Rock Chick 07 Regret (73 page)

Hector and Lee stopped moving slowly and rushed to Marty. Hector kicked Marty’s gun away, shoved his own into his jeans, got down on his knees and bent over Marty, obscuring our view. Luke ran to the back of the Explorer.

Something caught in my corner vision and I looked to a monitor two banks up and to the right and, at what I saw, I shouted (and pointed for good measure), “Jack! It’s Donny!”

Donny Balducci and two men I didn’t know were creeping along the hallway, which hallway I didn’t know.

“We need cars,” Jack barked at the 911 operator. “Squads. We got three men, all armed, in the building, approaching the Nightingale offices, same address as for the ambulance, we got civilians in here. We’re on the fourth floor. Over and out.”

Then he hit a button and immediately flipped a switch. “Lockdown. Three armed men approaching,” Jack said but I heard it over a PA which seemed to be all around us.

I watched Shirleen jump up, open a drawer, pull out a gun and then she ran to the front office door. She locked it, I felt Jack’s movements as he hit another button and the room filled with ringing again.

“Get out of there Shirleen, get out, get out…” I chanted, watching Donny and his gang approach the office door as Shirleen hustled toward the inner door.

“Stark.” I heard Luke’s voice fill the room and tore my eyes away from Donny to see Luke standing in the garage, his phone to his ear.

“Donny’s in the building, two men with him, all armed, in the hallway, outside the front office door. We’re in lockdown. Ambulance is in transit for Marty, I called squads. Over.”

Jack was talking but Luke was now moving, jogging toward the stairs, Lee breaking away from Hector and coming with Luke. Somewhere along the line someone had given Hector a first aid kit but it was sitting next to him on the concrete unused and Hector was giving Marty CPR.

Then I saw Shirleen disappear from the reception area.

“Status. Over,” Luke said.

“Shirleen’s in the hall, Brody’s in the back office. Sadie and me in the surveillance room. Everyone else out on assignment. Over.”

“Shirleen goes in with Sadie, you’re in the hall. Over and out.”

Luke and Lee had disappeared from the screen because they’d hit the stairs. Jack pressed some buttons and the viewpoint changed on some of the monitors and I saw Luke and Lee on the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Jack got up and, when I turned to him, he had a gun.

“No matter what you see or what you hear, you do not leave this room. Got me?”

I nodded.

“Repeat it,” he said.

“No matter what, I won’t leave this room,” I said quickly.

He nodded then he was gone, Shirleen passing him on his way out.

“Jack got the police comin’?” Shirleen asked, her eyes going directly to the monitors and she started scanning them as she took a seat.

“Police and ambulance,” I replied.

“Holy shit, what’s happened in the garage?” Her eyes were riveted on Hector giving Marty CPR.

“Marty drove in, got out of the car, he was filled with bullets. He collapsed. Hector’s working on him. Lee and Luke are headed up here.”

Shirleen was silent.

Then quietly she remarked, “They don’t have vests.”

“What?”

She looked at me then back at the monitors and muttered, “Nothin’.”

It hit me she meant bulletproof vests.

I felt fear slice through me as I watched, mouth dropping open as Donny gave up trying to force the door open with his foot, took a step back and drilled some rounds in it with his gun. Then he kicked the door open and they all surged in just as Lee and Luke rounded another flight of stairs.

“Why don’t they wait for the police?” I shouted, coming into a squat again and I wasn’t going to sit down, no way, I didn’t know how to sit anymore.

Visions, unbidden, forced themselves into my head. Lee and Indy’s wedding picture in the paper. Luke taking Ava in his arms and talking against her mouth. Both of them teasing me.

It hit me that these were my friends and they were in danger.

Because of me.

I straightened out of my squat and stood.

“Child, settle,” Shirleen said softly.

All at once, everything happened, on the monitors and in the office.

I heard more gunshots, these close, coming from Donny who was firing at the inner door. The paramedics were running toward Hector. Uniformed police were running up the stairs, guns drawn. Lee and Luke were in the hall and jogging toward the offices.

“Stay back!” I shouted, leaning forward now, hands on the console, body trembling, eyes going manically from screen to screen.

Lee stopped outside the door and flattened himself against the wall and, with quick head jerks, he peered around the door, Luke beside him, as Donny pulled open the inner door.

“Jack,” I breathed.

More gunshots, Shirleen and I sucked in breath as Lee then Luke surged around the door and into reception.

My body jerked as I heard shouts, gunshots, close, very close.

I saw both Lee and Luke were inside reception, both moving and firing just as I noted, on another screen, Hector running up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

Without thinking, I turned and bolted to the door.

Before I got close, Shirleen caught me in two strong arms and pulled me back.

There were more gunshots and I closed my eyes, put my hands over my ears and I heard Jack’s voice, soft and reassuring, coming at me from my memory banks the night of my rape.

It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe.

The pain of fear for Jack sliced through my gut.

Then the gunshots and shouting stopped.

My eyes flew open and I looked to my left at the monitors. Shirleen and I stood, her arms wrapped around me, and we watched. Luke, the police and now Hector were in the reception area. Luke and Hector were advancing, both still armed, guns pointed to something on the ground, the police were moving around talking into the mouthpieces at their shoulders.

Lee had disappeared.

“Can we go out now? Can we go?” I asked Shirleen.

“Hang on, baby. Stay with me,” Shirleen cooed softly.

“Lee. Jack,” I whispered.

“Hang on.”

We lost sight of Hector and Luke and Shirleen and I stood silently watching the monitors. It seemed odd and distressing that everything was normal at Fortnum’s.

They had no idea.

No idea.

It could have been seconds but it felt like hours before the door opened and Hector stood there.

Shirleen’s arms dropped away and I surged forward, my body slamming into his, his arms closing around me.

“Please, please, please, please, please,” I breathed into his throat.

“Jack got clipped, just a nick in the neck, he’s fine. He’d had time to put on a vest,” Hector said and I could feel the vibration of his voice at his throat against my lips.

“Lee?”

“Lee’s fine. He’s seein’ to Jack.”

My body sagged into his, his arms got tighter and I felt rather than saw Shirleen squeeze by us and leave the room.

I tilted my head back and looked at Hector.

“Are you okay?”

He dipped his chin and his black eyes caught mine. “Yeah,
mamita
. I’m all right.”

My arms tensed. “I’m so sorry. So, so, sorry.”

I watched as his eyes flashed and he murmured, “
Cállate, mi amor
.”

“It’s my fault,” I went on.

“
Cállate,
” he repeated softly.

I blinked then my brows drew together in confusion. “What’s that mean?”

“It means shut up.”

Oh.

Well then.

“That sounds nicer than the English shut up,” I told him.

His lips twitched. “It isn’t.”

I didn’t have the time to worry about Hector being rude.

I took in breath and asked, “Marty?”

Hector replied immediately, “Not good. He should have driven himself to the hospital, not here.”

I moved on. “Donny?”

“Donny and his boys were all down with officers workin’ on ‘em when I got here. But Luke and Lee got a lot of experience with this shit. They don’t shoot to kill, just neutralize.”

That might be so but there was no way they had time even to aim.

So I told Hector, “What just happened was insane, they didn’t have time –”

He interrupted me by saying firmly, “They had time.”

I stared at him and realized he wasn’t lying.

I decided to move on again. “Why did it all…” I stopped then started again, “What happened?”

His face dipped lower, he touched his lips to mine and he said, “We’ll talk about it later. After we talk to the cops and after we’re done sittin’ in the hot tub.”

Right away, this made me smile. I couldn’t help it, even with all the drama, the very thought of sitting in a hot tub with Hector sounded
great
.

No,
especially
with all the drama.

And there it was again.

Drama. Gunfights. Paramedics. Police officers. Fear. Panic. Life-threatening situations. Jack getting “clipped”.

And Hector swept it all away with hot tub promises.

I snuggled closer then my smile faded.

“I’m not allowed,” I told him.

His head jerked with surprise right before his face changed and he looked like he was about to laugh.

Now, really, seriously, truly there was
absolutely
nothing funny about
this
.

“You’re not allowed?” he repeated.

“My tattoo,” I explained. “The tattoo guy said –”

He interrupted me again. “It’ll be okay.”

I cocked my head and asked, “You sure?”

One of his arms came from around me and his hand went to my neck then up, his fingers sliding into my hair. Instead of tilting my head back, he tilted it down and I felt his lips moving against the top of my head.

“I’m sure.”

Then he kissed me there.

After that, he and I went out into the hall and I took over “seein’ to Jack”.

* * * * *

“Back in the news today is Nightingale Investigations. Some months back the private investigations firm achieved local fame while guarding the lead singer of a popular local band. This afternoon, on Broadway, a gunfight played out between –”

The newscaster was cut off when Hector pressed a button on the remote and the TV screen went blank.

I lifted my still wet haired from the hot tub head from his chest and I looked up at him.

“I was watching that,” I protested.

He threw the remote on the nightstand, his body turned into mine and I found myself on my back with Hector mostly on top of me.

“I don’t wanna watch the news,” he told me, his eyes locking with mine. “I wanna fool around with my girlfriend.”

My belly melted even though we’d just “fooled around” in the hot tub not an hour ago.

“We just fooled around in the hot tub,” I reminded him, as if he could forget. One thing was certain sure,
I
couldn’t forget. Hot tub sex was
amazing
.

(Oh Lord, I hoped he
couldn’t
forget).

He grinned wickedly (he didn’t forget) and his head started descending. “Don’t care.”

“What if they said something about me on the news?”