Reclaim

by Beth Yarnall

  I lick my suddenly dry lips, trying to come up with something that will buy Nolan some time to recover and me a chance to figure out how to pull the gun from my bra. “That was a nice headstone you had made for your son, Diego,” I say to Billits. “You must’ve loved him a great deal.”

  “His whore mother took the money I gave her for him and shot it into her veins. He died while she fucked her landlord because she blew the money I gave her for rent.”

  “But you made her a whore. Your whore.”

  His laugh is thick and sick. “Is that what she told you? My guys picked her up trying to turn her first trick in my territory and brought her to me. I liked the looks of her. She was happy to take my money for her time. Happier still after she developed a meth habit. I cut her loose then. I don’t do junkies. That’s when she turned whore.” His greasy gaze slides over me, lingering on my breasts. “I like the looks of you. You remind me of her only older and not all tweaked out.”

  “When she wakes up she’s going to tell the FBI what you did.”

  “She’s not going to wake up. Even if she did, I’ve got something that will insure her silence.”

  “What could you possibly have that would keep her from telling the world what you are?”

  “I’ve got you.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps the screen, then turns it my direction. “And I’ve got her little sister.” He shows me the image of a young girl maybe sixteen, seventeen tied to a chair, gaged and blindfolded. “I like the looks of her too.”

  “You’re disgusting. You’re never going to get away with it.”

  “I already did.”

  Under the table Nolan taps my hand three times. I still don’t know what he wants me to do. How do I get to the gun? What is he going to do?

  “The FBI is onto you,” I tell Billits. “Your arrogance will be your downfall.”

  His laugh sends chills through me. “Ah, sweet girl, my arrogance is what got me where I am. Enough of this.”

  He makes a gesture with his hand and his goon grips me by the arm, yanking me out of the bench in one swift motion. My hand slips from Nolan’s and he collapses onto the bench where I was just sitting. I yelp and turn toward the big man, pretending to try to wriggle free. My body blocks my movement for the gun. I don’t quite get it free of my shirt before it goes off, hitting the henchman in the shoulder. My finger spasms on the trigger and it fires again. The bullet grazes the bad guy’s chin, but it’s enough that he lets go of me. I squeeze the trigger a third time. A shot to the gut. The guy goes down.

  Behind me a gun goes off and I spin around, gun raised to find Billits slumped over the table blood oozing from his head and Nolan gun in hand.

  “Get down,” Nolan shouts at me. “The door.”

  I hit the floor just as the second goon comes through the door. Both Nolan and I get shots off, but I’m pretty sure his is the only one that hits the guy. The force of the shot knocks the bad guy off the step. Nolan is up and after him before I can get my feet under me. The door slams shut after him. There’s another shot. I burst through the door not thinking about anything except getting to Nolan. He’s standing over the man, chest heaving.

  He turns to me, blood from his nose running down his face. “I told you to be careful with my favorite boob.”

  I look down at myself. My bra strap snapped, peeling back the cup. Through the hole in my blouse my breast hangs out, a thick crimson gash is gouged out of the top of it and blood runs down the front of me. My whole breast is red. The world suddenly spins too fast and I fall. Somewhere in the darkness I hear Nolan’s muffled curse and then nothing.

  25

  Nolan

  I managed to catch Lila before she hit the ground. Just barely. She lies on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance still out cold. They tell me she’s in shock. They want to put me in a different ambulance, but I won’t let them. I won’t leave her. I can’t believe what she did. She nearly killed herself saving us. Thankfully the wound isn’t deep enough to be life threatening, but she’ll have a nasty looking scar and a messed up story about how she got it.

  I blame myself. I should’ve told her to put the gun somewhere else. Somewhere safer. She was nervous about the gun. I shouldn’t have given it to her until she was familiar with it. They tell me that man she shot will likely live. He was rushed to the hospital for surgery. Billits is dead and it doesn’t look good for the other bad guy I shot. When I came up off the bench after pretending to slump over so I could get the gun out of my sock, Billits had his gun out and aimed at Lila. I pulled the trigger knowing that if I didn’t Billits would’ve killed her.

  My whole face throbs like a son of a bitch. They packed my face with ice so I can’t see anything. I can barely breathe. But Lila’s hand is warm in mine and I can hear the steady, reassuring bleep of her heart monitor. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost her.

  “Are you two all right?” It sounds like Mr. Nash’s voice, but I can’t see him.

  “Nolan.” Cora’s voice sounds panicked. “Oh my god.”

  I lower the ice pack. “We’re okay.” My voice comes out thick and stuffed up sounding due to my broken nose. “Mostly.” Through my swollen, blurry eyes I see Cora recoil. I can only imagine what I look like. That asshole packed one hell of a punch.

  “Your face,” Cora whispers.

  “I may never be pretty again,” I try to laugh, but it hurts too damn much.

  SAC Fung comes up behind Mr. Nash. “Thought you should know that Carla Ruiz is awake and talking.”

  “We really need to get her to the hospital,” the paramedic tells me.

  “Let’s go then. I’m sure I’ll see you all later.” I put a hand up to wave as the ambulance doors slam shut.

  I turn my attention back to Lila. She looks so pale. I wish she’d wake up. She’d hate that they cut her shirt off of her to bandage her up even though she’s covered up now. Other than the nasty gash on her chest there doesn’t seem to be anything else wrong with her. They keep telling me she’ll be okay, but the only way I’ll believe that is if she tells me that herself. I kiss the back of her hand.

  “You should really keep ice on that,” the paramedic says. “It’s swelling right before my eyes. Next time duck, huh?”

  “Hahaha,” I answer sarcastically. “Thanks for the advice. A little late though.”

  I’m just about to cover my face again when Lila stirs.

  She blinks up at me and frowns. “What happened to your face?” We hit a bump and she looks around, her eyes growing wider and wider. She tries to sit up even though she’s strapped down.

  The paramedic and I put hands on her shoulders. “Be still,” I tell her. “Or you’ll start bleeding again.”

  “Blee—” She looks down at the bandage across her chest. “Oh.” Then as she remembers what happened. “Ooohhh.”

  “You’re going to be okay,” I reassure her. “Probably need some stitches and antibiotics. You’re better off than me.” I point to my nose. “I’ll probably need surgery to set this. Will you still like me if I don’t look the same?”

  “Will you still like me now that I’ve damaged your favorite boob?”

  I kiss the back of her hand. “I’ll kiss it and make it better.”

  We both ended up staying the night at the hospital in separate rooms. I hated that. Cora reassured me that Lila was fine and said that she had to give Lila the same reassurance about me. That was the only thing that kept me from climbing out of my hospital bed and going to find her. That and the pain.

  I didn’t end up needing surgery. The doctor reset my nose under local anesthetic. Hurt like a son of a bitch. It throbbed for days afterward. The FBI interrogated Lila and me for hours. They don’t like it when you kill their lead suspect in a major case, but I don’t much care. Seeing Billits point a gun at Lila’s back broke open a rage in me that I didn’t know I was capable of. I’d shoot him again if given the chance. I’d do anything to save her.

  We realized af
ter being released from the hospital that we’d gone about having a relationship all backward. It was actually Lila’s new therapist who pointed it out. So we’re dating and learning about each other in the usual way. I thought I knew most everything about her. I was wrong. First of all she’s funny. She can cook and she likes horror movies. Twice a week we have movie night and I’ve been sharing my horror B movie collection with her.

  She’s working on getting better. There’s been some forward progress. I think Lila is more frustrated than I am that there hasn’t been more. She doesn’t know it, but I’ve talked to her therapist to help me find the patience I sometimes lack and to see if there are any ways that I can help. Mostly I’ve learned about all the ways that I’m not helping. But I’m learning and that has to count, right? I don’t know where we’ll end up, but I have no doubt we’ll get there together.

  The FBI was instrumental in getting a court date just a few weeks after Carla was released from the hospital. Carla is cooperating in their investigation and in return they’ve assisted in Lila’s and the Freedom Project’s efforts to free her. Lila sits at a table at the front of the courtroom with Carla and a man who she introduced as her boss and the director of the Freedom Project.

  I sit at the back with Cora, Leo, and Mr. Nash. It’s crowded. There’s a lot of press. Billits death and the scandal that followed was big news. Members of several different activist groups have also crowded in. Carla’s story struck a nerve in the community and highlighted the plight of undocumented immigrants. The FBI hasn’t allowed her to be interviewed by the media because she’s a material witness so they turned their attention to Lila, who’s become a fine representative of the immigrant community and has been asked to speak for groups and schools.

  It’s all over Lila’s face how badly she wants this hearing to go well for Carla. All three of us—Lila, Carla, and I—have the scars both physical and mental as proof of how hard and tirelessly we worked to get to this day. I hope it goes the way it should.

  The judge finishes reading the paperwork she’s been studying for what seems like hours and sets it aside. Her focus goes to Carla who sits quietly with her hands in her lap, her head slightly bent. Lila whispers to her and Carla’s head comes up.

  The judge addresses Carla. “It’s clear to this court that a grave injustice was done to you Ms. Ruiz. Our justice system was perverted and misused for individual gain and revenge. For that the court sincerely apologize. I cannot give you the years of your life back, but I hope you find meaning in the years ahead and have a life filled with all of the things that bring you happiness and contentment. It is my honor to reverse the verdict set down by this court. You are a free woman, Ms. Ruiz. God bless you and god bless the United States of America.” She bangs the gavel. “Court dismissed.”

  Cheers and applause breaks out. Carla turns to Lila, her eyes wide, and says something to her. Lila responds with a lot of nodding and a huge smile. Carla’s face blooms with disbelief, then joy. She throws her arms around Lila and gives her a big hug. They both dissolve into tears. Eventually Carla is taken away, back to prison where she’ll wait for the paperwork to come through for her release. Lila watches her go, a bittersweet smile on her face. I know she wishes Carla could walk out of the courtroom with us, but that’s not how things work.

  During their celebration I managed to fight my way to the front of the courtroom. I wait as Lila shakes her boss’s hand and gathers her things.

  The first thing I do is give her a big hug. “You did it,” I tell her. “You did it.”

  “We did it. I couldn’t have done it without you and Nash Security and Investigations. Especially you.” She kisses me. “Thank you for everything. Carla thanks you too.”

  “Please tell her it was my pleasure. I was glad to help.”

  “I will.”

  “Hey, you two,” Cora says. “Congratulations. We’re having a little celebration back at the office. You have to come. Mr. Nash won’t take no for an answer.”

  “We’ll be there,” Lila tells her.

  I glance down at Cora’s hand. “Something else we’re celebrating?”

  “Oh.” She looks down at the sapphire ring on her hand with what can only be described as a dreamy expression. “Leo asked me to marry him.”

  Leo steps up behind her and puts an arm around her. “And lucky for me she said yes.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Lila beams. “Congratulations.”

  As we exchange hugs and handshakes I whisper to Cora, “I guess now you know why things were a little off with Leo.”

  “I’m so embarrassed that I dragged you into that.”

  “Don’t be.” I wink at her. “I knew everything would work out.”

  Lila and I follow them out of the courtroom. Reporters try to get Lila’s attention, but she tells them that today is about Carla not her and refers them to the Freedom Project. As we make our way through the doors into the sunlight I can’t help, but feel like the luckiest man in the world. I might fuck up now and then, but as long as I have Lila I know everything will be okay.

  Thank you for reading RECLAIM!

  If you loved RECLAIM, you’ll love the sexy, funny, award nominated DANGEROUS LINES series. Someone is stalking Miyuki Price-Jones and it’s up to former Navy SEAL, Lucas Vega, to protect her.

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