Page 58 of Always Mine

He buried his face in his hands. All he could see was her as a little girl.

Finally, he raised his head. “I failed.”

“Most of us do sometimes in life. But you’ve done so many good things.”

“It’ll never make up for…” He felt his eyes moisten. “Damn it!” He bolted up. “I appreciate your kindness Maisy but I have to move. I’ve got to outrun this.”

“Maybe you should just deal with it.”

“You’re probably right. I should. Thank you, in any case.”

Jackson strode off and walked to his office to change his clothes again. He couldn’t drive so he’d run on the tracks of Pathways.

Afterward, when he was calm enough, he got in his car and headed out of town. He made one call.

From the other end of the line he heard, “Hello.”

“It’s me. I’m in trouble. Can you meet me at the cabin?”

“Of course. See you in an hour.”

* * *

Diego had gone back home right after Seth left and sat down on his couch. Laid his head back. He calmed himself enough to close his eyes…

“Come on guys. Be quiet.”

“Yes sir.”

“Crawford, stop joking.”

He saluted. They entered the zone where the Cobras lived. They crouched down in front of the half wall. Waited. For some reason Crawford poked his head up.

Gunshots burst out. One went right through the guy’s head. He flopped backward.

“Open fire,” Diego called out.

Pain shot through his shoulder…he fell….

The ringing of his phone woke him. He bolted up. “Crawford?” Then he realized he’d been asleep. And dreamed of death.

The phone stopped ringing. He just sat there trying to suck in air until he could breathe normally.

The phone sounded again. He picked it up and tried to punch in accept, but his hands were shaking. Finally, he managed to answer. “Hello.”

“Hey, Diego. Mick Thomas here.”

“Chief. What’s going on?”

“A lot. Denzi Lomax is dead. In prison. They think it’s suicide but as you know, it could be murder.”

“Oh, my God. Another casualty of that night?”

“Yeah, but any threat to you and Annie Stefano is over.”

He knew that meant a lot of things but right now, he struggled to find them. “Good to hear we’re finally safe. Thanks for calling.”

Diego leaned back and stared up at the ceiling fan which whirred softly. He couldn’t figure out what he was feeling. How could he be happy because a young girl was dead?

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