37. Knight
KNIGHT
The chopper landed and we raced toward the waiting vehicles I had procured for us. Dash raced over to me, ducking low as the chopper’s blades slowed.
“We’ve got him!” he shouted over the whooshing air. “He’s on the main detail. He’ll be in one of the surrounding vehicles, if not the very one with the president!”
“Break up!” I shouted. “We don’t let those vehicles get outside the city!”
Cash, Fox, and I got in the first vehicle, Cash in the passenger seat while Fox sat in the back, bouncing around as he pulled out a bag of Funyuns.
“Man, it’s a beautiful day for a car chase!”
“Just remember the objective. We can’t let Watch get his hands on the president.”
“No, siree, Bob,” he grinned. “Ha! This is awesome. The gang is back together again. We’re hot on their tail and ready to?—”
“Fox!” Cash snapped, wincing as he tightened the wrap on his leg.
“Right, boss. We should be singing show tunes instead.”
I took a hard right, spotting the motorcade up ahead, but the road was blocked.
Pushing down on the gas, I did my best to get ahead of them.
Luckily, we had four more vehicles spread out, all of them moving toward the same goal.
If we didn’t stop this, Kate would have to worry about a hell of a lot more than just living without me.
“There!” Cash shouted.
I slammed on the brakes, spotting the opportunity to break through the crowd. It was a narrow alleyway, but we would fit. Backing up, I turned down the alley and hit the gas just as the first car from the motorcade passed.
“Hold on!” I shouted as the Secret Service turned to us, firing their weapons. Bullets hit the window, piercing the glass, but I didn’t slow, not even when one of the bullets pierced my shoulder.
They dove out of the way at the last second and I slammed hard into the second vehicle, smashing it into a meter. We jerked to a stop and I got out, dodging bullets as I ran for the president’s vehicle.
Return fire sounded around us. The rest of OPS was there, not hitting the Secret Service agents, but holding them back so we could get to our target. I knew there was no getting inside that vehicle, not when they would keep him locked down inside.
I slid across the back of the car, slamming the butt of my gun into the agent’s head.
Gripping him around the neck, I kept my voice low.
“The president is in danger. One of your agents has been turned, and if you don’t get him out of there now, his brains are going to be scattered across the back seat. ”
“Fuck you!” he shouted, trying to wriggle out of my grasp.
I let him go, lowering my weapon ever so slowly. “I’m with a protection agency. My credentials are in my pocket. I’m telling you right now, there’s a man whose goal is to shoot the president. You need to contact whoever’s driving and get him the fuck out of there.”
I had never in my life done anything like this. I did things by force, and backing down was not in my repertoire, but this was a special case. I knew these men wouldn’t believe me if I tried to smash my way into the car. My only hope was that I could convince this man to believe me.
Carefully, I moved my hand toward my jacket, using only two fingers to pull out the picture of Watch.
“This man,” I said, carefully handing it over, “used to be a Secret Service agent. Since then, he has turned, and his only goal today is to kill the president. He worked his way back onto the detail because he knew he could get close to him. Check him right now.”
To his credit, the agent didn’t immediately believe me, but he did take the picture and call it in to the driver. Backing up, he made sure he was clear before holding the picture against the window for the driver to see.
Cash and Fox crept closer, keeping a good distance between themselves and the vehicle, but were watching for any threats.
“Secure the president,” the agent said into his comms. “Open the door!” he shouted at the driver.
Keeping my gun pointed at the ground, I nodded to the agent as he approached, while a dozen other agents surrounded us.
Cash and Fox took up the other side of the vehicle, Fox’s eyes glittering with the desire to get his hands on Watch and boil him in acid.
I shook my head slowly at him, catching the disappointment on his face as he realized what I was saying.
The agent nodded to me, and then flung the door open, dragging the president out while covering him with his body. My gun was raised and firing before Watch could take the shot. Falling back into the seat, he didn’t move.
“Get him out of here!” the agent shouted, turning his back on me.
They moved as one, surrounding the president as they hurried him to another vehicle. The door was shut and they were flying out of there with a second car tailing them the whole way.
Sighing, I leaned into the car, thanking my lucky stars that it was over. Fox dipped his head inside the vehicle, then huffed in annoyance.
“You know, I could have had some fun with that one.”
“It’s over, Fox.”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Don’t you have some Funyuns to eat?” I snapped, feeling the tension in my body strung way too damn tight.
“It’s just not the same when you don’t have someone to boil,” he muttered.
“You eat Funyuns all the time.”
“Yeah, but this had the promise of so much fun. And then it was all just taken away like that,” he said, snapping his fingers.
Slamming the door, he marched around to my side, pouting like a little kid. “You know, I expect you to get me another one.”
“Sure, I’ll just go pluck one off the streets.”
He kicked at the ground. “Well, it’s not the best solution, but it’ll have to do.”
“Maybe we could do something crazy like get your boss to a hospital.”
His eyes found Cash leaning heavily against the wall. “Yeah, I guess we could do that.”
His eyes lit, but I interrupted him. “No, we’re not snatching anyone from the hospital.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Sure you weren’t,” I huffed.
“Hey, so now that we’re brothers and all?—”
“We’re not.”
“And we just finished this crazy job. I was thinking maybe we should buy you another pair of boots.”
Frowning, I looked down at my shoes. “There’s nothing wrong with the ones I’m wearing.”
“Right, but…well, see the thing is that I’ve been wearing your last pair for a very long time. Now, don’t get me wrong. They’re great boots, but they’re getting a little thin, and?—”
“Fox, why don’t you just get your own damn shoes?” I asked as I walked over to Cash, shoving my shoulder under his arm. He grunted at me in thanks, his skin looking rather pale from blood loss.
“I do have my own shoes, but these…these are special shoes. They’re The Kamau’s shoes! That’s something I can’t just get rid of.”
“Christ, Fox. They’re just?—”
Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I shoved Cash to the ground, but I wasn’t fast enough. Fox spun, flinging his knife through the air at Watch, who was half out of the car.
“Fox!” I shouted as I reached for my gun, but I was too late. Watch fired a single shot before he collapsed onto the ground. Fox stumbled back into my chest, his body sagging heavily against my own.
Panic ripped through me as I lowered him to the ground, careful not to injure him as blood spilled from his chest. “Shit,” I cursed, tearing open his shirt as Cash fired two shots at Watch just to make sure he was down.
Blood pooled under my fingers as I pressed my hands to his chest, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood.
“I…got him,” Fox wheezed, his eyes lit up. “Can’t get the…Phantom Funyun.”
“Fox, shut the fuck up,” Cash muttered, tearing his shirt off and putting it under Fox’s head.
He immediately dialed 9-1-1, but the amount of blood…Fuck, this was really bad. “Fox, just stay with me,” I commanded.
“I fucking told you, a knife isn’t faster than a bullet,” Cash snapped.
“Love…my knives,” Fox grinned, his teeth stained with blood.
I cursed under my breath, trying to figure out what else I could do to save his life, but if the bullet nicked his lungs…What the fuck was I supposed to do?”
“Fox, Anna will kill you if you die on her,” I threatened. “Do not leave her behind. Do you hear me?”
His eyes fluttered before he reached up, his fingers brushing against my jacket. “My brothers…” His other hand searched for Cash’s, and he took it, gripping it tightly in his.
Anger simmered under an unnamed emotion that I couldn’t think about right now. My eyes blurred as I stared at the annoying fucker who had somehow become like a brother to me. Who had just taken a bullet for me.
“Fox, fight,” I yelled. “Stay with me, alright? Stay with me!”
“Couldn’t have asked…for a better family,” he said, choking on the words. “Tell Anna…”
But the words never came. His eyes turned glassy right before they slipped closed and his hand went limp in mine.
“Fox!”
“Come on, you fucker,” Cash shouted, shoving me aside to work on his friend. “Do not die on me now. You don’t get to do this. Not after all those fucking musicals you made me watch. Not when?—”
The EMTs arrived, shoving me aside, but Cash was still yelling at Fox.
“Don’t fucking do this! I didn’t…” He choked on the words, his head dipping as he stared at his friend lying on the ground.
I tugged him back, letting the paramedics do their thing, but the way he was laying there…
The sound of the sirens drowned out everything else as they wheeled him away, telling us which hospital they were taking him to as they left.
“What happened?” FNG shouted as he ran up.
I struggled to find the words, but there was nothing.
No words could describe what just happened. My eyes slowly shifted to the man hanging out of the car. I should have made sure he was dead. I should have checked his pulse, but I stupidly assumed someone from the police department would handle that.
And Fox paid the price. He stepped in front of that bullet for me.
My brothers.
What kind of brother was I? I let him down.
Cash gripped my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. “That was not your fault.”
“I—”
“No,” he snapped. “I see where your head is going. Fox wouldn’t want that, so stop fucking thinking about that. All we can do now is get to the fucking hospital.”
It was hard to think of anything else but what had just happened, but he was right. Fox needed us.
“You’d better prepare yourself for months of musicals while he’s recovering because I’m not taking on Fox duty for the next three months all by myself.”
I nodded, willing to do fucking anything right now if it meant he was coming home. Hell, I would watch every musical he owned if he just fucking lived.
“Come on. Let’s get to the hospital.”
When I finally looked up, half of OPS was surrounding us, and they all looked just as devastated as I felt. But the anger…I shoved it down and stormed off toward the ambulance.
Fox would be fine.
He was too stubborn to allow something like a bullet to take him down.