Page 69 of Triple Protection
Alex
The next day, my phone rings on the island and I answer it: Liam.
"What's up, man?"
"He has her." He groans and my blood runs cold as my skin is on fire. "I'm down. The ambulance is on the way. It's fucking Marshal man."FUCK.
"You're hit? Where are you?" My training kicks in. Years of training and practice let my logical brain work while my heart and gut revolt.
"Just down the road."
"Did you get a shot off?"
"No, he hid behind her when he pulled his gun and then loaded her into his trunk. I never got a clear shot." His voice is getting quieter. He's losing strength.
"FUCK!" I shout, slamming my phone down. "BRICK!" I shout in my next breath as I reach for my weapon and throw open thedoor. I can hear the ambulance now and take off in a sprint in it's direction. My mind's reeling as my legs pump and my lungs ache. Marshal! How could we not see? Of course, it was fucking Marshal. He has access to the neighborhood, her house. He pushed back on our presence every step of the way because he knew we'd stop him. But we didn't. Liam's been shot, and she's gone. She's fucking gone. And the realization that I might lose two of my best friends today hits me like a truck.
Tears pinch against the corners of my eye, but I wipe them off. Tears won't help Liam, they won't help Angela. Fuck. I love her. I love her so goddamn hard and I've never told her. And now I might never get the chance.
I round the corner and see Liam on his back on the ground, surrounded by paramedics. They're shouting at each other and pointing, but I can't make out what they're saying. I know from my training they're deciding whether they should 'stay and play' or 'load and go'. They're not performing CPR, so that's a good sign, a sign that he's at least still breathing and his heart is still beating.
I slide to a stop as they load him onto the gurney to move him quickly to the ambulance. I grab his phone off the ground before I climb into the ambulance with him. The two EMTs in the back give me a one over before silently turning back to Liam. He's pale and unconscious.
I tell them his blood type as they load up a bag. From the large dark red pool that was left on the concrete, he's lost a lot. I call Brick.
"I'm on the way to the hospital with Liam. He's still alive, but barely. Marshal. Find him, Brick. Find him and bring her home."
I'm grateful right now for having a team. We need Liam to survive and wake and tell us what happened. While I chase that lead, Brick can stay at the house and follow any leads he can - Marshal's cell, Princess's cell, a motive, or opportunity. Anythingthat can help us find her before... before... God I can't go there. We've talked in length about stalkers and their behavior. Marshal's in love with her, but he also knows she's been with us, that she loves us. His unrequited love might be enough that he...
No. Focus. I shoot Brick a text to call Mirium and bring out the big guns before I pocket my phone and follow the paramedics into the hospital.
The bullet is still lodged in Liam's chest, he's lost a lot of blood and his blood pressure's dropping. They force me to stay in the waiting room as they wheel him to emergency surgery.
An hour passes before Brick shows up to wait with me. My elbows are on my knees and my head's resting in my hands. I'm frozen. I can't think. Every time I start, my mind immediately does a death spiral to the worst-case scenarios. Liam won't make it. Angela's already dead. Maybe raped and dead. And Brick and I are going to have to live with the knowledge that we failed them. We failed both of them and because of us, the two brightest souls to walk this earth are gone. And Marshal will disappear and get away with murder, twice. So instead of going there, I stop. I'm blank. There's a dull ache in my chest where my heart should be, but the rest of me is numb. I feel helpless, hopeless.
Brick takes one look at me before sitting next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He doesn't offer words of comfort or reassurance. He doesn't promise me they'll be alright. That Liam will survive surgery and be around to annoy us for the rest of our lives, and that we'll find Angela and free her and that'll she'll be fine. Because he won't lie to me.
Instead, he keeps me focused.
"Mirium is doing a background check on Marshal. We had our normal customary one, but nothing was flagged, so she's doing a deeper dive. It might help us find him or it might not. We sent LEOs to his address on record, but he wasn't there. We've gotone camped out in plain clothes to keep an eye on his door in case he comes home. He must have a secondary location we're trying to find, but the fucker's smart. He hacked into the security system, created that VR version of her..." his voice breaks and I know he's struggling as much as I am. He won't survive this. If we lose her, he won't survive. Helicopter crash, amputation, touch phobia, sure. But this? To be in love with his 'Babygirl' for over a decade, to her loving him back just as hard, to talking about a future together. If she doesn't make it...
I picture her and Liam from the island. The way they looked into each other's eyes, how they giggled together after we all collapsed from our marathon sex session. The way she cuddled up against him, how bright and alive and in love they both were.
Saliva floods my mouth and my lymph nodes ache, and I rush to the nearest trashcan to unload my breakfast. A passing nurse hands me a bottle of water and I take it gratefully. I resume my seat next to Brick silently and we sit there, together, for ages. His arm loops back around my shoulder and I rest my hand on his knee. I'm adrift, lost, and he's the only anchor I have left.
"Liam Parker?" A doctor in blue surgical scrubs enters the waiting room and bellows. Brick and I both shoot to our feet. The doc pulls off his surgical cap and his eyes scan the room before landing on us. We walk forward. The doctor's body language is one of confidence, not defeat. He's alive!
The doc gives us a single nod. "Mr. Parker lost a lot of blood, but the bullet missed all the vital organs. He has a tear in his pectoral muscle, and we had to remove a piece of his scapula along with the bullet, but I expect him to make a full recovery." Brick and I sigh a collective breath of relief. "He's in recovery now, but when he's stable, we're moving him to room 304. You can wait for him there."
We thank the doctor before finding Liam's room. I take a seat opposite Brick, staring at him, wracking my brain for what todo. I've always been the leader of our little troop - confident, in charge, logical - but right now I feel small, afraid, out of control.
Brick stares back at me, his eyes full of fear, but also compassion and I note, not an ounce of judgement.
"What do we do?" I ask him, tears brimming, my voice small.
He thinks for a moment before speaking. "We wait." Fuck, I hate that answer. "We've already called in reinforcements. Mirium has everyone in Cerberus looking for her. We've got local authorities on alert for Marshal and his car. Unless he reaches out to make a demand, there's not a damn thing we can do. We wait, and we be here for Liam."
And Liam's love, I think morosely to myself. I nod, rolling the water bottle in my hands.