Page 89 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
Carver’s face turned nasty. His eyes never left Cayden even as Massey talked to him. “You’re dead. How could you do this to me? I protected you! I took you in! I made you who youare!”
“Imade me who I am,” Cayden shouted back at him. “You are nothing more than a black stain on my soul and I was happy to be rid of you and this life.”
“Oh, I’m sure your girlfriend had something to do with your decision.” Cayden whipped himself around to face Massey. He wasn’t fool enough to attack the man, but how he wanted to. How dare he talk about Trixie? Massey wasn’t fazed at all by Cayden’s ire. “She’s a pretty thing. Sassy. I might pay her a visit too when I’m done here.”
Fury ran through him. Logic told him that Trixie was protected. Even if Cayden died today, Lee wouldn’t let anything happen to his sister. She was currently in the police precinct surrounded by cops. Massey’s reach was powerful, but he couldn’t get to her in the center of a police station.
But logic was not playing a part in Cayden’s decision making right then.
Fury running through his veins, he took a step towards Massey. His hands were fisted, though he couldn’t quite say what his intention had been in advancing. The man to Massey’s right immediately raised his gun. Cayden froze. At least his brain was willing to acknowledge danger, if not logic.
It was silly. He was staring down the barrel of a gun. He knew all the man had to do was squeeze the trigger and Cayden was dead. No way around it. Unless the man was the world’s worst shot, he wasn’t missing.
But fear didn’t grip Cayden in that moment. Rather than the metal of the gun, Cayden saw the wicked gleam of Trixie’s eyes the first time she went down on him. She’d been so timid, but her enthusiasm had taken over and made up for her lack of technique. He saw Trixie standing, fully clothed, in the shop’s bay with grease smeared across her nose. He could hear her laugh as if she was standing right there in front of him. He remembered the first time he’d heard that magical sound, eavesdropping on her conversation with Mrs. Wynn.
Trixie…
Cayden’s only regret was their future together. His heart grew heavy as he realized he’d never get to build a home with her, never get to see her face as he got down on one knee to ask her to marry him, never get to see their children be born and then in a blink go off to college, never get to grow old with her… Their future had been right there.
They’d never even gotten to spend their first holiday season together. Instead, she’d likely spend Christmas Day at his funeral.
He knew she’d be cared for. She had the Wynns, Jeff, Joey, her employees, and Lee to support her. He wondered if Trixie would have worn a white dress on their wedding day or if she would have worn her coveralls because she knew just how much her wearing those turned him on. He hoped she’d always have grease under her fingernails.
There was a smallcrackfollowed by a sharpthud.
For a moment, no one moved. And then the man who’d lifted his gun towards Cayden fell backwards.
Cayden stared wide-eyed at the man who had a small red hole in the center of his forehead. Who had shot him? Cayden turned, half expecting to see Carver or his man with their gun raised. But neither did. Nor did Bucky. His eye caught something in the sunlight, lifting his gaze to the window above the bay door.
There was a single, perfectly round hole in the glass.What the fuck?
The shock of the initial shot wore off, and all hell broke loose. Massey’s men reached for their weapons. Two more holes appeared in the glass, and two more men dropped.
Without thinking, Cayden rushed Bucky, tackling his young friend to the floor. Bucky had been in the process of getting his gun out of his pants. Cayden had seen the fear and uncertainty in his eyes just before their bodies collided. The gun went skidding across the concrete floor.
They had been standing in the middle of an open floor space. He could do nothing but hold himself over Bucky and cover his young friend’s head with his own body. Bullets sounded, glass shattered, shots rang out, and then the loud crash of the bay door exploding. Cayden gripped Bucky tighter. There was a flash of light and a loudbang,followed by muffled shouted orders for weapons to be lowered and hands to be raised.
Cayden stayed where he was. He kept Bucky covered, hoping they were mistaken as dead if they continued to just lay there on the floor. His ears were ringing too loudly to make out much. The flash of light had blinded him anyway, but he still kept his eyes clamped closed. He had the sudden image of a bug getting trampled by a stampede. He really hoped that wasn’t a prophetic thought.
The feel of a rough hand on his shoulder shook him.
Cayden startled himself out of his position on the floor. He looked frantically up into Lee’s too stoic gaze. “Shit, man, doesn’tanything faze you? It’s not like there was a firefight or anything in here.”
Lee sat back on his feet, giving Cayden room to sit up. Rather than answer Cayden’s question, he asked one of his own. “You good?”
Cayden did a quick assessment and then nodded. “I’ll need a change of underwear, but I’m good.” Lee didn’t laugh or smile at Cayden’s joke but then he hadn’t really expected him to. He quickly reached for Bucky on the floor. The young man had tears in his eyes, but Cayden couldn’t see any blood. “Are you okay?”
Before Bucky could answer, a police officer came over and forced Bucky to his feet. His hands were zip tied behind his back before Cayden could say, “Wait, stop!”
Lee was the one who stepped forward. He stood up, far too gracefully for Cayden’s liking. There was a part of him that grew jealous when he saw Lee move like that. It was proof that the former Marine was in complete control of his body. He said something to the officer, who nodded, and started to lead Bucky away.
“Wait!” Cayden forced himself to stand, wincing as his right knee protested. Well, he’d gladly take a bruise over a bullet. He turned to Lee. “He didn’t do anything. He never shot his gun.”
“We still need to take him in, Cayden. I told the officer to bring him to Holloway’s office.”
Cayden bit his lip. “I know he hasn’t been making the best decisions, but he hasn’t had an easy life either. He doesn’t belong in jail.”
Lee raised an eyebrow before lowering it. “I’ll put in a good word for him. Maybe we’ll be able to just get him probation or a lighter sentence for any information.”
