Until Time Stands Still

by Scott, Lona

  She shook her head. “No. Though I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t come for me.”

  “How did the behemoth in the hall die?” Johnny asked, unlocking the cuffs around her feet first. “I didn’t see any entrance or exit wounds.”

  They all shrugged.

  Once her wrists were loose she sat up, pulling the blanket with her. “I hit him.”

  All eyes in the room went to her, all conveying shocked surprise.

  “Where did you hit him?” Johnny asked, frowning.

  “He took me to the bathroom, and I tricked him into turning his back on me. I hit him as hard as I could in the back of the head. I tried to run, and got caught by the greasy haired drunk.”

  “You killed him. He was dead before he hit the ground.” Johnny said. “There is a soft spot at the base of the skull, that if hit hard enough, will kill anyone instantly. You must have hit just the right spot, pretty hard, for that to happen. Nice work.”

  “Damn.” Mykel said. “Remind me to never piss you off.” Everyone chuckled.

  “Can someone find my clothes please?” She said, stiffly. She wasn’t sure how she

  felt about knowing she had killed a man. On one hand, she was fighting for her life. On the other…she had taken another human life. For the rest of her life, she was a murderer.

  The others left Mykel alone with her, presumably to obey her request, but also to give them a few minutes together. Mykel sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hands gently. His fingers gently traced over her face, checking for broken bones. She flinched when he touched the tender spot on her lip. He was checking the bruises on her wrists to make sure she hadn’t broken anything. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked gently.

  She nodded, and tried to pull her hands back. His hands were hot, sending tingling sensations up her arms. He held on to her hand. Slowly he lowered his head and kissed the back of her hands. Then he winked at her, and released her hands. He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss every bruise and make sure no one ever hurt her like that again. He tried to suppress that, confused by it.

  Isabelle blinked quickly, fighting back the tears she could feel forming. It had been a hell of a day, and someone showing her simple kindness like that, when she hadn’t had any in so long was almost enough to make her cry.

  “How…” She cleared her throat, “How did you know where I was?” She asked.

  He smiled “I was getting coffee, and saw you get pulled into the van.” Her eyes, large and brown, like liquid chocolate, mesmerized him. A man could get lost in her eyes. For some reason that made him more scared than he had ever been in his entire life, including the one time he had been yanked back into time so far people didn’t even exist yet. An overgrown crocodile nearly ate him. She terrified him more. People say a lot of things about falling in love, but no one ever tells you how damn frightening it can be. How fast it can happen. He knew with every fiber of his being, he wanted her. Ached for her. He wanted to know everything about her, to see her smile and look at him with desire and longing in those big brown eyes.

  “But what where you doing? I mean, you and your guys are all decked out in gear. There isn’t a military base around here, is there?”

  Luckily one of the guys came back in the room with an armful of clothing, saving him from coming up with some sort of explanation. He was already confused enough. He forced himself to stop staring at her.

  “Do you have any idea who would have done this?” Graham asked her, handing her the clothing that had been stripped off her.

  She shook her head. “I have no idea. One of the men said I was a payday.”

  “Any business rivals?” Graham frowned.

  She shook her head and turned her back to put her clothing on. They had already seen her in her underwear, but she at least wanted the illusion of privacy. She pulled her blouse back over her head. One sleeve was torn, and she tied a quick knot in it, to hold it on her shoulder. She slipped on her pants, wincing at the huge black bruise on her thigh and turned back around.

  “I want to go home now.” She said. “I need to call the police.”

  Mykel and Graham glanced at each other and didn’t say a word.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Graham said, heading out the door. “The others are already outside waiting for us.”

  Mykel escorted her out the door, naturally slipping his arm around her. “You’ll be safe with me.” He said simply, picking up his gun that he had leaned against the wall.

  She nodded and followed Graham, blanching a bit when she saw the dead man in the hallway. She gagged involuntarily.

  “Don’t look.” Mykel said softly. “Close your eyes.” He guided her around the dead man into the kitchen.

  Suddenly, glass exploded all around them. Mykel grabbed Isabelle and took them both to the ground and covered her body with his. Graham hit the ground next to them, his weapon at the ready.

  “Jacob’s hit!” Bryant’s voice came through the com. “There’s a sniper in the trees boss!”

  “Where the hell did a sniper come from?” Mykel hissed.

  “Can you get to him?” Graham asked, steady as a rock.

  “Not yet.” Johnny said. “It looks bad boss. He took one to the chest.”

  “I’ll draw the fire. You get him to cover.”

  More glass rained down on them and bullets flew above their heads like angry bees. Glass and wood splinters shattered all around them. Isabelle screamed when one whizzed past her ear. Mykel scrambled to pull her behind the island counter.

  “Do you know how to shoot?” Mykel shouted over the noise.

  “No!” She cried. “Why is this happening to me?”

  Graham crept to the front door and slid a tiny camera under the crack of the door. If he could make it to the old truck sitting in the grass before getting hit, he’d be able to draw the snipers fire away from Jacob.

  “I’m coming out boys. Myke, you take her out the front and take off.”

  “You sure Boss? Someone should have your back.”

  “Don’t worry about me, just get your girl out of here before anyone else gets hurt. Whoever is after her won’t stop. We need to get her to the base.”

  “This is so FUBAR.” He growled.

  “Agreed.” Graham said. “Get moving.”

  “Ok…Isabelle…let’s go…stay low to the ground, and crawl toward the front door Keep your head and your ass down. I’ll cover you. Got it?” He pushed her in front of him.

  Isabelle nodded and slid even lower to the floor. Broken glass bit into her skin as she scooted forward slowly, her heart thudding loudly in her ears. She felt like everyone and everything was in slow motion. She inched forward, trying to scoot broken glass out of her way as she went.

  Bullets thudded into the walls above their heads as a second volley began. Mykel could hear the familiar pop pop pop, the returning fire of their team.

  “Faster, darlin…we gotta get out of here.” Mykel said, right next to her.

  “I’m so scared.” She confessed.

  “I know. Just put your eyes on that door and keep moving until you get there.” He shouted above the noise of the fire fight. They made it to the door and Mykel reached up to unlock it.

  There was a silence suddenly, and all the gunfire stopped.

  “Hey Boss, we good?” Mykel asked.

  “No.” Graham’s voice came through. “I can’t find him. He may have moved.”

  “Jacob?”

  “We’re working on him. It doesn’t look good.” Graham said. “Johnny’s doing the best he can.”

  “We got a plan yet?”

  “Stay alive. Kill this bastard. Get our people home. The boys are headed back with Jacob now. It’s just me and you.”

  “Not quite how we planned the day huh?” Mykel said grimly.

  “If you ever go off mission again, I’ll shoot you myself.” Graham growled.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Isabelle stared at him, stunned. How could he be
so calm while people were trying to kill them? Most of her life had been quiet, normal. Simple. She was a good person. She gave to charity and tipped waitresses. She was, by most people’s standards, a good girl. She was hardworking at her job, and faithful to her husband. Who would want her dead? She looked over at Mykel. He was waiting at the door, trying to decide the best course of action. He glanced over at her and grinned widely, catching her staring at him. He was pretty average in the looks department. But he had a fierceness about him…a wildness. The lines around his eyes, and the scars on his arms she caught glimpses of told a story. He really lived, whereas for the last several years, she felt like she had been in a coma, barely existing. She was terrified, and he was over there grinning at her like a fool. He was actually having fun. In a weird way, having your life threatened was kind of exciting. She had never felt so alive in her life, or maybe she just appreciated breathing more than she ever had before.

  “When I open the door, I’m going to check it out to make sure there is no one waiting in the front. You stay here, and keep your head down. When it’s clear, I’ll come get you and we are going to make a run for it.”

  “I don’t have any shoes on.” She said.

  “If you can’t find any shoes in the next thirty seconds, you’ll have to do without.” He said. She scrambled to find her missing shoes.

  He opened the door and waited, crouched, ready to move. There were no sounds. He peeked out. There was a clear path to some trees, and some decent cover. No one was shooting at him.

  “Graham, do we have a location on the sniper yet?”

  “I’m hunting this bastard, pushing him back into the trees, headed north.”

  “We’re going south, we’ll work our way around to the extraction point.”

  “I’ll notify you when I kill this guy, and it’s safe to make the jump.”

  He crept forward on the front porch, and tracked the tree line, looking for any trace of movement, a glint of reflection from the sun. Nothing. Isabelle crawled back to the front door, with a pair of strappy heels in her hand.

  “Give me those.” He said, grabbing them. He smashed the heels against the railing and broke them off, and handed them back to her.

  “Hey, those were expensive!” She huffed.

  “Deal with it Princess.” He said gruffly. “You can’t run in heels.”

  “I could have.” She pouted.

  “If you could run in heels, you would have been able to run when they tried to grab you.” He pointed out. “Heels make you helpless. You need practical shoes you can run in.”

  “You’re a jerk.”

  “I never claimed to be a nice guy.” He said. “But I am the guy who’s saving your butt. Say thank you.”

  She glared at him, but didn’t say a word.

  He helped her stand up and led her through the trees, still on high alert. Even though Graham was pushing the hit man north, the man could have doubled back and slipped past Graham.

  “Stay behind me and stay alert.” Mykel said. “If I tell you to do something, obey. No questions asked. It could save your life. Understand?”

  “Yes.” She said quietly. “I’m not stupid you know.”

  “I never thought you were.” He said, glancing back at her. “But it’s obvious you have no training in survival.”

  “Of course not. Why would I?” She sniffed.

  He sighed and pulled her hand, walking them deeper into the forest.

  They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Isabelle watched him quietly, studying how he moved, trying to figure out what he was thinking, what he was looking for. She stepped carefully in his footprints like he told her to do, and brushed them away with the long cedar branch like he taught her. He moved with a confident grace of someone who had spent a lot of time doing this sort of thing. She felt safe with him.

  She found herself curious about him. He was a hard man that much was obvious. He’d lived a hard life. He obviously survived through who knows what. A true warrior. He was tall, well-muscled in a lean way. Naturally fit. He was quiet, and only spoke when necessary. Mysterious. She was curious about him. She wanted to know his story, find out more about him. But would he talk to her? Probably not.

  “Where are we going?” She finally asked.

  “We need to find some water, and somewhere to bed down for the night. It will get dark soon.” He said, holding a branch out of her way while she stepped over a log. Her foot sank into some mud. She knew well enough to not complain about it. He’d just yell at her again. “Are you familiar with this area at all?” He asked.

  “No. I’m not sure where we are. Shouldn’t we be trying to head back to the city?”

  “If you want to live, you have to stay with me until I get word from Graham that the threat is over.” By all rights, he knew he should do the right thing and send her back to civilization. Back to her home and her husband. The police probably could protect her. But…he couldn’t stand the idea of never seeing her again. He frowned at the way his thoughts were turning. He had no business taking her away from her life. There was no reason in the world, in any time period, she should want to stay with him. But there was just something about her. Her eyes, the way she looked at him. She made him feel alive somehow. He just couldn’t let her walk away from him.

  “Oh.” She frowned. “We could get the police involved.”

  “A professionally trained sniper will just kill them.” He paused. “Are you sure you don’t have any enemies?” He would hunt down each and every one of them, if that’s what it took to keep her safe. Yeah…he was definitely maybe falling in love with her. It was just like him, to fall for someone who he knew he couldn’t have. She was already married.

  “Does your husband have any enemies?” He asked.

  “Lewis is a business man. I’m sure he does.” She said flatly.

  “Could he have known about this?” He asked carefully.

  “My husband’s been cold toward me lately, but he would never hurt me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She was silent, thinking.

  He stopped and turned to look at her. “You’re not sure are you?”

  She shook her head, sadly.

  “Has he ever hit you? Pushed you?” He demanded. The idea that someone would hurt a woman made every protective instinct in him stand up and scream. A man would be lucky to have any woman, in his time. If you hurt a woman, there would be a whole slew of men that would beat the tar out of you for it. Then they would take her from you and treat her like a queen. Well, some didn’t, especially these days.

  “I feel like I don’t even know him anymore.”

  “Why would he want to kill you? Do you guys fight a lot?”

  “Not really. We are both very busy. At some point…”

  “What?” He frowned.

  “We just started living separate lives.” She shrugged.

  “Could money be a motive?” He asked. “It’s obvious you come from money.” He said, gesturing to her fancy clothing, now torn, bloody and smeared with mud.

  She nodded. “We have money.”

  “Well, there’s the motive.” He pulled on her hand. “Come on, we need to get deeper into the woods.” He said quietly. She looked at him sharply and frowned.

  He couldn’t quite hide the angry edge to his voice. How could anyone hire a hit man to kill her? He barely knew her and he could already tell she was smart, calm under pressure, confident. And she was gorgeous. All his protective manly instincts kicked into high gear when he was around her. She was a woman who deserved to be cherished. He wanted to hunt her husband down and hurt him. Slowly.

  Chapter Five

  At some point, close to dark, he had led her to a small stream, barely more than a trickle of water. By the time they reached it, her feet were swollen and blistered, and she was nearly in tears, exhausted and at her limit of endurance for the day. He hunkered down and opened his pack, pulling out two small tubes and handing her one. “Drin
k with this straw. It will purify the water so you don’t get sick.”

  They drank for several minutes, until she felt bloated. The cool water was refreshing and staved off the worst of the hunger pains. She hadn’t eaten all day, and the measly breakfast she’d had wasn’t enough.

  “Do you have anything to eat in that pack of yours?” She asked, sinking down against a large fallen tree.

  He grinned and grabbed out two vitamin blocks, and tossed her one. “I won’t lie. They taste like cardboard. But you won’t be hungry.” He ripped open the foiled package with his teeth and bit into the nutritional supplement. In his time, eighty percent of his diet was various flavours of these damn things. He was sick of them, but they had all the vitamins, fiber, protein and trace minerals a person needed to survive.