Chapter Twenty-Six

Mickey’s body lay limply on the ground, her head turned away from him. Blood oozed on the floor from her wound and his entire world stopped spinning. His heart shattered and the broken pieces ricocheted around his body.

She was gone.

Mickey had grown to become a huge part of his life, and now she was gone before they’d even gotten a chance to have a life together. Before he could tell her he’d fallen in love with her.

Rage battled against the anguish inside him and demanded him to focus. A loud groan caught his attention, and he rushed to the floor and dropped to his knees. Eric withered beside Mickey’s still form, his bad arm reaching for the gun she had knocked from his hand. Eric might have been able to move out of the first shot he’d taken, managing to only get an injured shoulder from the bullet, but he hadn’t been so lucky with Graham’s second shot. Eric wouldn’t be a threat to anyone anymore.

Eric’s bloodshot eyes gazed up at him and he grimaced. “Just kill me already.”

Ignoring his partner’s plea for mercy, he cradled Mickey’s head in his hands, his gun dangled loosely from his fingers. Her limp body melted into his arms and blood coated his skin. No breath fell from her lips, no movement lifted her chest. Eric had done this to her, he’d taken her away.

Graham’s sweat-slicked hands gripped his gun and aimed it at the center of Eric’s forehead. His finger trembled as it grazed the trigger. He squeezed his eyes shut and a scream tore through him. He wanted Eric dead, needed revenge on the lives he’d destroyed…on the ones he’d taken.

“Graham?” A small voice croaked out his name and his eyes flew open.

He glanced up, his eyes searching for the voice speaking his name. Harper lifted his head. Dried blood caked the corner of his lip and ran down the side of his face. He dipped his chin toward the fallen bodies of Mickey and Eric, his eyes intense and focused.

He sighed. Harper was right. Killing Eric wouldn’t solve anything. His body ached to gather Mickey into his arms, but he should make sure his boss was all right before he fell apart. He gently placed Mickey’s head back on the ground and heaved himself to his feet. His eyes bore into her, willing her to move…but it was no use.

His chest tightened and guilt swam in his veins. He should have been here sooner, shouldn’t have missed Eric when he had the chance to take him down. Turning toward Eric, he shot his foot forward and smashed it into his face once, twice, three times. Blood spurted from his nose and his head went lax. Graham lowered his gun and walked around to Harper. He grabbed a switchblade from his pocket and cut the bindings at his wrists and ankles. “Are you okay?”

Harper cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. A cough rattled through him and he doubled over, gasping for air. Graham pounded on his back, but Harper shook his head, reached around, and pulled at his hand. He lifted a shaking finger, pointed toward Mickey, and Graham’s heart lodged in his throat. Her long eyelashes fluttered and her finger tapped slowly against her palm.

She’s alive.

Hope soared in his chest as he dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers against the delicate skin under her jaw. A weak pulse thudded against his fingers. He whipped his head around the room and his mind raced. He pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed redial.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

“This is Agent Graham Grassi. I need an ambulance and a squad car on Orchard Street. Now.”

“What’s the address, sir?”

“What’s the house number, Harper?” he asked without turning away from Mickey.

“Five seventy-two.”

Graham repeated the number to the operator and disconnected the call. The pool of blood grew under Mickey, soaking through her clothes. He had to find the bullet wound. She’d bleed out if he waited for the paramedics to get here. He needed to put pressure on it to make the bleeding stop.

“Graham,” Harper said, but he ignored him as he glanced around to find something to help him take care of Mickey. “Graham!”

“What do you want?” Tears streamed down his face and hopelessness weighed down his mind. Mickey might still be breathing, but she wouldn’t be for long. He had to figure something out, and fast.

A hard hand landed on his shoulder, and he glanced up at Harper’s warm eyes. “Take a breath, son. You can’t help her if you’re a mess. You’ve been trained for this. Stop, look around, and form a plan. But first, we need to get that bastard in handcuffs. We can’t risk him waking up, even if you did beat the shit out of him.”

Harper was right. Graham blew a large breath in through his nose and pulled handcuffs from his back pocket. He brought Eric’s wrists together and snapped the cuffs in place. Harper yanked on the cuffs and dragged him away from Mickey. Using the switchblade, Graham cut the zip tie that bound her hands. Deep gashes marred her smooth skin around her wrists. A new wave of anger washed over him, and he ground his teeth together until it passed. He couldn’t focus on Eric…or what he wanted to do to his sorry ass…he needed to help Mickey.

Crimson stains made her tank top appear more red than green. His hands grazed over the thin material, searching for the source of the blood. The shirt had to come off. He lifted the hem of her shirt over her pale skin and sucked in a sharp breath as the material peeled away from her stomach. A hole pierced her skin on her right side. His fingers gently skimmed the backside of the wound…no hole.

“Shit. The bullet’s still in there. We need to get it out.” Sweat broke out on his brow and his hands shook.

Harper crouched down beside him with white gauze in his hands. “Don’t be an idiot. You’re not a doctor, and moving the bullet around might cause more damage. We pack the wound with sterile gauze and try to stop the bleeding as best we can.”

He used the back of his hand to wipe the moisture from his face and reached for the gauze. Harper shook his head and pushed him aside. “Let me do this. You talk to her until the paramedics get here. You never know what she can hear.”

Graham nodded, sank to the floor beside her head, and folded Mickey’s hand in between his own. His teeth bit into the inside of his mouth to stop more tears from coming. He had to keep his composure, had to be strong for her. “Help’s on the way, baby. You’re going to be fine.” He held his breath and waited for a response…but nothing. Her arm came off the ground as he lifted their hands to his forehead and closed his eyes against the soul-crushing pain.

A knock sounded at the door, followed by hurried footsteps. “Police and EMS in response to a gunshot wound,” a loud voice called out.

He opened his mouth, but emotion lodged in his throat and no sound came out.

“In the dining room,” Harper called. “We have one suspect cuffed and unconscious with us, two women in the back bedroom who’ll need medical assistance, and one critical civilian shot in the side who needs immediate medical help.”

Two police officers ran into the room with a medic on their heels. One of the officers whistled and asked, “What the hell happened here?”

Harper stood and authority vibrated from him. He took charge of the scene while Graham sat paralyzed with fear beside Mickey. Another medic rushed in with a gurney and stopped beside them. He glanced at Graham and said, “We’ve got her now. Please step back.”

“No,” he whispered. He couldn’t bear to let her hand go, to sever the connection. The two men in their white uniform tops and blue pants carefully shifted her onto the gurney, raised it, and started for the door. Graham kept pace beside them, his grip never wavering from Mickey’s cold hand. He helped them load her into the back of the ambulance and he sat beside her.

Please God, don’t let her die.

The sirens blared and they sped through the city. The ambulance screeched to a halt and the back door banged open. “You have to let her go now, sir.”

They pulled the gurney out of the ambulance and his grip slipped from her fingers as they took her away and rushed her into the emergency room. Graham’s mouth dropped open and he stared into the dark city outside the open door. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

Dropping his head in his hands, he let the dam break. His shoulders shook and his lungs burned as sobs racked through him. He might have just lost the love of his life and he’d never gotten a chance to tell her.

…

The hard cushions of the chair in the waiting room shifted under his weight. Time had stood still as he waited to hear from Mickey’s surgeon. The staff at the hospital had made a fuss about only letting family know about her condition, but Harper had shown up and smoothed the way for him to get whatever information they had.

And then he’d stayed. He still couldn’t believe it. The man who’d made his life a living hell the past month, the man who he had thought capable of horrible things, had come through for him in more ways than one tonight.

Graham leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. He stared at the clock. Two hours had passed since Mickey had been taken into surgery. His toe tapped against the cheap carpet under his shoe.

Harper walked in with two cups of coffee in his hands. He offered one to Graham. Heat penetrated the white Styrofoam and Graham set the cup on the floor. Anxiety bounced around in his stomach. No way could he drink caffeine right now.

A surgeon with green scrubs walked into the waiting room and glanced around. His tired eyes landed on Graham and he shot to his feet. Harper stood next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder as the surgeon walked toward them.

“How is she? Can I see her?” Graham’s voice shook as he spoke and his eyes searched the man’s face for answers.

The doctor sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “She made it out of surgery and is in the ICU. She’s not awake, but you can go in and sit with her for a few minutes.”

Graham nodded and followed the doctor out of the room. He stopped at the doorway and glanced back at Harper. Harper waved his hands as if shooing a fly. “Go on. I’ll be here when you’re done.”

He drew in a large breath of sterile air into his lungs and tried to steady his nerves. He braced himself as he rounded the corner and passed the flurry of activity in the ICU. Nurses rushed in and out of rooms, doctors checked charts, and the steady beeps of life rang out from the rooms.

The doctor led him to the second room from the nurses’ station. Graham took a step inside and his knees buckled. Mickey lay in a large hospital bed with an IV attached to her arm. A machine beside her bed showed her vital signs, and beeped along with the rest of the activity outside. A blanket had been pulled under her armpits and her long, red hair fanned out on her pillow. The bruising on her cheek from where Pete had hit her had deepened and bandages covered her hands.

“The bullet missed any internal organs and I was able to get it out. She lost a lot of blood, but we gave her a transfusion. We’ve done all we can for her. The rest is up to her. Does she have more family coming to see her?”

Graham’s head spun and he tried to focus on the doctor’s words, but all he wanted was to see Mickey. “I called her parents when she went in for surgery, but they were out of town. They’re on their way, but it’ll be a few hours before they get here.”

The doctor gave one stiff nod and then left him alone with Mickey.

His feet moved toward her as if a magnet drew him to her side. Her pale skin was ashen under the florescent lights and he reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. A chair sat beside the bed, and he all but fell back into it. He propped his elbows on his knees and leaned toward her. He laid his hand over hers, warming it with his touch.

“Mickey? Can you hear me? I found Becca.” Moisture filled the corners of his eyes. “The girls are safe and back with their families. We did it, Red. We got them home.”

Beep…beep…beep.

Disappointment smothered him. What did he expect? It would take time for her to wake up. He couldn’t really think she’d open her eyes the moment she heard his voice.

“Are you still calling me Red?” Her voice was small, her words rough as if spoken through quicksand.

He straightened and his pulse quickened. “Mickey?”

She opened her eyes and then grimaced, shrinking away from the light. She turned her neck to look at him. “Did you really find Becca?”

He nodded and joy burst inside him. “I did.”

Her lips curved into a small smile and she closed her eyes again. “Good job, G.I. Joe.”

“How do you feel?” He had so many things he wanted to say to her.

“Like I was shot.”

He chuckled and then turned serious. “You could have gotten yourself killed. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Her eyes fluttered open and her amber irises bore into him. “I had to do something.”

“You should have let me handle it.”

Her eyebrows arched high on her face. “And why’s that? Because you’re a man and I’m a woman?”

“No,” he said, gathering his courage. “Because a man should always rescue the woman he loves.”

Mickey’s mouth dropped open and her eyes searched his. “You love me?”

“More than I realized. When I saw you lying on the floor and I thought I’d lost you…” His throat closed up and words failed him. The moisture lingering in his eyes coursed down his face. He stood, leaned over the bed, and framed her round face with his hands. “I love you, Mickey. I don’t want to ever lose you.”

“I love you too, Graham. Who would have ever thought something so good could have come out of all of this.”

“Lord knows I didn’t,” Graham said with a laugh.

“Can you promise something?”

“Anything,” he said, as his thumb caressed her cheek.

“When I get out of the hospital, can we leave the excitement behind us? I don’t think I can handle any more drama.”

“You got it. I’ll do my best to make sure your life is as dull as possible.” He laughed and then pressed his lips to hers. His heart soared and he pulled away and stared down into the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. A face he planned to see every day for the rest of his life.

Mickey’s husky laugh skimmed over him and set his blood on fire. “I’m going to hold you to that, G.I. Joe.”

He grinned and took her mouth in his. No matter what the future held for them, life with Mickey would never be boring.