Winter is ready for this. I have to keep telling myself that or I will pull the plug on this whole thing. I know she has a good reason for wanting to go through with this but that doesn’t ease my anxiety in the least. Decker checked the equipment a number of times and I have gone over everything. We are good to go but that’s just it, sometimes no matter how prepared you are, things go wrong.

I sit at my desk at the station, counting down until the start of the operation. It’s a small one and it shouldn’t be a big deal. Well, that is if my girl wasn’t at the center of it. The number of ways this could go wrong begin to invade my mind. I get up and walk over to the coffee maker just so I can have something to do. I pour myself a cup I don’t really plan on drinking. Decker walks into the station and signals me back over to him.

He tells me that he has joint custody of his daughter and I’m so fucking happy for him. This is the first time I’ve seen him relaxed in weeks. He’s been freaked out and on edge ever since the custody issue started. He tells me that he and his wife are now one signature away from divorce. I know his wife; she’s pretty but exhausting. I’m glad he gets to walk away if that’s what he really wants.

“It’s crazy, just like that, I get my life back and I get to have my little girl too.” He beams.

“Well, that’s great, man. And if Mia needs anything else assembled in her room, tell her to call me,” I reply.

“Hey, she has me, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. That’s why I said to have her call me.” I smirk. The lightness in my tone fades. The thoughts I’ve been trying to drive from my mind all day take hold.

Decker can see it on my face. “Hey, it’s gonna be fine. We are good to go,” he says.

“We better be,” I mumble.

“I saw Winter this morning and she seems pretty calm. She’s got a good head on her shoulders—when she’s not jumping out into dumpsters,” he adds.

“Where did you see her?”

“I saw her at…Jana’s place,” he says as he tries to busy himself with paperwork.

“What were you doing at Jana’s?” I ask. He looks up at me and right away, I know what went down.

“Oh,” is all I counter with.

“What?” he says, already defensive.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You think she’s too good for me?” he demands.

“Well, yeah, but so are most women,” I joke. But I look back at him and it’s easy to see he’s not joking at all.

“Decker, Jana pretends to be all flash and flesh. But in reality she’s a sweetheart. And she’s a damn good friend to Winter. She’s smart, she’s fun, and she has a good heart. I think she’d be a good woman to get to know.”

“I don’t think she wants us to go beyond a one-time thing. I just got out of a marriage. She’ll run as fast as she can. It’s crazy, right? I should stay away?” he asks.

“You and your ex have been on the outs for a while now. The divorce just makes it official. I’m not saying marry Jana, I’m saying see what happens.”

“She’s different…” he says, mostly to himself.

“Okay, I don’t want to hear about the crazy chandelier sex you two had,” I warn him.

“No, it’s not that. Well, there were some interesting items but not chandeliers—”

“Decker!” I scold him.

He laughs, “No, I’m kidding. When I said different I meant she’s different. She’s a serious gamer. She actually thinks she can beat me in Call of Duty. I mean, that’s never gonna happen but it’s so cute to let her try.

“Also she walked into the bar looking like she didn’t give a fuck. She wasn’t trying too hard or anything. She had an ‘I know I’m worth it’ attitude but somehow managed not to be a snob about it.

“And she can’t reach anything in the upper cabinets because she’s too damn short. But she refuses to get a stepladder because she says it makes her feel like she’s admitting she’s short. She’s a freaking ball of crazy,” he says with a smile I have never seen before.

“First, I bet she can beat you at that game, and second, what’s the smile about?”

“She’s really clever. She could have just made me a deadbeat dad, but no, she gave me erectile dysfunction. That’s such a low blow,” he says with admiration. I confess to being lost and he explains the ruse Jana made up to get him out of talking to some overbearing woman at the bar.

“That is low. I like it. Sorry I wasn’t there to see your face,” I reply as I pat him on the back.

“I thought she just a pretty face but she’s really something else…”

***

It’s a few hours later and Winter is all packed and ready to head back to her apartment. She is about to walk out of my house and get a cab over to her place. Everyone is in position. They are just waiting on me to let her go so she can be our official “bait.”

“Okay, now one more thing,” I begin. She cuts me off by giving me a passionate kiss. It’s quick but nevertheless very effective in getting me to forget what I was gonna say. I growl when she pulls away.

“We can’t go over this plan again, Wyatt. I’m packed. I’m ready. Let’s do this,” she says as she places her hand on the doorknob. I place my hand over hers. She feels me looming behind her. I want to protect her. I want to keep her in my house, in my arms for as long as I can. I love her so goddamn much. But I can’t seem to say it out loud right now. If I express what I’m really feeling, I swear to God, she won’t be going anywhere. So instead, I remain silent and let my head drop down to the nape of her neck. I wrap my other hand around her waist and pull her into my chest. She run her hands through my hair as my body drapes over her.

“I know, honey,” she says softly. “I love you too.”

***

Winter lives on the first floor, but there is a stairway before getting to her apartment. We were able to place cameras in both the stairway and the hallway. We also have cameras at the front of Winter’s building and inside her apartment. One flight up from her place, officers set up monitors so we know what’s going on.

We were able to enter Winter’s apartment days earlier and found the perfect place to stash her so that when they entered her apartment, she would not be found. It’s a back panel inside her bedroom closet. We forced it open and have just enough space to hide her. I’m standing just behind the wall that separates the bathroom from the bedroom. I have my gun out and am waiting for the signal from Decker.

Winter plays her part very well. She sticks to the plan, turns on the TV, and acts as normal as she can. She eventually gets ready for bed. She slips under the covers and turns off the light. As soon as she does that, Decker announces in my earpiece that six guys have now exited a dark blue car parked in front of the building. I give Winter the signal and she slips out of bed and into the back panel of the closet.

Decker fills me in on what’s happening on the monitors. Based on their files, we know that the driver, AKA Murder, is the leader. He orders two of his guys to take on the lobby door. Once it’s open, he orders two other members to follow him down the hallway. Capturing the two guys who break into the building is left to the officers parked a few cars back. Decker gives them the signal and they get the drop on them fairly quickly.

That leaves the leader and his two remaining members. They pick the lock on Winter’s door and he orders them to stand watch as he makes his way inside the apartment. The leader uses his flashlight to guide him down the hall and into the dark bedroom. “Time to get up, bitch,” he hisses as he finds the light switch on the wall and flips it on. He uses the pillow on the bed as a makeshift silencer and squeezes three bullets into the heap he believes is Winter. When he doesn’t see blood, he sees pulls the covers off and is enraged to learn he’s been tricked. He turns to warn the others but finds himself staring right into the barrel of my gun.

“Hands up,” I command. And for a moment I can see him weighing out his options. He’s wondering if there’s any chance he can get me before I get him. “Try me,” I warn him in a steely tone. He glares and snarls at me. “Hands. Now.” He wisely puts his hands up. I take his gun and slam his face against the wall. I pat him down and handcuff him.

“Decker?” I shout.

“We’re good to go,” he shouts back. I grab the leader and drag him into the living room, where the rest of his crew have been disarmed and handcuffed. They are all now facedown on the floor. I go back into the bedroom and reach deep inside the closet for Winter.

“It’s over, babe, you can come out,” I tell her. She comes out from behind the closet, looking relieved. Suddenly, a high-pitched ritual cry hits the air; one of the gang members is sending out a message of some kind.

No, not a message; a command.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!” I shout; it’s too late. A figure emerges from behind the bushes outside the bedroom window, Mac-10 in hand. I tackle Winter to the ground, hoping she’ll miss the hail of bullets headed her way. We fall to the floor a millisecond before bullets spray the wall above us. He ducks back into the bushes to reload, and I return fire. I can hear Decker and his team as they race towards us to provide cover. The shooter comes back up, reloaded and ready, but before he can take aim again, I squeeze three rounds into his chest; he hits the ground.

“Go around back and make sure the fucker doesn’t have any more friends with him,” Decker barks to the team as I race over to Winter.

“You okay? You good? Are you hurt?” I plead as I look into Winter’s eyes. She nods that she’s okay and relief washes over me. I hear more cop cars as they approach the building. The members of the Street Kings are carried off in handcuffs.

“Let’s go, babe, let’s get you out of here,” I tell her as I reach out my hand to help her up. She doesn’t take my hand. There’s something on the floor beside her.

Blood.

I rush down to the floor beside her, my knees soaking in a puddle of her blood. “Babe, open your eyes, open your eyes, babe. Babe!”

Shitshitshit!

I scoop her limp body up in my arms and run for help…

***

Decker is talking to me but he sounds so far away. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. They rush her out of the ambulance, and the staff runs to her aid; they zip her away on a gurney and down the hall. I follow but they stop me once we get to the double doors. The harsh lighting of the hospital waiting room burns through the back of my eyes; the sound of staff and patients blur in the background. Someone comes towards me wearing all white, he calls my name but I’m lost in some fucking hole and his voice doesn’t make it down to me.

“Wyatt!” Decker yells, shaking me back to reality.

“Doc, what’s going on? How is she?” I beg.

“We’re getting ready to operate. She was hit in the abdomen; we don’t know how extensive the damage is until we get in there. I will send someone out to update you as soon as we have news,” the doctor says.

“Wait! Wait. Is she gonna…” I beg.

“She’s had extensive blood loss, suggesting the bullet may have nicked a major artery. We’ll know more in the next few hours,” he says as he disappears down the hall. Jana appears in the doorway of the emergency entrance with tears in her eyes.

Decker updates her as she weeps and hugs him. They turn their focus back to me but I am only there physically. In my mind, I’m home, in bed with Winter. It’s raining. It’s our first time we’re laughing. She’s laughing. And everything is okay. She wants to leave the bed but I pull her back into my embrace. She stays with me in the bed. Safe.

“Hi, bright eyes,” I said to her as we held each other.

“Hi,” she said lovingly.

“The only thing I’m here to do is love you. Do you believe me?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Then let me love you…” I replied.

“Wyatt! C’mon, buddy, you need to stay here with us,” Decker says.

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” I reply, forcing myself to stay present. I march towards the surgery room and Jana tries to stop me. “You need to wait here with us,” she says.

“No, she needs me. I can’t leave her alone,” I insist. Decker steps up to help Jana get me back to the chair. “Wyatt, you have to stay here and let the doctors do their job,” he says. I walk away from the double doors but begin to pace up and down the waiting room.

“I did this. I did this to her.” I gasp.

“No, this isn’t your fault. You aren’t the one who shot her; the shooter is dead. You took care of him,” Decker says.

“Bullshit! My job was to keep her safe. I promised that I would keep her safe! And then I put her in the middle of this bullshit!”

“No, Wyatt, she wanted to be a part of the plan,” Jana says.

“I should have said no! I should have fucking said no!” I yell as I grab a fistful of hair and pull at it, hoping the physical pain will take away from the emotional devastation.

“I should call Bree and her parents. Can you watch Wyatt?” Jana says as she tries to contain her tears.

“I got it. Go call them and I’ll take care of this,” Decker says. He makes me sit down although I don’t want to.

“Wyatt, look at me. Look at me,” he demands. I lock eyes with him. He’s calm and he’s speaking in a soothing voice but I know my partner. I know he knows this is bad. This is the kind of night when families are notified that they have to make funeral arrangements. We’ve been here plenty of times.

“Look, man, you have to try and calm down. Winter needs you now.”

“No! What Winter needed was a man who would protect her. Not someone who stood by and let her get shot! She was bleeding and her eyes…her pretty eyes…they wouldn’t open…her eyes wouldn’t open.” Suddenly a series of flashes appear in my head involving the last moments of my sister’s life. I’m standing over her, shaking her, begging her to open her eyes.

“Okay now, Wyatt, this is not like it was with Rose. Don’t go there, man, don’t do that,” he begs. But it’s too late. I’m already knee-deep in that nightmare.

“No! I am not gonna fucking lose her!” I rage as I burst through the double doors. They follow me, as does security. I don’t give a shit. I burst into the operating room, but security grabs me and pulls me away as I call out her name.

Once they drag me back out into the waiting room, Decker shouts as he pulls them away from me. “Get off him!”

Security reluctantly backs off and warns, “Keep him under control.”

“Get the fuck outta here!” Decker counters as Jana helps me get up off the floor.

“I’m fine!” I snap at her. She looks at me, and is yet again on the verge of tears. I know right away, I’m an asshole. She’s terrified of losing Winter too. “Come here,” I whisper as I lean in and embrace her. She sobs on my shoulders.

“Wyatt, look,” Decker says, signaling towards the entrance. My mother enters looking pale with worry; I sprint over to meet her. She embraces me and tells me that my dad is on his way.

“Mom, she wouldn’t open her eyes.” I sob as we break away from the hug. She reaches out and wipes my tears away. Her voice is firm and controlled.

“Now, you stop that. You picked a strong woman. A woman who doesn’t give up just because things are hard. She fought to let you in her heart and she will fight to stay in this world and be loved by you. You keep it together and be the man she needs. The man I know you are.”

“Mom, if she dies…I don’t know…”

“That’s just it, son, you don’t know. You keep your faith. Whatever it is that brought you two together will help keep you together.” Her words hit me like a Mack truck. I know what I have to do and where I need to be. I run out of the hospital at top speed.

“Where are you going?” Jana shouts.

“I’m going to see a badass about a girl and a toad.”