Chapter Six
Time was moving in slow motion with my body suddenly propelled into the air. I knew something was wrong and the explosion of the plate glass window leading into the kitchen was a sound I don’t think I would ever forget.
I landed heavily feeling the wood of the deck burn into my shins while somebody was shielding me with their body.
I couldn’t see him, but it had to be Bailey and he seemed to know what to do in a crisis. It was quite unnerving and my ears were ringing. He was dragging me behind the upturned table he was using to keep us from finding a bullet with our name on it.
“I don’t want you to get up until I tell you to
My whole body was shaking and not in a good way.
There was nothing but quiet except for the brief moments where pieces of glass began to break away from the window already broken. I looked at my hands and they were trembling with my lip quivering and my entire body on high alert. I was completely frozen, paralyzed by fear and he was acting like it was just another day at the office.
He moved to the barbecue, keeping low with his eyes darting from one corner of where our property met with the woods and back again. He crawled towards the danger and he didn’t have a weapon other than a pair of barbecue tongs.
I could only imagine what he could do with that and it would’ve been interesting to see him acting in my defense wielding a pair of barbecue tongs.
“I don’t see anything to indicate the danger is still out there. Stay there a moment longer and let me get a lay of the land.” His military training pulled me further into his gravity than I’d ever been before. I was shaking to my very core and I had no idea how he could remain nonchalant about all of this.
“What the hell is happening?” I wanted to stand in defiance, but my legs were feeling like 10-pounds of cement and there was no reasonable way that I was going to be able to make any grand gesture.
“Take it easy and don’t do anything rash. We need to remain level headed and I’m going to do some counter-surveillance. I won’t be gone long and even though you can’t see me, I will be able to see you from wherever I am.”
It didn’t make any sense how he could become invisible to the naked eye and still have me in his sights.
“Please don’t leave me.” I was breathing deeply almost hyperventilating and it was a wonder that I wasn’t curled up in a fetal position rocking back and forth muttering nonsense underneath my breath.
I looked around from where I was situated behind the table and he was already gone. I tried to get my bearings, remain composed, but it was virtually useless with my nerves frayed to the edge. I had my hand to my chest, feeling my heart beating faster with each second that passed and I was wondering in the back my mind if he was ever going to return.
I needed some way to verify there was no danger, but I was too terrified to stand up and become an easy target. It seemed awfully coincidental this was happening precisely on my step brother’s return from military life.
The neighborhood was not in chaos and people weren’t running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I heard nothing to give credence to anybody knowing what had gone down. They were oblivious to a lone sniper sitting out there making us moving targets.
I kept down on my hands and knees, but I did move from where I was at with my heart in my mouth. I managed to get back into the house, reaching up and opening up the door with the glass missing. I was breathing a sigh of relief huddled in between the island and the kitchen counter.
I was holding my knees, keeping quiet and then I had the semblance of mind to reach up and snatch a very sharp and menacing looking steak knife from the butcher block. I had it gripped in my hands, looking at the blade and knowing it was capable of doing harm to another human being which was exactly what I was looking for.
Bailey suddenly appeared standing beside me and he was drawing the blinds and eliminating any chance of someone taking a shot and knowing where we were at in the house. I didn’t want to voice my concerns, but this was as close to seeing my life flash before my eyes that I ever wanted to get.
“I don’t suppose you have something to tell me and I’m not budging from this spot until you tell me what the hell is going on.” He finished making the house secure, but there was still the gaping reminder of the glass broken to leave me with doubts about us being safe.
“I told you enough to know that I have enemies. There’s no telling who it could be, but it definitely is somebody with a grudge against me. It could’ve been kids acting a fool with their parent’s rifle, but I don’t think so. I found a bluff where I would be if I was taking the shot and there was the leftover cartridge smoking on the ground.” I needed something more and I wasn’t going to give him an inch to squeeze out of this conversation.
“You need to take this seriously and you have obviously rubbed somebody the wrong way. I’m sure you have resources and it might be a good idea for you to reach out to them before it’s too late.” I was about to suggest the authorities, but I had a feeling he would not be very receptive.
“I will make some inquiries to find out if any of my enemies are rumored to be searching for me. There will always be casualties and those left behind to pick up the pieces. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for one of them to feel it necessary to avenge their loved ones. I’m just not sure how they can do that with the files being classified. Most of what I do is on a need to know basis.” He sounded like he knew what he was doing, but none of what he was saying was instilling any kind of confidence in me.
“I know it’s wrong to say this, but I would really like to go back to the way things were before you joined up. Then again, if that were to happen then we would never have this opportunity to explore these feelings of unrequited lust.” I managed to stand up, but I had to use the counter to support my weight which was painfully close to collapsing on the floor.
There was one lone tear falling down my cheek and he was there to catch it with his fingertip. He wiped it away and then put his hand through my hair in a gentle and compassionate way. He was showing remarkable restraint and I could tell every instinct was to run out headlong into the danger. It was his bravery and his need to protect me which touched me in a profound way.
He glanced past me and moved swiftly where he was kneeling and pulling out a pen from his pocket. He circled where the bullet was destined to take his life. It was embedded into the bottom part of the counter. There was a slight tendril of smoke coming off from the heat of the bullet making entry.
“I want you to take a look at this and instead of shying away; I want you to fully immerse yourself into the scene.” It seemed like a strange request, but I was in no frame of mind to deny him anything. I followed like I was in a trance and it dawned on me that I probably was handling this better than others. I still felt like I was in a bit of shock and the whole thing felt like a surreal moment from what could possibly be a Block Buster movie of the summer.
I got down where he was and I saw how it must’ve come from a high enough distance up to be located where it was.
“I would say that your theory about him being in a bluff is accurate. There’s no way to know the exact route of the bullet without a laser pointer.” Ask and you shall receive was what came to mind when he retrieved one from his jacket. Who carried around a laser pointer with them everywhere they went? What would compel someone to think they would need one in the first place?
“Chelsea, I would estimate the bullet came from at least 200 yards away which is not an easy feat. Only those trained to be a sniper would be able to take on a task of that magnitude. There’s no doubt that one of us was the target and I would say the possibility of it being me is greater than it being you.” He grabbed his phone and began punching in the numbers frantically, no doubt reaching out to those willing to speak off the record about what this could be.
I moved like a shark tasting blood in the water until I was within earshot of his conversation. There was no way that I was going to pick up the whole thing, but even snippets of the interaction were enough to make me feel like a chill ran down my spine.
“How the hell did that happen? I was assured of complete anonymity and I wouldn’t have done the job otherwise. You tell me they have a list and they are checking it off one name at a time. You should have called me to warn me and don’t say you didn’t know where I was at. We both know you would be lying to me and you know what happened to the last guy who decided to keep things private. Of course, I’m not threatening you, but a promise is far more deadly than any threat I could issue.” He must have felt like he was being watched. He looked over his shoulder and wasn’t exactly pleased by my attempt at ease dropping.
He lowered his register and the next part of the conversation was between him and whoever was on the other end of the line. He finished within 5-minutes and there was definite tension in his shoulders from the way that his muscles seemed to clench up.
“I would appreciate a straight answer and it looks like I’m involved even though I did nothing to upset whoever did this. You need to tell me what we’re dealing with and remember I’m stronger than I look. I may seem like a frail and broken doll in your eyes, but I’m far from it. Do me the courtesy of not making light of a serious situation.” I waited trying to keep my hands to myself when all I really wanted to do was slap him repeatedly for putting me in unnecessary harm.
“I’ve done my fair share of killing what is perceived to be the enemy from afar and up close and personal. I tried to leave my work on the field of battle, but it’s very difficult when those memories stick with me like an albatross around my neck. I sometimes feel like I’m being weighed down by a heavy anchor around my ankle. It sometimes feels so real that I wake up after a most disturbing dream flailing like a madman and sputtering for the last gulp of air.” He had some issues and some sins not easily washed away. I was sure it was something that he never took into consideration when he joined the cause.
“I have nothing to compare it to, but this certainly feels like somebody is hunting you down. I might just be considered the collateral damage you were talking about earlier. It could be a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but you are a dangerous man to be around. Don’t get me wrong, I find it thrilling, exciting and frightening all the same time.”
I couldn’t say that about any other boyfriend. Most in this situation would have cowered in the shadows letting others handle being the hero in the equation.
My adrenaline was making me talk a little quicker than normal. I was trying to be sensible but I was begging for some clarification.
“I never meant to drag you into this and this is one of the reasons why I had to take a step back after my last tour of duty. I needed to find something to concentrate on other than what I did over there. I never questioned authority and there were times I probably should have.” He was a loyal soldier to a fault and walking away when he didn’t agree with his superiors wasn’t an option.
He had taken the persona of being the bad boy to a whole different standard and not one of those pretenders wearing a gold chain around his neck could even hold a candle to Bailey. The motorcycle was the icing on the cake and the way that he had sculpted his body had made him almost impossible to resist.
“I have to know what the next step is going to be and I doubt that we can stay here with this looming over our heads. Our grandfather has a cabin a couple of hours away from here which is still in his name. I doubt anybody would know about it and we could stay there for as long as it’s necessary.”
“I’m not usually one to run away from my problems, but maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find a better location. I wish there was a better place than grandfathers cabin in the woods. You’re not one for roughing it and he doesn’t even have inside plumbing.”
I had enjoyed my time in the wild growing up until I was old enough to realize that getting bitten alive by mosquitoes and having wild animals outside the door was not my idea of fun.
“I would say the sooner we get on the road the better. Let me pack up a quick bag with the basic necessities and you can grab your duffel bag which I’m sure you didn’t even unpack. The place is usually packed with food, but we shouldn’t take anything for granted.”
We had the makings of a plan and any thought of getting physical had disappeared with the mood ruined.