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With it firmly in my hands, cocked, safety off and ready to go, I walked back to the office.
“Why are you doing this?” Stephen asked in a low voice, and I wasn’t surprised to see he talked to Tito. He held his arms up in surrender as Tito pointed a gun, point blank, at the center of his chest.I bet he knows the name of his gun.
I swallowed, watching the scene play out from down the hall. Tito shook his head at Stephen. “I don’t want to kill you. Ilikeyou, man, I do. But the boss said I had to take care of her today if Michael managed to survive the hit. I have no choice, and you’ve gotta understand that. I can’t get her with you here. Sorry, man.”
He fired, and I jumped.Oh my god. Stephen had just been shot.Oh fuck. Is he dead?I have to think, think. Somehow, I had to think, but it was hard with the blood rushing in my ears with a whoosh of sound.
Tito spun toward the hallway and came up short, the gun still in his hand. “So, you saw that? That’s okay. You would’ve probably heard it anyway. Where’d you get a gun? You are smart, though, I’ll give you that. Not sure what else you have going on that makes Michael soobsessedwith you, but it doesn’t matter. He’ll mourn you for a while and finally find someone more worthwhile. Someone better suited for him.”
I swallowed. “You’ve really given his love life a lot of thought.”I have to think.There was something I should do, I just had to do it. What was it I should do?
“More thought than it probably deserves, that’s for damn sure.” He lifted his own gun, gesturing toward me with it. “You’ll never fire that. You’re just pathetic that way. You know that, right?”
He just shot Stephen and he is going to kill me. I thought it and squeezed, my thumb curling around the trigger and pulling it back with a click and pop of sound.
I shot him.
Right in the face.
Oh, it was such a mess. That was all I could think while my hand trembled in front of me. How did I get him before he got me? I didn’t know. My mind whirled. It roared. I couldn’t hear anything because my ears were ringing like I’d just been in an explosion. My head felt light, disconnected.
No matter.I dropped the gun and ran into the office. Stephen lay on the floor. Gut shot, I realized. Tito was mean. I shook my head. “Hang in there, Stephen.”
He looked up at me. His eyes were glazed. That couldn’t be good. Blood seemed to be everywhere. I put my hand on his stomach. “This is going to be okay.” I was glad that I could speak. He didn’t seem to be able to, and I could hardly think, but there were things to be done.
Michael said the only way to get out if you were hurt was a helicopter.The memory hit me with crystal clear resolution, so I grabbed Stephen’s phone. He had Michael’s number. In fact, he’d just texted—it must be the contact titledBoss. I clicked on it and heard the ring.
“What’s up?” Michael’s face appeared via the camera. I could see him over Stephen’s head as though he were right there with me.
But he wasn’t.
“It’s Bridget.” I managed to say, but my teeth chattered.
“I told you it would be fine.”
“No,” I interrupted and he scratched his head. “Tito shot Michael. I killed Tito. It’s bad. We need a helicopter ambulance. We need one now.”
He blinked. It took half a second for those serene eyes to process. “On it.”
I hung up the phone so he could do what he needed to and to resist the temptation to crumple. I had to concentrate on Stephen. “Tell me her name,” I snapped, irritated at my clicking teeth.
I grabbed a jacket. It was Michael’s and I pushed it down on Stephen’s open wound.
“Whose name?” He coughed, and the fingers of one of his hands caught mine and held.Okay.At least he could talk again. His grip seemed weak, but he still controlled his hand.
“Tell me the name of the woman. The one who you love. I’m not fooled. There is someone, I can tell.”
He smiled at me, and his gaze became far away, as if he pictured her face instead of mine. “Cheryl. Wish I told her. I should’ve.”
“Good news is you’ll have plenty of time later. Youwilltell her. Tomorrow, when you wake up from surgery. You’ll feel like hell, but you’ll tell her then. It’s going to make her cry, but I hope you don’t think she’s going to forgive you for scaring her just because you admitted it finally. That’s what’s going to happen, Stephen. I’m going to insist upon it, and you have no idea how totally annoying I can get when I get a bug up my ass about something.”
How long would it take for the chopper to arrive? Minutes? Hours? I didn’t think we had hours, and I had no idea. I would just keep talking until it came. Stephenwouldsurvive, if I had to use sheer willpower to make it happen. Why hadn’t I done something sooner? I pushed the guilty thought away. I only had time to focus on the moment. Later, I’d have plenty of time to regret my actions or inactions.
“How did you meet Cheryl?”
14
The luxury sunset tour by helicopter I experienced in Hawaii wasn’t like the ride with Stephen. EMTs had rushed into the room to triage Stephen and get him ready to fly. We were airlifted out before Michael arrived, so I don’t know if it was nearby on standby or what miracle made it arrive so fast. According to one of the paramedics, Michael would be meeting us at the hospital.Okay.
