Hers to Protect

by Nicole Disney

“I told you I’d find you. I told you a hundred times if you ever ran I would find you. I told you!” Gianna screamed in her face. “And still you ran.”

  Adrienne pushed Gianna away. She let Adrienne free, amused by it now that Adrienne was trapped with her in the locked bathroom.

  “I told you snitches lose their skins. I told you they’re the lowest of the low. And still you snitched.”

  “You did this to yourself, Gianna. They caught you without me. You took off your mask.”

  “I told you if you cheated I would kill the bitch you were with, and still you cheated.”

  “I didn’t cheat, I left.”

  “I didn’t tell you you could leave.”

  “That’s not up to you.”

  “Yeah? We’ll see.” Gianna swung at Adrienne’s head. Adrienne ducked and sprang for the door. Gianna grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back.

  “Kaia!” Adrienne screamed at the top of her lungs, but she had little hope Kaia could hear from the other side of the building.

  “Next time your girlfriend sees you you’ll be a corpse, bitch. And then I’m going to kill her too. Believe that.”

  Gianna shoved Adrienne backward, grabbed her head and smashed it into the tiled wall, then slung her to the ground. Adrienne kicked, hitting Gianna’s legs, trying to knock out her knees. Gianna sidestepped and kicked her in the side. She stomped Adrienne’s stomach, curling her into a ball of pain.

  “Gianna, stop. Please just stop.”

  “Fuck you. You betrayed me! Don’t you say my name now. Don’t you ask me for mercy. You did this!”

  Gianna stomped her again.

  “Kaia!” She tried again. Gianna knelt and punched her. She grabbed her throat and pressed, sinking her weight on Adrienne’s neck. “This isn’t how I wanted to do it,” she said. “But since you can’t seem to shut up.”

  Adrienne scratched Gianna’s face. She tried to reach her eyes but couldn’t. She couldn’t die in here, not with Kaia fifty feet away pumping gas on the happiest night she’d had in years. She couldn’t let this happen. She reached over and banged on the door, again trying to attract attention, anyone’s. Gianna grabbed her arm and pinned it beneath her knee. Even the second it took her to do that gave Adrienne a decent breath. She leaned forward with all her strength, clawing for anything to hurt. She reached Gianna’s breast, grabbed her nipple and squeezed as hard as she could, twisted, determined to rip the skin. It felt ridiculous, but it was all she could manage, and Gianna yelled in shock and pain.

  She pulled Adrienne up by her shirt, then slammed her down hard, making the back of her head hit the ground. The thunk of impact scared her. It knocked her dizzy and her hearing felt dull and far away. The pressure was back on her throat.

  “Stupid bitch,” Gianna growled. “Just die.”

  * * *

  The tank had been full for a while. Kaia was getting uncomfortable with how long Adrienne was taking. It felt obnoxious to bother her, but she couldn’t keep herself from it. She walked around to the bathrooms and knocked on the door.

  “Adrienne? You okay?”

  No answer. Kaia’s pulse rose with that alone. She told herself she was being crazy, but she knocked again.

  “Adrienne?”

  She heard a thud and the sound of something sliding.

  “Kaia!”

  Her heart leapt into her throat, and she drew her gun. She kicked the door as hard as she could. It shook but didn’t open.

  “Kaia!” Adrienne’s voice was desperate. Kaia couldn’t breathe. She kicked again. She heard another crash inside. She didn’t want to shoot the door and risk hitting Adrienne. She couldn’t tell where she was inside. She had to kick through. She summoned all her strength, envisioned the door opening, and kicked with all she had. The door gave behind her foot, breaking almost through. She could see the light from inside now. She threw her body against the door and it finally flew inward.

  Gianna flung herself at Kaia’s gun, using her whole body to control Kaia’s arm, trying to wrestle the gun away. Kaia tightened her grip and tried to bend her wrist so the gun pointed at Gianna, but Gianna was prying her fingers away, using her considerable frame to control the barrel. Kaia head butted Gianna with the crown of her skull as hard as she could. Pain reverberated through her head and Gianna recoiled, but neither lost their grip of the gun.

  Adrienne was on the ground. Kaia could barely spare a glance, but she was unconscious. Kaia pulled back on the gun as hard as she could. They both lost their grip and it fell to the ground. Gianna dove for it. Kaia kneed her in the face as she dove, then stepped on the gun and kicked it behind her, out of the bathroom. Gianna tried again to lunge after it, but Kaia wrapped her arm around Gianna’s neck from behind and squeezed with all her strength. Gianna grabbed Kaia’s forearm and bicep and curled forward, lifting Kaia off her feet and flipping her over Gianna’s shoulder as if her weight was nothing. Kaia landed hard on her back. Gianna tried to hold her down, but Kaia maneuvered out and back to her feet.

  Gianna shoved her backward into the sink, then stepped back and took a knife from her pocket, hitting the button that made it flip and snap open. The five-inch blade flashed in the cold bathroom light.

  “I’ve been waiting for this, Blondie. Ready to bleed?”

  “Put it away, Hernandez. You don’t want it the easy way.”

  Gianna’s eyes flashed and a smile crept across her face. “Smart, Officer, but no go. I’m going to have a look at your guts.”

  “Coward.”

  “Fight back, Blondie. Let’s see how dirty you really are.”

  Kaia dodged the first jab and pushed Gianna into the wall, using all her strength to smother her, to take the room Gianna needed to use the knife effectively. She pinned Gianna’s knife hand to the wall as hard as she could, but Gianna was too strong. She gathered herself and pushed Kaia off, swiping at the air again. She felt the blade bite into her arm and pulled away. She had to get to her gun, but it was outside now and Gianna was blocking the way.

  Adrienne moved like she was dreaming, enough for Kaia to know she was alive, but she wasn’t awake enough to help. It was like she was trying to wake up but couldn’t. Kaia made a move for the gun, but Gianna rushed her again and pinned her against the side wall. She was closer to the gun, but not close enough, and Gianna had the blade to her neck. Kaia grabbed Gianna’s wrist and met her push with all the resistance she had. Her arms burned, but if she let go, if she slipped, all Gianna’s strength would send the knife deep into her throat. Gianna’s eyes glowed with excitement as she sensed Kaia’s failing strength.

  Kaia saw movement from the corner of her eye. Adrienne stood up behind Gianna silently. She grabbed the porcelain lid from the toilet tank. Gianna heard the rattle as Adrienne picked it up, but she was already swinging. As Gianna turned it connected with the side of her head. A thick thud and slight ring sounded with the impact and Gianna went down. Adrienne’s eyes were wild when they met Kaia’s.

  Kaia kicked Gianna’s knife away and retrieved her gun to be safe, expecting Gianna to spring back up any second. They both stared at Gianna, unsure what they were waiting for. There was a square red mark on the side of her face, marking where the lid had hit. Her eyes were closed.

  Slowly, red gathered and seeped out from under her head. It spread in an oblong oval, crawling farther and farther out.

  “Oh God,” Adrienne said. Kaia took the tank lid from her and set it down. Adrienne knelt and touched Gianna carefully on the shoulder, then pulled back in horror.

  “Oh God. Oh God. Her skull is cracked. Kaia, her skull. I think I can see…”

  Kaia pulled Adrienne to her and held her head to her shoulder, shielding her eyes. “Don’t look.”

  “She’s dead. She’d dead. Oh God, I killed her, didn’t I?”

  “I don’t know,” Kaia said.

  “Look. Please look and tell me if I saw that.”

  Kaia gently let her go and knelt. Gianna’s hair was soaked with blood. A two-inch
indentation told Kaia the blow had indeed broken the skull. There was a split in the skin where she saw what Adrienne saw. There was a piece of white skull visible and thick globs oozing from it that might be brain.

  She stood, trying to keep a straight face, to be strong for Adrienne. She simply shook her head. Gianna was dead. Adrienne gasped and fell into tears. Kaia rubbed Adrienne’s back gently.

  “I’ll call help.”

  Adrienne clung to her. “No,” she said. “No! Don’t. You can’t.”

  “It was self-defense, Adrienne. You saved my life. It’ll be okay.”

  “Not with the Wild AKs, it won’t be.”

  “What?”

  “If we call the cops everyone will know we did this. They’ll never stop until they kill us.”

  “What are you saying? What choice do we have?” Kaia watched Adrienne’s thoughts move a mile a minute.

  “They can’t know, Kaia. This is Gianna. The revenge for this…” She grabbed Kaia’s hand. “We will never be safe. People will die.”

  “You can’t be saying what I think you are.”

  “No one can know. You can’t call it in.”

  “Adrienne, no. This is a bad idea. If we get caught—”

  “Then we won’t. You’re a cop, what do we do?”

  “We fucking call it in is what we do! Do you know how many ways there are to get caught? If we hide this and they find out it’s game over. And we have motive to kill her. It will not look good.”

  “If the Wild AKs find out it’s game over. Kaia, how hard are they really going to look into this? Won’t they just be glad?”

  “They’ll still investigate.”

  “If the gang finds out, they will shoot all of us,” Adrienne said. “Me, you, our families, cops, everyone. Anna will be savage.”

  Kaia dragged her hand down her face. “Fuck, Adrienne, I don’t know. This is such a bad idea.”

  “I know you know how to do this. Please, Kaia. I just want it to be over.”

  Kaia saw the calm desperation in Adrienne. There was fear, but not panic. She meant what she was saying. It wasn’t an impulse.

  “Trust me, Kaia. Please. We have to do this.”

  “Start wiping prints.”

  Adrienne grabbed a paper towel, wet it, and wiped down every surface she could find. Kaia did the same. They cleaned the sink, doorknobs, the tank lid, the toilet seat, the handle to flush, sink knobs, railings, towel dispensers, everything.

  Kaia cleaned her footprint from the door where she’d kicked it in, cleaned the knife, terrified to leave it after it had cut her, but also unwilling to have it in her possession.

  “Who else would have done this?” Kaia asked.

  “God, no one. Everyone knows not to mess with Gianna.” Adrienne sighed and ran her hand down her face. She met Kaia’s eyes. “Los Hijos de la Santa Muerte, maybe. They’re allies with the Wild, but things can always go wrong. We’re in their territory. If it was anyone it would be them. If they thought Gianna was dealing out of bounds, if she got in an argument with one of them…”

  “How would they claim this?”

  “Kaia, we can’t do that. People will die. You don’t understand, the retaliation for this is going to break the streets.”

  “If we don’t make the answer obvious they’ll dig more. It could come back to us.”

  “Won’t they think other gangs anyway? Isn’t that what they always think when a gang member turns up dead? If we frame them, the deaths are our fault.”

  Kaia sighed. She knew the deaths would probably happen either way, but she understood. “Okay, we’ll risk it. Go move the car. It’s been there too long. It’s getting suspicious. I’ll finish up here. I just have to get the floors.”

  “What about cameras?”

  “There aren’t any. I’ve been here before on a shoplifter.”

  “What do we do with…” Adrienne paused. “Her?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What?” Adrienne hissed.

  “Nothing. We can’t do anything.”

  “We have to do something.”

  “No. We don’t want our DNA on her. We definitely don’t want her DNA in my car.”

  “But, Kaia.” Adrienne’s eyes watered again. “She’s on a bathroom floor.”

  “We can still call it in.”

  Adrienne shook her head again, seeming to understand. “We can’t.”

  “Okay, then. Get the car.”

  “I still have the bathroom key.”

  “Shit.”

  “Should I keep it?”

  “No, that puts you here last.”

  “What then?”

  “Give it back.”

  “Are you fucking crazy?” Adrienne asked. “I can’t show my face in there. They’ll question her.”

  “She’s already seen you. It just makes it worse if she says you never came back. Just throw it on the counter when she’s doing something else. Not many people come back here. As long as she doesn’t come looking for you, it could be hours before anyone else comes by. Who knows when they’ll notice. By then there will be a lot more people who have come through the area and you’ll be less fresh on her mind. You need to seem normal. You used the bathroom; you left.”

  Adrienne looked petrified, but she agreed and left the bathroom. Kaia did clean the floor, but she also cleaned Gianna, something she didn’t know how Adrienne would handle. She cleaned under Gianna’s nails thoroughly and checked the rest of her for stray drops of blood from Kaia or Adrienne. The blood from the cut on Kaia’s arm was making her nervous, but it didn’t look like it had dripped.

  Adrienne was probably right. How hard would they really look into someone like Gianna? She had lots of enemies. She was a gang member, a lifelong criminal, an extremely wanted suspect who was a danger to society and law enforcement with attempts on two officers’ lives under her belt. Would they really care? Another gang was the go-to answer because it was usually true.

  Kaia still couldn’t take chances. If they did look, if they did find, it could ruin them both. Kaia’s heart pounded through every step. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. If anyone walked by, if she missed a hair, a drop of blood, if someone recognized her car, it was impossible to be perfect. She just had to be very good and count on a quick wrap on the investigation.

  She glanced at Gianna. She was white as a ghost now, all her blood had either seeped onto the floor or stopped circulating and pooled where gravity took it. A morbid fascination drew her eyes back to Gianna’s head and the goo dripping out, but when she looked she felt like she was going to be sick and turned away. Just moments ago, Gianna had been an inch from severing Kaia’s carotid. A few minutes before that, she’d been trying to strangle Adrienne. And now, gone. Had it even crossed her mind it could go that way? Had she even seen this as a risk to her life? Had she felt the blow to her head? Had she known Adrienne dealt her a deathblow? Had she known when she was living her final seconds?

  Adrienne pulled up outside the bathroom door in the Taurus. Kaia took one last look at the scene, went over every inch with her eyes, careful not to step in the blood, then nodded and got in the car. Adrienne took off in silence. Kaia couldn’t imagine what she was thinking or how she’d recover. They were committed now. The window to do this clean was closed.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  The drive to the hotel was silent. Adrienne felt hypnotized by the lines passing under them on the street. Kaia drove. She seemed calm, but Adrienne knew she wasn’t. She hadn’t wanted to do this; she did it for Adrienne. They nodded to the surveillance team in the lot. There were fewer than usual, but someone watched at all times, even when they weren’t there in case Gianna came by or tried to sneak in. The others were probably still at the hospital or driving back, oblivious to what had happened. It felt stupid now, but they had to continue this charade until Gianna was found. How long would it take? She guessed longer was better, but it was agonizing waiting.

  Kaia ushered Adrienne into the hotel and
locked the door. Kaia slumped into a chair, sighing heavily and running her hands through her hair.

  “I didn’t mean to kill her,” Adrienne said.

  Kaia looked up abruptly. “I know that. Of course you didn’t.”

  “She had a knife to your throat. She—”

  Kaia stood up and walked over. “I know, Adrienne. You did nothing wrong. You had to. She tried to kill us. She would have killed us.”

  “You told me you didn’t mean to hurt Ted so bad with that bat.” Adrienne lowered her head. “It wasn’t that I didn’t believe you, I don’t want you to think that. But I guess I didn’t really get it, either. Not like I do now. I—” She choked up and Kaia held her. “I just wanted to knock her out. I wanted to be sure it would knock her out.”

  “I know, Adrienne. I know.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “We act normal until we hear the news.”

  “And then?”

  “Then this is over, I guess.”

  “So this is probably our last night together?” Adrienne asked.

  “Do you want it to be?”

  “No.”

  “Me either.”

  “I thought you might after I got you into this. After what I made you do.”

  Kaia touched her face, deep in thought. “I agreed to it. I’m scared, but if I didn’t see your point, if I didn’t think we could, I wouldn’t have.”

  “I feel like I’ve been nothing but trouble for you, even when we were kids.”

  Kaia smiled. “Well, you did talk me into sneaking out of freshman homecoming to get wasted.”

  Adrienne tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it. “And got you to smoke weed for the first time.”

  “And got me busted for cheating out of the teacher’s manual.”

  Adrienne burst out laughing. “I thought you knew not to get them all right.”

  “Well, I didn’t. I was a good kid. You corrupted me.” Kaia’s smile was stunning, warming Adrienne’s frozen chest.

  “You corrupted me plenty too,” Adrienne said.

  “We had lots of firsts to discover, that’s all.”

  Kaia went to the kitchen and poured them wine. She came back to the couch and handed Adrienne a glass.