by K. M. Scott
“I’ll be back in just a minute,” I said excusing myself. Gregory patted me on the back and I stopped nearby to speak to Tiffany.
“I need to go up front, so I need Johansen to watch both of you. Please stand near him until I get back.”
“No problem, Gage, but I’m going to expect a dance after everyone’s gone. That’s my price,” she said with a wink.
“You drive a hard bargain,” I said as I walked away. Glancing back, I saw she was smiling.
It was the last time I’d see her beautiful smile. If I had known that at the time, maybe I would have watched longer, hoping to hold onto that moment in time forever where she was alive and happy.
I was still looking behind me as I heard the screams coming from the front door. I turned quickly and could barely make out someone waving a gun around before I heard a shot go off and the screams turned to horrified shrieks. There was blood, but whose it was, I had no idea. My mission became get back to Gregory and Tiffany, so I quickly turned and started pushing my way back to them.
There were too many people running frantically and not enough doors to save all of us. The people near the back door were luckiest and able to escape into the yard, but the food table had been placed toward the front wall near the kitchen. Our only chance was for me to get to them in time and get them to the kitchen and to the service door.
People were screaming and the room became a blur of satin gowns and tuxes pushing against one another in a wave of terror. I focused and saw Gregory covering Tiffany behind the food table. Johansen was nowhere to be found near them.
Running toward it, I jumped over the table and grabbed the two of them.
“Move to the kitchen and stay in front of me!” I yelled over the screams as Tiffany struggled to stay calm.
Gregory crouched and started to move but Tiffany stood paralyzed in fear.
“Tiffany move!” I barked.
My sternness seemed to snap her out of it, and she mimicked her father as I pushed them both along and covered their heads as best I could. If I could just get them to the kitchen and out that service door, everything would be fine.
We reached the end of the table, and I pulled out the pistol on my hip. Glancing back, I saw three shooters dressed in all black, but they were having trouble figuring out where Gregory was. I aimed at the one in front, but Tiffany screamed and I missed when I took my shot.
I turned back and saw Gregory and Tiffany had made it through the door and into the kitchen. I followed and as I entered the room, the putrid smell of burning food still on the stove hit me.
That smell still haunted me.
Gregory ran towards the service door without me needing to tell him, his hand clutched tight around Tiffany’s. He threw open the door and pushed her in front of him and turned to me.
“How many of them are there?” he asked frantically.
I had never seen Gregory in a state of panic before. This was the man who was known for his ability to keep calm under pressure. Now his pupils were dilated and his hands shook uncontrollably.
Before I could answer, we heard a piercing scream from outside. We dashed out the door and saw Tiffany struggling against the grip of a fourth man. I tackled him and knocked him unconscious as Tiffany crumpled to the ground and began to cry while her father ran to comfort her.
“We have to go!” I said and grabbed them to move, forgetting to push them in front of me and dragging them towards freedom. If we could make it to the garage, we’d be safe.
We ran and I kept glancing back to make sure they were okay. I felt his hand slip out of mine as Gregory tumbled to the ground. I bent down to pick him up at the same time Tiffany did, and from behind us we heard a shout.
Tiffany stood up and turned towards the sound. Before I could drop Gregory and grab my gun, one of the men from inside had pulled his gun and unloaded two shots into Tiffany’s stomach. He smiled smugly and took aim at Gregory, but I put two shots of my own into him.
What happened next all seemed to go in slow motion. Tiffany fell to the ground as Gregory shouted her name, his voice pure anguish.
“Tiffany!” he cried in vain as she landed on the ground next to him. She looked around wildly as she brought her hands to her stomach. It didn’t even look like Tiffany there. It was like some stranger I had never seen before was clutching her bleeding stomach.
“Dad, please…I don’t want to go,” she said feebly as I saw the light start to fade from her eyes. All that hope, all that potential, was rushing away from her as fast as the blood from her body and there was nothing either of us could do to stop it.
I dropped to my knees and applied pressure to her stomach, but it was no use. She was bleeding out fast. I had seen death before, but never like this. Tiffany was innocent in every way. She’d never hurt a soul and hadn’t even had the chance to live life yet.
Gregory wept and begged me to help her. “Please, Gage. Please! I can’t lose her.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another shooter came out of the house and take aim at Gregory. I stood up and shot through tear-filled eyes at him. Three bullets later he was dead on the lawn.
By the time I looked back at Tiffany, the life had left Tiffany’s eyes. She was gone.
“Gregory, there were three of them inside. I don’t know if the others got the third one, so we have to get to the car,” I said, putting a hand on Gregory’s shoulder.
He looked up with tears rushing down his face. I had never seen a man look so vulnerable. It terrified me. I couldn’t imagine loving and losing someone in the way he just had. Tiffany had been everything to him, and he’d just watched her die.
I struggled to stop my own tears as he whispered, “I’m not leaving her like roadkill, Gage. She’s my girl, my beautiful girl.”
Saying nothing, I lifted Tiffany off the ground and carried her to the car with Gregory keeping a hand on her head. We laid her down in the back seat of his black SUV, and I drove away to the hospital knowing it was a lost cause.
Sixteen people in total, including Tiffany, were killed that night and the guilt that Gregory bore was tangible. For days after, I shadowed Gregory everywhere, and after the funeral, we sat in his study as he slowly sipped on a glass of scotch. When he finally broke the silence between us, his words were the saddest I’d ever heard.
“I don’t blame you for Tiffany’s death and neither should you. Your job was to protect me and you did that. Johansen was in charge of Tiffany, not you. I don’t want you carrying this guilt with you for the rest of your life, Gage. It will eat you away until there’s nothing left. I’d hate to think the memory of Tiffany being that for you.”
“I failed to protect her when she needed me to. That’s all I know.”
“Gage, you did your job. No one, and I mean no one, blames you for this. If it weren’t for you, the two of us would have been shot dead where we stood. Even if we had gotten out, they would have gotten us outside. Thanks to you, I’m alive.”
I said nothing. What could I say? All that went through my mind as he spoke was because of my failure, Tiffany was gone.
“Nothing about how you handled that situation was your fault, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Taking a deep breath in, I tried to believe what he said, but it was no use. I knew the truth. “Gregory, I’m sorry, but I have to resign. I’ve spoken to a friend who can do this job and will be able to meet with you as soon as you’re ready. I’ll stay a few days to ease the transition, but then I have to leave.”
It felt like the coward’s way out, but it was what needed to be done. I couldn’t stay at that house knowing I’d failed to protect her.
Gregory’s mouth fell open slightly and he shook his head. “No. I don’t accept this. You belong here. You’re the best man for the job. That’s evident in the fact that you just saved my life.”
“I can’t stay here,” I said quietly.
I couldn’t stay and pretend like it wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t walk the halls and he
ar the ghost of her laughter echoing after me. As I had wandered through the house earlier that day, it was like her beautiful face was in every corner haunting me. I had walked out to the backyard where she’d died, where I had failed her, and hated every fucking blade of grass where it happened.
No matter what Gregory said, this was my fault. I should have done better, but I’d failed. How could he ever trust me with his life again when I had so clearly failed him?
“What happened wasn’t your fault. What more can I say to convince you of that fact?”
“Nothing. I have to stand by my decision. If only—”
“You’ve only made sure I’m safe for years and when someone makes an attempt on my life, you ensure I’m safe. What’s the damn problem here, Gage?”
“Sir. Tiffany.”
“Was not your charge, or do I need to drag out the contract you signed?”
“My contract ended a few months ago. I thought you had realized that.”
I saw in his eyes he hadn’t. That hurt even worse somehow. The man who knew every detail every single time had failed to notice that I had been working without a contract and there of my own volition.
“I didn’t realize. Things have just been so hectic lately. But Gage, you have to stop feeling responsible for Tiffany. You did your job and damn well. What happened isn’t your fault, Gage.”
I knew he didn’t blame me for her death, but I blamed me. I blamed me.
I sat there in that empty warehouse chained to the wall alone with the memories of the past and knew it had happened again. I’d failed, and now this time Jordan had borne the brunt of it.
I screamed out in anger and kicked at the wall. It was futile and childish, but in that moment rage filled me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It didn’t matter that Tiffany and Jordan didn’t deserve what they’d had to deal with. They got hurt and killed anyway, and no matter what I did, it seemed I was powerless to stop it. All I wanted was to protect the ones I loved, but I was seemingly incapable of even that.
Over and over again I kicked, screamed, and tugged at my chains. Tiffany’s lifeless eyes flashed in front of mine, but the more I pushed them away, the more Jordan’s beautiful face replaced them. Around and around they went like a carnival ride of sorrow sucking me down into it.
Finally, I gave up. With one more pitiful scream that was more like a growl of defeat, I slumped against the wall and closed my eyes. There was no use fighting anymore, and I succumbed to the depression crushing me.
“Gage? Gage? Are you in there?”
I knew that voice anywhere.
“Daryl! I’m in here!” I yelled back.
I waited for Daryl as a rush of hope filled me. I didn’t know how Daryl had found me, but maybe he had found Jordan as well. I had to keep that shred of belief alive.
“The door is boarded up out here. I’ll be right back. I need a crowbar or something. Stay there!”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I yelled back, happy to at least be hearing a familiar voice.
“I’ll be back. You hang tight,” he said with a chuckle.
A few minutes later, he came busting through the door and stumbled over to where I sat chained to the wall.
“Christ, Daryl, you look like you went through the war. What happened? Is that blood?” I asked, wondering about the copper color all over his clothes and skin.
“Nope, that would be rust. The whole place is full of it. I’m going to need one hell of a tetanus shot after this,” he said as he walked toward me with a pair of bolt cutters.
“Wow, way to come prepared, man. I’m impressed,” I said genuinely. I had known Daryl was smart, but I was actually impressed at his readiness.
“I was a boy scout, believe it or not,” he said with a chuckle as he broke through my chains. “That is until they kicked me out for being too mouthy. Go figure, right?”
I stood up and stretched my whole body as I thanked Daryl. “You, mouthy? Never would have thought that Daryl.”
“Yeah. Well, old habits die hard.”
“Enough joking around. Where’s Jordan?”
Daryl frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. I just knew where you were.”
“How did you manage to find me?” I asked as we began to walk out of the room and downstairs.
He was right about the rust. I was covered in the stuff. It was a wonder the building managed to stand up from it all. From the look of it now as I left, my kicking earlier may have threatened to topple the entire place.
“Tracked your GPS from your cell phone. A little trick of the trade, if you will,” he said with a big wink. He was clearly very proud of himself, as he should be. Thanks to him, I hadn’t died alone in some rundown warehouse. But Jordan was still out there.
“So you don’t know where she is?” I asked, my hope sinking.
Daryl’s face grew dark. “I was hoping you would have an idea. I looked everywhere I could think of. I even asked Nina and Tristan if they had any ideas, but there’s been no sign of her. She wasn’t brought with you?”
I shook my head and pushed through what appeared to be the side door of whatever this building had once been and out into the sunlight. “Where are we?” I asked, using my hand to shield my eyes from the glare.
“Queens, in what I can only guess was where they manufactured rust at one point. Listen Gage, we’re going to find her. Come hell or high water, we’re finding Jordan.”
He tossed me a cellphone and I remembered Jordan had been on mine back in New Orleans when they’d taken me. Quickly, I texted her a message but got no message back.
“Come on, we need to get going.”
“Where? I have no idea where Jordan could be. I don’t even know where to begin to look, for God’s sake,” I said as I followed him to his car.
“For right now, we’re going back to square one. Home base. Between you, me, and Tristan’s resources, we’ll find her, Gage.”
I hung my head as the possibilities of where she could be began to overwhelm me. Even assuming she was still in the States, she could be any of a million places.
And I didn’t know how much time she had left, if she was still alive at all. She hadn’t been wrong about Hailey finding us in that club in the French Quarter. If only I’d believed her, maybe we’d still be together.
My phone vibrated in my hand, and I saw someone had messaged me. My heart slamming against my chest, I read the text and knew things weren’t any better than I’d imagined back in that warehouse.
Did you enjoy your trip home? You and your girlfriend only put off the inevitable with all that running but I do love when I get to vacation in New Orleans. And just in case you don’t know who this is you can call me Hailey. I’ll tell Jordan you said goodbye.
Chapter Nineteen
Jordan
“I have to tell you that guy of yours is just delicious. A body to die for and he’s got that romance thing cornered. I bet he’s hung too, right?”
Hailey’s glee as she described Gage made me want to throw up. Tugging at the ropes holding my wrists tight behind me, I tried to stand but found it impossible. “Shut your mouth! Don’t talk about him. He’s the only person in this whole mess who’s good, and you wouldn’t know a fucking thing about a person like him.”
She dangled his phone from between her thumb and forefinger, grinning at me like a madwoman. “Maybe I should call him. If I remember correctly, he’s got a great voice. Low and deep, it has an earthy, man-who-doesn’t-mind-getting-his-hands-dirty kind of vibe. I guess that makes sense with him being from Wyoming. What do you say I give him a quick call and while I have him on the phone, I can finally finish this whole thing? You know, payback for him messing up my plans.”
We’d been talking for over an hour, by my estimate, and I had a sense Hailey was near her breaking point. Or at least her sanity was close to it. Exhausted and barely holding onto the smallest shred of hope that Gage would find me, I hung my head and sighed.
“He only di
d that to help me. When you kill me, I think that will be punishment enough.”
She hummed like she was considering what I’d said. “Maybe. Or maybe not. It won’t concern you, though. You’ll be long gone, and he’ll be heartbroken, but I’m sure he’ll move on. There are millions of women who’d love to get their hands on him. That’s an interesting question, though. How did you get someone like that?”
I lifted my head and stared into her eyes so full of crazy. “Why are you doing this? Can you at least tell me that before you kill me?”
Stuffing the phone in her shorts, she leaned down so her face was mere inches away from mine and screwed her face into a grimace. “I’ll answer your question if you answer mine.”
Hailey stepped back away from me, folding her arms across her chest like she intended on judging my story of how I got Gage. I closed my eyes and thought back to the first time I saw Gage and all those months when I lived out at Nina’s and he lived just a few yards away in the carriage house.
“Well, Jordan? Quid pro quo. You tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine,” she said in a sing-song voice meant to mock me.
“He was my best friend’s bodyguard. That’s how we met.”
“Mmmmm. He really does have that hero thing down pat. Your best friend’s bodyguard. She didn’t mind you screwing the guy who was supposed to be protecting her? Seems like a conflict of interest, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
She ignored my swipe at her and spun around slowly on the smooth concrete floor. “You know, I’ve always wondered why anyone would build a garage for his cars and then never put any cars in it. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“I have no idea.” Clearly, Hailey’s mind had begun to leave her.
“So you met that yummy guy when he was a guarding your best friend’s body. Nina Stone is a beautiful woman. Why on earth would he even notice you next to her?”
I shook my head, hating every word that came from her mouth. “It wasn’t like that. Don’t make it sound like they were together.”
Hailey spun around again and stopped quickly to face me. “You thought they were, didn’t you? Oh, I love that! You were crazy about him, he wasn’t about you, and you got jealous. Let me guess. You ran away and sulked like a little girl, right?”