Delta_Ricochet

by Cristin Harber

  She swayed without rejecting his offer.

  “I’ll drop you where you want or leave you here, if that’s how this is going to go. But let’s just calm down a minute. Okay?”

  She nodded, stepping to his side, and they walked toward his rental. When they’d almost reached it, relief swelled in his chest as though he thought they’d never make it to the car—boom.

  He grabbed her, folding her to his chest before her scream pierced the air. His hand covered her head and forced them onto the parking lot.

  “What the fuck.” A bullet ripped the rear side panel of his rental open.

  She was good under pressure, and her scream had been choked away. The shooter wasn’t close. Like lighting and thunder, he could tell they had distance because the bullet hit before he heard it. The impact point gave him a prayer of a bad angle. He fumbled for the back-door handle and cracked it open. “Head down.” Colin pushed her into the back seat, acting to cover her as best he could. “Keep down, babe.”

  “I can’t move.”

  Small miracles. He pulled the door shut, grunting as their legs and arms tangled in the small backseat. “Mayhem’s here.” He grunted as he climbed the awkward hump of the center console and pushed her head down as he saw it pop up in his peripheral. “Stay on the ground—”

  The back windshield shattered. Searing pain sliced his back, and fire ignited up his back, shooting down his leg as Adelia screamed.

  His vision tunneled and his mind stuttered, fighting to control the nanoseconds needed to absorb a hit and its aftermath.

  Adelia called to him, her voice echoing miles away. Shock and pain mocked him, and Colin growled, cursing as the wave of agony rushed as his senses kicked into overdrive and will forced him into action.

  “God.” His lungs burned. His wound pulsed, tormenting him as he tucked his legs under him and crawled into the driver’s seat. Every curse word he’d ever heard flew from his lips like they might salve the wound leaking blood at his side.

  Adelia leaned up. “Are you—”

  “Stay down, goddamn it.”

  Another shot hit the car. Their attacker wasn’t the best shot, and he’d take that small miracle over the lack of pain at this point. Sweat poured down his neck, and he turned the car on—

  “Now do you believe me?” Adelia screeched.

  His breaths labored, but at least she was alive to shout. “Not now.”

  Colin screeched out of the parking lot, not having a damn clue where he was going, but he needed to get to doctor. Grimacing, he ran his hand under his shirt, along his lower side, until the pain made his vision hazy. The bullet went in but didn’t come out. Could’ve been better, but at that angle, the shot could’ve been much worse.

  He stopped poking and let his arm drop, needing to slow his breaths while navigating traffic. What he wouldn’t give for a voice-activated call communication system right now. “Babe.” He inhaled slowly. “Adelia, check around for a first-aid kit.”

  “A first-aid kit? Are you nuts? You’re shot!”

  “Babe, you think I don’t know?”

  “Gah.” She threw herself over the passenger seat, searching the glove box. “No. Move your arm.” He grunted as she pulled the center console up. “Tissues won’t help.”

  Agony ricocheted to his limbs as he tried to find a less painful position. “You never know.”

  She slid to the backseat again. “How the hell don’t you have a first-aid kit?”

  “Shouting won’t make it appear.”

  Adelia muttered under her breath, and Colin looked over his shoulder, instantly regretting the sudden move. She’d turned so her back was against the passenger seat—thump.

  “Adelia!” He gasped aloud, readjusting his rearview mirror and swerving in his lane, but watched her kick the seats again.

  “It’s stuck—” Kick. Kick. “I’m trying to loosen the latch.” She crossed the space and reached to the headrests. “Success!” A moment later, she had half the backseats folded down, her ass in the air, and was wriggling into the trunk. “This is the stupidest place to keep a first-aid kit.”

  Colin laughed. Between keeping pressure on his wound, driving in a semi-straight line, and watching what she was doing, he was in so much pain he nearly wanted to cry. But for now, laughter was the best medicine.

  She reappeared by his side, suggesting they should pull over to do this, and he disagreed, not sharing if they stopped and he was forced to rest, his adrenaline might take a break and he wouldn’t continue to function at this level.

  They picked through the best bandages and clotting agents, covering him as best as possible while he strangled the steering wheel and she peppered every step with apologies. When all was done, Colin focused on his racing breaths, finally noticing her. Adelia didn’t tear her eyes from her blood-covered hands.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “Thank you.”

  Her chin barely moved. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Adelia?”

  “Hm?” But she didn’t look away from her hands as if he’d tainted her.

  “I don’t have any blood-born illnesses—”

  She twisted sharply. “Oh, no. I just… can’t believe I did this to you.”

  “You didn’t. Someone with a long-range assault rifle did.” Colin turned down another quiet street, happy that he’d found them a little trafficked area. He could see what was behind them, no longer having to struggle to stay in a lane, and watch her.

  “You know what I meant.”

  “Here.” He thumped his elbow on the center console. “Tissues.”

  “What?”

  “Told you we’d need them.”

  “It looks like a war zone in here.” She gaped. “Tissues?”

  She wasn’t wrong. Though the interior of his car was dark, most surfaces had evidence of his blood. The steering wheel looked like a crime scene. His seat was now sticky from his drying blood, and everywhere that she had leaned and touched carried the reminder of how Adelia had pulled his shirt up and helped bandage him. Bandage wrappers littered the car, and, yeah, she was dead on. “Let’s get where we need to go. My phone’s in my pocket. Can you grab it?”

  The idea of reaching down, or hell, moving needlessly, made him want to puke.

  “What?”

  A burst of anxiety hit his blood. It was a simple task to ask of her after she’d just bandaged him. “Come on, Adelia. I don’t want to move more than I have to.”

  “Who are you going to call?”

  He didn’t need a headache on top of it all. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes! You wouldn’t be shot if it didn’t!”

  Colin muttered.

  “Why are we driving around?” she snapped. “We need to go to a hospital.”

  “Not necessarily.” He had to call his boss. That was what he needed to do, damn it. The pain vibrated the more frustrated he got, and Colin tried to lift his ass off the seat to get his phone from his back pocket but stopped when his abdominal muscles seemed to catch fire. Pain fucking sucked. “I cannot believe we’re fighting over something so stupid.”

  “Well, couples fight. Get over it.”

  He snort-laughed and kept chuckling. Then Colin couldn’t stop. Tears made his eyes water as he tried to concentrate.

  “Are you insane?” She climbed over the console back into the passenger seat. “You’re dying. Stop laughing.”

  He laughed harder and his torso begged him to stop, but he didn’t. “This might be the stupidest fight I’ve ever heard about.”

  “I just want my normal life back!” she screamed then her breath hitched into a sob. Dry-blood covered fists clenched to her side. “I didn’t understand the ripple effect.”

  He had no clue what she meant but this moment was a kick in the gut that hurt much deeper than a gunshot wound. Adelia was a civilian. She was knowledgeable about somethings thanks to Mayhem’s culture, but she wasn’t trained to deal with stress, shock, or anything she’d seen. “It’s going to
be okay.”

  Silence with the exception of her shaking breaths.

  He glanced at her and back to the road. “Do you believe me? That you’re going to be okay?”

  “I think,” she whispered.

  “If you could be anywhere you want, where would it be?” Visualization was a practice taught to one of the first days at boot camp. They kicked his ass, but they gave him the tools to survive. She didn’t have those tools. “Picture it in your mind. Go there.”

  “That’s stupid.”

  “That’s survival,” he corrected. Colin needed to talk to Brock in a bad way. His head swam and a lightheadedness that needed to be avoided made him feel weak. “Tell me about it. Can you see it?”

  “Maybe.” She seemed far more vulnerable than minutes ago.

  “Go with it,” he urged.

  “I need to have you curl around me in bed.”

  Colin’s chest expanded as he drank in her safe place. That would be his too. Not wounded, her sleeping against him, silky hair falling over her bare shoulder after they tangled themselves in the sheets. “Give me a little bit to get fixed up, and I’m all over that, babe.”

  “Thank you.” Head still down, she glanced over. “Your phone’s in your back pocket?”

  He nodded, and she helped retrieve it.

  “I’m sorry Mayhem’s put you through all this.”

  Her head snapped toward him, erasing the woman she was seconds ago. “That wasn’t Mayhem.”

  “Okay.” He took his eyes off the road, caught off guard by the strong need to defend the group that had a hit for her execution. “Either way, we’ll work everything out. Pull up my contacts and find Brock Gamble.”

  Silence.

  “Adelia. Listen to me.”

  She didn’t say a word.

  “There’s one person you have right now to lean on. To trust. And that’s me. Can you do that?”

  “I trust you. It’s everyone else I don’t.” She tapped on his phone and pressed SEND. The call rang on speaker. “Please don’t mention I’m with you.”

  Colin slowed to take another turn and pretended that made sense. What did Adelia think Brock would believe? Mayhem shot him for fun? That Colin took a bullet and left Adelia in a diner parking lot while under fire because he needed medical treatment? The idea of protecting her didn’t seem to compute to her, and he wondered how often she’d been turned on.

  “Hey,” Brock answered, likely already on high alert that Colin had called his cell phone directly instead of going through HQ. “What’s going on?”

  “I ran into a little tangle.” He stopped at a four-way stop sign and then drove by a police car.

  “What kind of tangle?” Brock asked.

  “GSW to my side, but I’m feeling lucky today. Don’t think anything important was nicked.” He licked his lips. “Mostly a superficial scratch.”

  Adelia made a point of shaking her head.

  “Jesus Christ. You’re feeling lucky,” Brock muttered. “What do you need?”

  “A med team. Bullet didn’t come out.”

  “Fucking hell,” Brock grumbled. “Adelia, you’re okay?”

  Colin glanced her way while she stayed mum. “She’s phone shy.”

  “I prefer no one know where I am,” Adelia admitted. “Even you.”

  “Under these circumstances, not everyone gets what they want.” Brock paused. “Patching in Parker. Gimme a minute.”

  Adelia groaned. “How many people are we going to bring in to this conversation?”

  “However many it takes,” Brock added.

  She glared at the phone like he could see him. “What’s wrong with a regular hospital and an alias? Like normal.”

  “Aliases are a pain in the ass. Parker Black here.”

  “Thanks for the thoughtful explanation,” Adelia said.

  Colin watched her knead a thumb into her temple as he drove down random roads and waited for his marching orders, crossing through the town and continuing to check for tails.

  A keyboard clicked in the background. “Colin, difficult day, huh?”

  “Seems like.” No matter what condition he was in, the idea that Parker would send Colin to a hospital seemed highly unlikely. They had no backup for Adelia, however off the books and not involved they were. If he went into surgery, Delta would want her in a safe house.

  “All right. I’ve assembled a team that can be waiting in single-family subdivision about thirty miles away. A cleanup crew will take care of the vehicle when you arrive.”

  “Great,” Colin mumbled. “Appreciate it.”

  Parker’s keyboard stopped. “Don’t be so glum. No one likes getting shot.”

  “This wasn’t how I planned on spending my day.”

  “Sending GPS directions,” Parker said.

  “GPS,” Adelia repeated.

  Parker laughed. “As good as I am, I can’t teleport you there.”

  “What’s wrong with GPS?” Brock asked.

  She tilted her head as though deciding how much of her paranoia to share with his boss. “I’m not comfortable with laser-beaming to the world our exact coordinates.”

  “Good thing that’s not how laser beams work,” Parker added.

  Adelia glowered, and Brock tacked on, “What are you worried about?”

  “You found me once,” she said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Hang on a sec, Parker,” Brock cut in. “What’s your point?”

  She rubbed her shirt collar to wipe her eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Colin didn’t know if those were tears of frustration, of being ignored, or simply being lost in the world, but he needed her to relax. “Hey, Parker. Does Mayhem the technological capabilities to tap into our systems? Anything where we share coordinates with our teams?”

  “Nope. None I’m aware of.”

  Even if Parker came back with that answer too fast to have put any thought into it, Colin trusted his response. “Good?”

  She didn’t say anything, only shrugged.

  “I don’t know what more to offer.” And his headache now pounded. “We’re headed to the med team now.”

  “Keep us updated,” Brock requested. “And, Adelia?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know what it’s like not to understand what’s happening around you.”

  “It’s not like that. I’m certain!”

  “About,” Brock finally asked.

  Her head hung like she needed a break. “Never mind.”

  Colin needed to blink more than he should. The edges of his peripheral seemed cloudy. “We gotta go. See you on the flip side.”

  Adelia ended the call, and a heavy awkwardness hung in the small car. “I don’t trust anything that comes from your team.”

  He shook his head, trying to understand her and remain vigilant enough to drive. There was no way he could trust her to take him to the correct location if he blacked out. “I can’t talk about this now.”

  Her worries sounded like paranoia, and he needed to stay awake and safe.

  “If we have a future,” she said. “You know what?”

  “What?” Exhaustion baited him with sweet suggestions to close his eyes.

  “You wouldn’t make me defend my concerns. You’d believe me. But instead, you have some undying loyalty to your side is right when I can’t figure out how to tell you what is wrong.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  The headache vibrating at the back of Colin’s skull got worse with each word Adelia uttered. Of course he was open to listening to her. But she had to give for him to get. That was how communication worked. Delta team gave him everything, and right now, she’d given him squat. “Those guys would die for me. I’d do the same for them.”

  “Seems like you’d do the same for me too,” Adelia said quietly.

  “Correct.” Every day on the job came with the knowledge that it could be his last. He didn’t want to do die. But hell, if she’d understand that while he bled through ba
ndages. “You wouldn’t understand. They’re my team.”

  “That’s about all we can say to each other.”

  The tension grew, and the miles ticked by as he did everything he knew to stay conscious and drive to their location without letting on how bad off he felt.

  Finally, dizzy and tired, Colin pulled into a nondescript driveway in a neighborhood that looked normal because it was normal. There were no signs that this house was an unused safe house or that in the last hour, the people who had descended upon it were highly skilled surgeons and medical staff.

  “Here.” His vision blacked for too long as he shifted into park, slumping from the force of the lateral move.

  “Colin?” She touched his shoulder. “Colin?”

  He rolled from her touch and pushed away. “I’m fine.”

  Her worry and hurt blanked. “You can be a member of more than one team.” Adelia pushed out her door.

  He didn’t see her point. Then again, he was ready to collapse. Colin forced his door open and faltered as he stood.

  Adelia ran to his side and held out her hand. His pride wanted him to stand up alone, whispering untruths as he struggled to stretch his limbs with unbalanced, wary moves.

  She grabbed onto his arm, not waiting for his internal debate to decide, urging him toward the door. “You’re okay.”

  But he stalled. “Adelia.” His balance hadn’t adjusted, and his vision spun like a night of drinking had gone too far. “Wait.”

  “You have to go inside.”

  Now that he’d broken his concentration and cracked the adrenaline-fueled tunnel vision, he had to concentrate to find the words. “When I wake up, I want you to be there.”

  Her fingers gripped his arm. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

  Colin stepped closer and studied her. “I’m crazy about you.”

  “We need to go inside—”

  “But you live by your survival instincts. Fight-or-flight. It’s been conditioned into you, and I don’t think you know it.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered as though she’d never thought of that, and a tear threatened to spill free, but she wiped it away before it could slide down her cheek.

  He’d shaken off the cold dread that had grasped him since the moment he set off to find her. The only shivers now were blood loss and seeping shock. “I care about you in a way that I’m still grasping, and every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you blow me over. I just keep waiting.”