Breakthrough

by Kris Bryant

  I yelped and stumbled forward. I had two minutes. Maybe less. I purposely tripped over a good-sized rock in my path. I needed Lara and her backup. I hoped she brought the entire police force with her. They pushed me forward until we reached the front of the cabin where the leader and the rest of his posse were waiting, looking impatient.

  “People know about you. They know what you’ve done. Everybody’s looking for you,” I said. A few of them laughed. I made eye contact with Jim. “Especially you, Jim.” I twisted to look at Randy. “And you, Randy.” They shuffled uncomfortably.

  “Well, we’re here and I don’t see anybody else,” the leader said. He held his hands and looked around casually. “Nobody cares. Just get in the truck. We need to have a chat.”

  “Just a chat? We can have that here.” I was stalling.

  “We’re not going to hurt you. We just need to clear up a few things and help you forget a few things you might have seen.” His smile was deranged.

  I was so fucked. “Why don’t I believe that? You’re pretty good at shooting helpless animals and getting rid of the evidence. Killing a person carries a steeper sentence, in case you were wondering. I gave all my photos to the police. If you think I’m joking about them looking for you, stick around town. Let’s see how long you last.” I pointedly stared at the ones I recognized. My bravery was stupid. I started praying.

  “You’re standing in front of seven men. Lying to us isn’t doing you any favors.”

  “I don’t need to lie. Those idiots already have their faces plastered all over Anchorage’s police station. And you know that truck and trailer you destroyed?” I smiled with more confidence than I had. “Someone missed a tag. It’s just a matter of time before they find you.”

  The leader barked a laugh that truly frightened me. I’d gone too far. “Put her in the truck. Let’s get out of here,” he said.

  The men dispersed to their different trucks. I dug my boots into the ground and refused to move. The big guy who was responsible for escorting me to the truck slapped me across the face and yanked me forward.

  “It’s just going to get worse for you,” he said.

  My whole face stung. I realized it was too late and I started to cry. This was it for me. I would end up coyote meat somewhere in the Alaskan wild, far from civilization. People might find my remains two hundred years from now. I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Brynn I loved her.

  I was five steps from the truck when six trooper cars raced up the driveway and fanned out to block the poachers in. It all happened so fast. Their lights were flashing, but there was no sound other than tires skidding to a halt on the gravel. Chaos erupted. Officers were everywhere with their guns drawn. The poachers had no idea what to do. I pushed away from the big guy and ran back toward the cabin. I wasn’t going to be somebody’s hostage. That never ended well.

  “Freeze! Nobody move!”

  I kept running, knowing I wasn’t in trouble with the cops, but I needed to get away from the bad guys. The leader saw me make a run for it and lunged for me. Even he knew a hostage was the only way out of this for him. I heard two gunshots. My calf exploded with fire and chills. I hit the gravel. Alaska fucking hated me, I thought right before I passed out.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “She’s going to be fine, Brynn. The bullet just grazed the outside of her leg. It only required three stitches. She can walk right out of here when we’re done with the paperwork.” Lara and Brynn’s voices carried from the hallway. Lara explained the entire ordeal to Brynn who was overly concerned.

  “Brynn, I’m okay,” I said. Brynn pushed past Lara to get into my room. She was visibly distraught and more pale than normal. Her body shook when she pulled me into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

  “I should’ve been there with you. This wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Don’t think like that. If you’d been there, we would both have gotten hurt. I’m just glad it’s over with and they finally caught the guys,” I said.

  Lara had reported that the leader was the owner of one of the largest construction companies in Alaska. There were a total of eleven men involved, according to the men the troopers had arrested. Officers were already headed to pick up the remaining four for questioning. Lara said they were sure more would surface during the investigation, but everyone was thankful the head of this beast was cut off.

  “Does your leg hurt? Can you walk? I want to take you home.”

  I jokingly offered to drive. Brynn didn’t seem like she was in any position to be behind the wheel of a vehicle. She leaned down to kiss me and stopped.

  “What happened to your face?” The room was dark so she carefully tilted my cheek toward the light coming in from the hallway. She was barely keeping herself under control.

  “It’s just a scratch. I’ll put some ice on it and the bruising will be gone in about a week. My leg stings a bit, but they gave me drugs so right now I don’t care. The doctor said the scarring will be minimal.”

  Brynn hugged me again. “Fucking assholes. I would’ve shot them all if I was there.” I believed her. “When can we leave? Who’s your doctor? Let’s try to speed this process up.” She walked out of the room, a woman on a mission.

  I was fine relaxing in the dark room. I was tired. Today felt like it lasted a week. I still had so much to do. Fuck. I didn’t put the ingredients for the cake into the refrigerator. I needed to work on the poaching article because of the tight deadline. I didn’t even know what time it was, or if it was the same day. I just wanted to sleep.

  * * *

  “Babe, we’re home.” I woke up to Brynn gently shaking me awake.

  “What time is it?” She scooped me into her arms like I weighed nothing and carried me into the cabin. “What happened to the groceries?”

  “I put them away.”

  “Where’s Wally?” I missed him. I was so thankful he wasn’t home with me today. Those jerks would’ve shot him out of pure maliciousness.

  “Given today’s events, I decided another sleepover at Tina’s was best for him.” She nudged open the bedroom door with her foot and carefully placed me on the bed. She was so gentle and I was so needy from the drugs, I started crying. “It’s okay. It’s okay. We don’t have to worry about them.”

  “I’m not worried about them,” I said.

  “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” she asked. I shook my head. “What is it? Are the drugs wearing off?”

  “No, it’s stupid. Never mind,” I said.

  “Please tell me.”

  “My phone’s under the house,” I said.

  “Your phone’s under the house,” she repeated.

  I nodded. “When I was hiding, I left it by the stack of wood so that they wouldn’t see that I called the police. I hate to ask, but can you get it for me?”

  She kissed me softly and brushed my tender cheek. I tried not to wince under her touch even though she was gentle. “Anything for you.” She tucked me in and went around the cabin to ensure all the windows and doors were locked. She was gone only five minutes. “Exactly where you said it was.” She handed me my phone and I smiled like a kid getting a present.

  I grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her down to kiss her. “Thank you, lover.” The drugs were making me say weird things and my mood swings were all over the place. I was never this playful, but I loved the smile on her lips after I said it.

  “I’m going to shower, change into something more comfortable, and I’ll get a fire started in here. Are you hungry?” she asked. I watched her untie her boots and loosen her tie. She looked at me. “Babe? Are you hungry?”

  “I love you. I love watching you undress. So methodical. And yeah, now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry. I wanted to make you a cake today because of my good news. Wasn’t that amazing about Erin?” I fell back against the pillow and looked at my phone. I had a zillion text messages, and missed calls, and did I really just tell Brynn that I loved her? I looked up and met her wide eyes. “Did I
just say that out loud?”

  “Look, I know it’s the drugs talking. Forget the shower. I’m going to cook something for you. I imagine you haven’t had anything to eat all day.” She bolted from the room.

  I shouldn’t have said anything, but it just felt so right. Brynn would be back in a few minutes. She needed to digest what I told her, and I needed to figure out what I missed during my hospital stay. I sent Erin a quick text message that basically said we caught the bad guys and I got shot. A second later, my phone rang.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Erin’s voice was two octaves higher than normal. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m high. And have a few stitches, but I’m good. We caught seven guys today. No, eleven.” I sounded loopy. I needed to focus harder.

  “Slow down. How did you catch them?”

  “They followed me to the cabin. I hid under the house, but they found me. Right when they were going to kidnap me, the cops arrived and I got shot.”

  “Kennedy, you’re not making sense. Who shot you?” Her voice had an edge to it that I’d never heard before.

  “I don’t even know. I don’t know if it was friendly fire, or one of bad guys got a shot off. I’ll ask Brynn. Maybe she knows.” I opened my laptop while she ranted about my misfortune. “So when do you want this article? I have an excellent ending for it.” I laughed. She didn’t.

  “Okay, you are not allowed to work on this until you are healed and not on medication,” she said sternly.

  “I’m fine. Well, I will be in the morning. Tonight probably isn’t the night to review your notes.” I was too tired anyway.

  “Don’t worry about the article. You let that hot woman of yours take care of you. Call me when you feel better? And please, please take care of yourself.” We hung up right when Brynn walked in with a tray of scrambled eggs, toast, and a large glass of orange juice.

  “I hope you’re joining me,” I said. I made room for her.

  “Well, only if you’re in the mood for company.” She seemed shy and nervous. “Let me grab a plate and a fork.” She sat closer to me in the bed when she returned.

  “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I want to shower but I think I just need to eat and sleep,” I said.

  “Stop it. You’re beautiful even scratched up and swollen.” She studied my face, but it looked like it pained her.

  “It’s bad, huh? I saw myself in the mirror before we left.” I patted my hair and scooped it back in a ponytail. I wanted to look nice for Brynn, but I was tired and hungry.

  “You look fine.” She reached back and gave my foot a squeeze. “I’m really sorry I didn’t get your call. We were in a dead zone in a valley.” She was getting upset again. I touched her forearm.

  “It’s okay. I called Lara and she had the means to get to me quickly. Everything turned out fine. They caught the bad guys so we don’t have to constantly look over our shoulders. I can go out for a walk and not worry about getting kidnapped,” I said.

  Her chin quivered. “But I was supposed to take care of you. I promised you I would.” She looked down and curled the blanket in her fist. “I begged you to stay here so that you would be safe.”

  “And I was. I screwed up by going out and not paying attention to my surroundings. I’m sure one of the guys saw me at the grocery store or in the parking lot. I got careless, not you.”

  “Eat what you can, then I want you to rest. We can talk in the morning.”

  I nodded. I was almost too tired to eat, but I had enough spurts of adrenaline to take a few bites of eggs and toast and finish my orange juice. Brynn took the tray from me and knelt on the floor to put her face close to mine. “I’m glad you are okay. I was worried about you.” She kissed my lips and wished me a good night.

  “Are you not going to sleep with me?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” She looked so sad.

  “I want you to hold me tonight. It was a long day. Please?”

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  I blinked several times before my eyes finally focused. It was still early, but a look at the clock told me I had been asleep for ten hours. Brynn was still asleep. She was so afraid she would accidentally kick me while we slept, she had slept on top of the covers and as far away from my side as possible.

  My leg throbbed, but I was able to walk. The bullet had shaved off a thin layer of muscle. A shower would be hard but no way was I going back to bed this dirty. A film of dust covered my skin and I was itching to clean up. I hobbled into the kitchen, found some cling wrap, and dressed my wound like a leftover. I would clean it and put a new bandage on after my shower.

  I turned on the water, grabbed my shampoo and conditioner, and tackled my dirty body with vigor. The gravel damage was made obvious by the painful sting of soapsuds. My knees, my hands, my elbows, and my face all had battle wounds. Fucking assholes, I thought. My shower took twenty minutes. I didn’t even try to shave. It just felt good to be clean. I sat on a bench in the bathroom and cleaned my calf the best I could. I was sure Brynn would help me the next time. I bandaged it and slipped on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. It took forever to get a brush through my hair, but I didn’t care. I was alive and finally clean.

  “I would’ve helped you.” Brynn’s voice on the other side of the door made me yelp and drop my brush in fright. I stopped myself from cursing at her, though. That was a big step.

  “Why do I get the feeling you are on the other side of the door smiling?” I opened it, but I was wrong. She stood there, tall, barely awake, not smiling. Her eyebrows furrowed with concern and her lips pinched together so tightly, they were white against her already pale skin. I touched her face lightly.

  “I’m good. I even got my wound cleaned and dressed.”

  “Do you need your meds?” She stepped out of my way as I walked back to the bed. I tried not to limp for her sake.

  “Absolutely not. If you have any ibuprofen, that would be great. The pain isn’t severe.” I stared at the bed. There were tiny clumps of dust and dirt all over the place. I looked at Brynn. “I did this? Can you help me change the sheets? I’m too clean to get back into this campsite. All that’s missing is a bag of marshmallows.”

  She smiled weakly at my attempt at a joke. “Have a seat on the chair and I’ll change the sheets.” She grabbed a clean set from the linen closet and changed the bed in record time. We were going to have to talk about everything that happened yesterday, especially the part where I told her I loved her. For about two seconds in my drug induced haze, I was scared. Not anymore. I was at peace with my confession. I hope she was, too. “Would you like a fire in here?”

  “That sounds great, but I know you have to work today and I can’t be responsible for a fire. We already know I’m severely challenged by Earth’s elements.”

  “Oh, I’m not leaving you alone today. Or tomorrow. I have the next forty-eight hours off unless there’s an emergency. I’m yours to boss around,” she said.

  I frowned. Was I really bossy to Brynn? “I’m sorry if I haven’t treated you well. I know I’m a princess and I know I’m difficult. You are such an amazing woman. If I made you feel less than perfect, I’m sorry.”

  “Stop talking. Crawl into bed. I’m going to shower and then we’re going to talk about yesterday. All of it.”

  I liked it when she was playfully bossy with me. I saluted her and crawled under the covers. “I’m waiting.”

  She shook her head at me and closed the bathroom door. After a minute of waiting, I got bored. I was tired of being in the bedroom. I wanted sunlight and a cup of coffee. I threw off the covers and padded into the living room. I missed the brightness and happiness of this room. I made a quick cup of coffee and was sitting on the couch drinking it by the time Brynn was done with her shower.

  “I was hoping you didn’t get kidnapped again,” she said.

  I smiled, happy she could finally joke about it. “As much as I love the bedroom, I missed the beauty of this room. Plus, I wanted to watch you make
me breakfast.”

  She leaned down and placed a soft and serious kiss on my lips. “You didn’t eat much last night. How’s your appetite?”

  “I’m starving. Are you hungry?”

  “Definitely. How about French toast?” she asked.

  “Sounds yummy. Now, do you want to hear my good news?” I asked. If I remembered correctly, I still hadn’t shared my conversation with Erin, though I dropped bits and pieces last night.

  “I want you to tell me every second about your day yesterday. Leave nothing out.” I smiled at her. She looked fierce standing in the kitchen, her gray eyes blazing. Her plaid long-sleeved shirt was tight and showed off her curves. I couldn’t figure out why she was wearing jeans and looked like she was headed out.

  “Why are you dressed?” I pouted because just ten minutes ago she said she was mine for two days.

  “I thought you might want me to pick up Wally so he can be here for our staycation. I was going to grab him after our talk,” she said.

  I smiled. “That’s wonderful. Thank you.”

  “So, tell me what Erin said,” she said.

  I sat up straighter to give her my good news. “She loved everything. She fell in love with the sanctuary and thinks it’s going to help so much. She agreed there are far too many great photos to narrow down. She liked the fishing story and called it quirky.” Brynn raised her eyebrow at me, but I waved her off. “Oh, it was exactly what she wanted. More of a personal account of fishing. She did suggest I do a quick article on poaching. In all fairness, she asked me before the poachers showed up and all of this happened.” I pointed at my leg.

  “Are you writing the entire magazine? She’s asking a lot from you.”

  “I don’t mind. A&A is short staffed. Besides, this is what I do.” I shrugged. “Oh, but the best part?” I paused for dramatic effect.

  “Yes?”

  “Please don’t burn my breakfast.” I pointed at the piece of toast that was beginning to smoke in the pan.