01 Untouchable - Untouchable

by Lindsay Delagair

  “I…” I couldn’t speak. Somehow he knew what was happening in the room and had moved so quickly that he was able to see it unfold.

  “You were fast. One instant your hand was down and the next taking aim. You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger for…” His voice cracked. The emotions were coming back to him full force, stronger than anything I think he had ever experienced.

  I watched his eyes filling with tears, his face so sorrow-filled and tender.

  “I was afraid,” I began, “that he would shoot you when you got to the top of the stairs. It was the only way.”

  “Baby,” he crooned softly, that voice once again like a warm blanket wrapping me in his emotion when he spoke it, “I…” He couldn’t finish it, but there would be no need. His face descended to mine, and I was ready to turn away but he would not allow it.

  For the first time, his mouth met mine. My eyes closed just as I saw a tear slide down his cheek. I’d never felt something so exquisite as his lips enveloped mine with warmth and gentleness. His mouth was opening, showing me to do the same. As I responded, the kiss became deeper and more passionate than I ever thought could exist. It was as if the most private parts of my mind, heart and soul were exposed to him.

  He had told me once that he had wanted to teach me how to respond to a man’s kiss, and now he was the teacher and I had never been a more eager student. He had begun to pull away from me, but I had to have more. He responded to my need; this time the passion was hotter because I now understood what he meant about needs. I needed him desperately at the moment. It was as if I could spend my entire lifetime in that one kiss.

  And then I did.

  He was the best at his job, so when the bullet ripped through me there was no reason for remorse. It was, as he described for me once, as if red-hot steel had been shoved completely through me. I had no reason to open my eyes before the rapid blackness enveloped me. I didn’t want to see his expression. He had kept my last request as I asked because I never knew that it was coming. There was no air inside me. As fast as the bullet made its mark, I felt my life leave me and my last thought was, “It’s over.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Pain. It is such a small word, but it was my entire being. It radiated seemingly from everywhere. I was nauseous and floating in a sea of misery. There were flashes of light, a cacophony of noises—strange noises; beeps, swishes, sounds of compression, distant unfamiliar voices. I wanted to see where I was, but my eyes were difficult to control. It was as if when I tried to open them, they rolled unconsciously toward the back of my head. My chest screamed at me over the most infinitesimal movement and I was trying to remember how I ended up feeling this way.

  There was something warm pressed to my hand, familiar and strong like a band of steel—Micah. Just the thought of his name forced me to try harder to come out of my suspended state. I tried whispering his name. The pain screamed louder, threatening me with every movement. “M—Mi—cah,” I had managed the word as the pain sharpened.

  “Baby,” came the velvety voice to my ears.

  I willed my eyes to open, but the room swirled in my vision. His face was there, but it wasn’t clear yet. I wanted so badly to see his face. Slowly the spinning and swirling stopped; his face was above me looking relieved.

  “Thank you, God,” I heard him say, and I knew at that moment he was truly addressing God. “Do you know where you’re at?”

  I didn’t dare move my head—it would have to be eyes only as I took in the surroundings. There were machines all around me, IV’s and lines running to my body. “Hospital,” I said, wincing at how difficult it was to say the word.

  There was someone else standing beside Micah, I didn’t know who he was but I knew what he was; it was a police officer.

  “You got what you wanted,” I heard the unfamiliar voice say. “She’s awake…”

  “Please,” his voice sounding so desperate. “Please give me just a minute to talk with her—privately—please, I only need a few minutes.” There were tears on Micah’s face but I couldn’t raise my hand to wipe them away.

  The officer looked at me. “Do you want to talk with this man, Miss Winslett?”

  I couldn’t nod, that was out of the question. “Yes—I love him,” I whispered out the words.

  A look of disgust came over the officer’s face and he turned and walked away.

  “Annalisa, I’ve never prayed so hard in all my life. I begged God to pull you through this. Do you know why you’re in here?”

  I was thinking back through the fog. I watched Ricky die and then Jack. The kiss—the final kiss. “You shot me.” I barely spoke; the pain more focused now through my chest where I knew a bullet had traveled.

  “I didn’t shoot you, Baby. I begged them to let me wait for you to come out of this so I could tell you. I couldn’t leave with you thinking I’d done this to you.”

  “Leave?” That pain was worse than the physical. Tears were moving down my cheeks, distorting my view of his beautiful face. “Don’t leave.” I begged.

  “I kissed you, Annalisa. Do you remember the kiss?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “I didn’t know that Sharon had gotten there. She walked in on the kiss and shot you through the back. The doctors say you’re a miracle. It went completely through you and hit me in the chest.”

  I felt panic wash through me, drowning the pain as I tried to look at his chest. I could see the blood soaked bandage. “Are you okay?” I cried.

  “You slowed it down or it would have killed me. The bullet is in my sternum. They wanted to take it out when I got here, but I told them it was going to have to wait until I could see you.”

  “Let them take it out,” I tried to say, but it seemed I was running out of oxygen.

  “Don’t talk too much, Leese. Your lung collapsed and it’s really weak right now. Save your air, Baby.”

  “Sharon?” I whispered.

  “I shot her…”

  My eyes went wide in panic. He had told me he had to be very careful that she didn’t end up in the crossfire.

  “I didn’t kill her, Leese, but I had no choice. When she shot us, I was knocked backward and she was taking aim again. I shot her through the shoulder before she could fire. She’s in a lot of trouble for what she’s been up to. You won’t have any more problems from her.”

  “Robert—are you in troub…” I couldn’t breathe. The numbers on the machine beside me were dropping low as I struggled.

  “Promise me you won’t try to talk and I’ll tell you,” he asked. “The mob thinks I tried to kill you, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen—especially when they find out that I didn’t shoot you. I’m worried he might still try to hurt you, Baby.”

  “I’ll be okay,” I mouthed, trying to conserve my breath. I started to open my mouth again, but his fingers came to rest across my lips.

  “I told you I was selfish and I’d never allow any man to touch you. I found out how wrong I was. When that bullet went through you, it passed so close to your heart that it stopped beating. I’m not very good at CPR. I hope I didn’t crack too many of your ribs.”

  I smiled weakly.

  “But I realized I would give you to Ryan a thousand times over rather than to watch you die. All I could think was that I’d do anything, give up anything, change everything, if your heart would just start beating again,” he swallowed hard, tears coursing down his face. “I’ve never actually told you, Leese, because I just didn’t believe it could be real, but I love you—I love you enough that I don’t have to be selfish. I want you to have a long and happy life with someone who’ll love you always.”

  “You’re my forever,” I said, from under the light touch of his fingers.

  “I’ve got to go, Leese. The police know who I am. I’m being extradited back to Louisiana. I won’t be here for you. But I had to tell you that I didn’t hurt you. I know now I could never hurt you. You’ve changed me, and I love you just that much more for it.”
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br />   I couldn’t find the words to say, but I didn’t need them. His mouth came down on mine in the softest, most tender kiss humanly possible.

  The officer returned and I watched him take away my reason for breathing.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The next several days were bad enough to make me wish for death. There was the physical pain, but it didn’t match the ache of knowing Micah was gone. I had to give my statements to the police about Jack and Ricky’s deaths and Sharon’s injuries. And, what I could tell them about Micah Gavarreen.

  “You’re a very lucky young lady,” the officer stated, sitting beside my bed and writing down everything I told him.

  “So they tell me,” I winced. It was still painful to do anything other than to speak and even that was difficult.

  “I don’t mean medically,” he corrected. “Although the doctors have said that your wound was one in a million to miss your spine and your heart, but I mean with this guy that you said was keeping you safe. He is a very dangerous man.”

  “Not to me,” I replied.

  “Well, it appears Florida won’t have any claim to him,” he stated, flipping his notebook closed. “These appear to be clear cut cases of self-defense. Seven years on the force and this was the biggest, bloody mess I’ve ever seen.”

  “You were there?”

  “I wasn’t too far away when the calls started coming in about shots being fired. My partner and I were the first to arrive.”

  “Tell me.” I had lived through the nightmare, but at times it was only that and I wanted to hear it from someone else.

  “I really shouldn’t,” he began.

  I carefully reached my hand through the side rail on my bed and touched his arm, “Please, officer…”

  “Tidewell.” He sighed, “Since you were there, I guess it is okay. When we got there,” he began, “we could see the front door had been kicked in—actually more like torn completely from the hinges. I thought this was a home invasion by another doped-up crack-head or a meth freak, but when we walked in the first thing we found was a guy lying dead, shot through his heart, and blood splattered everywhere.”

  “Jack,” I whispered.

  Officer Tidewell nodded, “Then we saw Ms. Norton passed out in a huge pool of blood—those hollow points he used do maximum damage and her shoulder was ripped apart. We could see him on the other side of the couch apparently doing CPR, but we couldn’t see you. We had our guns drawn and we told him to freeze, but it was like we weren’t even in the room to him.

  “He had pretty much lost it. He was bleeding from his chest wound, crying over you and begging God to help him get your heart started. Then we saw you on the floor—hell, we knew who you were right away; everybody’s been trying to find you, and the reports were ranging from a runaway to a kidnap victim.”

  “He was protecting me,” I whispered.

  “Yes, Ma’am, I believe you now, but that apparently isn’t his normal line of work.” He gave me a concerned look that seemed to say he thought my perception might be skewed. “My partner called for the medical unit, and was trying to help him keep you alive when I saw what looked like another body in the bedroom.”

  I knew that was Ricky, but my lungs were so tired I just listened.

  “I’ve never seen that much damage from two bullets. It was like he didn’t have a chest—until I looked at the bedroom wall and saw where most of it had landed.”

  I could see him visibly shudder. I remembered that it had been horrific when he killed Ricky, but seeing the officer’s reaction confirmed the memory for me.

  “Anyway, the ambulance crew tried to take over, Gavarreen had your heart beating by the time they arrived, but he didn’t want to let go of you. We finally convinced him by telling him that he could ride with you in the back of the ambulance. He wouldn’t let any one touch his wound, other than put some gauze over it, until you either pulled through or died. He just kept telling us he had to stay with you until you came to. We thought about jumping him and letting the doctors hit him with a sedative so they could dig that bullet out, but he’s a pretty big guy.”

  I laughed—that was painful.

  “While we were waiting to find out if you were going to make it, he gave us his statements. We searched him and took his wallet, finding out he had been using an alias of Evan Lewis but was really Micah Gavarreen. The reports were coming back as mafia and that Louisiana had him as being suspect in multiple murders. They were already flying a group of officers down here to extradite him. As far as we could tell what happened in the beach house wasn’t murder so we told them as soon as the doctors gave him the okay to be released, they could take him.”

  “Did they,” I paused for a breath, “Get the bullet out?”

  “On him? Yeah, after you finally came around and he got the chance to talk with you, he was gentle as a kitten. He didn’t take any anesthetic or any pain killers; he just told the doctor to dig it out. They cleaned it up and he left peacefully with the police.”

  I thought about the night I sealed his knife wound and saw all his other scars; no anesthetic didn’t surprise me. But I couldn’t stand the idea of him sitting in a prison for the rest of his life, especially when I needed him so desperately.

  “Do you know what’s happening with him in Louisiana?”

  “No, but I know the FBI was here for him, but he was already on a plane out of here. It seems that everyone in that house was connected to the mob, except for you, of course. Are you certain he was just trying to protect you?”

  “I told you—Sharon Norton and my step-father were having an affair,” I didn’t want to go through this again, it was difficult to say it all the first time, but I didn’t want them to have any suspicions about Micah’s motives. “She put out a contract on me…”

  “You said you think your step-father had done the same thing. Maybe that was how Gavarreen got involved in this whole thing; maybe he was hired to kill you.”

  Officer Tidewell wasn’t stupid and I realized I had a hole in my story as to why Micah and I met in the first place. “If he was the one who was hired to kill me,” I began carefully, “Then he changed his mind. We are very much in love with each other.”

  “Miss Winslett, I know you aren’t going to want to hear what I’m going to say, but please just hear me out. You are very beautiful and any man wouldn’t have a problem falling for you, but someone like him? I’d be suspicious that he may have pretended to like you—for the money. Stockholm syndrome can…”

  “I know what Stockholm syndrome is, and I know what love is.”

  “You’re very young…”

  “I am in love with him and I’m going to do everything I can to help him when I get out of here.”

  “All I’m saying is for you to be very cautious. Give yourself a little time to sort out your emotions.”

  I could tell this was genuine concern and it wasn’t my feelings for Micah he doubted, but more so Micah’s motives for staying close to me. “Thank you,” I touched his arm again. “I plan on being very careful after this is over, especially since my step-dad hasn’t been arrested.”

  He looked exasperated, “I’m sorry, we just aren’t finding any evidence to support your suspicions, but we do have you and your mother under twenty-four hour guard.”

  I smiled and squeezed his hand. I was exhausted from the conversation and ready to drift back to sleep.

  One week later Officer Tidewell and another detective came to my room. I was finally out of ICU and able to sit up in a bed. They were both smiling and I wondered what prompted this visit.

  “I just wanted to stop by and be the first to tell you, we got him,” Tidewell stated.

  My heart painfully thudded as I wondered what he was talking about? Was this something to do with Micah? “Who?” I asked.

  “Your step father,” he stated simply.

  It took me a few seconds to let it sink in and when it did, my tears began flowing even before my emotions could catch up to them.
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  “It’s going to be the top story for the twelve o’clock news. I just thought you’d like to hear it before you see it.”

  I motioned to him to turn on the television. The newscast was just beginning. There was video of Robert being taken into custody as they played a clip from a taped request he’d made to have me killed.

  “…the last guy screwed this up, but I can get in there to her, if you still want her dead?” The voice was so familiar to me, but I couldn’t think where I’d heard it before.

  “You can have the million dollar pay off if you get rid of her. Can you make it look like a hospital error, too much morphine, maybe?” That voice I knew was Robert’s.

  “Don’t worry. I can handle the little wildcat…” That was when I knew whose voice I was hearing. He’d called me that once before after attempting to shoot me; it was David Gavarreen.

  I could still hear Gwen’s words that night in the bar, “He’s your best ally when he’s sober and when the chips are down. You never know, he might find a way to help you straighten out this mess for Leese.” I’d never thought those words would have ever rung true, but he did it. He must have gone to the police and worn a wire for them, getting Robert to admit that he was behind this all along.

  “David contacted you,” I stated.

  Both officers gave me an odd look, “Who?”

  “The man who recorded him, wasn’t he…” I had a feeling I’d better stop right there. They both had tuned in very sharply when I tried to identify the voice. “Didn’t I hear that name just now on the news? David, Donald, Daniel, wasn’t it something like that?” I wasn’t sure they believed my attempt to cover what I knew.

  “No, they never said his name. His first name is Nick, but we have to protect his identity.”

  “Oh, no, that’s okay. I understand. I’m just glad this might finally be over. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be happy until I was dead.”

  “Well that won’t be a concern for you anymore; he’s staying in jail. The judge denied him bail.”