Kissing Fire (31 page)

“Oh fuck no!”

I was by her side in a second. “Why didn’t you say
something?”

“Because I knew we needed to get out of there and I
was afraid,” she struggled to get the words out, right before she
lost consciousness.

********

I snatched my phone and hit Pete’s number. He
answered on the second ring.

“We’ve both been hit. Avery and I. She needs a
medic. Stat! We’re at the address you gave us.”

I tossed my phone aside and checked her vitals.
Everything seem strong. Pulling off her jacket, I pulled her shirt
out of the way so I could see her wound. It appeared she’d been
shot in the side, but my first impression was that it might only be
a flesh wound. At least that was my hope. The bullet had passed
clean through her. The bad news was it had been a large caliber, so
it had torn quite a bit of tissue. I yelled at the man to grab some
clean towels and made a compression bandage to help stop the
bleeding.

“Avery,” I gently rubbed her cheeks. “Avery honey,
wake up for me.” Her lids fluttered open and she tried to sit up
but I stopped her. “Don’t move sweetheart. Just sit tight.”

“What’s going on?”

“We’re waiting for some help to arrive.”

“What about your shoulder?”

“It’s fine.” I kept pressure on her wound and asked,
“Do you hurt much?”

“No,” she grimaced.

“Hey, that lying thing goes both ways, you
know.”

“Okay. I’ve been shot. What do you think
Preston?”

I should’ve noticed how ashen her skin was. How
could that have slipped by me? Her eyes were glazed and she was
slipping again.

“Avery, stay with me baby. Help is coming. Honey,
you have to focus on me now. I need you to stay with me.”

“Yeah. Okay,” she nodded. “I’m scared Preston.”

“Don’t be. I’ve got you honey. I’m not gonna let
anything happen to you. You hear me?”

She nodded, but those damn eyes of her ate right
into my soul, tearing me apart. I grabbed my phone and hit Pete’s
number again. When he answered I screamed, “Where the fuck are they
Pete?”

“Hang on man. Give them a chance to get there.”

“She needs a fucking medical team. Stat.”

“Preston, stay calm. They should be there any
minute.”

“Yeah, well, if they’re not, heads are gonna roll
all over the fucking place. You hear me?”

“Stay on the phone with me man. You need to calm
down. For her. You hear me?”

I inhaled, as much as my body would let me anyway.
My lungs felt like they had a tight band squeezing the fuck out of
them.

“I’m trying, but you’re not seeing what I am.”

“Preston, they’re outside your door. Let them in. I
have confirmation.”

It took me all of a half a second to yank the door
open and six guys stood there. They pushed me out of the way and
took over. Pete kept me on the phone, but within minutes, they
informed me we had to go to the hospital. Her blood pressure was
dropping and she was in serious condition. The Vail Valley Medical
Center was only ten minutes away. They carried her to their car,
and off we went.

The ER was expecting us, as Pete had called. He’d
also called in the local police for added protection. I refused to
leave her side until they wheeled her into surgery. That was when I
allowed them to look at my shoulder. Fortunately, the bullet had
only grazed my arm, slicing through a bit of muscle. I would be
sore for a few days, but they were able to patch me up without
doing any kind of surgery.

Avery was a different story. The bullet had gone
clear through her, but it had done quite a bit of damage
internally. The surgeons were amazed it hadn’t dropped her like a
stone, and that she had continued to ski. She had significant blood
loss and damage to her spleen. She would make a full recovery, but
I wasn’t sure I would get over this. I was furious.

********

Pete and I sat in his hotel room. It was the first
time in five days I had agreed to leave the hospital. The only
reason I did was to have words, serious words with him.

“This is it Pete. I’m done. This shit has to end.
Avery almost died. You know, when it was only me, I didn’t really
give that much of a shit. Then they started on my family. I
should’ve manned up when they hit my dad. But no, I let them have
their way, and talk me into doing my duty as a faithful employee.
Then they threatened my mom and sister. Ruined their lives. And
what did I do? I buckled and was the faithful fucking employee
again. I’ve given too many lives to the DEA. Not anymore. This time
it’s gone too far. Avery’s life is way more important to me than
anything else in this damn world. The final line’s been crossed. I
don’t care what it takes. Send in the fucking U.S. Army. Whatever.
It. Fucking. Takes. Do it. Because if you guys don’t, I’m going to
CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, and anyone else that will listen. I’m
serious Pete. I want this shit to end. I’ve given everything I have
to give, but I’m not giving any more. You got it?”

Pete looked at me and I wasn’t sure if he believed
me.

“You don’t think I’ll do it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

I picked up a pen that was on the bedside table and
started flipping it between my fingers. “Don’t doubt me Pete. You
haven’t lost your family or any loved ones because of this stupid
job. I’ve been pushed to my limits and I’ll go to any
lengths...desperate lengths to save Avery.” All the time I was
flipping the pen and suddenly the damn thing snapped and ink
stained my fingers and hand. I stared at it for a moment and then
got up and walked to the bathroom and calmly washed it off.

When I came back into the room, Pete was on his
phone, talking to his boss. His conversation was heated, but it was
all about me. He was on my side. I knew it might take a while, but
I had scored points and he would do what he could to get the cartel
taken care of.

“I don’t care what we have to do. He’s given not
only his life, but his family’s as well,” Pete said.

There was a pause in the conversation. Then Pete
said, “Send in the fucking CIA or the Marines. Just take them all
out. I don’t want him looking over his shoulder every minute. What
would you do if it were your son?”

More words and minutes passed and I motioned to Pete
that I was leaving. I wanted to get back to Avery. I knew he had my
back. When I hit the hallway, my guard was waiting on me. He
escorted me back to the hospital.

********

Avery was sitting up in her bed when I made it back.
Seeing the bits of roses in her cheeks made me smile. For five days
her skin had gone from gray to white and now it had that slight
pinkish cast to it.

“Well, hello there honey. How’s my girl today?”

“Better, I think. I’m not really sure.”

I frowned. That’s not what I wanted to hear. “What
is it?”

She scooted around in the bed and winced.”

“Do you need something for pain?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Hey, tell me the truth now.”

“Preston, I feel like a pin cushion. I’m bound to be
sore.”

I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You look
really great.”

“Puhlease. If I look anywhere close to what I feel,
I’m sure I look like dog meat.”

My emotions grabbed me then, twisting my guts and
tearing into me like a freaking tidal wave. I swallowed that burn,
once, then twice, before I could utter a word. My voice trembled
and was hoarse as I spoke. “You’ll always look great to me. I
thought I was losing you Avery. When we got back to your place and
you collapsed and I saw what was happening. I didn’t think...didn’t
know...”

Her arm snaked out and latched onto mine. “Hold me
Preston. I need to feel you holding me.”

I folded her in my arms and laid next to her on the
bed. She put her head on my chest and we held each other.

“Avery, I love you with all that I have to give.
We’ll never go through that again. I just left Pete and told him
that he’d better get his boss to send in the cavalry and take care
of this problem because I’m not going to deal with it anymore.”

She lifted her head and looked at me. “What exactly
do you mean by that?”

I gave her the detailed explanation. Then she wanted
to know, “Do you think they’ll do it?”

“Oh yeah. The last thing they want is media
exposure.”

********

Four days later, Avery was released from the
hospital. We couldn’t go back to her place because we didn’t want
to take any chances. Instead, we booked a four bedroom condo at the
Vail Chalet so we could have round the clock security and I also
hired a nurse for Avery. She balked at that idea, but I wanted to
make sure she had good care, particularly for her wound, and at
least for the first seventy two hours. However, after the first
day, the nurse left, saying Avery didn’t really need her. Avery
just gloated over that.

Justin was on the phone with us about five times a
day. He wanted Avery to call her other brother Pearce, who was a
trauma surgeon, but Avery refused, saying it would alert her
mother. That was the last person Avery wanted descending on
her.

“Justin, if Mom comes here, I will first off, go
insane. And then, I’ll hop on a plane to Seattle and strangle
you.”

“Okay, okay. I understand,” he said.

I had put the phone on speaker so we could all
talk.

Avery contradicted him, “No, I don’t think you do.
She’d sail in here and tell me how terrible I look. And then
afterward she’d tell me I needed to lose fifty pounds. Then she’d
have me crying. She’s the last person I need to see right now.”

“Oh come on Ava, she’s not that bad.”

“Not to you she isn’t. She doesn’t criticize every
little thing about you. You’ve never paid attention to how she
treats me. Why do you think I left Charleston?”

Avery was getting extremely agitated. Her hands were
clenched on the coverlet I had draped across her lap and her mouth
was set in a thin line. I didn’t like how she was reacting to this
conversation at all.

Justin began to comment, but I cut him off. “I think
this conversation needs to end. Avery is upset and this is the last
thing she needs right now. Justin, I’m capable of taking care of
her so I don’t think we need your mom in here.”

We ended the conversation and I knelt in front of
Avery, taking her hands in mine. “I want you to know something. If
I ever hear your mother say one disparaging word about you, all
bets are off and I’m gonna let her have it. I’m just saying.”

She gave me a half assed smile and I squeezed her
hands.

“What can I get you?”

She gave me a hard look and I knew those damn wheels
of hers were spinning. “I wanna go to the cabin.”

Whoa! I was not expecting that.

“Okay. We can’t leave yet. You know we have to wait
until it’s safe and until you’re cleared by your doctors.”

She bit her lower lip and then asked, “How long do
you think it’ll be until it’s safe?”

“I don’t know honey, but I’m hoping for sooner
rather than later.”

“If I get cleared by my doctors soon, could we go to
the cabin with security?”

After thinking about that for a few minutes, I
answered her, “I don’t see why not.”

What I didn’t tell her was that as soon as we got
the go ahead, I wanted to be a part of that mission that took that
fucking cartel out. They had taken away too much of my life, so I
wanted to watch as their lives were taken away from them. Right
now, Pete was working on the plans with the CIA and the Special
Forces. They were going to go in covertly and take them down. We
wouldn’t get cooperation from the Mexican government because if
they did, too many lives would be lost. If we went in undercover,
and without the Mexican government’s knowledge, it would be a far
quicker and cleaner operation.

The call from Pete came two days later and I
couldn’t put off the talk with Avery any longer.

Chapter 29

Avery

I had just returned from my doctor’s appointment.
He’d told me everything was fine and he’d released me. I was elated
because I wanted to head up to the cabin and get away from Vail for
a couple of weeks, or until they had taken care of the cartel. I
was sitting in the den, reading when Preston came in and asked the
security detail to wait outside.

My stomach twisted into a knot. Don’t ask me why,
but I had a bad feeling about this.

“Pete just called. Everything is set for the mission
in Mexico.” He’d taken a seat on the couch, but sat at an angle. He
awkwardly looked at his feet, his eyes shifting all over hell and
half of Georgia.

“What’s going on Preston?”

He rubbed his face and then looked at me. I knew in
that instant.

“Say it. I want to hear you say it Preston.”

“I’m going. I have to go. I have to see this thing
completed with my own eyes.”

My heart flipped and then tumbled to my toes. My
hand grabbed my chest, where I imagined my heart to be, and I began
rubbing the ache that had started to form. I wanted to say
something, but I felt like I was being strangled. Tears burned my
throat as I shook my head. I honestly didn’t know what to do. That
he would even think of doing this had never entered my mind. I rose
to my feet and clumsily walked to the bedroom. He followed, as I
knew he would.

“Say something Avery.”

Words wouldn’t form. There were so many things I
wanted to say, but for some reason, they wouldn’t come out of my
mouth.

“Avery, please.”

The tears flowed and then the sobs followed.

“Christ. Please talk to me.”

Finally, between sobs, I eked out, “I don’t want you
to go. What if you die?” My body shook so badly I felt like I was
having a seizure. “I can’t do this Preston.” I’m not sure he could
even understand what I said.