by Debra Webb
Now if only his body would just get over the inconvenient and unexpected electric shock. It felt as though his blood would never stop sizzling. His thoughts were clear, which was a plus, and any pain was repressed by his determination to rescue his wife and son.
Wife. The word was as soothing, as easy in his mind as swinging gently in a hammock on a shady porch. He wasn’t sure when his brain had finally accepted the status his heart had never relinquished. He wasn’t sure it mattered. Whether he had to wait an hour or another ten years for her to love him again, Addi was his wife in every way that mattered. No one would tear them apart again and no one would cheat him of another precious minute as a family.
“Can I have some water?” He tipped his head toward the bottle of water in the cup holder in the console.
“No,” said the man seated next to him.
Drew snorted. “Are you planning to give me a last meal?”
“Hell no.” This denial came from the driver. “You don’t have long to suffer.”
Through the windshield, Drew saw the sedan with Addi and Andy two car lengths ahead. No other guards were in her car and both drivers were being very cautious on the return trip to the bayou.
“A little compassion could make a big difference,” Drew said.
“Compassion? For who?” The guard in the passenger seat snorted. “I’ll shoot you right here if you don’t shut your trap.”
“You shut up,” the driver balked. “Unless you want to detail his brains out of the upholstery.”
“Why work that hard? We can dump the car near the projects and it’s someone else’s problem.”
Drew nearly laughed as the men argued with each other, confident their captive was no threat. Keep believing that, he thought, fueling the delusion by slumping in his seat and leaning against the door.
They left the paved roads a few minutes later, following the sedan into the shady wilds of the bayou. This part of the world had always intrigued him with how quickly the terrain shifted from polished civilization to raw and unforgiving. Of course, the dangers shifted, too, from man to nature. At least nature didn’t pick sides; it went after any threatening intrusion with equal fervor.
“Better head deeper,” Drew muttered. “You dump us here and our bodies will pop up too soon.”
“What do you know about it?”
“More than you do if you’re thinking of stopping here.”
“Ignore him,” the guard in the front passenger seat said. “We do it the way the boss wants.”
“Does your boss even understand the bayous?”
The guard in the backseat plowed a big fist into Drew’s jaw. “You’re wasting your last words.”
Drew shrugged but kept silent. Wherever they stopped, he knew which man in this car to attack first. He only hoped Addi had figured out the same weak link in her car.
He hated that she and Andy were scared, but he also knew she had a well of strength and courage to draw from. Any woman who’d raised a child dealt with any number of false alarms and real scares on her own. Andy was a good kid, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t stirred up his fair share of trouble along the way. Addi’s courage wouldn’t falter, despite the overwhelming odds. The soul-deep fighter in her hadn’t changed.
When he lined that up with her insider knowledge of the swamps and bayous out here, he felt a ray of hope flickering like sunlight through the cypress branches high above. Everett might have hired quality muscle to do his dirty work, but Drew and Addi held the real advantage.
Smart men would take them way back into the bayou, shoot them and sink their bodies in the deepest water. He didn’t think this crew would be that patient. A few minutes later the team proved him right as they followed a dusty service track into a protected wildlife area.
“Triple homicide on federal land.” He shook his head. “That won’t end well for you.”
The guard in the backseat pulled his gun and aimed it at Drew’s temple. “You were saying?”
Drew stared him down, willing his body to hold still. The best time to strike was yet to come. He let them pull him from the car and managed to maintain an outward air of defeat as the driver of the sedan hauled Addi and Andy to the bank of the swamp.
It was as if time slowed, each second standing well apart from the previous and the next. Every beat of his heart might have been as long as a minute as his mind cataloged each detail. His senses were primed, his body ready to react. Drew felt the brush of the air on his skin, heard the rustling of leaves above and the absolute silence of the mirrorlike water.
Only one other time had he felt this timeless, out-of-body sensation. He looked around as they prodded him to stand next to his son. No surprise how Everett’s men planned to proceed. The guard with the gun would raise his arm and it would be a simple double-tap to the back of each skull. In moments, the only two people he loved in this world would be dead before their bodies fell into the water, a feast for the scavengers.
Andy, his hands free, reached up to hold Drew’s cuffed hands. “Mom says it’ll be okay.”
Drew looked down into those wide brown eyes, so like his, and saw more awareness than any nearly eight-year-old kid should know. “She’s right.” One way or another they would all be okay. He scanned the water and what he could see of the banks. Whatever the next moments held, he would ensure the two of them made it out alive.
Over their son’s head he met Addi’s gaze. Her eyes were bright, lit with the dangerous fire of a protective mother ready to do battle. “Trust me?” He slid his gaze to the water and back to her.
She smiled at him. “Always.”
Behind them the men were debating who should shoot Andy. Drew shifted his weight, bracing his feet wide. His hands gripping Andy’s, he twisted around. “Let the kid go.”
“Hell no,” the man who’d driven the sedan said.
“He’s a kid.” Drew was trying to push anything that might resemble a sympathy button in one of these four bastards. “A little kid.”
“Who shouldn’t spend the rest of his life missing his mommy.” The sedan driver circled his finger. “We’re doing him a favor,” he sneered. “Now cooperate and we’ll make it quick. For them,” he added with a laugh.
Drew shook his head. “I’m sorry, son.” He squeezed Andy’s wrists. Turning back to the water, he tossed Andy out into the shallow water of the swamp.
Reacting instantly, Addi lunged for the nearest of Everett’s men, taking him down with a shoulder tackle a professional football player would envy.
It amazed Drew that he could fall any deeper in love with the woman, especially amid a fight for their lives, but it happened.
Guns fired in a rapid burst of violent noise, but Drew didn’t care. Andy would find shelter, Addi was holding her own with one guard and the three remaining men were no real challenge. He rushed forward to safeguard his family, feeling a smile bloom across his face as he swung his restrained hands out, batting away the executioner’s gun, then plowing an elbow into the man’s jaw. When he dropped to all fours, Drew kicked him hard enough to crack ribs and leave him breathless. “Stay down,” he growled, picking up the man’s gun.
A blow to Drew’s kidneys caused more irritation than pain and he countered with a sharp, swinging kick to the second man’s head. He put a bullet through his knee to keep him down and tucked that pistol into his waistband. Three down, one to go.
“Andy?” he called out.
“He’s safe,” Addi replied.
Drew glanced back and saw Addi holding the guard she’d tackled at gunpoint. “Shoot the tires,” Drew shouted as the weak link from the SUV raced for the vehicles.
She put a bullet into one tire on each car, even as the jerk turned and shot recklessly in their direction. Drew’s vision turned red at the edges and he fired back, calling out to confirm Addi hadn’t been hit.
The man dropped his gun and begged for mercy, scooting backward as Drew advanced. “I’ll cooperate, give a statement, whatever you want,” he stammered.
“How thoughtful.” Drew backhanded him. “You missed your chance for any mercy from me.”
“Drew,” Addi said from behind him. “We’re okay.”
“We’ll put them in the sedan and push it into the swamp,” he said.
“You can’t do that,” the man with cracked ribs protested. “Th-the gators!”
Drew stood tall, keeping the gun on the pleading man. “You’re right. We could get fined for animal abuse.”
“I’m willing to risk it if you are,” Addi said, coming up beside him.
He just stared at her, amazed and grateful. “Where’s Andy?”
“Safe,” she assured him. “He scrambled up the bank and into a tree.”
Drew followed her gaze. Andy’s clothes were wet, but he was tucked in tight in the strong bracket of a tree. “Good job.”
“My watch still works!” He pumped his small fist. “Can I come down and help push the car?”
Drew thought it sounded like a fine idea. “Sure.”
He stepped back, swaying a bit. His vision blurred, making it difficult to get his bearings. “Addi?”
“Right here.”
He didn’t believe her; her voice sounded too far away. The adrenaline had carried him this far, but on the downward slope of the rush, he felt the wounds where a bullet, maybe two, had tagged him. “No big deal, Addi. Take Andy...get safe...” He couldn’t catch his breath, felt his heart thundering in his chest. He shook his head to clear his vision, but it didn’t help.
“I’m not leaving you. Let me take a look.”
Stupid to shoot out the car tires, he thought, sliding hard to the ground as his knees gave. He should’ve had her shoot the bastard. He tried to slow his thoughts, reassess his injuries. Damn it, this wasn’t about blood loss or injury. They were only flesh wounds. He was having a panic attack.
“I’ll be fine,” he said through clenched teeth. He shook his wrists. “Get these off of me.”
He told himself he’d done well and had held it together when it mattered. Still, they weren’t off the hook yet. Everett’s men were down for now, but the survival instinct would have them attacking Addi again if they had an opportunity.
Drew tried to stand, but Addi held him down with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Stay put a minute.”
He stared up at the sky, hoping the clear blue day would calm him down. No such luck. He closed his eyes tight, fighting against the useless anxiety. She still needed him. He needed his body to get back on task. He heard her snapping out orders and felt his hands finally drop free. A small weight landed on his chest and he opened his eyes as Andy wrapped his skinny arms around Drew in a fierce hug.
“What’s wrong with you?” Andy asked.
What wasn’t wrong with him? How could he explain post-traumatic stress and a full-blown panic attack in terms Andy would understand? “I’ll be okay in a minute.”
“You got shot.”
Drew glanced at his biceps where blood stained the torn sleeve of his gray T-shirt. “Looks like it.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not much.” Not nearly as much as fighting the fear that he’d be locked up again, away from his son and the woman who should be his wife.
“Then why don’t you breathe right?”
“Andy, hush,” Addi scolded.
“He’s fine,” Drew said on a weak laugh, waving off her concern. His breath shuddered in and out and his lungs resumed normal function. To his surprise, answering the questions helped give him a focal point, something the shrinks suggested early in his treatment when the memories and nightmares had overwhelmed him.
“Did you see which one of them shot me?”
“That one.” Andy pointed to one of the men on the ground near the edge of the swamp. “You kick really high.”
“Thanks.” He ruffled his son’s hair. “The army taught me.”
“Like Captain America?”
“I think the shield would’ve been helpful.”
“You could’ve knocked them all out with one throw. Before...”
Drew saw the moment Andy remembered Nico. He pulled Andy in for a hard hug. “The bad guys will pay for everything they did. Your mom and I will see to that.”
“If Nico could’ve kicked like you...”
It wouldn’t have made any difference, but Drew understood the real problem. “Want me to teach you that kick?”
Andy nodded. “Will you throw me again? It was fun.”
“Maybe later.” Into the clear water of a pool. Between guns and alligators, he’d known this particular corner of the bayou was the lesser danger.
Andy looked from Drew to his mom. “What’ll we do with all of ’em now?”
“I’m still for putting them in the swamp,” Drew said.
“Me, too,” Andy crowed, bouncing to his feet. “Let’s go.”
“Drew,” Addi chided. “What happened to caring about the wildlife?”
“If we use the sedan, someone will come haul it out sooner rather than later. It’s a classic.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
The man protested as he and the others were loaded at gunpoint into the car. None of them seemed to realize what Addi had known from the start: the swamp wasn’t terribly deep here. The men would be uncomfortable and, because of their ignorance, they’d be too frightened to move. Hopefully that fear would give law enforcement time to get out here and arrest the four of them.
* * *
ADDISON WATCHED, TRYING not to laugh, when the bargaining started. The four men had no idea they were safer in the swamp than on dry land with her. She was more than a little disconcerted knowing how easy it would’ve been, how good it would’ve felt to kill the men so willing to murder her family.
Family. It was a beautiful word and it felt more real now than it had since her ruined wedding day.
She kept sneaking looks at Drew as he and Andy pushed the car into the water. If anything nibbled at those four men in the car, she wouldn’t be the least bit sorry for it. She’d had her chance, known as she held the gun that a self-defense plea would’ve assured her acquittal, but she’d managed to do the right thing. In no small part because her son was watching, but she’d taken her cues from Drew, as well.
She’d been awestruck watching him fight, heedless of the personal danger as he overpowered the other armed guards. Her mind zipped back to the moment before the fight, when nothing more than a look had fully explained his intentions.
How was it they still had that connection? Without words, she’d known he would get Andy out of harm’s way. She hadn’t expected him to throw Andy into the swamp, but knowing the threat in the water was minimal so close to the service road, it made perfect sense.
The men shouted, screamed, really, as the car partially filled with water. She had zero sympathy, smiling as Drew and Andy swaggered back to join her near the SUV. “There’s a spare tire.”
Drew grinned and her pulse fluttered. “That will get us back to town.”
“Then what?”
“I suggest we find a landline and make a phone call so Everett doesn’t slip away.”
“I’d like to wring his neck.”
“Because he fooled you?” Andy asked.
How much had Andy heard the other night? Or today, for that matter?
“That’s one reason.” Addi wondered how best to answer the question. Only a few weeks ago he’d looked up to Craig as a father figure. “He did some bad things,” she began carefully, searching for the right words. “When we met him, when we let him be part of our lives, I think he was more of a good guy.”
“He changed?”
“Yes.” Drew knelt down, looking Andy right in the eye. “Craig Everett was good to you once, right?”
“Yes.” Andy’s eyes gleamed with tears. “I don’t want him to marry us anymore.”
“Not a chance,” Addison said, smoothing his hair back from his face. “You never have to see him again.”
“He won’t ever be my dad?”
“Absolutely not,” Addison replied, looking at Drew. They really needed to tell their son the truth. But it felt like a big risk when she didn’t know what kind of life Drew wanted.
Bodyguard duty was one thing. Rekindling their friendship and rediscovering their long-buried passion was understandable. But what did Drew want from her after this crisis was over?
He’d made the choice once before—to leave her alone with her new life. She understood his reasoning but couldn’t help wondering what choice he’d make now.
“Let’s get that tire changed and get moving,” Drew said, interrupting her thoughts. “I don’t want to risk them getting brave enough to bolt.”
“They can’t be brave,” Andy said as she boosted him into the backseat.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“The secret to bravery,” he replied, clearly exasperated to be stating the obvious.
Except it wasn’t obvious to her.
“They don’t have someone to love,” Andy said. “Or someone who loves them back to make them brave. Did I get it right, Drew?”
“You sure did.”
Addison stared at Drew for a moment before realizing that he needed her help changing the flat tire. He called out for Andy to time them. They finished in record time. She rounded the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Maybe I should stay,” he muttered, his gaze on the partially submerged sedan as if he were suddenly uncertain where they went from here. “I can make sure they don’t get away.”
“No.” She wasn’t letting him out of her sight. Not until they had things well and truly settled. “We stick together.”
Chapter Seventeen
The drive back into the city went by in a blur and Addison’s thoughts were a jumble of questions she couldn’t answer. Questions for Drew, but she wouldn’t ask until she had a few answers for herself. What did she want next? Returning to San Francisco felt wrong, even if she took the rest of the summer to help Nico’s family recover from the devastating loss.
What if she moved back home? Was this a better place to raise her son?
“Don’t worry, Addi,” Drew said. “Everett won’t escape.”