When the Smoke Clears (The Fallout Duet #2)
1. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sutton
“G oddammit!” My shout fills the cab of my truck as I drive recklessly into the night.
It’s an effort to steady my thoughts and formulate a plan. My clenched fingers ache from the pressure I put on the steering wheel. Maci declaring her love and ending the call is not how our story ends. I will not allow those to be the last words I hear from her lips.
I press Nick’s speed dial preset on the dash screen.
“Yo, man!” His carefree voice fills the cab.
“I need your help.” There’s no time for pleasantries.
His tone changes immediately. “What’s up? What can I do?”
“Where are you?” I blast through the intersection of the county road and Main Street, the truck tires bouncing onto the city street thanks to my speed coming down the hill.
“Just coming back from the lake, checking for poachers.”
“Can you meet me on Bluebonnet Cove? The address is twenty ten. Maci’s there and that fucker that attacked her the other night showed up. I’m in town headed that way.”
“Absolutely. I’ll call it in.” Some best friends might balk at being called directly into danger, but with Nick’s career as a Game Warden, he doesn’t even hesitate—though it’s not why I call him first. Nor is it why I think he jumps into action whenever it’s needed.
“Thanks. See you there.” I don’t wait for a response before disconnecting the call and dialing Maci back. My heart thrums faster with every unanswered ring. When I’m routed to voicemail, I hang up and repeat the process with the same result.
I ignore the possibility that I won’t make it in time, instead focusing on the knowledge that we’ll have backup, and being grateful that Nick has the sense to call this in, because I skipped that part. Meanwhile, every second spent not knowing what’s happening makes the vise holding my heart squeeze tighter and tighter. Another frustrated yell fills the cab.
The engine roars, yielding to my increased force on the gas pedal. My focus turns to not driving off the damn road before I make it there. The police could attempt to stop me for any of the countless traffic violations I’m committing, but nothing will stop me from reaching Maci first. It’s only been ten minutes since we spoke, but it’s still ten minutes too long.
Her street is pitch-black, aside from the ray of my headlights. Since all the houses on this street sit on at least five acres, even if any of the neighbors are home, there’s a good chance they won’t have a clue what’s going on tonight.
I whip into the driveway, taking the gravel drive between the symmetrical oak trees faster than usual. A black motorcycle sits near the house, and it’s impossible to stop before smashing into it with my truck. Not that I try. Metal crunches loudly, but I’m not worried about damage to the truck, thanks to the grill guard.
The transmission jerks into park, still settling as I jump out.
The clear pop of a gun firing greets me.
A curse flies from my mouth and I start running toward the fire pit, lit like a beacon in the center of the backyard. Movement on the other side of the pit is obscured by the smoke and flames.A second round fires.
The dark mass of grappling bodies tips to one side. Maci’s smaller figure is overtaken by Colt’s taller frame. She falls backward and Colt drops awkwardly to his knees before falling forward.
Free of the smoke and firelight, I take in the sight before me as I round the pit. Colt pins Maci down. Her head is thrown back as if her neck is hyper-extended. She’s sucking in wild breaths and her eyes are closed.
There isn’t a word for the panic cementing my body into place.
My voice breaks on the way out. “Firecracker?”
“Cowboy?” Her head lifts hastily from the ground, eyes shooting my way. “Oh my God.” Relief coats her words, and she drops her head back to the ground. There’s a catch to her breathing, like she might start crying.
“Fuck.” I yank Colt off her, chucking him to the side, half expecting him to roll and face me. He doesn’t fight back, his body limp. Maci attempts to crab walk backward from him, falling flat with a hiss. A pained grimace overtakes her face.
Colt’s neck is warm underneath my fingers. I’m no medical professional, but I can’t find a pulse. Maybe I’m in the wrong spot? “I think he’s…”
Dropping my hand from Colt, I move back to Maci, caught between physically assessing for injuries and not wanting to add to any potential pain. My eyes pinball over her and start to travel in an erratic downward path. “Are you hurt? Did you get shot?”
“Sutton! Maci!” Nick yells from somewhere far off.
Neither of us responds as Maci says, “He stabbed me.” Her left hand raises and loosely indicates the injured area on her lower torso before falling back to the ground. “It stings like a bitch, but I don’t know how deep it is.”
“Holy shit!” Nick yells, rounding the pit behind me. Both of our heads whip to him. “PD is right behind me.”
“Maci’s been stabbed,” I tell him before looking at Colt’s still body once more. “And I’m pretty sure he’s…gone.” It’s the least descriptive thing I can come up with. A dark gun reflects the firelight, discarded on the grass.
I look back to Maci, whose stare is fixed on Colt.
Nick bends over Colt’s body, pressing two fingers against his neck in the same way I did. He holds my gaze and after a moment shakes his head. “How long has he been down?”
I shake my head. “Not long.”
“I don’t think there’s any coming back from that.” Maci’s tone is dry, and she reaches up with her fingers, brushing them over her sternum as if signaling something. I follow her gaze back to Colt’s body.
Straining my eyes in the dim light, the wetness covering the back of his jacket becomes evident. Did she shoot him right through the chest?
“Let me see.” I turn, refocusing on Maci, and reach for her sweater to check the damage around her wound. A flash of reflective light catches my attention, and I halt. The hilt of the knife protrudes from her body. My eyes fly up to hers.
“What?” Her mouth tightens. “Is it that bad? It fucking hurts.” Her head drops back, and fire illuminates the wetness trailing down her cheeks.
It takes me too long to swallow and find the right words. “Maci, don’t move. The knife is still in you.”
“What!” Her body jolts as if she’s about to sit up, but she inhales sharply and freezes. Her voice cracks. “Take it out! I don’t want it in me. Please. Please.”
“I don’t think you should.” Nick’s calm voice comes from behind me. “It may be helping to stop the bleeding. You need to leave it.”
“Please, Sutton.” Her closed eyes pinch tighter and her fists clench at her sides. “I don’t want any part of him in me.”
My fucking chest hurts. I want to help her. I want to give her everything she wants and needs. But right now, I don’t think those two things are the same, and I don’t know how to tell her that she has to endure more than whatever I missed tonight. “I’m sorry. I can’t.” The words are painful.
She shakes her head vigorously, keeping her eyes pinned shut. It’s hard to tell in the light, but I think she’s getting paler. A fat tear rolls down her cheek.
“Fuck!” I look up at Nick. “How far is EMS?”
“Put pressure on it.” Nick jerks his chin toward Maci before speaking into the radio on his shoulder. I rip my overshirt off, wad it up, and press it against Maci’s injury.
A garbled voice responds and Nick echoes. “Five minutes.”
How long have I been here? Five minutes feels like an eternity.
With my free hand, I cup Maci’s face. Her green eyes pop open, shiny from tears. She’s beginning to shake like she has a fever. Either from shock or her injury, I don’t care. I just want her better already.
“You hear that, Firecracker? We’ll get you fixed up in no time.” I inch closer on my knees.
There’s blood on her cheeks. I don’t know who it belongs to. I don’t know anything.
Her eyes fall closed and her jaw tenses.
“Maci…”
“I’m okay.”
She’s far from okay. I can’t put into words that I need her to hang on. That she can’t leave me.
This wait is taking forever. Checking my watch is useless; it’s so dark I can’t make out the tiny lines. I roll my neck to release some of the tension, but that doesn’t help either.
Nick grips my shoulder from behind in solidarity.
Somehow, the blood thrumming loudly in my head, warring with the panic coursing through my veins, has ebbed, giving way to an eerie quiet. Logically, I know help is on the way, but right now it doesn’t feel like anyone knows we’re here. As the seconds tick by, my muscles continue to tighten bit by bit.
“You still awake, Firecracker?” I think she’s trying to control her emotions, compartmentalize, but she’s been quiet and still for longer than I’d like.
“Mmhmm.” Her face maintains the same shielded expression.
Sirens wail from the main road.
Two police cruisers pull into the driveway, followed by an ambulance. Slamming doors and voices mingle from what seems like too far away. Flashlights bob in our direction. More vehicles flood the narrow driveway.
Will an ambulance even be able to leave?
Nick meets the first officer and leads them our way. Thankfully, the paramedics have a little more pep in their steps and overtake the officers quickly.
One drops down in the grass. “What happened here?” Her voice is questioning, not accusatory, and I’m thankful for that. I can guess there will be a ton of questions thrown at Maci, along with a full investigation, and I will do my damndest to keep myself in check while that process takes place. But if anyone so much as looks at her wrong, I may lose my shit.
“I have a stab wound.” Maci’s face is tight, her tone formal.
The chatter from the officers gets louder. Movement of people in the yard increases. A second paramedic pushes in near me, cueing me to move out of the way.
Releasing Maci is physically painful. “I’m right here, Firecracker,” I say for her benefit as much as mine, as I stand and move behind the paramedics.
“Were you here when this took place?” One of the officers speaks to me from next to Nick.
I shake my head. “No. I showed up after.”
He looks pointedly at my bloody shirt. My hands are also covered in drying blood. “I probably have both of their DNA on me. He was on top of her when I got to them, and I pushed him off.” My breathing shallows and my gaze falls to Maci’s firearm in the grass again. “I think he was already dead. Or close.”
The officer nods. “Have you washed your hands?”
“Does it look like I’ve washed my hands?”
He presses his lips together and his nostrils flare.
Nick gives me a look from next to him.
“No. I haven’t washed my hands,” I say more calmly.
The officer bobs his head again. “What about her?” His chin jerks toward Maci.
I’m tempted to ask if this is his first day out of the academy, but I check myself. “No. Like I said, he was on top of her when I got here.”
Newbie writes notes in a small spiral pad and peppers me with more basic information questions. “The medical examiner should be here shortly. And the detective. He’ll want to speak with both of you,” he says when he’s finished.
He closes his notepad and sticks it in a shirt pocket. “I need to do a swab on your hands. Hang tight.”
One of the paramedics jogs past. I lose sight of him and my focus turns to the officers beginning to tape off the backyard. This whole situation is completely surreal.
Newbie goes through the process of swabbing my hands and then Maci’s. I may live on a ranch, but I’ve seen enough prime time TV to know he’s looking for gunshot residue.
A gurney rattles through the yard, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m the asshole standing around doing nothing while the woman I love is bleeding out on the ground.
Nick side steps closer to me. “She’s in good hands, man.”
I want to respond to him. He’s my best friend and has the connections that got a fast response here tonight. But I feel sick to my stomach with guilt and fear. Somehow, I think he gets it when all I manage is, “Thanks.”
He claps me on the shoulder.
Once Maci’s secure on the gurney, the first paramedic turns to me. “Are you family?”
“Yep,” I say, without question, and nod for them to lead the way to the ambulance. No one is separating me from Maci again. At this point, I’d consider drastic surgical procedures to adhere her to my damn body.