by Lola StVil
“So much of driving is math. And yeah, I’m really good with math,” he says. Then he starts talking about being a teen and drag racing. He tells me he was so good at it no one would race him. So he ended up holding his own unofficial races and took in a lot of money. But he gave it up when it lost its “elegance,” whatever that means.
“But then I moved on to other hobbies. Did you know I microbrew now! That’s right; your BFF is in the beer business. And I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but I’m working on a really top-shelf brew. I mean something out of this world—I’m calling it ‘Hunter Gage.’”
“Damn it, Bot; why the fuck are you telling me this? Why do you want me sitting here thinking about beer right now? Do you think that’s really what’s on my mind?” I snap.
“No, I know what’s on your mind: losing her. And I don’t want you to think about that—even for a second. So I’d rather you think about how annoying I am.”
I sigh heavily. “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” he replies. “Hey, the tracker stopped; just past the plant nursery.”
“Is this where he hid the drive?” I ask.
“I tracked some paperwork to this address. I’m pretty sure Price owns it,” he says as we pull up. The lights are dim. There are no customers around or staff from what I can see. It’s late, so the surrounding businesses are also closed.
I go to enter, and Bot does the same.
“Stay here. Call for backup,” I order as I take out my gun and head inside the building. I hear her shouting. Then Price as I enter. He tells Shelby to stop screaming as he drags her or else he’ll break her arm—again.
I try to focus my rage as I follow his voice down the large warehouse of plants and flowers. I watch him drag Shelby towards the corner. He’s holding a gun on her. He forces her to dig under one of the massive potted plants in the corner. He makes her get on her hands and knees and dig until she finds what he’s looking for—a black box. And right away, I know what’s in it; it’s more than just the flash drive. It’s a fake passport and ID so he can flee the country and start a whole new life.
I remain hidden, gun in hand, looking for a good shot that won’t harm Shelby in the crossfire. My position needs to stay hidden until then. But the rat that scurries across my feet didn’t get that memo. He zooms past me, causing one of the smaller potted plants near me to fall over and shatter.
Damn it!
Roger turns around, and before I duck, I swear she saw me. And she did because she sets out to distract Roger for me. She begins to laugh.
“You think your death is funny? Because that’s what will happen to you as soon as I know I’m safe, and I don’t need you as leverage anymore,” he vows.
She continues to laugh. He slaps her. It’s all I can do not to shoot him right now. Only thing stopping me is that she’s in the way. She spits out blood from her split lips and laughs again. “The reason I’m laughing is because you were wrong. You told me that when we were in bed together, I didn’t get off because there was something wrong with me, but with Gage…every time.”
“You think that low-life bastard is better than me? You think he can hold a fucking candle to me, bitch?”
“I know you’re going to kill me, and I’m okay with that. I got back everything you took from me. I found love, a new family, and had the best sex of my life. I mean it was so good we named it! And when he’s inside me, I actually feel something. It’s basically the difference between a pencil and a bat. Guess which one you are?”
“YOU WHORE!” he rages as he raises his gun to shoot her.
“Hey, Price!” I shout. He turns. I shoot. Twice. I hit him in the shoulder. He drops the gun. She picks it up and points it at him.
Shit.
“Babe, it’s okay. Everything’s okay now,” I promise her as she holds the gun, hand shaking. I make my way over to her. Roger looks up at her from the floor as he moans in pain.
“Babe, I got it now. Put the gun down.”
“YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!” she rages as angry tears stream down her face.
Shitshitshit.
“I didn’t even get to name my baby. I didn’t even give him a name!” She sobs, now holding the gun with two hands.
“Shelby, honey, put the gun down.”
“No. He’s always going to be hurting someone. He’s evil. He’s…he has to pay.”
“Yes, babe; he does. But not like this.”
“Why do you care, Gage? You wanted to kill him.”
“Yes, I do. I won’t because I know it’s wrong. And you know that too. Baby, please, please don’t do this. Don’t let him take away everything you’ve worked so hard to get back.”
Price starts to laugh as he lies there bleeding.
“She would never do it! She doesn’t have the guts. Ain’t that right, Shelly? You’re just a weak stupid little—”
I kick him hard in the face. He’s out cold but still alive. She does not lower her weapon.
“Babe, I know you’re hurting, and I know that you want revenge. But what you deserve is the same thing that you helped my mom get—peace. If you do this, you won’t be able to live with yourself. Let go. He’s in the past. You and I are all that matters. You and me. Forever…”
She doesn’t back down. I’m scared shitless that she won’t back down at all. But then she looks over at me and lowers the weapon. I take the gun from her, and aim my weapon at Price. I never once take my eyes off of him. When backup comes, I leave Price to them and take my woman home.
On the way home, I call the agency; they know to keep me updated on Lawson. I want to be there for him, but I need to get Wonder settled in first. She’s relieved that it’s all over, but it’s been such a crazy night, she’s still in shock. When I get her home, I make her a hot bath and bathe her. She’s distant, lost in thought.
She’s never held a gun before or threatened to actually kill someone, and tonight she did both. And right now, it’s taking its toll. I get her out of the tub and dry her. When it’s time to dress, she chooses to sleep in one of my shirts. She makes it look better than I ever could. I pour her a splash of whiskey. We go to bed. I get into bed, and she falls asleep on my chest.
A few hours later, I’m still awake, thinking about Lawson. I don't want to leave her, and I'm debating if I should stay or go. She looks up at me and says, “Go, babe. I’ll be okay.”
I agree to go but first I make a quick call, and in less than half an hour my mom is at the door. She enters, and I fill her in on as much as I can. She takes a peek at Shelby, who is now looking off into the distance.
“Please look after her, Mom; I have to go see Lawson.”
She embraces me and whispers, “Don’t you worry. I’ll look after my daughter.”
I kiss her forehead. “Thanks, Mom,” I reply. I say a quick goodbye to my girl and take off for the hospital.
When I get there, Lawson is in the back, and his family is in the waiting room, looking small and scared to death. My chest tightens. Fuck. I should have had his back. I should have figured out a way to help them both. I know it was out of my control, but it still hurts like hell to know that my partner is in this state.
His wife, Nancy, looks overwhelmed and tired. Their twins surround her: Angela and Chris. They are behaving like most six-year-olds—exploring everything and running around. As I approach, she embraces me, and the kids run towards me. I get an update from Nancy. He’s lost a lot of blood, and they aren’t sure what his chances are, but if he can survive the surgery, he will make it.
“You need to get some sleep,” I tell her.
“I can’t. I try, but every time I close my eyes…”
“Yeah, I get it. How about this—I take the kids to breakfast, and you stay here and get some peace and quiet, okay?”
“Are you sure? They are a handful.”
“No worse than their dad. I’m on it.”
I take the kids to eat and try to keep their minds off everything that’s going on. We joke about
how their dad is clumsy at home and how they always end up having to “rescue” him. Lawson is great with his kids. I hope to God he gets to see them again. When we are done eating, we head back, and Nancy says the doctor has news. But she was too shaken to hear it alone. So we stand there together and get an update—he made it! That pain-in-the-ass bastard made it!
Once the good news started, it kept rolling in. We found out Price was going away for life and he’d never be an issue for us again. It took some time for Shelby to forgive herself for wanting to kill him, but after we talked, and she went a few rounds at the shoe store with my mom, she seemed to let her guilt go. In fact, she is pretty much back to her old self.
She did manage to surprise me, however, when the subject of our wedding came up. I thought she’d want something lavish and extravagant. But she said she did that before, and now she wants something small and elegant. All she wants is to be surrounded by family. My mom was more than happy to help.
But before we walk down the aisle, I want to make sure she knows what she’s in for. None of my brothers are looking to settle down because they know that at some point the woman will ask that they change jobs and go for something less dangerous. I have not had that conversation with her, but the night before our wedding, I take her aside and ask her.
“Are you sure you are okay with what I do? You saw firsthand how bad it can get and how dangerous my job can be. Is that okay with you?”
“You wait until the night before, huh?” she says with a smile.
“Yeah, guess I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what you had to say. I don’t know what the next step would be if you aren’t okay with me being in the agency.” She wraps her arms around my neck and leans in close.
“As far as your job is concerned, I only have one rule for you, Agent Hunter.”
“And what’s that?”
“I don’t give a damn what has to happen, you get your ass back in our house, in our bed after every assignment. You are not allowed to die or get hurt—ever. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I mean it. You’re my heart, and you are walking around, out in the world, and it scares me. But Roger tried to control me and take away the things that I loved. I will never do that to you. You love the agency. Go, do what you were born to do. Just make sure you come back to me.”
“Deal,” I reply as relief sweeps over my body.
The next day our wedding is held. She is still married to Price on paper until the divorce goes through but for now, we are going ahead with the ceremony part. I don’t give a damn about paperwork. She was my wife from the day I met her.
It’s at the hotel we spent the night in, the same hotel our family used to go to when we were kids. I don’t know a lot about décor or anything, but even I have to admit, Shelby and my mom did a fantastic job. The hotel is lavishly decorated in gold and silver with rose-colored accents. There are roses everywhere; not just for decoration but as a reminder that our baby sister is always with us.
Everything from the six-layer gold-dusted cake to the floral archway is perfect. But nothing could compare to seeing my girl walk down the staircase in her off the shoulder lace gown. She looks like a dream. I mean it; she looks so beautiful it hurts to look away.
The ceremony couldn’t have gone any better. The only issue comes when we’re met with uninvited guests—Shelby’s parents. They heard what family she was about to marry into and invited themselves. I’m about to tell them off but then I don’t need to—my parents stand in their way, daring the couple to try and get in.
“This is ridiculous; she’s our child,” Mrs. Rush says.
“She was, but now she’s upgraded. Please, see yourselves out,” my mom replies.
“Surely you’re not throwing us out. Do you know who I am?” Dr. Rush asks my dad.
“Yes, we all know who you are. You’re the past,” my mother says as she closes the door on Shelby’s “past.”
I turn around and find that Shelby has seen the whole thing. I’m not sure how she’ll react.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that. They are just very protective of you and—”
She doesn’t let me finish. She kisses me and thanks my parents.
“Mrs. Hunter, shall we dance?”
“Yes, Agent Hunter. I would love to.”
***
We wanted to go on a honeymoon, but we had to postpone it because of Thanksgiving. Shelby didn’t mind; in fact, she was the most excited. She and my mom got together, and they somehow developed a shorthand with each other, and in a matter of hours, the entire Thanksgiving event was planned. My brothers were each given an assignment. Normally they bitch about having to help out until Mom gives them “the eye,” but this year, I think they were just so happy to have our mom back, they happily did what was asked of them.
Throughout the night each one of them takes me aside and tells me about the change they see in our mother. I tell them all that it started with Shelby. They all go to thank her, but she refuses to accept compliments. She doesn’t want any of us to fuss, but the fact is she saved our family. And we will always be grateful.
Thanksgiving night should have ended without drama, but not so fast. My brother Logan enters the dining room with a stack of board games. We all look at it but remain silent, on high alert.
“What’s going on?” Shelby asks.
“No! You are not playing. If Shelby sees how insane you boys really are, she’ll divorce Gage,” my mom says. Shelby laughs.
“They can’t be that bad.” We all look at each other, and we each put our heads down in shame.
“Okay, wait! How bad has it gotten with you guys?” she asks.
“There have been a few scuffles,” I mumble.
“Scuffles?” Mom laughs.
“They were playing Monopoly and even before the game started, they got into a fight. They fought over who would be the car token,” my dad says.
“It should have been me; it was my turn,” Logan says proudly.
“That’s crap; it was my turn,” Cash says.
“Well, it didn’t matter because that year no one got to be the car. Why?” Mom scolds.
“Jackson swallowed it,” I reply.
“Hey, I was trying to bring about peace,” Jackson counters.
Wyatt laughs. “The only thing you brought was the ambulance to our door.”
“You’re no better. One year they were playing Jenga, and when he lost, he hurled the entire thing out in the street and ran over it with his car,” Gage counters.
“That’s better than stealing from the Monopoly bank, Gage!” Dad says.
“Hey! That was never proven!” I argue. Shelby laughs at me, and soon we are all in a heated debate about the finer rules of Monopoly. I lean over and whisper to her, “Hey, babe. Sorry it’s so stupid and loud right now.”
She leans in and replies with a big smile on her face, “This is perfect. It’s what families do. I always wanted to be a part of this kind of stuff.”
“Well, enjoy it because they won’t stop.” And true to form, we all continued to argue and be loud. Finally, Dad picked a game and said he thought that with Shelby here us boys would actually behave like grown-ups. He was wrong.
We still argued and played around like we were fucking kids. But that’s okay because my girl joined right in. But then the night turned into a few rounds of drinking and playing poker. Logan is the best poker player among us. He loves to rub it in, and every year he walks away with a few grand from us. He’s such a bastard about it. But the fact is, he really is the best poker player we know—until now.
Shelby beat him with every hand. It turns out she did some professional playing on the circuit. Man, this woman is full of surprises. We were all very impressed with her—well, everyone except Logan. The more she beat him, the more pissed he got. And although it was friendly, we could all see him dying inside.
Somehow the last hand of the night came, and Logan wanted to bet it all. Shelby bet cash and Log
an bet his favorite toy—a black Harley Davidson. He’s had that thing since college. We told him not to do it, but he didn’t listen. He lost the hand, and the Harley went to Shelby.
“This isn’t over!” Logan said, only half joking.
We all ran outside the house and watched as he walked over to his Harley to say one final goodbye. Jackson took out his phone and played “My Heart Will Go On,” and Wyatt took pictures of Logan handing over the keys to Shelby. He saved all the pics, and a few weeks later, Wyatt made the pictures into Christmas cards. Cash told all of our friends and sent out cards that said: “RIP to Logan’s manhood.” I was laughing so hard, I damn near passed out. Logan used to call his bike “Fox.” But a few weeks after, Shelby called a family meeting at the house to reveal the brand-new changes she had made to the Harley.
“Oh. MY. God,” Logan says when he sees it.
Shelby’s changed Fox to match her new favorite shade of lipstick. It’s a shade of pink and silver. Logan runs to the bike and damn near cries.
“What has she done to you? What has she done?!” Logan’s a broken man. The funny thing about it is that Shelby wasn’t trying to be mean. She thought he’d like it.
“Logan, before the bike was all ‘black and badass,’ but now the bike has personality. Spark,” she says sincerely. Logan turns to face her, his eyes widening with horror.
Oh shit!
I dash towards them to run interference. I’ve seen that look on Logan’s face—it’s not good.
“Logan, back off!” I warn.
He’s breathing heavily and glaring at my wife. I know it’s mostly an act. He’d never hurt anyone, but just to be sure, I put Shelby behind me.
“Oh come on, Logan. You know she’s much prettier now. Hey, you want me to do that to your cars? I know a guy!”
“That’s it!” Logan rages, leaping at her. It’s still all in fun, but I stand between them.
“Hey, hey, let me at her. She’s my family. I can kill her if I want to. It’s what we do!” Logan says, trying to get at her. And then I see a smile on Shelby’s face. It’s not there because she’s tormenting Logan—okay, maybe a little. But mostly I think she’s smiling because for the first time in her life she belongs somewhere. Yes, she belongs right here with us.