Silent Knight

by Becky McGraw

  “Griff, just go,” she yelled, her voice trembling. “Please just get out of here!”

  Taking aim, Griff held his hands steady to keep his bead on the thug’s head. If he moved, Griff was going to put a bullet in his skull. Instead, he ducked back into the building, dragging Layla with him. She screamed and Griff was on his feet, running a zigzag toward the building. He heard boots behind him and hoped like hell it was the others. Breathing hard, he put his back to the bricks outside the doorway, and was relieved to see it was the team.

  Layla screamed and it echoed inside the building and in Griff’s skull. His stomach clenched as he took a deep breath then quickly swung inside the opening and out. Layla was on the floor by a set of metal stairs about forty yards away and the thug stood over her with the gun. Too far to be accurate with the forty-five he’d been given. He looked at Slade, who also leaned on the wall beside him, and pointed toward the end of the building then nodded.

  He nodded then motioned to Levi, and they jogged that way with Lola. Logan peeled off from the opposite side of the doorway to head toward the other end of the building. Loud, thumping music drew his eyes to the end of the block again just as another big-rimmed, blacked-out Suburban rounded the corner.

  It was now or never. The big guns had evidently arrived to help.

  With a growl, Griff ran into the building and hid behind a huge crate that was ten feet from the doorway. A bullet pinged off of the metal beam above his head and he flinched. He looked to the left and saw another crate about twenty feet away. He dashed across the distance and a bullet whizzed by his head just before he ducked behind it. You have six bullets left in that nine, he thought. Another bullet clipped the corner of the crate sending wood shavings raining down on him. Five.

  The music got louder and Griff knew that meant the thug cavalry was almost there. Crouching, he looked for his next hiding place. His muscles bunched as he started to dart out again, but he stopped when he heard a Spanish F-Bomb over the music, which seemed to be stationary outside of the building now. Leaning around the crate, he smiled when he saw Slade standing over the thug, glaring down at him. Levi stood at the top of the stairs with his pistol trained on him.

  Layla screamed again and took off running toward the doorway and Logan suddenly appeared. “Tangos, twelve-o’clock!” he shouted, as he dove and tackled her to the ground. He covered her body with his just as two thugs appeared in the doorway and opened fire with automatic rifles.

  Slade dove behind a crate and Levi took cover upstairs. Griff scrambled back to the second crate, then the first. He aimed his pistol at the first thug’s head and pulled the trigger. When the second guy swung his rifle toward Griff, he put a round in his forehead.

  Yeah, you’ve still got it. He stood, swung his weapon outside the doorway but didn’t see anyone outside. Running over to Logan, he helped Layla up. When he pulled her toward the door, she put on the brakes, and jerked her arm away.

  “No—I can’t leave! They’ll kill Jayden!” she said, folding her arms over her waist. Her lower lip trembled. “They’ll probably kill him anyway, now. Why did you have to come here?”

  Griff walked up to her and tipped her quivering chin up to stare into her eyes. “I came here because I was afraid for you. Whether you believe it or not, I care about you.”

  “Well, I care about my brother and if you care about me, you’ll just leave,” she said.

  “Not happening, Shorty. Where’s your brother?” he asked.

  “On a run for them,” she replied, a tremor rocking her.

  “A drug run?” Griff asked, an icy chill zipping down his spine.

  “What other kind of run is there?” she asked with an eye roll. “He got hooked up with them when he ran away to look for me and now he can’t get out. I’m not leaving without him.”

  “When will he be back?” Griff asked, glancing at the door again.

  “Not until tonight. It was on the far north side. I don’t know where.”

  “Then we’ll come back for him tonight,” Logan said, moving up beside Griff. “But right now, we’re getting the hell out of here and you are coming with us.”

  Chapter 16

  Lou Ellen turned to pace the path around the conference room table again. The carpet should be threadbare by now, she thought, but she couldn’t sit down. It was nearly midnight, and her insides were raw with worry.

  “Lou, you need to sit down before you fall down,” Cade growled, then scrubbed a hand over his face. I know you’re worried, but this is not doing them any good. I should’ve gone with them.”

  “I needed you here to help me,” she stopped to turn and reply. She glanced over at Allison, who had her head down on her forearms, sleeping on the table. Ronnie Winters Rooks, Cade’s sister, sat beside her leaning back in a chair with her eyes closed. “I told y’all you could leave. You know what my problem is now.”

  Ronnie’s eyes creeped open and she yawned as she sat up straighter. “The judge should be calling me tomorrow morning. It’s too late to go home now. Trace would kill me if I got on the road this late. He’ll be fine holding down the fort for a day or two.”

  “There’s a spare bedroom in Logan’s suite and a pull-out sofa. Why don’t you just take Allison and go in there and get some shuteye?” Lou Ellen suggested.

  Her best friend’s head popped up and her red-rimmed eyes opened. “I spoke with my peers on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the head of the National Security Council. They swore they’d call me back tonight. The Vice President probably won’t call until late tomorrow. He’s out of the country.”

  “Yeah, well my old friend at the CIA said the same, but he hasn’t called back either. We all need to get some sleep and hit this again in the morning. I’m not leaving you here alone, because Griff is right. Abu Sayyaf is not an organization you mess around with. If the situation is as you described, you could be in danger if they know where he’s at.” He closed his eyes and his face drew up. “I thank God I got out when I did, because if something like that happened to Cecelia or Domingo, there wouldn’t be one of them left living.”

  How in the hell had she gotten so lucky to have these people as friends? Real friends. People she could call at the drop of a hat who would get here however they could to help her. After her six a.m. call, Ronnie drove here from Hill Country and got in around noon and Allison Rooks flew in from D.C. in the afternoon.

  As soon as she outlined Griff’s situation to them, all three were as appalled as she was at how egregiously he’d been let down by his uplines in the CIA, and the price he’d paid for trusting them.

  “Don’t worry—this will be fixed immediately,” Allison said, her eyes fierce. “Before Christmas, if I have my way.”

  Emotion surged up to choke Lou Ellen. When on a mission to right a wrong, Senator Allison Rooks was a formidable foe. But a week before a holiday? “That’s next week, Allie. I appreciate you trying to get it done quickly, but—”

  “There are no buts.” Allison’s eyes sparked fire as they pinned her. “This man has been cast aside, forgotten, after giving his all for this country and I won’t have it.”

  “CPS found Layla Smith in their system and I asked for an emergency custody order. As soon as you’re cleared and it’s prepared, I’ll ask a friend who is a family court judge in Dallas to sign it. That may take a few days. I’ll call back in the morning to add her brother.”

  Dave called after they found Layla to say they wouldn’t be home until later. The team was going back into gangland tonight to rescue her brother and that scared the crap out of Lou Ellen.

  “All I have is time,” Lou Ellen said, as she started pacing again. All she had was time, but she was running out of carpet. “If you say you can get it done that quickly, I believe you.” Because she wanted to believe. If she didn’t get it done that fast, Griff would be gone and she might never find him again. He’d been plain about his intentions.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to take on raising two teenagers
? Kids you don’t even know?” Ronnie asked with a laugh. “Trust me when I tell you raising kids is not an easy job. But the pay in hugs, love and kisses make it the best job on earth.”

  For Griff, she was ready. To make sure those kids situation was reversed and they knew there was a different kind of life available to them, she was ready.

  “Yes, I know what I’m doing and look forward to it.” But she didn’t look forward to doing it alone, and prayed she wouldn’t have to.

  She stopped in her tracks when she heard the front door of the office open and a tangle of male voices. “Cade, come quick! We need your help!” Logan shouted, and someone groaned.

  Her eyes met Cade’s and she put a shaking hand over her mouth as she ran into the hallway with him behind her.

  Chapter 17

  “What happened?” Cade asked, as he pushed Caleb aside to replace him in helping Griff stagger into the office.

  Griff’s pain-filled eyes met Lou Ellen’s and a wail pushed up to her throat but she pinched it off with her lips. Falling apart wouldn’t do him any good. Thank God Cade was still here she thought, following behind him and Logan as they helped Griff to the sofa.

  “He jumped in front of a spray of bullets for the kid,” Logan replied, and Lou Ellen couldn’t stop the low-pitched moan from escaping as her stomach clenched. “Took four in the vest and one in his thigh. We put on a tourniquet, but he’s bleeding like a stuck pig.”

  “Why didn’t you take him to the E.R.?” Cade asked gruffly, as they stopped at the sofa to ease him down.

  “Because I didn’t want to go to the damned hospital,” Griff growled, then moaned as he put his hand on his thigh.

  Lou Ellen knew that was because he’d immediately be “back on the grid” and that could put them all in the crosshairs of the terrorists looking for him. Hopefully, that situation would be rectified soon.

  “Someone go get me the first aid kit.” Caleb strode off toward the bathroom, and Lou Ellen watched as Cade pulled a pair of trauma shears out of one of his cargo pockets and sliced Griff’s jeans open up to the belt that staunched his bleeding.

  When he laid the sides of the material apart, Lou Ellen caught sight of the charred flesh beneath, her stomach rolled. She dragged her eyes away because she just couldn’t watch.

  “He’s a hardheaded man and will probably die for it,” a beautiful, green-eyed girl said as she stopped behind the sofa to angrily swipe her eyes with her wrist.

  Lou Ellen’s breath caught and her eyes burned as she got the first look at the girl who would possibly be her daughter. The attitude was right, that was for sure.

  “You’re the hardheaded one,” Griff grated through his teeth. “I wouldn’t be shot if you hadn’t gone into that situation without talking to me first.”

  “You’d have tried to stop me,” Layla said, lifting her chin belligerently. “I wasn’t going to let my brother die or become a gangbanger.”

  “Of course I would’ve tried to stop you from getting yourself killed. That’s what people who love each other do,” Griff shot back, then moaned when Cade prodded his wound.

  “Take it easy on him, Sis—he saved my life,” a tall, lanky boy with matching eyes said as he stopped beside the girl to hug her shoulders.

  With a whimper, she turned and threw herself into her brother’s arms. Lou Ellen’s heart expanded so large it hurt her chest as she watched Layla’s body shake and her brother comfort her. The look on the boy’s face as he hugged her was love personified. These two had survived their horrible situation together, because of that love.

  Lou Ellen walked up to them, and put her arms around them too, and they both stiffened. She stepped back and they turned wary, red-rimmed eyes her way. They would be wary, she thought. They had zero reason to trust anyone outside their circle of two. She would have to take this slow and easy with them to earn their trust.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, holding out her hand to Layla. “I’m Lou Ellen Wells…” she glanced back at Griff, then looked at them again. “I’m Griff’s friend.”

  The girl stared at Lou Ellen’s hand for a second, wiped hers on her jeans then shook it. Lou Ellen didn’t want to let her hand go, but the girl pulled hers away. A delicious odor wafted to her nose, and she heard a sizzling sound coming from the kitchen. The odds were these kids were starving, just like she suddenly realized she was. Someone, probably Levi, was cooking hamburgers, if she wasn’t mistaken.

  “Are you two hungry?” she asked forcing a smile and they looked at each other then nodded. “Good, follow me and we’ll have the best burgers on the planet. I have to warn you, though, my friend Levi adds some spice to them that will set you on fire, so I hope you don’t mind spicy.”

  “Spicy is good,” they both said in tandem, then looked at each other and smiled.

  Lou Ellen led them to the kitchen and left them with Levi, because once she got up close and personal with the burgers, she couldn’t make herself eat one.

  She was too worried about Griff. When she reached the sofa, she found Cade holding bloody gauze to Griff’s thigh, and was very glad she’d forgone the food. Bile surged up to choke her and she dragged her eyes away.

  “How bad is it?” she asked.

  “The bullet went straight through, but may have nicked an artery. If it stops bleeding soon, that will be a good thing. He really needs blood and pain medication. I could get some, but he refuses to let me call someone to get a script.”

  Because a prescription in his name would put him on the radar.

  “It will be fine. Just stitch up the holes and I’ll be on my way,” Griff hissed, his face pinched.

  Anger burned through Lou Ellen and she’d had enough of his mission to kill himself. Putting her hands on her hips, she walked around the sofa to look him in the eye.

  “You are not going anywhere, mister. Layla is right—you are as stubborn as my daddy’s mule. Cade is going to stitch you up all right, and I might add your mouth to the list if you don’t stop being an ass and let us help you. I have pain pills at my house, which is where we’ll be going as soon as you are stable enough to be moved. Now zip your lip and cooperate, or things will not end well here.”

  “I think I like her, Griff,” Layla said around the bite of burger in her mouth, as she walked up beside Lou, holding a heaping plate of fries smothered in ketchup.

  Cade chuckled as he put a fresh wad of gauze over Griff’s wound. Griff’s eyes widened as his body slumped down on the sofa. Dave rolled his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair.

  “I suggest you cooperate, buddy, because I assure you she’s not a woman to be messed with. I’m going home to my wife and son, so you’re on your own.” Dave strode toward the front office and Lou Ellen looked back at Griff.

  “I suggest you do too,” Lou Ellen said.

  Griff heaved a sigh. “Yes, ma’am. It looks like between you, Layla, and this bullet wound that hurts like a bit—” He stopped to grit his teeth and hiss out his pain. “I don’t have a choice.”

  If the things she had in motion worked out, maybe he would have choices very soon. She hoped he made the right ones, because even if he had his life back, didn’t mean he’d choose a ready-made family or her to spend it with.

  Chapter 18

  “Want to go shopping with me, Short Stuff?” Lou Ellen asked Layla who was sitting on the sofa channel surfing. “I need your input on gifts for Griff and your brother.”

  “My suggestion for Griff is a muzzle,” Layla said with a laugh. “The way he’s acting, he might bite someone.”

  “Where’s Jayden?” she asked, frowning when she didn’t see him in his usual spot—her recliner.

  “He went in to see Griff. I think they’re entertaining each other, which is a good thing. Griff taught him to play poker. Great skill for a homeless guy to be passing on to a homeless kid. Might get him a meal one day. Maybe I should be in there learning too.”

  Lou Ellen’s heart shattered in a million tiny pieces and ripped up her insid
es. How could a child be so jaded, so hopeless? She could be that way because until now, she’d lived a hopeless life. Tears burned Lou Ellen’s eyes as she sucked in a sharp breath. Layla glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her.

  “You okay?” she asked, as if what she just said wasn’t heartbreaking.

  “No, I’m not okay,” Lou Ellen said as she walked around the sofa to sit beside Layla.

  The girl frowned as her eyes skimmed Lou Ellen’s face, then skated down her body. “You feeling bad? I’ll go get Griff,” she said, putting her fists down to get up.

  A shuddering sigh escaped when the knot in her throat cleared. “I’m feeling bad for you and Jayden. No kids should have to live like you have, or worry about where your next meal will come from. It’s just despicable and your parents should be in jail forever.”

  She snorted. “Michael probably will be, he was dealing. I think Glenda gets out in a year or two. At least before they went to jail, we weren’t homeless.”

  Michael and Glenda Smith—her no-account parents who should never have had children. Ronnie had compiled a whole dossier on these kids and given her a copy. There was no way in hell she was handing them back over to the foster care system. Ronnie had gotten the temporary emergency custody order, but Lou Ellen wanted more now.

  “Don’t worry about us, Queenie. We’re survivors.” Her smile faded and she looked back at the TV, but Lou Ellen didn’t miss her lower lip quivering. “Now that we found each other again, we’ll be fine. Thanks for helping us do that and for taking us in for a little while.”

  “What if I wanted it to be for more than a little while?” Lou Ellen asked, the words tumbling out without her permission. Her plan was to get them to trust her, then ask if they were interested in making it permanent.

  Layla gasped as her head whipped around. Her green eyes narrowed in that “I don’t trust a thing you say” mode. “We’ll stick around until you’re tired of us, which usually happens at about three months.”