Santa' Wayward Elf (22 page)

Derek was afraid where that’d leave Sosie.

He scanned the kitchen. When he finally found her, his gut
clenched. Saldino was crouched down on the floor behind her, one arm tightly
wrapped around her waist. The bastard was using her as a shield. Her face was
pale, her eyes wide and frightened.

Derek tensed, preparing to launch himself at Saldino before
Sosie got hit by a stray bullet, but a voice coming from the other side of the
room stopped him in his tracks.

“Hand over the girl and we’ll be on our merry way.”

Derek craned his neck, trying to see who’d spoken, but he
couldn’t. The guy must be hiding behind one of the food prep tables. Derek
could see the other men with the guy quite clearly, however. They were the same
ones who’d been spying on him and Sosie at the restaurant a few nights ago. Who
the hell were these bastards and what did they want with her?

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Saldino shouted back.
“You don’t have a fucking clue who you’re fucking with, you stupid fucks!”

The man behind the table shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. That
foul mouth is going to get you put on the naughty list. I couldn’t care less
what you get in your stocking next Christmas, though. Hand over what’s mine and
you can go back to grunting like the dirty pig you are.”

From his cowardly position behind Sosie, Saldino’s face
turned red. Derek raised his weapon, aiming it at the mob boss. Saldino was
going to do something stupid and Derek wasn’t about to let Sosie get hurt
because of it.

The man behind the food prep table either didn’t know how
volatile Saldino could be, or didn’t care, because he came out from his hiding
place. At first, Derek thought the man was still kneeling behind the table, but
then realized he was standing at his full height. He was barely a foot taller
than the counter.

The man’s height must have shocked Saldino as well because
the mobster’s eyes went wide.

“Who the fuck are you?” Saldino asked.

“I’m a cleaner of sorts, you could say. A man in your line
of work would appreciate what I do. I get called in to clean up messes and
right now that girl you’re holding is the mess I’ve been sent to clean up. The
man I work for wants her back, so she’s coming back.”

Derek frowned. His gaze darted to Sosie. She looked more
ashen than she had a minute ago. She knew the short guy, that was obvious. But
who did they both work for? A rival crime family? More importantly, what the
hell could she have done to warrant this much effort and killing to get her
back?

Saldino looked down at Sosie, his eyes narrowing as if he
was trying to figure out what made her so valuable.

“What the fuck did she do?” the mob boss asked the short
man.

“She left without permission and the boss can’t have that,
or else everyone will want to leave.”

Saldino pulled Sosie more tightly against him. “It looks as
if I have something of value to you then. I think it’s time we made a deal.”

The other man smirked. “Fine. You give me the girl and we
walk out of here. You don’t, and my boys start shooting again. I’d rather have
her alive, but dead works for me, too.”

Sosie whimpered.

Derek clenched his jaw. Oh, shit. This whole thing was about
five seconds from going really fucking bad. The short guy had embarrassed
Saldino in front of his soldiers. There was no way the mob boss was going to
stand for that.

Derek tried to catch Sosie’s eye so he could let her know he
was there and she was safe, that he’d do whatever he had to do to protect her,
but she was so caught up in the drama going on between Saldino and the other
man that she didn’t see him.

Saldino’s lips curled. “Fucking jackass. That’s not the kind
of deal I’m talking about and you know it. You can’t walk out of here after
what you did.” He slanted his men a pointed look. “Finish ’em!”

Derek was through the door and running across the kitchen
before Saldino’s men could fire the first round. The mob boss never saw Derek
coming as he slammed into him and Sosie.

All three of them tumbled to the floor as a hail of bullets
erupted over Derek’s head. Although he’d tried to avoid hitting Sosie directly,
the force of his impact still sent her flying across the floor with a strangled
cry. Saldino handled the tackle a hell of lot better, barely letting out more
than a grunt as Derek rode him all the way to the floor. Unfortunately, the
mobster didn’t lose control of his gun, and he didn’t waste any time trying to
twist around so he could take a shot at Derek.

Derek didn’t give him the chance. Grabbing the back of
Saldino’s head in both hands, he rammed the damn prick’s face into the tiles a
half-dozen times until the man was unconscious. He wanted nothing more than to
smash the asshole’s melon to a pulp, but he had to get to Sosie before she
tried to do something foolish. Like stand up. Slamming Saldino’s face into the
floor one more time, Derek left the man where he was and scrambled to Sosie’s
side.

She rolled onto her back only to immediately shy away from
him. She must have thought he was Saldino or that mean-ass bastard who had come
to bring her back to whoever the hell she worked for. When she realized it was
him, her eyes went wide.

She pushed herself up on her elbow. “Derek! How…?”

He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back down to the
floor as gently as he could. “I don’t have time to explain right now. We have
to get out of here.”

Derek ducked as someone sailed over the table toward him and
Sosie. He wasn’t sure which group of dirtbags the man was part of, and he
didn’t care. Rolling over on his shoulder, he raised his gun and fired, nailing
the guy in midair.

Sosie screamed as the man landed on the floor beside them.
He twitched once, then lay unmoving.

Derek didn’t bother to look for a pulse. Instead, he grabbed
Sosie and urged her along the floor behind the long, stainless-steel table.
He’d intended to head for the back door, but unfortunately, the bastard who’d
come for Sosie was blocking the way, along with his men. Derek swore under his
breath, immediately jerking Sosie back. Luckily, the men were more interested
in ducking and diving in between shooting at Saldino’s crew to notice him and
Sosie. Even so, there was no way he and Sosie were going to get past them.

Derek dropped his magazine to see how many rounds he had
left. Shit. Three in the clip and one in the chamber. Not exactly enough ammo
to shoot his way through a pack of killers mean enough to go up against a New
York City mob boss without batting an eye. But what choice did he have?

He slammed his clip back in and prepared to launch himself
at the men when Sosie grabbed his shoulder. He turned to find her gazing at him
with tear-filled eyes.

“You came after me,” she whispered. “Why?”

The words wrenched at his heart and he reached out with his
free hand to cup her face. “Of course I came after you. Just because I was stupid
and yelled at you didn’t mean I wanted you to leave. It means I’m a moron.”

“B-but you said you thought I set you up and betrayed you.”

Derek clenched his jaw. This wasn’t the time or the place to
have this conversation. He glanced over at the men by the door. They still
hadn’t noticed him and Sosie, but sooner or later, they would. It already
seemed as if they were getting the better of Saldino’s men. Any second this
would be over and whoever was left standing would focus their attention on him
and Sosie.

He turned back to her. “Honey, we don’t have time to go into
this in depth right now, but I was wrong to accuse you. I didn’t mean it. I was
mad at the situation with Saldino. I love you and I’ll apologize a hundred
times over as soon as we get out of here, I promise. But right now, we have to
go.”

He started to turn away, but Sosie grabbed his arm again.
“You love me?”

Why did women have to be so difficult about stuff like this?
“Yes, I love you. Now, let’s go.”

Derek didn’t wait for an answer, but turned back to the men
blocking the door. He was about to charge when whatever was left of Saldino’s
crew decided to retreat back into the restaurant’s dining room. The men who’d
come for Sosie immediately headed after them and away from the back door.

This was their chance and Derek sure as hell wasn’t going to
hesitate. As soon as the men were out of sight, he grabbed Sosie’s hand and
dragged her toward the door. To his relief, they made it out of the kitchen and
into the darkened hallway beyond without anyone trying to stop them.

Damn, this might work.

As they stepped outside, the silhouette of a man appeared in
front of them. Derek raised his gun to pop off a quick shot when he recognized
the man’s lined face and graying hair. He lowered his weapon, a new surge of
relief flooding through him at the sight of his captain. It looked as if the
cavalry had finally arrived—and not a moment too soon.

He grinned. “Damn, am I glad to see you. Where’s everyone
else?”

The other man didn’t return Derek’s grin. In fact, he didn’t
reply at all. Instead, he raised his own pistol and fired two slugs into
Derek’s chest at point blank range.

Chapter Twelve

“
Nooooo!
” Sosie screamed.

She dropped to her knees beside Derek. Her heart stopped at
the pain in his bewildered eyes as blood spread over the front of his shirt.
She grabbed his hand, gripping it tightly, tears running down her cheeks. With
everything that was holy and pure and good in the world, she couldn’t lose
Derek now. Not after he’d told her he loved her. It wouldn’t be fair. He
couldn’t die.

She pressed her other hand to the wound on his chest,
desperately trying to stop the bleeding. She had to get him to a medical
facility.

Gravel crunched underfoot nearby and she looked up. The
captain was standing over them, his gun pointed at Derek. But after one look at
him, he turned his full attention—and his weapon—on her.

“Why?” she sobbed. “Why would you do this?”

His mouth twisted in a smirk. “A man has to plan for his
retirement and I’ve always had bigger plans than a captain’s pension could
cover. Working for Saldino made perfect sense.”

It didn’t make sense to Sosie. “Derek is going to die all
because you wanted more money?”

“That’s unfortunate, I admit. But I knew you’d tell him
about me and Saldino. I couldn’t have the two of you screwing up my retirement
party.”

The gray-haired man leveled his gun at her with an almost
apologetic look. Sosie squeezed Derek’s hand harder and closed her eyes,
bracing herself for the inevitable.

While the sound of the gun going off made her jump, she
didn’t feel any of the pain she expected. She opened her eyes, wondering if the
man had somehow missed, only to find him standing there with a stunned
expression on his face. Sosie jumped again as another gunshot rang out. This
time, the captain stumbled back, red staining his shirt right in the center of
his chest as he fell to the ground.

Still wondering who’d shot the captain, but too worried
about Derek to care, Sosie looked down at the man she loved and realized he’d
been the one who had saved her life. She thought that meant he might not be
hurt as badly as he looked, but even as she watched, the strength left him and
his hand dropped, the weapon falling onto the ground.

“I’m s-sorry,” he whispered weakly.

Sosie shook her head, tears clogging her throat. She wanted
to tell him he had nothing to be sorry for, that even if he did, she would
forgive him. But his eyes had already drifted closed. Dear Santa, no.

She threw herself on his chest, sobs wracking her body.
“Please don’t leave me, Derek. I love you.”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should go
for help, but she was afraid of what would happen to Derek if she left him
alone for even a minute. Instead, she stayed where she was, begging him not to
leave her and praying help would come.

“Well, isn’t this touching? It’s almost enough to make me
cry. Or gag. I finally put a bullet in that dumbass Saldino in there, then I
have to come out and listen to this? What a night. ”

Sosie was so lost in her tearful litany, she almost didn’t
hear Mendike’s voice. She wanted to shout at the other elf to leave her alone
so she could grieve in peace, but he might be her only hope of saving Derek’s
life.

She lifted her head to look up at the other elf through
tear-filled eyes. “He needs to get to a medical facility. You have to go for
help.”

Mendike laughed. “Go for help? Now why would I do that when
I was planning to kill him myself anyway?”

She stared at him incredulously. She knew Mendike was mean
and nasty, but she hadn’t thought even a loathsome toad like him would resort
to murder. Elves were peace-loving and nonviolent. That, more than anything
else, had been what separated them from the big people. Until now.

“Mendike, please. I’m begging you.”

The elf let out a snort of disdain. “You’re just like your
mother. You’d rather stay here with a BP than live with us. Why the fig any
self-respecting elf girl would want to tie herself to a nasty place like this
and live here with something as ugly as him is beyond me. Santa’s hairy balls,
he’s not even our kind.”

Sosie’s eyes narrowed, her hackles rising at the vile things
he’d said about Derek. “Shut up, you self-righteous jerk! You wouldn’t know
anything about why I do what I do. I want to stay here with him because I love
him. But I guess you’ve been doing Santa’s dirty work for so long you don’t
remember what it’s like to be a real elf, to care about someone more than you
care about yourself, to love that person so much it hurts when you’re not in
the same room with them.”

His mouth tightened. “I haven’t forgotten. Nor have I
forgotten what it feels like when that person doesn’t love you in return.”