“MARSHAL, YOU must be weak. A bullet to the shoulder is nothing to play with. I’m sure you’re bleeding out. Your life force is seeping out. The fog is clouding your mind. Why not give up now and die with dignity before my men get back. If not I may not be able to control what they do to you or my former lover. Marshal, are you listening? Can you hear me?” Javi continued to goad him.
“Oh Marshal, the fun we could have together with our little Latin lover. Maybe we can make a truce and share him. Much better than death, don’t you agree?”
Javi’s taunts grated Jaeger, but he still responded. “Shut the fuck up, you lousy piece of shit. I can’t wait to kill you myself.” Jaeger knew Javi wanted to get under his skin so he’d make a mistake. Fat chance of that.
It seemed as though they were trapped for hours, but only minutes ticked by—precious minutes that left them no room for mistakes.
“Wren, you need to leave when I say go. I’m going to distract him, and you run for the front door and bolt the fuck out of here. Get to the car.”
“Why can’t we go together? I don’t even know where I’m going. Please, Jaeger, come with me. We’re stronger together.” Wren’s voice was just a whisper.
Together or apart, they were fucked. They had no place to go. Jaeger was shot and slowly bleeding through the gaping hole in his shoulder. If they made it out of the Adirondacks, they could drive to the federal building that housed the marshal service or Wren could drop Jaeger off at the nearest hospital and turn himself in to the feds instead of the marshals. Jaeger needed Wren to make the trial, and he most assuredly needed to confront SAC Denver Chase. They had to make a move.
“Okay. Together. I’m going to start firing. Run for the vehicle and drive away.” Wren started to protest, but Jaeger raised his good hand to stop him. He had to convince Wren to leave and promise to join him—unless things went awry.
“Just go about a mile down the road. Remember where we stopped at the overlook at the lake? That’s where I’ll meet you. Javi’s men will be back any moment, and I’m going to lead them away from you. Once you get their vehicle out of the way, I’ll double back and retrieve our car and pick you up. Stay out of sight and don’t come out until you see me. Got it?”
Wren nodded. Tears pooled in his eyes, and Jaeger reached for his face and held his cheek in one hand. “You’ll come back, right?”
Jaeger nodded his head. If the stars were aligned and everything fell into place, he’d meet Wren shortly. If not, he hoped Wren would make it out on his own. “Go!” he shouted.
As soon as he made his move, Wren ran for the door. Jaeger emptied his clip into the kitchen, and Javier Chino returned fire. When one clip was empty, Jaeger reloaded, and Javi fired wildly. Wood splintered, bullets zoomed by. The two men tore each other up along with the cabin. Adrenaline coursed through Jaeger’s body as bullet after bullet connected with his flesh, but he forged on until he made the short, torturous trip to the kitchen—and collapsed.
Javi slumped to the floor and grabbed his stomach. His once-pristine white shirt was soaked through with blood. Jaeger had no idea how many times he’d hit his mark, but if the wound in the man’s gut was any indication, he was dying. His entrails were spilling out.
Though Jaeger had been hit numerous times in the arms, chest, and leg, he dragged himself to where the cartel thug lay with blood trickling from his mouth and his lungs filling with fluid. Javi’s dark, bloodshot eyes stared up at him. His perfectly coiffed hair no longer held appeal, and the sweat that trickled down his brow and nose mixed with the bits of blood in the corner of his mouth. Jaeger flung Javi’s gun across the floor. The fewer chances he took, the better.
“Marshal, we finally meet face-to-face. You’ve been a commendable opponent. Under other circumstances, you could have been part of my organization.” Javi’s voice cracked. “It seems our time has come to an end. At least I leave this world knowing one thing.” Coughs wracked his body as blood spewed from his lips. His breathing became labored, and he struggled to speak. “I leave knowing that you’ll never have Wren O’Riley. He won’t make it to testify. This I guarantee. Someone will take over. Don’t you know, Marshal, the bad guys always finish first, and the good guys never win.”
Jaeger sat slumped over with his gun in his hand and facing the front door in case Javi’s men and brother came back. As he looked down at Javi’s dying form, many things ran through Jaeger’s head. He could leave the man as is or kill him. He made his choice.
WREN WAITED patiently for Jaeger to return. Hours passed, and he sat on one of the secluded picnic benches on the far side of the rest stop with Jaeger’s cell phone clutched in his hand. Jaeger had left it in the car when he returned to the cabin for the showdown. On the cell phone were Javi’s recorded confession and his implication of SAC Chase.
A few people came and went as he waited and contemplated his fate. Javi had betrayed him and abandoned him for the chance to lead the cartel and monopolize both family’s businesses. He was so maniacal that he faked his own death. Was Wren the only fucking sane one in the entire lot? He really thought Javier loved him and was prepared to face both families head-on with the truth of their relationship.
Sadly Javi used him to get what he wanted. And where were they? Javi was in a stand-off with Jaeger, and they might both be dead, even as he sat in a rest stop and waited. But he had promised Jaeger that he’d stay put, and Jaeger had promised to return to him. Wren hoped they could fulfill both promises.
He’d hurt Jaeger deeply. Wren’s mere presence was an affront to Jaeger. Add to that who his family was and the reappearance of his former lover, and Wren would be lucky if Jaeger even returned.
He’d fallen in love with Jaeger, and he might never get a chance to tell him. Even if he did, would Jaeger believe him? Forgive him? Wren had no idea what fate held for him after his testimony—where he would be relocated to and under what name. Changing his name would give him a new lease on life, but at a high price. If Jaeger survived and entertained the idea of creating his happily ever after with Wren, how would he find him if his name was not Wren O’Riley? Would the Marshal Service inform him?
Dread and foreboding fear seeped into Wren’s body the longer he stayed hidden and Jaeger failed to return. Soon the sun would set and night would fall upon the mountain. Wren needed to make another life-changing decision. He could stay and pray that Jaeger resurfaced, or leave with the assumption that Jaeger was dead. He also had Javi’s henchmen to contend with. If they searched for their vehicle and found it and him, his life would be over and everything that had occurred would be for naught.
He decided to wait a few more hours and then flee the scene with a course set for the city courthouse. If Jaeger died Wren’s testimony would mean all the more to him as he’d avenge the man he’d grown to admire and care for. The job of protection now fell to Wren—to safeguard the flash drive and cell phone that were so important to the case.
The sky was illuminated with the pinks and purples of the setting sun, and the moon appeared in the distance. A chill descended, and with only jeans and a polo, Wren would soon need cover. High daytime temperatures dropped quickly in the mountains and could cause hypothermia.
“What the fuck?” A sudden explosion from the direction of the cabin startled him. Had something happened to Jaeger? Who caused the explosion? Wren saw flames in the distance.
He decided not to take chances. The time had come to move on. Wren strolled to the car he’d taken from Javi’s men. There was little doubt in his mind that the blast took place at the cabin where he and Jaeger had sought refuge, so Wren turned over the engine and peeled out of the parking lot.
Were Javi and Jaeger dead or alive? Cristobal and the rest of Javi’s men? The only things he knew for sure was that Luis met his maker and that Jaeger and Javi were injured.
Wren drove at the speed limit through the night—six hours by himself—and stopped only twice for gas and snacks. He needed to remain as inconspicuous as possible and under the radar of law enforcement. So he breathed a sigh of relief once he crossed the George Washington Bridge and eventually settled onto FDR Drive. The GPS had done a fine job of getting him back to the city since Jaeger wasn’t with him to navigate. But Jaeger’s well-being weighed on his mind.
Wren discovered a hotel a few blocks from the courthouse. It was well after midnight, so Wren parked in the garage, made sure his two prize possessions were safely in his pocket, and sauntered to the concierge desk.
“I’d like a room for the night, please,” Wren informed the young lady at the counter—name tag Sophia. Even at midnight she gave him a smile.
“Of course, sir. Driver’s license?”
Wren carried no identification. Instead of panicking Wren turned on his charm. He hoped it worked and that Sophia, although cheery, was too tired to make a fuss.
“I’m sorry. Sophia.” Wren made a point to make a personal connection. “I seem to have forgotten my identification—locked in my vehicle. But I do have cash to pay for the evening, if that works. I just got into town, and I’m stopping for the night to rest before I move on. Would it be too much trouble if I simply fill out the guest card? Please?”
Wren didn’t have to force himself to appear exhausted. He was. His body was on overdrive, and his muscles continued to seize. His desires at that moment were a hot shower and a comfortable place to lay his head without any complications. Ten o’clock would arrive soon enough, and he’d need to report to the federal courthouse.
Sophia looked him up and down and finally handed him a five-by-seven index card and a pen. Wren made quick work of filling it out with false information and returned the card with payment. He retrieved his room card and took the stairs two at a time to his third-floor room. He wouldn’t feel secure until he was safely inside. He set the door’s two locks and placed the desk chair under the knob. It seemed that Jaeger’s cautiousness had seeped into him.
Wren looked around the room, and for a moment, his heart felt heavy. He couldn’t believe he’d left Jaeger in the mountains with a pack of killers to save himself. It mattered little that Jaeger hadn’t shown up and that he knew Jaeger wanted him to leave. He had still left him, injured and alone. Wren was no better than the monster who spawned him.
He carefully laid his clothes on the laminate desk and took the flash drive and phone out of his jeans pockets. Having no other clothes to wear, Wren would be forced to use them again when he left for the courthouse in a few hours. They were dirty from his trek through the woods, but he had little choice.
He turned on the shower with the water set as high as the hotel permitted, and steam immediately filled the space. A more upscale establishment would not have been so stingy with the water temperature, but right then safety was more important than comfort.
The hot water sluiced down his body and eased some of the aches, pains, and tension of the past few hours, but not his heart, which strained with despair. And the tears flowed—for his mother, his uncle, Javi. And for the love he lost, but desired most of all—Marshal Jaeger Tripp.
“Why?” Wren wailed, overcome with wracking sobs. He slumped to the floor until the water ran cold, and Wren had no choice but to move and hit the sack. Without knowing if he’d actually be testifying, sitting in the courtroom, or meeting with the feds, Wren needed to be on his A game regardless.
He dried off quickly and slithered between the cool sheets. He closed his eyes and dreamed of Jaeger’s touch, his surly smile, and rough temperament—all things Wren longed to have again.
Morning arrived, and Wren had no choice but to complete his journey. His fate was sealed the moment he contacted the United States government and decided it was better to live on the edge with the off chance of making the world a better place than to live as a purveyor of evil.
Dressed in the same dirty clothes of the previous day, Wren secured the flash drive and cell phone in his front pocket, discarded the room key card on the pristinely cleaned dresser and vacated the room.
A muggy and humid day was already on the horizon in New York City as Wren stepped from the hotel entrance and inhaled the many scents of a city waking up. He had always loved the crazy pace of the city, even if his visits were infrequent.
Wren decided to walk the few blocks to the courthouse, give his name to security, and hope for the best. The feds would be expecting him… he hoped. Providing the transcript on the cell phone and implicating Denver Chase was the only thing he could do for Jaeger. Wren didn’t know for sure if Jaeger was dead, but his heavy heart told him he might be. He was truly alone in the world, and Wren had no choice but to take the final steps.
The concrete steps leading to the courthouse entrance appeared farther than they were, already bustling with people coming and going, even at that early hour. Taking a deep breath, Wren calmly and steadily walked each step. His resolve no longer wavered, and a sense of peace surrounded him. The closer he got to the top, the more confident he became. Head held high, looking straight forward, he walked until he reached the revolving door that welcomed him to the next phase of his life.
Wren entered. The officer looked at him suspiciously because his attire was clearly not appropriate for a federal courthouse in Manhattan.
“Sir, may I help you?” The polite officer stepped away from his companions and approached Wren cautiously.
Wren didn’t know any other way than to get straight to the point and hope for the best.
“Yes, thank you Officer… Johnson.” Wren glanced at the name tag. “My name is Wren O’Riley, and I am a material witness in the Rincón crime family trial. If you please, I need to see someone from the marshals’ office.”