That Day, Karen Deen [early readers .txt] 📗

scream into the phone at Ghost.

“Oscar down and everyone okay. Do not move!”

He is gone again, but that’s all I needed. As much as I’m so furious at Davina for what she was trying to do to Asha, I understand why. I’ll never forgive her, but I don’t want to see her dead for trying to protect someone she loves, just like I’m trying to do.

Movement at the door catches my attention.

Davina pushes it open with Hawk busting through carrying a lady that looks similar to Davina, same long brown hair and complexion. Her head is lying on Hawk’s shoulder, her hands and feet still bound, but the gag on her mouth has been pulled off for her.

They aren’t wasting any time. We need to get out of here in case the gunshots alert anyone and the cops are called.

Ghost will call it in when we are clear of the building, because we can’t afford to be tied up in red tape at the moment or separated in the police station as we’re all questioned. That can come in due course, but I’m sure there is enough evidence that Ghost has put together by now, and Davina will be happy to help with that as repayment for her sister being rescued before she committed a serious crime. She would never have been able to live with herself.

I’m not even sure if Oscar is down, dead, or injured, but to be honest, I don’t care.

“You okay?” I don’t take my eyes off Hawk loading the woman into their car, though they can’t see us behind the dark tinted windows. I put my hand behind me, reaching out to touch Asha and tell her in my own way that we will be alright soon.

“Yes—no, but yes. Oh, Kurt, this is all because of me.” I can feel her tears dripping on my hand as leans down and rests her forehead on our clasped hands.

“No, it’s fucking not. This is because people turn to evil. It’s all on them, baby, not you!”

“Mhmm,” is all she replies, but I don’t have time to continue to console her. The car doors slam and the little Mazda engine springs to life.

“Got to move, Asha.” She instantly lets go of my hand, and I start the car, pulling out behind them.

Knowing Ghost will be talking to Hawk, guiding him, I just sit tight, waiting for my instructions.

This part of things is not new to me. It’s like a day on the job, or what used to be my life.

I loved every moment of it for fifteen years, but today, all it’s doing is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

As we fight for Asha’s life, to give her back the peacefulness of a normal world where she never has to look over her shoulder again, I now realize it’s partly a fight for my own life.

I can’t live without her, and if it means living a life on the run and in hiding, I would do it in a heartbeat, but it’s not what I want for my life either.

Living on the beach, working, building, and creating things with my hands. Spending my days driving Ricky crazy, then surfing to wash away the sweat and sawdust, and heading home to my nights snuggling up with the love of my life.

Today, I’m fighting for us!

The call I’ve been waiting for finally arrives. “Bull, proceed to the safehouse to regroup, then we will proceed with the next part of the plan. Oscar is dead, so we will need to change direction slightly. But we are getting closer. I can feel it in my bones that we are about to blow this wide open.”

I don’t know if I like the sound of that, but I know there is no other way to end this.

“Roger that. As long as I’m the one pushing the detonate button and not the one blowing up.”

“Like I would let that happen. There are a few people in my life who would kill me, if you know what I mean.”

“Loud and clear.” I smile a little thinking of Bessy and her dancing like there is not a bad thing happening in the world. Oh, to be child again.

“Let’s finish this, boss,” I say through the speaker.

“Roger that, Bull!”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ASHA

“Fuck, shots!” Kurt’s yelling.

I want to vomit.

My body is on overload.

I can’t process and handle what is happening around me.

I knew what that noise was. The moment I heard it, I felt like I was right back there in the middle of my nightmare.

No matter what I do, nothing seems to stop the noise in my head.

I heard Kurt yelling as I screamed his name.

Just breathe, you know that’s what you need to do, keep breathing.

You are alive, just keep breathing.

But what about the other people inside the building?

This whole big mess is all because the asshole Rusty who shot the Warringtons wants me dead too.

I should have run when I had the chance. Then I would never have brought all these innocent people into it.

I feel the darkness pulling me into the panic, overtaking me.

The touch of Kurt’s hand and his voice pulls me back, and my heart starts to slow slightly.

There is nothing on this earth that calms me like he can.

I’m on the edge of my freak-out, and I know we can’t afford for this to happen right in the middle of this. Kurt knows I need him.

He might be in the most intense of moments, but his soul still reaches for me.

You can do this, Asha, dig deep and find the girl you left behind. Bring your inner Jenna out to fight and be set free. The only way this can be over is if I hold it together and allow them all to do their jobs.

So, I tell him I’m okay, when I’m clearly not… but I will be.

I take on my role again of just sitting silently in the car as we race through the outskirts of the city back through