Hope

Hope bit her inner cheek in an effort to keep from being the first to break the silence inside the SUV. Right now they were traveling through the back roads of the west side of Detroit, passing whole blocks of abandoned homes rotting into dust. It always broke her heart to see these beautiful old homes decaying where they stood. She liked to imagine the families who had lived here during its heyday and envision what it must have been like to walk down these streets when they were thriving neighborhoods where families had lived for generations. What hurt her the most were the few houses that were still occupied. They stood like islands of humanity in the middle of a wasteland, their well-maintained yards making the blight around them all the more striking.

She looked away from yet another empty house, this one partially burned, and glanced at Daniel out of the corner of her eye. He kept moving his lips like he was going to say something, then tense as if he was about to speak, then grow still again and stare straight ahead. She wanted to smack him and tell him she was nervous enough as it was without him acting all weird. Maybe she could blame it on the massive potholes littering the road, some filled in here and there with a cheap tar and asphalt mixture that was no match for the salt used to melt snow during Michigan winters.

They slowed to get around an abandoned couch that had been slung into the middle of the road. The pale blue fabric covering it was dotted with mold and she thought she saw movement from inside. Probably a nest of giant rats setting up their den. Yuck. Behind them, their escort vehicle did the same and Danny accelerated again once they were past the couch.

They were a couple miles away from the diner on the edge of Detroit that served home cooked meals to a working class crowd and was not too far from the safe house. It was 2:30, well past the busiest lunch time so, hopefully, there wouldn’t be too many people there just in case something went wrong.

You know, like being poisoned by a suspicious Greek salad or drowned in the women’s room toilet.

Hope didn’t realize she’d spoken those words aloud until Danny said, “Make Boden sample your salad before you eat it.”

“Like a royal taster?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She’d decided to sit in the front seat of the SUV instead of the back for the ride there, partly because it seemed childish to snub him by ridding in the back, and partly because, if this was the last time she was going to see him, she wanted to clear the air between them. Now that her anger had passed and she had time to reflect on what had happened and what he’d said, she thought maybe things weren’t quite as they’d first appeared to her.

“Danny?”

He drew in a deep breath. “Yeah?”

“Can I ask your honest opinion on something?”

“I guess.”

“What did you think of the shelter? I mean you had mentioned you’d been in a few growing up, and I was wondering how we stacked up to some others you’ve been in.” When he didn’t answer she tried a different approach. “You know, anything that we can improve on.”

He shook his head and turned to look at her as they drove around another pothole. “From what I saw, you are doing great. I mean, I’ve never seen such a clean place. And the food...I don’t know who works in your kitchens, but the pastry I had with my coffee was great.”

She’d hoped for a more personal answer but decided not to push it for the moment. “I’ll be sure to pass along your compliments to the ladies. We actually run a culinary program so women who might want to peruse an education as a chef have a chance to try it out and learn a thing or two before they go out into the real world.”

“How long can they stay there?”

“It depends. While most of our clients stay for as little as six months, we have some women who’ve never left, like Lydia.”

“Lydia? Really? She seems so...put together.”

“Oh, she is...now. Without going into too much personal detail, Lydia survived one of the most vicious attacks by her husband I’ve ever heard about.” She sighed and looked out the window, her mind filled with the images of the crime scene photos showing when Lydia’s husband beat her with a baseball bat while he was drunk. “It took her a long time to get to where she is now. She refused to let her past ruin her future.”

Danny leaned over and turned on the radio, clearly intending to end the conversation, but she wasn’t done yet. For her own peace of mind she had to know why he was running away, why just when things were good between them he had to bail on her. She captured his hand in hers ignoring his scowl and weak attempts to tug his hand away.

“Danny, after seeing where I work, do you still feel ashamed I’m a psychologist instead of a pediatrician?”

His hand convulsed in hers, then tightened. “I was never ashamed of you, Hope. Never.”

“Then why did you ask that someone else guard me?”

“Because...well...I’m a dumb self-centered asshole who thinks everything is about him. Because I fucked up and didn’t give you a chance to explain.” He took a deep breath and looked at her, but his damn glasses hid his eyes. “Hope, I’m really sorry. You needed me to protect you and I failed you.”

“Well, you had the part about you being asshole right, but I’m still here, aren’t I? Still alive, kicking and breathing.”

“You have no idea how much this world needs someone like you.” He squeezed her hand hard. “If someone like you had met my mom, I think things would have been a lot different.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “Maybe you could have saved her.”

Her heart ached for him. “Danny, you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”

“I know.” He took a breath, “Would you...that is, if it’s okay with you...I mean you don’t have to...”

“For fuck’s sake Danny, just spit it out already.”

“I want to remain on as your guard, with Boden.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of her seat. “Why?”

“Because you need a bodyguard.”

“Danny, if that’s the best answer you can give me I’m afraid I’ll have to say no.”

“Hope...”

She wanted to reach out and comfort him, but after the things he’d said, she needed to remain strong. “No, I don’t want any half-truths between us. Why do you want to stay?”

The sound of a ringing phone came out of the speakers and Danny pressed a button on the dash, answering the call.

Milton’s voice blared through the speakers, “Escobar, get the fuck out of there!”

Danny tensed immediately and began to scan their surroundings. “What’s going on?”

“Your escort vehicle just got shot at two blocks behind you. Didn’t you notice they weren’t behind you?”

Swearing, Daniel took a sharp turn and Hope gripped the door to keep from hitting her head on the window. “How did they find us?”

“I have no idea. We think someone in the police department or the FBI might be an informant for DeLuca. They were the only ones other than the agency that had a copy of your route. Anywhere you can pull off and hide? Any kind of shop or a public place that you can get to quick?”

“No, we’re in the middle of the dead zone on the west side.”

Hope watched in horror as someone in a dark outfit rose out from behind a pile of garbage. She didn’t understand what was going on until something hit the windshield, cracking it with a dark shape in the center. “Holy shit, that’s a bullet! Watch out!”

More bullets struck the windshield and Danny cursed as the cracks covered the surface, making it almost impossible to see through. He hit the gas and the SUV sped down the street, hitting potholes with teeth-breaking bumps. The car lurched, then straightened as Danny fought the wheel. He managed to get another block and a half before barreling through a lawn and turning the corner, hiding them from the shooter.

“They took out the SUV. How long ‘til you get here?”

“Not long. Keep your phone turned on and with you. As long as we have the GPS locator on, we’ll find you. The cops are on the way as well, but don’t hand yourself to them on a plate. Wait for me. The last thing I want is for Dr. Walker to get killed in friendly fire.” Milton said in a stern, cold voice.

“Permission to use deadly force if necessary?”

“Escobar, you don’t have to ask me that. If anyone tries to kill you, kill them back!”

“Roger that.” He turned to Hope and cupped her face with his hands. “We’re getting out here.”

“Help is on the way, just hold on.”

Danny ended the call and looked over at her. “Get ready.” He cautiously opened his door and snuck around the car, keeping as low as possible.

She fumbled with her seatbelt, unbuckling it quickly before reaching down to grab her purse. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

While he was coming around to her side she secured her purse with her extra clips by slinging it around her neck then over her shoulder. He opened the door and seconds later gunshots rang out.

Before she could do anything more than duck down, Danny spun around and sprayed some bushes across the street and almost out of sight. A man screamed then everything went silent except the ringing in her ears from the gunfire. Keeping crouched down, he pulled her out of the car. She started say something, but he put his finger over her lips.

They ran together in a crouch into a narrow alleyway between two brick houses. The remains of a cracked, overgrown driveway made for treacherous footing, and she followed Danny as best she could in her kitten heels. They passed another group of houses, then Danny zig-zagged them through an overgrown lawn. The ringing in her ears subsided until it was just a background hum as Danny crept forward and looked around the back corner of the house. He motioned for her to follow him out into the remains of a backyard. Overgrown bushes and the rotting hulk of a garage helped to hide their movements but, when they reached the back of that house, they were faced with a wide expanse of thigh-high grass.

In the silence of the abandoned neighborhood the hiss of their labored breathing seemed terribly loud as they ran through the waist high field of grass. She constantly scanned their surroundings waiting for another boogeyman to jump up from the underbrush like a monster in a fairy tale. The metallic whine of a revving engine and men shouting came from somewhere off to her right.

Hanging a quick left, Danny took them around an overgrown rose bush towering against a dead tree in a jumbled mass taller than she was. They paused there, and Danny scanned their surroundings, his weapon at the ready. He looked over at her and pointed towards a house that looked in better condition than the others. The windows were boarded over and, from this angle, she couldn’t see any doors. She nodded and he motioned them forward again. They were momentarily exposed as they ran through the ruined foundation of a burned down house and she tried to keep from panicking. With her heart racing she felt like the bunnies gone tharn in Watership Down.

Moving swiftly, Danny took them through an overgrown backyard, low lying blackberry bushes tearing at their clothing. The craftsman style house they approached must have been magnificent in its prime. Now its exterior had faded to a grey color that reminded her of driftwood. A wisteria bush grew thick and full against the area where she would have guessed the backdoor was. Even the graffiti on it had faded to nothing but pale blue and pink scribbles.

She took all of this in with some type of hyper-clarity, as if she was truly seeing the world for the first time. The scent of crushed grass, sun warmed wood, and Danny’s cologne filled her senses as she sucked in a deep breath. This must be the animal instinct state she’d read about in her psychology books, the time when someone was in such danger that they reverted to a simpler thought process in order to optimize their survival. All she knew was that she wanted to run and run and run until they were safe.

Something hidden in the grass caught her foot and she tripped, catching her scream at the last moment so all that came out was a muffled cry. Danny stopped instantly and crouched next to her, lifting her so she could lean on him.

“I’m okay,” she whispered. They both looked down at her ankle that had already started to swell.

With a nod he helped her get to the foundation of the house. Thorns from low-lying blackberry bushes tore at her pants and scraped her feet where her shoes left them bare, but she didn’t make a sound. The throbbing from her injured ankle made the sting from the scratches a non-issue.

“Stay down,” he whispered and began to pull a nailed on piece of plywood off one of the basement windows. Thankfully, the wood was soft and didn’t seem to be offering him much resistance because of its close proximity to the moist ground. She turned around and scanned the field they’d just left. Shouts came from the direction of where she thought the SUV was. A moment later gunfire chattered through the air.

“There goes our ride,” Danny said in a low voice, bringing her attention back to him. “I’m going in first. Stay low.”

Before she could protest he slid down through the opening, making a small grunt as he squeezed his shoulders through the tight space. He disappeared and, from somewhere in the darkness, came the sound of splashing water and a mutter of disgust.

“Come on,” he said in a low voice.

He didn’t have to tell her twice. Between the tangle of blackberry vines, she saw a group of five men slowly making their way through what had been backyards and was now just a field bordered by abandoned homes. Ice encased her heart as she realized they’d left a somewhat visible trail through the grass. Her ankle screamed in protest as she scooted around to lower herself through the window. It didn’t feel like a break, but she’d sure sprained the hell out of it.

Danny’s hands grabbed her legs and helped her ease through. Instead of setting her on the floor he held her in his arms. She was about to ask why when she noticed in the dim lighting that he was up to his knees in stagnant, stinky water. Sunlight streamed through a doorway across the basement leading to the upper level and a few shafts of light came through here and there from gaps in the flooring above.

Hugging her to his chest, he gingerly made his way through the flooded basement. The brick foundation bowed in to their left, and she worried that it would finally give way and crush them. He got them to the warped stairs and hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“I don’t know if these stairs will hold us. If I go up first to test them and they fail, the racket will draw DeLuca’s men right to us. If you go up first and they fail, again, we’ll have the racket and you’ll be hurt as well.”

“Why don’t we just stay down here?”

“Aside from catching some third world country disease from the water, we need to find someplace to use as a choke point where we have the height advantage. We need to go up, to find someplace to hide.” He shifted her in his arms and squeezed her hip where he held her. “Shouldn’t be too much longer till the cavalry arrives.”

“I’m lighter than you. Let me try first. They look pretty sound.”

Actually, she had no idea what they looked like; her eyes had adjusted to the dim interior of the basement, and the light shining through the open doorway above blinded her. A dark thread of amusement mixed with her panic when she realized that this is what Danny must feel like without his glasses.

“No way, baby, I’m not going to let you get hurt.”

“Danny, I can do this.” She touched his lips with the tips of her fingers, stilling him. “Please, let me try.”

He groaned, then turned her so she could place her foot on the second step rising above the waterline. She used her good leg first and the wood groaned, but held. Danny still supported her in his arms, and she was having a hard time balancing when he wouldn’t let go of her.

“Ease up,” she whispered. “I can’t walk with you holding me in a half nelson.”

His hold lessened, but he kept his hands on her as she stood on the step, ready to whisk her off at the first sign of danger. She took one step, then another, trying to hide her wince each time she stepped on her injured ankle.

“You’re hurt,” he whispered in an angry voice.

A pang of guilt shot through her and she took another stair. “I’m fine, I just twisted my ankle a little when I fell.”

She reached the top of the stairs without incident and peered around the corner. The empty room had probably been a kitchen at one time. Shadows of long gone appliances created brighter spots on the yellow walls and the remains of counters and cupboards sat in a heap, piled against the boarded-over doorway. Vines had managed to squeeze through a crack in the plywood around one window and wound their way to the ceiling. She took another step out, then turned and motioned to Danny.

He nodded and took the stairs as gingerly as he could, but as he came close to the top, one of the steps gave way beneath his weight. Hope lunged forward, hanging onto the doorframe with one hand and grabbing his jacket with the other. He jerked against her and his glasses flew off, landing in the water below with a splash. Her ankle almost gave out as she hauled him forward and, by using the frame to stabilize herself, she was able to help Danny scramble up the last steps.

They both landed on the dirty floor together, panting and staring into each other’s eyes. His gaze softened and he kissed her, hard, before whispering, “Damn it, Hope! You could have fallen in there with me. With those scrapes on your feet you could have caught some disease that would kill you just as surely as a bullet. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’m going to tan your ass.”

Before she could think of some snarky reply, someone nearby yelled about tracks leading to this house and the bushes having been trampled here. Danny leapt off of her and hauled her to her feet, wincing when she hissed in pain. He bent down and pulled the edge of her pants up from her injured ankle and took a deep breath.

He stood and held her close. With his mouth almost touching her ear, he said, “I’m sorry I have to move you, but we need to see if we can make it to the second level. There are too many entrances down here. We can control who comes up the stairs and make it a choke point. Do you think you can make it up the stairs if I help?”

She nodded as if this made sense even though her mind reverted to scared rabbit mode. Where were the damn police? Surely someone saw those guys shooting at them, or at least heard it. Then again, this area did remind her of a graveyard. That comparison sent a chill down her spine even as she followed Danny through the house. She kept stumbling and it dawned on her the floor sat at definite slant. Maybe her concern about the wall giving way hadn’t been so farfetched. They came to a staircase that was in much better condition than the one leading to the basement. A water damaged photo lay on the bottom step, showing a smiling family in a black and white Christmas photo.

Suddenly, there was a heavy hammering sound that seemed to be coming from right next to them. Danny practically dragged her up the staircase, neither of them giving a shit about making noise now. The crack of splintering wood came just as they reached the top of the stairs. Danny lunged and pulled her off to the side, leaning against the moldering floral patterned wallpaper. Bright sunlight streamed in through a hole in the roof and the doorways of the three upper level rooms.

“I lost my sunglasses,” he hissed. “I can’t see shit.”

Reaching into her purse with a trembling hand she pulled out her gun. “I’ve got your back.”

“No, Hope. You have to find someplace to hide. I’ll hold them off long enough to get you safe, I swear.”

She gripped him by the ear with her free hand and pulled his head in close, ignoring the rumble of men’s voices from below them. His eyes were closed against the harsh glare that illuminated his face in a way any artist would have loved to capture. “You are not going to fucking die on me doing some type of heroic bullshit, Danny. Do you hear me?”

“Heroic bullshit, huh?” He pulled away and smiled. “I finally understand why heroes do what they do.” His knuckles stroked across her cheek.

She had no idea what he as saying, but they were out of time. “Great. What do I need to do?”

He shifted around and moved next to her so that she was braced against his back. “I’m going to follow your arm. Where you shoot, I’ll shoot.”

“Okay.” She raised her arm, her hand trembling so bad the barrel shook all over the place. His arm rose next to her, with his shoulder bracing hers. His warmth soaked into her and she eyed his gun, easily five times the size of hers. If they lived through this she was getting an Uzi...or a rocket launcher.

Another hard shudder shook her and her gun wavered. “Easy, Hope,” he whispered into her ear. From the stairway came a low conversation about Danny’s wet footprints. She jerked against him. “No, don’t listen to them, listen to me. I’m here with you, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Her arm steadied, not from his reassurance, but from the fierce protective instinct roaring through her. It flooded her with adrenaline and shut a part of her analytical mind down. Someone was threatening the man she loved, and she had the ability to protect him. Her mind still spun and her body still ached, but she was not going to let him die when they’d just found each other again.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, either.”

Whatever his protest might have been died when they saw the top of a man’s blond head appear just above the slanted opening of the stairway. Next came his shoulder, and he turned quickly, spotting them in the corner. The barrel of his gun came up but, in less than one heartbeat, Hope opened fire. Danny joined her, and the thunder of their guns roared in the small space.

She thought she hit the intruder, but she wasn’t sure because their bullets also tore into the wall behind the stairs, throwing up puffs of dusty plaster. Either way, he disappeared from the stairwell, but not before returning their fire with shots that went over their heads. Dust filled the air from where the bullets had struck the walls, filling her mouth with a chalky taste.

With numb fingers, she fumbled the second clip out of her purse and reloaded, moving as fast as she could with Danny providing cover fire. Her ears rang in response to the very intense, booming noise of the gunfire. She realized she couldn’t hear anything other than the white noise in her head when Danny grabbed her and started to drag her into another room. Her gun swung wildly as she tried to catch herself with her hands as she slipped on some kind of slime and fell into a pile of moldering papers and old clothes. Time became distorted, as though pulled and stretched like horrible taffy.

As she struggled to get off the floor, she realized her ankle would no longer support her. She looked up and watched Danny step into the doorway, his gun literally blazing.

She was so attuned to him, so focused on his every move that she thought she actually saw a bullet breeze past his ear. Sure enough, a moment later bright red blood began to flow down the side of his head. The top part of his ear had been hit, and it looked like the bullet just grazed his head.

She knew she screamed, but the sound seemed muffled and far away, as though she was screaming into a pillow. Danny turned and gave her a look filled with such meaning she wanted to weep. She read the farewell in his eyes as he smiled and lunged through the opening.

Sharp pain spiked through her fingers as she tore her nails in the old wood, trying to get herself up. Her bum ankle made standing on both feet impossible. She flashed on a horrible image of the men finding her and the things they could do to her as she tried to crawl or hobble away.

Tears stung her eyes as she realized that there was nothing she could do for Danny now, only herself.

Abandoning her efforts to get up, she checked the clip of her gun and held it before her. If they came in she was going to shoot them and hope they shot back and killed her instead of capturing her and torturing her. There was no doubt in her mind DeLuca would take great joy in making every second of whatever life he left her a living hell. She prayed hard while struggling to get into a better position. She was pretty sure all the gunfire had stopped, but her heart seemed to be the only thing she could hear beyond the ringing in her head. Seconds passed, a couple dozen heartbeats or less, before someone finally came through the door. She almost pulled the trigger in her panic, but the sight of his bald head instantly identified him.

Danny.

Alive.

He was followed by a man in SWAT uniform with the Detroit PD logo on the front. Danny approached her slowly. His lips were moving, but she could barely hear his voice. It wasn’t until he knelt in front of her and placed his palm over the barrel of the pistol she was still pointing it at him that she realized they were both alive and safe. His blood shone so slick and bright on the side of his head. Her gaze focused on the missing bit of his ear and the bloody scratch. Everything began to roll on a wave of nausea. For a moment her body became a battle ground between passing out and throwing up; she was grateful when darkness ate away at the light in a matter of seconds and she could finally let go.