. He figured it was a bystander until the truck swung in front of him, blocking the road. Jolly tried to avoid the collision, but the Crown Vic rammed him from behind, so he was unable to reduce his speed enough to make the impact gentle. He heard the agent screaming as they plowed into the side of the Hummer. Jolly"s seat belt pulled against his chest and shoulder with such force he felt his arm pop and knew it was broken. He airbag deployed and surrounded him, but Jolly knew he needed to think quick. He ordered the agent, who was sobbing in pain in the back, to get her gun out; he reached for the glove box where Steve stored his backup piece.

  Before he could get it in his hand though, he heard the men from the others cars, yelling at each other as they approached his side of the SUV. He was pushing the airbag out of his way trying to free himself so he could protect the female agent in the back and himself. He never saw the man who fired his gun into the 4 Runner, but he heard the weapon fire and the agent in the back got very quiet. He did not know whether she was alive or dead. The thought that he had contributed to an officer"s death created a rage that pulsed through him, it gave him the needed strength to get to his weapon. He curled his finger around the trigger and brought it up through his window firing, not really caring who he hit at that point. Blood from a head wound clouded his vision and he heard the other person return fire and felt the sting of the bullets entering his muscles on his chest. He refused to go down until he knew they were safe from their attackers. He emptied his clip and heard a few grunts, making him believe he had at least hit something. He tried to reload his gun, but his arms refused to cooperate and so he pulled himself out of the car, intending to use self-defense tactics to secure their safety.

  There was no one on the outside the car, and Jolly stumbled to find where the threat came from. He heard the screaming sirens coming in their direction as he continued around the 4 runner. There was no one in the Hummer and the Crown Victoria was gone. Jolly pulled the small agent out of the car and felt for a pulse. He sighed in gratitude when he felt a weak thread in her neck. He carried her to the grass and laid her next to him as he propped himself against a tree. He saw she had taken at least three bullets in the arm, leg, and shoulder. Thank goodness, it looked like they missed any major organs.

  He looked down at his torso and groaned. His Nextel was still attached to his hip and the earpiece was hopefully working. He had taken at least four bullets to the chest and he knew one of them hit something important because the blood was pumping out of the hole. The backup was pulling up, when he said into the phone.

  “Steve?” He whispered because it hurt to take a deep breath, which could only mean he had taken a hit in the lungs.

  “Jolly? What"s wrong? I just got Bailey back to the loft she is secured.” Steve said loudly through the phone.

  “Don"t think I am gonna make it to the loft like we planned. Ran onto a little bit of a situation here on the way back. Let"s get this out of the way, okay? You know you are like a brother to me; I have left my will in the safe on the second floor office in the house. You get everything, but I set up a trust for Calli. Make sure she uses it to get her store up and going. I just want her to know I love her and am thinking only about the two of you right now.” Jolly said quietly. The EMTs were running to him and the agent next to him. “Also, man, make sure the agent that was with me is taken care of, I think she will pull through, but she will need rehab. Pay for it man, she did not ask for this.”

  “JOLLY!” He heard his best friend yell into the phone and he blacked out.

  Chapter 2

  Steve was standing in the loft when his best friend called him. Noah, Dallas, and Bailey heard everything the big man said, and caught Steve when he went to his knees. In all their years in the service Jolly had only been hurt once, he broke a finger when repelling from a helicopter. Steve just never thought the big man would ever be hurt so bad he could die. His best friend and only family was dying and Steve was not with him. They could hear the EMTs yelling in the background but could not understand what they were saying until one of them said, “Holy Shit, he won"t make it to the hospital. Let"s get her in
the ambulance first; she is stable at least.” Bailey cried silently knowing it was because of her the gentle giant was going to die. She would never be able to look at Steve again for being the reason behind his friend"s death.

  Dallas had a phone and was barking orders into the receiver, trying to get to the first responders to turn off the Nextel. Steve was crumbling before their eyes, listening to the talking on the Nextel. Finally, they heard the click, the loft was silent, except for Bailey sobbing, and Steve"s ragged crying.

  Noah took Bailey and led her to the couch to lie down, then went to his friend"s side and with the help of Dallas; he got the other man to his feet. Before he could lead him to the couch, Steve ran for the elevators.

  “Go with,” Noah cried to Dallas and watched helplessly as his lover took off after the man.

  They made it down to Steve"s 4 Runner before Dallas grabbed the keys from his friend.

  There was no way he should be driving. Dallas pulled out his cell and pushed his speed dial not really wanting to make this call, but Steve needed Calli.

  “Hey there, big guy. Does your woman need more clothes?” Calli answered her phone teasing Dallas. When she met Bailey the other day, the woman had refused to take the clothes Calli brought for her. Of course, she was altering the majority of them because the other woman was so small. Her apartment was full of clothes waiting to deliver to Dallas and Noah"s loft. She had spent the last four days working on getting them ready.

  For what the men paid her, she should have had her team working overtime, but they had assured her it was not a rush job. If she knew them, it was because they were keeping her tied to the bed convincing her to stay with them. God, how she envied the woman. She wished she could actually think like that.

  Jolly and Steve had been after her for the last few years, but she had managed to keep them at arm"s length because she was not convinced a relationship like that could work.

  After all, two men and one woman, there had to be some jealousy that would come into play; Calli would rather refrain from losing her friends. She did not have a lot to begin with, she had been a runway model for a few years, traveling all over the world, that kind of lifestyle did not promote close friends. When she decided to settle down and make a go of her designing business, she settled in Denver to be close to her family.

  They were a pain in the ass, but she loved them. Calli and Noah had met one afternoon at a craft store, they had become fast friends and it led her to one of the closest relationships she had ever had outside of her family. She was six feet tall and gorgeous; most women did not want to be her friend since when they went out, all the guys would stare at her, competition sucked.

  “Calli,” Dallas said softly and Calli dropped the dress she was working on. Dallas never sounded like this so something bad had happened. Her first thought was Noah again; the last time Dallas called her like this was to tell her Noah had been shot at the courthouse. Their group of friends had grown only to accept a few people, because none of them were very trusting and they loved their privacy. So when they found someone they trusted, all of them welcomed them into their small little group. Right now, it consisted of Dallas, Noah, Steve, Jolly, Calli, and Ginny, and of course Bailey. They all hung out together weekly and more often than not, they ate dinner at least twice a week together. They all liked the same things and felt comfortable around each other.

  “No, Dallas, I don"t want to hear it.” She started and began gathering her things together, knowing that she needed to be ready to go to her friend"s side. “Okay, sorry, is it Noah? Bailey?” She whispered into the phone.

  “No baby, Jolly.” He said and she screamed into the phone before dropping it and running for her door. She could barely think straight and knew she had to be with Steve, so she grabbed the keys to her car and raced out to the little sports car she had just purchased. Calli was classically beautiful and loved to stay on the cutting edge of fashion. She had short spiky blue hair that was dyed monthly to match the color of her eyes. Calli loved the glances she got when she went to a store. More often than not, it led to customers who were drawn to her style and personality. Though she got a lot of attention, she only had a few close friends because she hated the superficial people who only wanted to hang out with her because she used to be famous.

  Calli reached for the cell phone she kept in her car, she never left home without it. It was a standing joke with her friends, she used to forget it and lose track of time in a fabric store. Many times, she had been late for dinner because she did not remember her cell, so they could call and remind her of the time. Steve insisted she get a Nextel with Jolly and him a few months ago so they could just beep her when she lost track of the time. The boys had been trying to take care of her more and more and until now, she had resisted. What would she do if one of them were gone? Calli had just begun to admit there was more to their attraction than just sexual.

  “Steve?” She said into the phone.

  “No sweetie it"s Noah, they left his phone here when they left. Call Dallas.” He said to her gently.

  “Tell me. I am in the car, where am I going?” She said desperately to her friend.

  “I don"t know. I only know Jolly was shot.” Noah said and hesitated briefly. She knew he did not want to give her the news over the phone while she was driving. Shit, that meant it was bad. She closed her eyes and laid her back on the headrest.

  “Tell me,” she insisted.

  “Just call Dallas honey, he should know by now where they took Jolly.” He replied.

  “Damn it Noah, just fucking tell me!” She yelled into the receiver.

  She heard the man sigh and she was not prepared for what came next. “Calli, Jolly called Steve and told him he was shot and wanted to say goodbye before it was too late.

  He gave him instructions for him to take care of you. We heard the EMTs working on him but it didn"t look good. They did not think he would survive to the hospital.” She heard the words, but refused to believe them.

  “No, not Jolly, he is too strong, they were wrong, besides he would not do that to us. He would not leave me and Steve.” She sobbed and dropped the phone. She heard Noah calling for her but refused to pick the phone up again. She sat in the parking garage crying and falling apart. It barely registered in her brain when she heard a knock on her window. She was startled when she felt the door open and Dallas was crouched next to her.

  “Come on sweetie, let"s go, Steve is in the car. We need to get to the hospital.” He was saying to her.

  “Did he make it?” She cried hoping Noah had been wrong.

  “I don"t know. I just know what hospital they took him to.” Dallas said gently and pulled her from her driver seat and carried her to Steve"s 4 Runner. Steve was in the passenger"s seat staring straight ahead with tears running down his face. It made it more real when she saw his reaction, because Steve would never have been crying if Jolly had been fine. They each had very defined roles in their group. Dallas was the brain, the one they went to if there was problem with finances. Noah was the creative chef. Noah would make wonderful dinners for them all to consume when they got together, he reveled in making them new dishes. Steve was the sports fanatic; he had season tickets to all the sports teams in Colorado and made them all watch ESPN when he was with them. Ginny was the caretaker of the group. Calli was the free spirit, the one who came up with crazy fun ideas for them all to try. Jolly was the rock, the cornerstone, the one who they all leaned on when there was a problem and right now, they had no one to hold them together. She continued to sob as Dallas strapped her into the seat belt and returned to the driver seat.

  In her fog of grief, she heard Dallas speaking into the phone to Ginny. She was his assistant, he was asking her to make the arrangements for Steve and Calli to be booked into a hotel by the hospital. He thought they would need a place to go if things were bad. If Jolly survived, they would want to be close anyway, so it was needed. He asked Ginny to book a suite so any of their friends could come too, shoul
d they be needed.

  When he was done, Dallas hung up the phone and called Noah. He filled them in on what he knew and then set the phone down; he could have been in the car alone for all the noise the other two made. They were in shock. He was too, but he knew he needed to strong for his friends right now. He did not know what was going to happen to either one of them if Jolly died.

  Finally, after what seemed like years, they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. He pulled into the emergency entrance. He expected to have to chase after the two, because they would rush into the hospital wanting to hear how Jolly was. Instead, they both sat there looking forward and not saying a word. Dallas took off his seat belt and looked at his friends.

  “Steve, we are here.” He said to the man sitting beside him. He looked over his shoulder at Calli who was still sobbing quietly. She jumped when Steve finally spoke.

  “I know, man. I can"t go in though. They are gonna tell me my best friend is dead. I can"t hear that.” Steve ground out.

  Dallas nodded and got out of the car, telling them to stay put until he came back. Dallas walked through the emergency entrance and was met with chaos. There were men in suits flooding the lobby, screaming at the receptionist. He was shocked at the level of chaos. He pushed his way forward to join the mess. He heard the men asking about the female agent who had been wounded. The nurse was trying to explain to them she could not release any information until they called next of kin. She finally got through to the group to go to the waiting area until she could get clearance to talk to them. She turned to him and frowned. He knew she was ready to yell at him too, so he held up his hand.