The Protector (19 page)

Everything swirled around me in slow motion.  I was dazed and confused and I could feel a wetness coming from my nose. As the airbag deflated, I could hear Lance groaning in pain.  Shock at Lance’s actions filled my swirling head.  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but suddenly there was a wild banging on the window next to my head. I snapped to look at it and felt the dizziness envelop me.   I was able to stop the spinning long enough to recognize the man doing the banging.  “Doors jammed, cover your face!” I heard him yell through the window.  I did as I was told and within seconds the window had shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

As if Lance could read Jack’s mind, the seatbelt that had saved my life was unbuckled.  And I could feel Jack reaching in to grab me. “Let’s go!” Jack yelled as he started to yank me out of my seat.  With my head still spinning and a throb developing, I managed to crawl unlady like out of the window Jack had broke.  Lance followed suit, but because of his size this was not an easy task.  A few cars had stopped and panic filled my mind as I realized that the people who had been following us were still in the car that had crumpled Lance’s Mustang. There was little movement in the car.

“Get her out of here!” I heard Lance yell as I watched him hand Jack my backpack.  Blood was freely flowing out of my nose now and I tried desperately to wipe it away from my face. I could taste the salty thickness as it entered into my mouth. I had to spit.  Both men helped me over to the waiting Explorer.  My head was still throbbing and I could feel the ground beneath my feet move as the two of them pushed me into the Explorer.  Jack reached into the back seat for something and handed it to Lance, who quickly put it up to my face. “Hold this to your nose Alison it will stop the bleeding.”  I did what I was told and felt as Lance pulled the seat belt and reached over cautiously to buckle me in.

It was only then that I realized he had a cut on his forehead and he was bleeding. My eyes grew wide in panic and I reached up to touch the cut.  I knew as I looked up at him my eyes were not only filled with pain but also with regret for having to have drug this innocent Lieutenant into the picture.   “I’ll be ok,” he whispered.

“I,”  I tried to say something to him but I couldn’t as the spinning began to get worse. 

“Shh,” I heard him whisper. “you can pay me back when all of this is over by saying yes to dinner!”  I looked into his ice blue eyes and made a feeble attempt at a smile.  The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was Jack throwing Lance a bag and shouting, “for your troubles.”  I wasn’t sure what he meant by that and I didn’t have time to process it as everything suddenly went black.

I wasn’t entirely sure how long I had been out. When I was able to wrench my eyes open, we were on the open road driving at a breakneck speed West of Albuquerque.  My head was pounding but the bleeding from my nose had stopped.  I looked down at the clothes I had on and they were covered in blood. I could hardly move my muscles as they were beginning to feel the full impact of the accident. 

My head was against the headrest and I let my head fall slightly so I could look at Jack. His eyes were fixated on the road. “Is Lance going to be ok?” I managed to mumble.

“Yeah, he probably has a slight concussion, but he’ll be ok.  What about you?”

I didn’t want to move my head to look at him.  “His car, he crashed it because of me?” I closed my eyes and tried not to focus on the movement that was making me nauseous. 

“I wouldn’t worry about that.  I think he was happy to do it. Plus, he got a date out of it.  Trust me he’ll get over his car.”

A groan escaped my lips, “You heard that?” Although my eyes were still closed I could tell he had a smirk on his face. “Why is that funny to you Jack?”

“I’m not smiling,” he contradicted. 

“My eyes may be closed but I know you are smiling!”

“Open your eyes and look at me then! I don’t find the situation funny Sonny.” I didn’t have the energy to open my eyes and look at him. 

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and suddenly an uncomfortable pain shot through my body as I felt the bruises from the seat belt and the airbag.  “I don’t want to open my eyes! If I look as bad as I feel.”  I was a hideous monster sitting next to Jack.  I began to sink lower in my seat. 

“You look beautiful, a little messy but beautiful Sonny.”  His voice was tender and reassuring. I managed to open my eyes and tilt my head just enough to catch the grin on his face.

“Don’t mock me Jack!”  He was swerving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed.

His face suddenly became serious, “I’m not mocking you.  Look, you can see for yourself when I am able to stop. But I’m not doing that until I know we are far enough away that they can’t catch up with us.”

“Where are we going?”  We were headed West on I-40, which meant either Arizona or California. 

“Phoenix, to regroup and try and figure a little more of this out. I have an idea of who tried to kill you this morning. But right now I can’t prove it. ”

I didn’t ask him anymore questions as I wasn’t sure I wanted to know anymore. I accepted his answer and instead reached into backpack for some Ibuprofen.  As I leaned forward I thought for sure I was going to faint.  I managed to get into the front pocket and grab the bottle that was in there.  I grimaced in pain as the throbbing grew worse. 

“Sonny?”

“I’m ok.”  It was all I wanted to say to him.  I swallowed the Ibuprofen and closed my eyes once again.  Instead of blacking out quickly, I slowly fell asleep to the hum of the car.  It was a peaceful sleep and I was grateful the massive amount of medicine was kicking in. 

I finally woke up somewhere outside of Phoenix.  I managed to open my eyes and look to the man who still drove at breakneck speed.  I glanced at his tattoo and thought back to what Lance had said about it. It was unique and rare.  I hadn’t noticed before but there were several little crosses barely noticeable around the larger cross. I made a mental note to ask him later about it.

“Better?”  His voice was soft and full of concern.  At least the throbbing in my head had stopped as I turned to look out the side window. 

“I’ll live,” I managed to say quietly, barely audible.  My body ached horribly. Every muscle was tense and sore.  And I was sure sitting in the car for a long period of time hadn’t helped the situation any.

“Good, wouldn’t look good if you didn’t. Bad for job security.”

I had to choke back a cough as he finished his sentence.  “Glad I can be of help!” I retorted sarcastically.  “Where’s my car?”

“In your garage. I made it
look like you went home.  You’re
neighbors will have a story to tell as I had to hop your back wall to get to this thing.” I vaguely remembered Jack leaving the Explorer at a store parking lot down the street earlier in the week.

“Are we almost there by chance, I really could stretch?”

“Soon.”  The conversation stopped there and I watched him from the corner of my eye as he continued to drive South to Phoenix.  I could tell he was in serious thought.  So much had happened in the last two weeks, I was sure he was having a hard time adjusting to it all as well. But then again, he was used to this craziness, wasn’t he?  I sucked in a deep breath as my body began to slowly realize all that had happened today alone. I had been shot at, stole a confidential laptop that contained national security secrets, been in a car accident, on purpose and now I was in a car with a man on my way to somewhere to hide out.  My head began to swim once again and my pulse began to race.  I could feel my chest tighten up as the reality of it all sunk in.  I tried to slow my breathing and concentrate on something other than what was going on. 

I didn’t want to reach for my inhaler but before I could even think about it Jack had it in his hand and was handing it to me.  “Inhale,” he ordered. And I did as I was told. It opened up my airways and slowly the tightness in my chest began to disappear.

“I should just buy stock in these things for you,” he quipped.

“Happens when I’m stressed. Can’t imagine why I would be stressed now?” I tried again to smile but my face hurt.

It was dark by the time we reached Phoenix and I think Jack was as relieved as I was for the cover of darkness. Although it put us at a disadvantage, I felt safer than I did in broad daylight. He insisted on stopping at the drive thru of a fast food restaurant even though I insisted I wasn’t hungry. He was full of orders tonight and I was learning when his tone was authoritative, I needed to listen and not argue.  I slowly munched on the food he got me as we drove to our final destination.

I could feel the fear and anger begin to creep up on me and I suddenly became aware of the sadness that filled my body.  I could feel the tears coming on but I was determined not to let Jack see them fall. I turned my face to look out the window and let them fall freely.  I hoped desperately under the cover of darkness he wouldn’t be able to read the fear I felt or the sadness from having no idea what was going to happen next.  I had no control over anything anymore.

12
Phoenix

As I drove through the desert city, that was so different than Albuquerque, I could hear her soft crying. She tried desperately to hide it from me, but the sniffles gave it away.  I had hoped the time in the car, the sleep would keep her from going into shock.  She was seriously injured, enough that if she had been seen by the paramedics, she would have gone straight to the hospital for observation.  But here she was, in a car with me running from who was trying to kill her. Falsely thinking she was safe with me by her side.  I couldn’t blame her for crying and frankly was surprised it had taken this long.

I wanted desperately to hold her in my arms and let her sob like she had done earlier in the day. But I kept my distance for now, it was what I had to do, I was falling hopelessly for this woman and I knew it wasn’t right. I reached over and gently squeezed her hand. “It’ll be ok. I promise.”  It was all I could think to say and the crying stopped.  I knew she was embarrassed.

I can’t tell you the first time I realized I was in love with Alison. I am not even sure there was an exact moment. It was something I just realized and stopped fighting.  I had dreamt of her often since she had walked into my life and often times woke up with an innate fear of losing her. It wasn’t the same fear I had when I was losing Paige to cancer.   This fear ate at me and made a huge hole in my chest every time I thought about not being with her and by her side.  I realized I wanted to be more than just her protector, and I was pretty sure that was not going to be possible.

My goal now was to get her to the condo so she could rest. It didn’t take long for us to reach the place.  As she stepped out of the Explorer, I could tell she was in pain.  I held her elbow as she walked up the stairs and I was grateful she didn’t push my hand away trying to be brave.  I took her directly to the bedroom.  As we got closer, she managed to pull herself upright and look at me.  “Can I take a shower please?”

I only nodded and guided her to the bathroom. I started the water as she began to unbutton the shirt she wore and took it off.  I tried to look away, “I’ll get you some clothes.  You gonna be ok?”

She stopped taking off her blouse as she realized I was staring.  I had not realized it but I was staring now.  “mmmhum.” She moaned.  We stood in the bathroom staring at each other. Finally before I realized it, I put my hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.  The electricity was intense and I saw her wince just slightly. “I will tell you this over and over until you believe me, it will be ok. I promise.”  My voice was barely a whisper, but I knew she heard me.  

I slowly backed out of the bathroom not taking my eyes off of her.  “Yell if you need me ok?” I closed the door and listened to her movements. They wer slow, and once I knew she was in the shower, I
went to grab the few things I had in the Explorer.

When I returned, I listened intently for any activity in the bedroom. The shower was now off and I could hear movement. I had given her a sweatshirt and sweats to wear and she had put them on. They were going to be huge on her and hide every aspect of her beautiful body, the thought made me cringe. 

“What?” She asked noticing the look on my face as she walked out of the room. I was right, everything was huge on her.  She had the sleeves rolled up and the bottoms of the sweats rolled up as well. Her hair was still wet but brushed around her shoulders.  She had dark circles under her eyes, but they weren’t as bad as I had assumed they would be. 

I looked way from her emerald eyes. “Nothing,” I chuckled.  “Are you comfortable?”