by Beth Abbott
“Great.” Matt sounded happy now. “Well, I’ve got two very nice armed officers sitting with me, so if I make sure they cover the other two assholes, and I keep my eyes trained on old Georgie boy, that leaves you two Johnny-come-lately’s to find and eliminate the fourth shooter!”
“Sounds like a plan!” JT agreed. “But if they come out all guns blazing, just shoot whichever asshole is nearest to you!”
“That’s affirmative!” Matt agreed before hanging up.
JT knew he would do his job and if necessary kill Drayton where he stood. Hell, unless the police marksmen were really good, he wouldn’t put it past Matt to take out all three of them!
JT signalled to Danny and they continued their journey around the carpark, staying low so as not to be visible through any of the side windows. Every few feet, Danny would lay flat to the ground looking for any body parts visible underneath the vehicles.
They had just rounded the last pillar when Danny gave him the hand signal to stop and be silent.
JT crouched low as Danny pointed under the car.
JT took a peak, and sure enough, about eight cars across he could see the bottom of a pair if legs, some Nike sneakers, and what looked to be the butt of a rifle propped up on the floor next to the feet.
He pulled out his mobile and text Matt.
“Have eyes on fourth shooter. If you still have eyes on the other three, have police cause a distraction over by the ambulance bay, and be ready to take positive action in approximately ninety seconds!”
He hit send.
Yeah, Matt would know exactly what he meant by ‘positive action’. That was the polite way of saying ‘shoot the mother-fuckers!’
At almost exactly the allotted second according to JT’s watch, the engine of the ambulance started up, and the back doors were slammed shut. Shit, JT hoped the driver was ducked down low!
As if this was the signal to Drayton and his men that someone was going to get away, the three men rushed forward from their position, firing indiscriminately toward the ambulance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots rang out with roughly a half second between each shot. Two of the gunmen dropped on the spot. The third dropped, but JT could see him drag himself across the concrete towards a row of cars.
Drayton!
Itching to go after him, JT knew that he couldn’t, not without taking out the fourth shooter first.
Looking under the car, he found the fourth shooter still in his hiding place. He took aim with his pistol. It wasn’t as accurate at this distance as a rifle, but it would do in a pinch.
He squeezed off two rounds in quick succession, and heard the anguished cry as at least one of them connected with their intended target. The shooter rolled out from behind the car, firing indiscriminately, his judgement totally screwed by the amount of pain he was in. Four rapid shots came out from JT’s right, and the shooter and his gun fell silent.
JT sat up slowly to see where the shots had come from, and saw Danny waving at him, a big grin on his face.
His phone buzzed again.
He connected the call but didn’t speak. “I have Drayton’s location covered in case he makes a move. He’s directly west of you, maybe a dozen cars away. He’s between a white Nissan Juke and a burgundy Vauxhall Zafira. Definitely injured.”
“Got it!” JT whispered, returning his phone to his pocket.
Keeping low, he made his way slowly past each of the cars, as he closed in on George’s position, row by row.
Four rows down, Danny joined him, standing about twenty feet away, at the other end of the row of parked cars. When they came across Drayton, they would be at opposite ends of the row of cars, with George in the middle. He couldn’t point a gun in two directions at once!
They just had to make sure that they managed to avoid shooting each other in the process.
JT smirked. Like that had never happened before!
As JT approached the Nissan, he held his hand up to signal to Danny to halt. Holding three fingers up, he saw Danny nod, and he slowly pulled down one finger at a time, in a well-used manoeuvre.
Three, two, one…
JT and Danny both dived around the car at the same time, guns drawn, ready to fire.
“Well, fuck me!” Danny looked over at the slumped form of George Drayton, his weapon lying next to his lifeless hand. “Another notch on Matt’s rifle butt!” He scowled.
JT stood up, his hands high in the air.
“All clear!” He shouted loud enough for all the armed officers to hear him. “All shooters are accounted for. Stand down!”
Slowly about a dozen armed officers made their way from behind whatever cover they’d managed to find.
“Get the fire service in to put the fire out in the Jag!” Someone shouted. “We don’t want any more cars to go up.”
The OIC came towards him.
“Nice work!” He grinned at the three team-mates.
He looked over at Matt. “You know, if you had a few shooting lessons, you could get pretty proficient with that thing.” He nodded at the police rifle.
“Well, thank you very much!” Matt grinned at him, flipping him the middle finger.
“Well, if it’s all the same to you,” JT grinned. “I have a friend upstairs in need of a change of clothes ready for when his girl wakes up.”
“We’ll need….” The OIC began.
“Yeah, yeah!” Danny interrupted. “You need a statement from us. We’ll be up in the waiting room outside the ICU when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, well before you go, we’ll also need our weapons back!” The OIC grinned.
As they marched into the hospital, the armed officers melted out of their way like they were deities or something.
“That was awesome!” Danny grinned at his friends as they boarded the elevator. “It was like a freaking John Woo film or something!”
JT rolled his eyes at him.
“The most important thing is that we got Drayton!” Danny smirked.
“Actually, Matt got Drayton!” JT pointed out.
“Yeah, tomato-tomahto…” Danny grinned. “The point is that the asshole is toast! And so are his men! So, whenever Ellen and her dad get well enough, at least they can go home now.”
JT sighed. That was probably true.
Drayton had no other family to take over either of the businesses. His ex-wife was long gone, and their only son Gary was also dead. Gone were his two main enforcers, as well as the three goons lying on the concrete in the parking garage.
JT highly doubted whether any of the low-life’s in Drayton’s current organisation would possess enough brain cells to try and enact a take-over of the business, so, yes, to all intents and purposes it was probably over. No doubt there would be some sort of turf war, but that wouldn’t involve them.
As they got out of the elevator at the doors to the ICU, they were faced with two snarling police officers and the business end of their weapons.
Before JT had a chance to introduce themselves, the guards stepped back grinning and pointed towards the ICU.
“You’d better get in there fast.” The older one smirked. “Your mate is pretty pissed at having missed the party, and wants to know everything that went down. He’s pacing the floor like a caged animal!”
Chapter 49 - Luke
When Luke saw JT, Matt and Danny walk into the ICU with the armed Protection officer, he could have collapsed with relief.
Having the police radio and hearing it all go down without anyone giving him a running commentary was really hard.
He’d never had a situation where the guys had gone on a mission and he’d been left behind. It had nearly killed him!
Danny couldn’t wait to tell him all about it, although in Danny’s version, he had done all the killing, including the fatal shot which ended George Drayton’s sadistic bloody reign.
Matt didn’t bother correcting Danny’s version, letting him ramble on. But over Danny’s shoulder he saw the man hold
up three fingers and point at himself, and then one finger and point at Danny.
Danny was so full of shit!
“How’s Ellen?” JT asked.
“I think she’s looking better.” He smiled. “Come and see!”
He looked over at the nurse, who nodded, but held up her hand showing five fingers. Yeah, got it… Five minutes.
The guys crowded around Ellen’s bed.
The nurses had removed the breathing tubes and the cannula in the back of her right hand had come out while all the drama had been going on down in the garage.
“She’s looking really good, man!” Matt reassured him.
Luke nodded, although from the look on Danny’s face standing behind Matt, he wasn’t so sure.
JT looked down at the bags in his hand.
“I managed to retrieve these from your car just before it blew up.” he grinned.
“Yeah, thanks!” Luke said wryly. “I’d rather you’d left the clothes and saved the car, actually.”
“Yeah, well I flipped a coin and the car lost!” JT grinned. “Sorry.”
“Great!” Luke complained. “I thought the last car was a money pit after I sold her to the shit-head here after only three months. I’d only had the Jag three days!”
Danny held his hand up, grinning.
“Yeah, well don’t come knocking on my door begging me to sell you back the BMW. Cos that shit ain’t happening!”
Luke was grinning back at Danny when there was barely a whisper behind him.
“Don’t want that piece of shit car anyway!” It rasped.
Luke’s head spun around so fast he left himself dizzy.
“Ellen, sweetheart?” Luke grabbed her hand as gently as he could. “How’re you doing, baby?”
The day nurse pushed through between Matt and Danny, and started taking Ellen’s pulse. She pushed the alarm button twice.
“Ellen honey, I’m Nurse Williams. Do you know why you’re in hospital?”
“Head hurts!” Ellen whispered.
Luke wasn’t sure if she was responding to his question or the nurse’s.
More doctors and nurses rushed in, and suddenly JT and the boys were shoved aside. JT made a hand signal to Luke to let him know they’d be waiting outside.
Luke nodded back, grinning from ear to ear.
Ellen was coming back to him!
Two hours and a hundred tests and questions later, they were finally left alone.
Ellen had drifted in and out of sleep, but the most important thing was that when she was awake, she was able to answer all of their questions without showing any signs of brain damage.
Luke had had enough of all the nurses and doctors getting in his way.
He just wanted to hold his girl and whisper sweet nothings in her ear.
He wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh.
Every time he seemed to be about to get a minute alone with her someone else interrupted them.
He frowned down at their joined hands.
“If the wind changes, your face will stay like that!” A small voice warned.
He looked up, and for the first time since she had woken up, Ellen was looking straight at him, her beautiful blue eyes no longer cloudy.
“I was just thinking I can’t wait to get you home. Away from all these bloody people getting in our way all the time!”
Ellen gave him a weak smile. “I’d like that too.”
“Great!” Luke grinned at her. “I’ll go find a wheelchair and kidnap you. We can run back to London and hole up in my flat, where I’ll have my very wicked way with you!”
“Sounds fabulous.” Ellen agreed, yawning. “Maybe after I’ve had a little nap.”
Luke chuckled. “Sure honey. I’ll be waiting!”
“Hmm-hmm.” She murmured.
“Oh, and Luke?” She said drowsily, already half asleep. “Do you know where I can find Nurse Karen?”
“I think she’s on the night shift tonight.” He said. “Why?”
“Need to kick her ass for hitting on my fella!” Ellen mumbled, her eyes not even opening now.
Luke grinned. “I’ll make sure she knows.”
Chapter 50 - Ellen
It was another ten days before Ellen was released to go home.
The day after she awoke she was moved out of the ICU, into the High Dependency unit, and after forty-eight hours there, she was transferred to a private room.
Her father had been released several days before, and although he’d come to see her before going home, the closeness was gone. Ellen knew that their relationship had been irrevocably damaged by his abandonment of her.
She didn’t know whether that would ever change, but at the moment, that wasn’t something she was going to give too much thought to.
In the end, he’d left the hospital with Bethan and Katie, and no plans for them to meet up again.
That was fine with Ellen.
Luke had been there holding her hand, waiting for the waterworks to start, but there hadn’t been any.
Now here she sat in his new car, another Jaguar, thank goodness, although it wasn’t quite the same as the last one.
However, if ever there was a car to make a long journey in, this was it.
She’d reclined the seat before they’d left the hospital grounds, and had slept for the next two hundred miles.
When she felt the bump as Luke entered the underground carpark belonging to his flat, Ellen stretched, grinning up at him like an idiot. She hit the button to lift her seat upright.
“Please tell me that there’s not a surprise welcome home party planned?” She begged.
Luke’s face fell.
“Really?” She gasped. “I’m sorry…did I ruin the surprise…. It’s fine….”
Luke grinned. “I’m just teasing you. No party, I promise!”
Ellen sagged back into the seat. “Oh, thank God!” She whispered.
“I love our friends, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world, but four days solid of Suzy and Danny trying to outdo each other in the ‘Who can be more outrageous’ competition? That’s more than you need in a lifetime!”
Luke grinned.
“Wait there.” He instructed. Retrieving their baggage from the boot, he trotted over to his private elevator, inserted the key to open the door, and threw the bags in.
When he got back to the car, he opened her door wide and scooped her up into his arms before kicking the car door shut.
“I can walk, you know!” She pointed out.
“I know.” He agreed affably.
Ellen shook her head.
“You can be quite ridiculous, you know!”
“I know.” He smiled down at her.
She gave up.
When he entered the apartment, he carried her straight upstairs to the bedroom, despite her protestations that she wanted something to eat.
“Dinner is being served on a tray in about half an hour, which gives you just enough time to have a soak in the tub, climb into a pair of comfortable pyjamas, and hop into bed.”
Luke walked into the bathroom, and she heard him switch the taps on to fill up the bath.
Actually, that sounded like quite a good plan.
While Luke helped her into the bath, and made sure to wash the places she couldn’t reach, she was surprised at how well behaved he was.
He hadn’t made a single attempt to grope her or touch her anywhere inappropriate.
“I’m not gonna break if we make out a little, y’know!” She smiled.
“I know.” He grinned at her infuriatingly.
“Is that all you’re going to say?” She pouted.
Luke sighed as he gathered her up and lifted her out of the bath. He stood her in front of him and wrapped her in an enormous bath sheet.
“Look…” He rubbed her arms and shoulders dry with a separate towel. “I’ve arranged for a doctor to come and see you. A private doctor. She’ll give you a thorough check-up and make sure you’re all recovered from the sh
ooting. You can talk to her about anything. Confidentially! You may want to discuss contraception with her. It’s up to you.”
Ellen was gobsmacked. “You got me registered with a doctor?”
“A private one, yes. I go to see a male doctor at the same practise when I need one.”
“Ok.” Ellen agreed. It was stupid to be ridiculously happy about being able to register with a doctor.
But it reminded her that she no longer had to be invisible.
As she looked over Luke’s shoulder at the mirror, her eyes widened at her reflection. She never failed to be shocked by her baldness.
Her hair had started growing out a little now though, and it was a lighter blonde than she remembered it too, which pleased her no end.
Suzy had thought she’d looked bad-ass, especially with her scar!
Luke had said he thought she looked beautiful, and if he had been lying to spare her feelings, she’d never have known it.
“I think I’d like to see about contraception.” She said, looking up at Luke. “We could stop worrying about bloody condoms then.”
Luke grinned. “I’m definitely in favour of that.”
“Ok.” She smiled, dropping the towel and lifting her arms to slip on the pyjama top that Luke was holding for her.
She lifted her legs obediently when he held her panties out for her, and repeated the process with the pyjama trousers.
“Come on, into bed.” Luke instructed. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
“Wow!” Ellen giggled, climbing under the covers. “What’s it going to be? Your speciality beans on toast?”
Luke smirked. “You’ll see…”
With that, there was a soft tap on the door, and Luke spun around to open it.
Ellen gasped as she saw Sally and Carl walk into the bedroom each carrying a tray of food.
“Hey, sweetie!” Sally cried, handing the tray off on Luke. “We just heard about everything this morning when our cruise ship docked.”
“How are you doing, honey?” Carl wiggled her foot under the covers.
“I’m pretty good, all things considered.” Ellen smiled at them, giving Sally a big hug. She put her hand up to her head, twisting from side to side.
“Like my new ‘do’?” she giggled.