Shooting Star

by Bradley Wright

  “Get her out of here, and get him!” Sloan shouted.

  Lawson stood and went high out of the doorway this time, hoping the men would still be aiming low. They were, but he only got one shot off before the Glock locked back on him, the magazine empty. It must not have been a fully loaded. He missed with the one shot he took, and both men saw that his gun was empty. Just before Lawson ducked back inside the office, he saw one man shove Erin onto the elevator, and he saw Sloan following behind his men down the hallway, about ten feet back.

  Lawson discarded the Glock and pulled his Sig from his belt line. He knew he had two shots left, and he knew it would surprise the men that he had any at all. He poked back out into the hallway, just his arm and the right side of his face visible to them. The men were within ten feet of him. He squeezed once aiming to the right and once to the left, taking both men down. The second shot was more right than he wanted, only hitting the man in the arm. He would be back. Sloan ducked, prepared for more, but he recognized that the Sig was now empty as well. He also got his first glance at Lawson, and the look of surprise on his face was priceless.

  Sloan returned fire, and once again Lawson bounded back inside the office. But this time he was trapped. He heard the elevator ding; Erin was on her way downstairs. Sloan was on his way to take care of Lawson. Lawson searched the small office for anything he could use, but all that was there were office supplies. He picked up the chair and held it out in front of him. He would need a miracle to make it out of there. And he was going to need one fast.

  50

  In a last-ditch effort to buy some time, Lawson lowered the chair to the floor and picked up his empty Sig Sauer.

  “You should have never gotten involved, Raines. You’re like a leech, you have no idea when to let go.”

  Lawson made a production out of ejecting the magazine, then shoving it back in, and pulling back the slide. For a moment at least, it made Sloan hesitate. It was better than nothing.

  “You walk inside this office, I’ll shoot you.”

  “I call bullshit.”

  Lawson once again grabbed the chair and held it out in front of him. Sloan turned the corner ready to shoot, but when he saw the chair, he stopped and a smile grew across his face. Lawson was all out of tricks. He’d put it all on the line, and he wasn’t even able to save Victoria’s daughter. Of course he thought of Lexi. How devastated she would be. But there was nothing he could do about it. She was like her mother. Tough as nails. She would get through it. Eventually.

  Sloan stood proud in the doorway and opened his mouth. Lawson was sure some smart-ass remark was coming, but he never heard it. Instead, there was a loud bang bang, and part of Sloan’s beard went missing as a mist of blood carried it away. Lawson moved to the inside wall of the office, still holding the chair.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Three more shots. Whoever had come in and saved him from Sloan must have seen the man Lawson shot in the arm still moving and took him out.

  There was a moment of silence. The gunshots still ringing in his ears.

  “Lawson?”

  Cassie. Cassie?

  How the hell was she there? The police had beat her there. How did—

  He saw her gun swing into the office.

  “It’s me, don’t shoot.” He held the chair in front of his chest.

  The look on her face when she saw him standing there with the chair was at first relief that he was alive. But it quickly turned into a mocking smirk. Lawson knew there was no time for games.

  “Did you pass Frank? Did you see Victoria’s daughter?”

  Cassie’s face went serious. “I didn’t see anyone. I went right up the stairs. I had to. I was afraid the police would shoot me.”

  “You can explain later. We have to get down there!”

  Lawson rushed past Cassie, turned right, stepping over Sloan, and ran for the stairwell. He nearly jumped every flight on the way down. He made it to the bottom and rushed for the door.

  “Wait! Lawson!” Cassie shouted, she was more than a flight of stairs behind him. “My gun!”

  Lawson slid to a stop on the slick tile floor. He took a step back, and when Cassie rounded the stairs, she tossed him down her gun. He caught it, stepped right, swung open the door, and walked forward with gun raised.

  “I swear to God I’ll shoot her! Move back!”

  Sloan’s man was holding a gun to Erin’s head. The two of them were facing the back door. Lawson knew he was staring at a few guns from the officers who’d watched Cassie run in while they were awaiting orders.

  “Put them down! I’m going to shoot!” Sloan’s man threatened again.

  The man was so focused on the police at the door that he didn’t even see Lawson coming from the stairwell. Lawson stepped forward to make sure the shot was clean. Then he took it. Two taps on the trigger and the man was no longer holding Erin hostage. The police rushed in and Lawson immediately dropped the gun and held up his hands. He let out a huge sigh of relief. Several officers moved in fast, but to Lawson things were moving in slow motion. There was a real moment upstairs that he thought he would never get to see Lexi again. It shook him to his core. He knew that everything with the police would get sorted out, so all he could think about was holding her and letting her know once again that he would never leave her.

  All of the officers pointed their guns at Lawson and Cassie, had them get on their knees while they cuffed them. Lawson didn’t fight it. Neither did Cassie. He looked over and was able to catch her eye. She had saved his life, but more importantly to him, she had kept Lexi’s father alive. The thought of her spending the rest of her life without either one of her parents was haunting. Cassie and Lawson usually had a very brother-sister relationship, one never letting the other go without giving them a hard time. But this moment was different. Lawson nodded to her and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” She just sent back a loving smile.

  Sloan had gotten what he deserved, and Lawson knew that Frank would too. Though it wasn’t smooth, Lawson and Cassie had managed to get everyone out of trouble without losing someone they loved. The bruises would all heal, and though it would take much longer for some of the mental wounds, those would eventually heal too.

  Happy endings don’t come often when you get caught up with the kind of people in that building, but this time was the exception.

  The police walked Lawson and Cassie out of the building and put them both in separate cars. The back of a police car was a rare place for a man to feel at peace, but after the last couple days, that is exactly what Lawson felt. And it was good.

  51

  Six months later:

  Lawson took another sip of his bourbon. He was nothing if not predictable. He was sipping Angel’s Envy, neat. He liked Angel’s Envy because it was finished in port wine barrels, giving it a unique flavor without interfering with the essence of the spirit. Everyone else at the patio table was enjoying a margarita, even Lexi—hers was a virgin margarita of course. After all, they were at a Mexican restaurant. He was surprised they had any bourbon on the shelf at all.

  The place was called Baja Sharkeez. The name was almost as cheesy as the swordfish they had hanging out of the outside wall. But they were only a stone’s throw from the ocean, so one couldn’t really fault them for playing to the crowd. It was a sunny day. No surprise there either. Most days were sunny in Southern California. Lawson, Cassie, and Lexi were still getting used to their new home in Newport Beach. It was their first time at this restaurant. It was good, but what made it great was the company.

  Lexi wanted to order her margarita, even though it had no alcohol, because she wanted to share in the toast. It was a special day. Taylor Lockhart had driven down from Hollywood to see them, and the four of them toasted to her health. She had made a full recovery.

  After the toast Lawson had explained to Taylor everything that happened. They had been on the phone with each other a lot over the last six months, but they never talked about how everything went down the
day she was shot. Their conversations had been more geared at getting to know each other. To Lawson’s surprise, the famous actress had been just as interested in getting to know him as he was her. She often expressed her surprise at how she couldn’t believe he would ever want to talk to her, seeing as how they met on such shaky ground.

  On the sunny patio, he and Cassie explained how they rescued Victoria from Frank, and of course how she was actually innocent in the entire ordeal. They both continued to walk her through what happened with Sloan, then Victoria’s daughter, skipping the gory details of course. Taylor made the joke that maybe she would make the whole thing into a movie. Cassie’s only request was that she get to play herself. Of course that brought a roll of the eyes and a laugh from Lawson.

  Lawson then explained that Frank had since been sentenced to thirty years in prison. The only reason he didn’t get life was because he ratted on a few of the higher-ups in Sloan’s operation. Lawson knew from his own time in prison that all that would do was get him killed in jail, so Frank was getting the death penalty either way. Taylor was relieved to hear that everyone involved got what was coming to them.

  Taylor looked over at Lawson and gave him a smile. He knew what she meant. Taylor didn’t only drive down to say hello; she also came down to deliver some special news to Lexi.

  Taylor raised her margarita. “Now a toast to you, Lexi.”

  Lexi smiled. “Me? Why?”

  “Because I spoke with Victoria Marshall yesterday, and you are going to be starring in the movie we’re making. You’re going to play my sister.” Taylor’s grin was ear to ear.

  Lexi jumped up from her chair. “Shut. Up. Are you serious?” She jumped up and down. “Dad, did you know about this?”

  Lawson smiled. “Maybe.”

  Taylor gave him a wink. She really needed to stop doing that.

  Taylor said to the others at the table, “You mind if I steal the big guy for a few minutes?”

  Cassie said, “You kidding? Take him for good. He’s been grumpy ’cause it’s been so sunny every day.”

  “Ha-ha.” Lawson finished his bourbon and followed Taylor. She had to stop a few times on her way out of the restaurant to sign some autographs, but eventually they made it.

  They walked the sidewalk toward the beach. The blue water stretched out infinitely just a block away from them now.

  “Is it always that way? Everywhere you go?” Lawson said, referring to the attention she was getting.

  “It is. I know it seems strange to someone like you, but you do eventually get used to it. Like anything else in life.”

  She couldn’t be more right about that. Sometimes you got so used to things that after it stopped, even though it was bad, you missed it. Lawson remembered the first night he spent outside of prison. He ended up sleeping in the closet because the room he was in felt too big after being used to an eight-by-eight cell.

  “Is Lexi a lot like her mother?” Taylor said.

  The question threw him off completely. She smiled at his silence. “You don’t have to answer. I just want you to know that you can talk about her if you want to. I know she was special to you.”

  That helped Lawson relax. So did the genuine look in her beautiful green eyes. “She was special. And so is Lexi because, yes, they are so much alike. Even the trying side of her personality.”

  “That’s sweet. Lexi is great. We talk all the time. I’m so excited to work with her.”

  “At least one good thing came out of this whole situation.”

  “Just one?”

  The smile on Taylor’s face struck like a lightning bolt.

  Lawson gave her a small grin, then looked away. Taylor hooked her arm around his. The two of them walked up the ramp onto the pier.

  By the grace of God, Taylor changed the subject. “So, how is the private investigation business coming along?”

  After all that happened, Lawson wanted out of LA. Thankfully, Lexi was in agreement. When Lawson told Cassie he wanted to move the PI firm to Orange County, she was excited about it. He made good money on the sale of the house in the hills, and they were able to get a nice little place in Newport. Cassie and Lawson were just about ready to start taking cases. His paperwork had finally gone through, and his record was cleared so they could proceed.

  “Going to start taking cases next week. So, we’ll see.”

  “That’s exciting!”

  They walked to the edge of the pier just in front of the water, but neither of them enjoyed the view. They were facing each other.

  “Any movies coming up?” Lawson said.

  “Just wrapped on one, should be out in a few months. It was fun, so I’m excited. It felt good to get back to work.” She glanced at the water, then looked back up at him. “I’m happy you all are settling in here, but I’m not going to lie, I’d hoped you would be staying in LA.”

  “Why? Were you going to try to hire me to be your bodyguard?”

  She smiled. “Was that a joke? Cassie would be proud. And no. I was hoping to get to see Lexi more. And you too, I guess.” She slapped him on the arm.

  “Well, good thing you and Lexi are working together then. We’ll be up your way a lot, I assume.”

  “Good.” Taylor leaned in a little. “I know I’ve told you this before, but thank you.”

  “I didn’t do anything, you’re the one who saved Lexi’s life.”

  “Yeah, after I put her in that position. And you. It takes a special person to forgive that, and I just want you to know how sorry I am. Truly. If there is anything I can do for you or Lexi. Just tell me and it’s done.”

  “I’m just glad you were able to make a full recovery. I would have hated for your fans not to get any more of you on the big screen.”

  “Two jokes,” Taylor smiled. “Maybe Newport Beach is just what you needed.”

  “Maybe it’s just getting to see you.”

  Lawson thought two things. The first was that all he wanted to do was kiss her. Immediately following that he thought of Lauren. As he stared at the beautiful woman in front of him, he wondered if thoughts of his wife would ever go away. Then he decided right there, as the breeze flirted with Taylor’s hair, that maybe it just didn’t matter. Maybe her memory would always be there, just like the urge to keep going after criminals. He had decided that he and Cassie were going to keep doing that, so maybe he should move forward in other ways too.

  He felt a sense of calm wash over him. Maybe it was the ocean breeze, maybe it was Lauren telling him it was okay. Either way, he wrapped his right arm around Taylor’s waist and pulled her close, tucked the blowing strands of hair behind her ear, and then he kissed her.

  The Xander King Series

  by

  Bradley Wright

  _____________________________

  WHISKEY & ROSES: Imagine James Bond meets Mitch Rapp.

  _____________________________

  The world knows him as a handsome, charismatic, and successful young businessman. The CIA knows Xander as the US military's most legendary soldier, turned vigilante assassin, who sharpens his skills in the shadows until he can exact revenge on the monster who murdered his family. They have watched his double life go on long enough, and now the government wants their weapon back.

  Sample: WHISKEY & ROSES

  Chapter 1: The Legend of Xander King

  “Some people don’t deserve to live. One man is exceptional at making sure they don’t,” Director William Manning announced as he addressed the roomful of the CIA’s finest. “The decision that lies before us is whether we make this man an ally or an enemy. And I’m afraid we can’t afford the latter.”

  Just before Director Manning blasted into the room and uttered those chilling words, Sarah Gilbright sat alone trying desperately to keep from nervous-sweating through her blouse. She knew it wasn’t all that unusual for the director of the CIA to call a top secret meeting of the seven highest-ranking officials in the agency. However, it was highly unusual for the eighth person inv
olved in that meeting to be a comparatively low-ranked special agent like herself. Sarah knew there could only be one reason she had been invited to a meeting so far above her clearance level: they had decided to do something about Xander King.

  Sarah fidgeted in her seat and shuffled through her prepared portfolios. She felt as if she were back in college. The plain white walls of the square room, the cheap collapsible faux-wood tables, and the metal folding chairs were almost enough to give her that familiar college hungover feeling.

  That was when the heavy wooden door flung open, clanging against the painted cinder block wall with a loud crash, and Director Manning buzzed into the room. Though he didn’t look anything like the TV character, his clumsy, hurried entry reminded Sarah of Kramer from Seinfeld. No, Director Manning couldn’t have looked less like Cosmo Kramer. Manning's short, stout frame and his cloud-white hair made certain of that.

  Director Manning finished his morbid opening remarks about Xander.

  “Either way, enemy or ally, we’ve got to do something. Let’s get through this as quickly as possible.” His tone was more of a growl as he dropped his black leather briefcase onto the table. The button on his light-gray suit jacket seemed to be holding on by a mere thread.

  Sarah imagined the button on his pants probably shared a similar stretch.

  “All of you know each other, with the exception of Special Agent Sarah Gilbright here.” Manning pointed to Sarah.

  The palms of Sarah’s hands filled with sweat at the sound of her name among all those important people. This was a big damn deal. She played it off as best she could, tucking her long blonde hair back behind her ear.