Page 9 of Save Me

“What?! No. I… No. God, no.”

“You hear that?” Vitari asked Aiken. “You’re lucky you got yourself an angel today, Aiken, and it ain’t me.” He shoved him from his hold, toward the windows, and sneered at Aiken’s fearful glance over his shoulder. “Get over there with the rest. Stay there. Francis, keep the gun on them.”

Vitari grabbed a bag from inside a kitchen cupboard and loaded up the cash, then hurried to Francis’s side.

Kneeling, he checked his leg and found the hole in his trousers, high up on his thigh, but on the outside, not inner. It looked as though the round had passed through, not lodged in the muscle, but it would probably need medical attention. He grabbed the first aid kit and shoved that into the money bag. “We’re going to go outside,” he told Francis. “Go straight to the Jeep. I’ll do the rest.”

Francis turned his head and peered into Vitari’s eyes. He was afraid, more afraid then he was letting on. He was too damn precious for this shit. “We need to be fast, can you do this?” Vitari asked.

He nodded.

“Go.”

Francis limped for the door.

Vitari raised his gun and fixed Aiken down the sight. The warning was clear. Come after me, and you’re a dead man. Then he dropped his aim and shot him in the leg, the same place as Francis. Aiken barked and dropped.

Vitari dashed outside after Francis. He aimed the gun at the truck and sprayed the windshield with bullets. “Go! The Jeep!”

Francis skidded around the front of the Jeep and threw himself into the passenger seat.

Vitari shot out the truck tires, opened the cab door, snarled at the terrified driver, and grabbed his stolen duffel bags of cash. “Grazie.” He tossed the bags into the Jeep, slid in behind the wheel, and gunned the engine, then lurched the little Jeep out of the driveway.

With the Jeep’s wheels spinning, they sped down the track, passing the crippled truck.

Francis twisted in the seat. “Nobody is following.”

“Good. Aiken knows when to back off. The glove box, my phone, grab it for me?”

Francis handed it over and Vitari one-handed dialed the police, then told them in Spanish where to find a broken down truck full of illegal weapons. That should keep Aiken off his tail for the next few days, should he get any ideas about tracking them down.

The Jeep bounced through a pothole, and Francis tensed, wincing. He clutched the door with blood-smeared hands.

“Hey, you did good back there.” Had he killed the other guard? “We’ll get some distance under us, then check out that leg, all right?”

He nodded, determinedly not looking at his leg.

Vitari smiled. “You’ll be all right, Padre.”

All things considered, it hadn’t turned out too bad. They had money, and a long road ahead, but they were alive. And Vitari hadn’t killed anyone. Yet. “There’s still time to make an angel out of me, Padre Blanco.”

Francis’s mouth finally found a little smile as he glanced over. “I uh… I feel uhm…” His eyes rolled, his head lolled, and then he slumped unconscious in the seat.

“Fuck.” Vitari skidded the Jeep onto a side track and jammed on the brakes, rocking it to a halt. “Francis?”

He clambered over the gear stick, unbelted Francis’s trousers, and tried to tug the pants out of the way to examine the gunshot wound. Passing out was bad, passing out was near-death bad. Not Francis, death couldn’t have him. Never him. “Fuck, no.”

Among the blood, he found the wound. The round had taken a chunk of flesh out of his thigh, but the bleeding had slowed. The round hadn’t hit an artery. He was lucky. It would scar but wouldn’t kill him, as long as he kept it clean. Vitari breathed, relieved. He’d passed out from shock, not blood loss.

Straddling his legs, Vitari patted his face. “Hey, Francis… Hey, wake up, you’re all right.”

His lashes fluttered and his lips mumbled something that sounded a lot like a prayer. Vitari bowed his head, pressed his forehead to Francis’s, and thanked his god for looking out for him.

Vitari needed him, and even if that meant letting him go, he’d do it. Whatever he wanted, Vitari would make it happen.

Just so long as he was safe.

And safe meant he could not be with Vitari.

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