A Civilian for Silo

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  She turned her head just enough to look at me and I saw she’d removed her cardigan, probably to get to her gun faster. “I’m fine. Seriously. And overjoyed Julie’s already at school. How about you?”

  “Other than scared out of my freaking skull? Never better.” I let out a shaky laugh. But I was back to cowering as I heard another round of gunfire.

  There was another brief lull and I canted my head back to my sister who seemed to be listening for something. “Did you hear that, Shelly?”

  “Hear what?”

  “There! That sound. It sounds like a helicopter is over us,” she whispered. “And sirens, I hear sirens in the distance, too.”

  Sirens and helicopters were good. But I didn’t know how much help they would be if the people shooting at us started shooting at our rescuers.

  There was a large thump as if something heavy had hit the floor and for a moment my heart stopped, imagining my Si’ shot and falling. But I heard a grunt of exertion and tried to figure what he might be doing. When I couldn’t, I called out. “Silo?”

  “Just shut it and stay back, baby!” he boomed but his voice sounded strained. “Just covering the window with the table…oof!”

  His voice cut off but the bullets never stopped. “Silo?”

  There was no answer except for the sound of gunfire now skittering down our hall. “Silo?! Answer me!” I knew I was screaming, giving away my and Shelly’s position but I didn’t give a rip.

  Listening closely, I finally heard it. A deep, low steady stream of cuss words coming from the dining room. “Goddamn, motherfucking, son of a bitching whore of a diseased ass. Fuck!”

  And somehow I knew. Knew in some deep part of me that Silo had taken a round and was trying to stay as quiet as he could. Considering the volume his voice had been at all morning, the murmurs I could pick up were almost a comparative whisper.

  My heart was in my throat, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I turned my head to look at Lulu. “I’m going out there.”

  “I’ll go with you,” she said, gripping my forearm.

  I knew I was scowling when I blurted, “the hell you will.”

  “Who’s going to flipping stop me? You?”

  Shit! I didn’t want to waste valuable seconds arguing with my sister when I needed to be seeing to my man. “Stay low, then and try to remain quiet.”

  “I’m not the one shouting down the roof, telling everybody and their neighbor where we’re hiding!”

  Throwing her a glare, I mimicked the move she’d made earlier as she’d entered the bedroom, which had been some kind of floor swimming thingie. And I tried to keep my head down and remain calm but every nerve in my body was vibrating with the need to get to Silo.

  I moved as fast as I could wiggle down the hall on my belly, thankful for once that the house had not come with carpet. But even as I pulled next to the beginning of the leather sectional sofa, I still didn’t see my Si’. “Baby?” I called out softly.

  “Get your,” he started but his deep voice sounded funny. Kind of strained and yet breathy all at the same time. “Sweet ass…back in the room.”

  I continued towards the sound of him and had just pulled even with the end of the kitchen wall, when I saw him. And at the sight, my stomach did a hard clench and my heart thudded so loud I no longer heard the bullets flying over my head.

  He was propped in the far corner, his legs splayed in front of him as the walls supported his shoulders. But the blood, oh dear god, the blood that was pooled around him, that was seeping, soaking his t-shirt, flowing onto his jeans! As I continued to crawl to him, I saw he had an arm wrapped around his waist and was pressing into whatever wound he had.

  I got right up next to him, noting his dilated pupils and sweaty face.

  “Got shot, Shell,” he announced.

  “I can see that.” I was surprised that my voice didn’t give away the fear that raced inside me.

  “Three times,” he continued and I caught sight of Lulu moving to his other side. She grabbed a cushion that had fallen from one of the overturned dining room chairs and held it out to me.

  “I don’t think he needs to get comfy, Lu! We gotta put pressure on his wounds in order to stop the bleeding!” I knew I was directing my anger at the wrong person but since the whack jobs outside weren’t within my sphere of influence, my sister was the one who was going to catch the brunt of it.

  Peeling off my shirt, I looked Silo dead in the eye. “You’ve got to move your arm, Silo. I can’t help you if you don’t move your arm out of the way.”

  “But it hurts, Shell. Hurts so fucking bad.”

  I glanced at Lulu to see she’d taken off her sparkly, bejeweled oxford shirt, cut in a western style and handed it to me. “He’s losing a lot of blood, Shelly.”

  “I know.” I put my hand over Silo’s very wet, very red one. “Just lift it a bit, Si’. Just a little bit more, honey. That’s it. That’s my man.”

  Quickly tucking our shirts against the three holes that dotted the side of his stomach, I pressed down as hard as I could. “How you doing, big guy?”

  “Cold and weak,” came the reply. “Think I’m going into shock. But the fucking view is spectacular.”

  Looking down, I saw that my move of straight arms pressing into his belly had created major cleavage that went above and beyond the scope of that day’s choice of bras.

  “Not that your rack ain’t just as fucking good, Lu,” he added.

  The bastard! There I was, half-dressed and covered in the blood of the man who had stolen my heart, had become my entire world and he was ogling my sister’s chest?

  “Thank you, Si. Get a good look because this is a once in a lifetime moment,” Lulu drawled wryly, shooting me an eye-roll before my eyes went back to Silo.

  Damn.

  Silo.

  My one night stand.

  A biker who I couldn’t help finding irresistibly sexy.

  A man I’d used for pure physical pleasure, but I’d walked away from knowing he didn’t fit into my world. Not as a Hellion who was proud of his loose and easy motorcycle club lifestyle.

  But Silo had been the only one I could think to call when I was hurt and scared, the only person I’d known would come for me and take me to safety. He’d opened not only his home but his biker family to me, helping me find the meaning of true friendship and showing me that there was a life waiting for me outside of Palmer Investments. Far beyond the confines and restrictions of Albuquerque’s elite—the sham of shallow relationships, the social climbing and the clawing for positions of power no matter the cost.

  ‘You love him,’ the voice in my mind whispered.

  ‘I absolutely and totally do,’ I snapped right back.

  And somehow admitting my feelings, acknowledging that Silo was the best, the absolute perfect man for me, a former socialite who’d more than loved the role, the clothes and the cache, unknotted something inside. Yeah, I was still scared, unbelievably frightened about our situation. But I was no longer fearful about my future. Not if it included building a life with the man whose life blood covered both my hands.

  The three of us stayed in that position, the bullets continually whizzing over our heads or thumping against the table Silo had used to cover the dining room window. At least it gave us some measure of protection. And for that I was grateful because without it I would never have been able to get to Silo, the love of my life.

  Just as my thoughts had turned to gratitude I heard my name being called from behind me.

  Looking over my shoulder, I saw Agent David Moore doing his own version of the belly crawl and doing it across our kitchen floor!

  *.*.*.*.*

  The scene that met David’s eyes when he finally had the courage to enter the house didn’t register. All he could see was his beautiful Michelle, her amazing face gazing at him over her shoulder.

  Deep in his delusions, he saw her posture as coy, a shy way of greeting the man of her dreams who had come to take her away from
the hell she been placed in.

  “Oh my darling,” he breathed as he army crawled to her. “I’m here now. You’ll be safe now.”

  Shelly bared her teeth and muttered, “What the fuck are you doing here?” But that’s not how David saw or heard it. To him, so distant and into the fantasy he’d created, she was smiling and thanking him for coming to her rescue.

  “Come to me, my darling,” he crooned. “Let me get you out of the danger he’s put you in. So we can be together.”

  There was the sound of metal on metal but David ignored it.

  “Move a gosh-darn muscle and I’ll shoot,” came another feminine voice. But focusing on anything other than the object of his desire, the woman of his many fantasies was impossible for the former agent.

  “It’s time for us to be together, Michelle,” he reminded the curly haired beauty. “You need to come to me now so we can get away.”

  “There’s no way in hell I’m going anywhere with you, Agent Moore,” Shelly yelled, breaking his concentration and pushing him back into reality. He searched her face and saw a deep frown had replaced her winsome smile of welcome.

  But, that couldn’t be right!

  She was happy to see him, grateful that he’d come for her!

  “I’m warning you, mister. Make one more move and I’ll shoot you!” He shifted his eyes to the woman that spoke, finding it was only Michelle’s ridiculous, hair-brained sister. She meant nothing to him and couldn’t deter him from his goal even if she was holding a handgun as if she meant to use it.

  “I am not leaving without you, my darling.” Daringly, he went up onto his knees and held out a hand. “Come to me, Michelle.”

  “In your fucking dreams.” That couldn’t be his future bride talking. Not his Michelle, using foul language and a sneering tone. Not her! And most definitely not to him!

  David heard a heavy step behind him, the retort of a gun loudly echoing in the kitchen before he felt his body jerked as if punched between his shoulder blades. A sneering voice behind him yelled, “Perro cobrade!”

  There were more shots fired from in front of him but as he fell forward, he realized the retorts had sounded muffled and no additional bullets had hit him. With his cheek pressed to the linoleum, the floor jumped as if something heavy had fallen. But David didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything except the view in front of him.

  The view of the most perfect woman in the world.

  And as he bled out, the vision of Michelle Palmer was the last former Federal Agent David Moore would ever see.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Though there were still the sounds of guns firing, Silo couldn’t hear the percussions of bullets landing inside the house. His Shell’s hands still pressed against his fiery wounds, but her head was turned towards Lu who still had her gun in the cocked and ready position, aiming it at the back door.

  “Do you think there are more?” Shelly sounded so far away but was only inches from his face.

  “I don’t know, but anybody who isn’t one of us or part of a rescue is going get a bullet!” Lulu’s voice only had the smallest of quivers in it. “Did you see the way I capped that dirt-bag?”

  “You did good, Lu,” Silo mumbled. His eyes felt heavy and he was so cold he was beginning to shiver.

  Shell shifted her weight and he saw her look over her shoulder. “I think that guy killed Agent Moore.”

  “He’s not just wounded? Maybe he’s only unconscious or something,” Lulu argued.

  “I don’t think so. His eyes are open but he’s not moving.”

  Lulu went back down to her belly and crept to where the bureaucrat was laying. Placing a hand on the man’s neck, she turned back to Shelly. “Oh my god, you’re right!”

  “Wait! Listen,” Shelly announced and whipped her head to the former dining room window. “I don’t hear any gun fire. Do you?”

  Lulu went up on her hands and knees to crawl into the living room. Silo saw her lift up on her knees and move a twisted blind out of the way in order to look outside. “The police have men in cuts on the ground with their hands behind their back.”

  “Do you see an ambulance or anything?”

  Lulu pushed her head closer to the window, her eyes moving. “Yeah. There’s one down the street.”

  “Well don’t just sit there! Go get them!” Shelly shouted before turning her head back to Silo. “Help is on its way, honey.”

  He could only nod but even that move was almost more than he could do. Silo felt like he was fading, becoming only a goddamn shadow. Did that mean he was fucking dying? He hoped not but was glad that, if he was, he had Shelly, his girl, right fucking in front of him, her beautiful chest only marginally hidden by her sexy as fuck bra.

  *.*.*.*.*

  The scene outside was one of controlled chaos with numerous law enforcement and emergency personnel working both the street and our house. I was holding onto the side of Silo’s gurney as the EMTs pushed it toward one of the waiting ambulances.

  Silo had passed out just before the Emergency Medical Technicians had entered which I thought was a good thing after seeing all they had to do to get my big guy stabilized and prepared for transport. He’d rallied just once, when they were getting him on a back board. “Don’t leave me, Shell,” he’d pleaded weakly from behind the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

  “Never, Si’,” I vowed which seemed to be exactly what he wanted to hear. And that I’d meant with every fiber of my being.

  As we got closer to where the vehicles were parked, I saw my sister arguing with the team that had worked on Mel. After she’d run out the back door, I’d heard Lulu scream his name on a sob before I heard the pounding of her feet on the driveway as she ran to get help.

  “But I’m his fiancée!” I heard her yell and saw she was using her hands and arms as emphasis in trying to convince the EMT to let her ride with them.

  “That’s not family, miss,” the technician said before stepping into the van. “You have to be a family member to ride along.”

  I glanced at Silo and started to quickly think which was hard due to all the adrenaline that was still rushing through my system. The two EMTs slotted the gurney into the truck and folded up the wheels. I watched as one circled the large van and entered the cab while the other slid the rolling bed into position and locked the wheels.

  Grabbing the handle on the side, I put my foot on the bumper preparing to go inside. Without missing a beat, I looked the tech in the eye as I murmured, “I’m his wife.”

  All the guy did was nod before turning back to connect Silo into all sorts of machines that were similar to the ones I’d been hooked up to just a few weeks earlier. The two back doors were soon closed and the siren began to wail as the truck we rode in took to the streets.

  And as we raced to the hospital, I wondered at my lie. ‘I’m his wife,’ I’d said without a hitch, without blinking an eye. I could’ve used the ruse we gone with before, the one of me being his sister but I hadn’t even thought of it until we were already on our way.

  No, I’d gone with another family relation.

  One that meant more somehow.

  That spoke of the love I had finally admitted to having for my big biker.

  It took forever to fill out the forms the Emergency Room nurse had given me and I’d had to call Brand to get the insurance information but it was just as well that I had something to keep me busy. Because after only a few minutes in an ER bay, Silo was immediately taken to surgery.

  “Shelly!” Raising my head and shaking the hand that had cramped around the pen, I saw Lulu racing towards me with little Julie right behind her. Dropping into one of the connected chairs in the waiting room, she leaned towards me. “Any news?”

  “Silo’s being operated on. Mel’s getting a CT scan,” I replied woodenly. I was drained from all the happenings of the day, both of the physical and mental variety. “They think it’s only a concussion, but want to make sure is what I overheard.”

  “
Oh, thank God!” Lulu cried and turned to cuddle Jules. “Hear that, Lil’ Taste? Just a concussion!”

  My eyes followed the tears that were streaming down the little girl’s face. I knew she and Mel were tight and wasn’t surprised that Lulu had signed her out of school so she could be with my sister at the hospital.

  “Mrs. Kettering?” I turned my head and watched a nurse coming towards me. “You can go up to the 3rd floor waiting room if you want. It’s closest to the surgical suites and is where the surgeon will meet you after your husband’s operation is completed.”

  “You dirty bird!” Lulu’s voice was a sharp whisper next to my ear. “That’s how you were able to ride in the ambulance and I couldn’t. You lied to the EMTs!”

  I shot my sister a glance that, in essence, told her to shut the hell up while I stood and made my way to the elevator.

  I guess I should’ve felt guilty about lying.

  But I didn’t.

  Not in the least.

  My only regret was that by going to the small waiting room upstairs, I was all alone with only my worry and prayers to keep me company while I waited for information on Silo’s progress. To my mind, we’d already been there days, not just a few hours and since patience wasn’t my strongest suit, the longer I had to wait, the more my mind went to the worst scenarios. Dark thoughts of Silo dying or of being so badly wounded that he’d never be the same man again.

  Without me ever telling him that I loved him.

  I must’ve fallen asleep at one point and was awakened by an older man in scrubs calling me ‘Mrs. Kettering’.

  “He’s doing just fine. We removed the bullets and stopped the internal hemorrhaging. There’ll be scarring and he’ll have trouble processing food for a while due to his perforated bowel, but when all is said and done, he should have full recovery in six to eight weeks.” Something inside me released and I let out a sigh of relief at the doctor’s words.