Page 62 of Gin & Jewels
“It burns,” she said weakly, and then it hit me.Shehad been shot.
Pop!
I heard a bullet ricochet off of the house, and I knew what I needed to do. I didn’t want to get up, but I had to. I had to stop this guy from killing all of us. Getting to my feet, I rushed toward Micky. His eyes widened as he pointed the gun at me again, but before he could fire off another round, I tackled him, my hand on the gun.
In that split second, I made a decision.
I was trained for combat.
I was trained to protect.
And I was trained to kill.
I tilted the gun back and slipped my finger against the trigger as we crashed to the ground. With the vision of his hands around Cassie’s throat, calling her a cunt, I pulled the trigger. Blood splattered across my face, and I knew what the outcome was.
I roseoff of Micky’s lifeless body. The bullet had penetrated through his chin and into his skull, killing him instantly and neutralizing the threat.
Slipping the magazine out of the gun, I threw it onto the ground as I made my way back to Cassie, passing Keith in the process. He was shot too, explaining the second shot I’d heard when I was covering her body with mine.
“Cassie!” I cried and knelt by her side. I could hear sirens in the background, but my focus was on her. “Talk to me, please.”
Her sapphire blue eyes fluttered opened. “It hurts.”
“Yeah, princess, I know.” Blood was seeping from her abdomen, and I tore off my T-shirt and used it to put pressure on her wound. “It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
I looked over my shoulder toward the street, seeing Holly standing on the other side. She held up her cell phone, indicating she had called 9-1-1. I nodded and looked back at Cassie. “Keep your eyes open, baby.”
“It hurts,” she groaned again, not opening her eyes.
“I know,” I repeated. “Tell me what your favorite flower is.”
Cassie’s eyes barely opened. “What?”
“What’s your favorite flower, Cass?” I asked again, needing to keep her talking.
“Sun … flowers,” she replied slowly.
“And your favorite color?”
“Pink.”
“What about your favorite kind of pizza?”
“Pineapple … and … pepperoni.”
I smiled because I didn’t expect that answer. “I’m going to have to try that combination.”
A firetruck grew closer and stopped in front of the house, followed by an ambulance. “Help is here, princess. I told you everything is going to be okay.”
I stepped back to let one of the first responders tend to her. Even though I told her that everything was going to be okay, I wasn’t sure. I’d tended to multiple soldiers who were shot in the field—some lived and some didn’t—and the amount of blood that Cassie was losing was worrisome. If, after all of this, she died, I didn’t know what I would do.
“Brad.”
I looked up to see a buddy of mine from high school, who was now a police officer, walking toward me. I stuck out my blood-covered hand, and then drew it back and gave him a nod of greeting instead. “Daryl.”
“Step over here for a minute.” He motioned to step off the porch and onto the lawn. I followed Daryl. “What happened?”
“Can we wait to do this? My girl’s been shot.”
