Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
E lliot had never before felt the white-hot rage he felt then. Maya, staggering next to Jessica, held his attention for a fraction of a second. He’d gotten as close as he could without forcing Jessica to make a move. He was close enough to grab Maya or take out Jessica if he needed to do so. Doing both, God, he prayed he was fast enough. Maya would always be his priority. Always.
Maya slurred, “She has a gun.”
That warning was his green light. He jerked his gun up and out of the holster. He hadn’t finished pulling the trigger for the second time before leaping forward. Jessica stumbled and pushed Maya backward, the gun in her hand pointed in his direction. Elliot grabbed Maya’s ankle as the woman fell. He held tight as her entire weight dropped over the edge and scrambled to grab her ankle with his other hand. As her body arched and slammed into the side of the building, he managed to grab her jeans with his other hand and then secured a grip on her leg.
“Jesus, I’m having a fucking heart attack here, man!” Con yelled as Elliot tried to gain leverage to pull Maya to safety. “She’s out, man. She’s out like a light.”
“I need help, asshole!” Elliot grunted as he wedged his knee under him and pulled her up.
“They're coming! Hold onto her.”
Like there was any other fucking option. Elliot bore down and pulled up with all his strength. He curled his arms and lifted her, inch by inch, hand over hand, using only her leg. Her other leg dangled limp as he worked. Elliot lifted her past her knee and pinned that portion of her leg to the ground under his weight. He then reached down to grab the waistband of her jeans. He hoisted her high enough to grab her other leg and pull it onto the cement. He heard the sounds of pounding feet behind him.
“You got her. Just don’t move. Stay on top of her legs.”
Elliot reached up and grabbed the front of Maya’s t-shirt. He groaned as he arched backward, pulling her up into a sitting position even though her butt was still off the ledge.
“Con, where the hell are they?” Elliot hissed.
“Right here.” Silas was on one side of him, and Rob was on the other. They grabbed Maya’s arms, and Elliot rolled off her legs. He pushed himself up and onto his knees.
Silas was checking her pulse. “She’s unconscious but breathing. Her heartbeat is strong.”
Rob ran back toward the elevator. Silas glanced at him as he worked to clean the blood off Maya’s cheek. “Flesh wound to the face. Nasty cut.” He glanced at Elliot. “She’s got a contusion to the head. Shit, massive swelling around her temple.”
Elliot nodded and took her hand in his. Panting, he said, “She was slurring her words.”
Con spoke, “I have an ambulance three blocks away. NYPD is on scene.”
“The undercover cop?” Elliot adjusted his legs and landed on his ass beside Maya.
“He wants a cigarette,” Silas said. “Needless to say, we didn’t stop.”
Elliot heard the ambulance's siren, and Rob ran back to them. “The elevator is up. Is she mobile?”
Elliot stood up. “I’ve got her.”
“Man, we can?—”
“No! I’ve got her,” Elliot spat out between clenched teeth.
Silas and Rob both backed off as Elliot bent down and picked her up. He carefully adjusted her and walked back through the building's skeleton to where the service elevator was waiting to take them downstairs.
“You know I’m going to reflect in my report that Guardian was heartless and didn’t give me a cigarette,” the man said as the three men walked up behind him. When he saw Elliot carrying Maya, he hissed a cuss word and then asked, “Is she okay?”
“She will be,” all three men said at one time. There was not an alternative Elliot would accept; that was for fucking sure.
“What about the boss’s woman?”
Elliot didn’t turn around but said, “Dead. I’ll need all the information you have on the boss.”
The NYPD cop was quiet for a moment, then he called after them, “You’ve got it. Just don’t forget about me up here.”
Elliot reluctantly released Maya to the EMTs when the elevator hit the ground floor, but he didn’t let her out of his sight.
“Can I take a look at you?” a medic asked him.
Elliot frowned at the woman. “Why?”
“You’re bleeding.” The lady motioned to his shoulder. Elliot looked down and saw the blood. He lifted his t-shirt and saw the flaming red channel at the top of his shoulder. He didn’t think Jessica had gotten a shot off.
“Rob, did they recover Jessica’s gun?”
“Hold on.” Rob jogged over to where the on-scene command post was being established.
“So, sir, are you okay with me cleaning you up? That could need stitches.” The medic held a pad of white gauze in one hand and what looked like sterilized water in the other.
Elliot shook his head. “Later.” He stood up and looked to the open space where he’d pulled Maya back from certain death.
“Con, do you have a film on Jessica’s last minute?”
“I do. What do you need?”
“Did she fire her weapon?”
“Hold on, backing up the weather camera. And there you are. Going forward. Hold on, let me play it back in slow motion. She points the gun at you. You shoot twice. She falls into Maya, and you’ve already launched. No, I don’t see any shot from her. Why?”
“Explain to me how I have a bullet burn on my shoulder.” Elliot looked to the building across from where he’d been playing out a life-and-death struggle.
“I can’t do that right now, but I’ll find out.” Con seemed pissed.
Rob came back. “The gun was recovered, and they’re running the serial numbers for the registered owner.”
“They are, as in NYPD, or we are?” Elliot wanted the shit done now.
“We are.”
Silas whistled from near the ambulance. “They’re ready to roll.”
Elliot nodded and headed toward the ambulance. He got up in the back, but one of the medics stopped him. “Dude, you can’t ride back here.”
Elliot turned and glared at the man. “And you can’t unass me from this seat, so get up front and get this bus moving.”
The medic muttered something about cops and shut the doors. The woman who tried to treat him chuckled. “He’s new. He’ll learn.”
Elliot took Maya’s hand in his and stared down at her. Nothing would make him leave her until he knew she was okay. Absolutely fucking nothing.
Except for the bossiest fucking ER nurse on the face of the earth. “Sir, you can’t go in there, and if you do, you’re going to risk her health. We need our full attention on her. Sit down, and someone will come out as soon as we know anything.”
“I’m her protective detail.” Elliot moved forward, and the five-foot-nothing nurse stepped in front of him. “Now, we are. This area is secure, and no one is getting in unless we buzz them back.” She looked at another nurse. “Carol, get this guy into a room and get that shoulder looked at.”
“I’m fine,” Elliot snapped at the woman.
“Yes, sure you are. I’m more concerned about my hospital. I don’t need you bloody and filthy out here. Let her clean you up, and I promise I’ll come out personally and let you know what’s going on. The doctors will want tests run. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Now, please, get yourself cleaned up.”
The woman turned and left him there with the other nurse. “Wendy is pretty intense, but she’s right. You should get this cleaned up. I’ll see if I can find a scrub shirt that will fit you. All this blood on your shirt makes you look like you were in a turf war.”
Elliot stared at the shut doors and barely heard the woman. “Dude, get yourself looked at. I have the camera system, and I can see her exam room. She’s got all kinds of people in there taking care of her,” Con said in his ear.
He blinked and looked down at the nurse. “All right.”
“I’ve got the NYPD Commissioner’s office on the line. Hold on a second,” Con added as Elliot walked to a small cubby with a curtain that could be pulled back for privacy. He took off the shirt, the fabric that had stuck to his wound pulled away, and blood began to flow again. The nurse worked to clean up the wound and stop the bleeding. “That should do it until a doctor comes in to see you. I don’t know how long it will be. We’re slammed.”
“I’ve got it,” Driscol Stapleton said as he walked in. “Elliot, it’s been a long time.”
Elliot extended his hand. “Driscol. Do you have any updates on Maya?”
“She just came in. I have our best neurologist coming down to take a look at her. I called in a personal favor.”
“Thank you for that.”
Driscol hummed his acknowledgment as he lifted the gauze pad on Elliot’s shoulder. “This will be fine with some butterfly bandages. Stitches won’t do much for you. This is another scar to add to your collection.”
Elliot chuckled. “What’s one more?”
“Right?” Driscol moved over to the side of the room and pulled out several packets. “The angle of the shot is strange. It is almost like someone was shooting straight down at you.”
Elliot played the events back. He shot and then dove into the cement to reach for Maya. The pain of landing on his arms and the sting of his shoulder he assumed was from the jarring landing, but …
“Con, the shooter was on the rooftop of the building across the street,” Elliot said and waited for a response. “Shit, he’s on a call.”
Driscol was staring at him. “Did you hit your head? You don’t have your phone.”
Elliot lifted an eyebrow, turned his head, and pointed to the small bud in his ear. “Communications.”
“Dang. That’s pretty cool.” Driscol continued to work on his shoulder. “Who was shooting at you?”
“Damned if I know. I thought all the threats were identified.” Which was the truth. They’d solved the bomb threat, and the shooters at the event were neutralized, or so they suspected. Jessica was obviously the threat who’d been terrorizing Maya—though the why of it was still unknown. Also unknown was how Jessica had a small band of armed miscreants with her. But he’d get answers from that NYPD undercover cop, or so he hoped.
“Sorry, I’m back. You said the shooter was on top of the building?” Con interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes. From the angle of the shot on my shoulder. If I’d flung myself any further, it would have hit deeper.” He looked at Driscol, who nodded.
“That’s what it looks like to me,” Driscol said as he applied the last bandage.
Con sighed. “Okay, I’m going to get Brando to look for other cameras in the area and see if we can get a visual on the shooter. You’ve got permission to meet with the undercover detective. We processed him like we would any other suspect, and he’s incarcerated. The commissioner wants you to wait a day before you talk to him. At that point, his contemporaries will believe it’s routine questioning about the incident.”
Elliot sighed. “Delaying this won’t help our cause.”
“I know, but hopefully, Maya can fill in some blanks,” Con said.
“Do you know her status?”
“They took her to radiology. I followed her up when I was on the phone, and I have a visual on the door where she’s undergoing diagnostics,” Con said as Elliot heard the key tapping. “The medical record shows the attending physician requested a CT of her head.”
Elliot looked at Driscol. “Why would the physician order a CT?”
Driscol smiled. “To make sure she doesn’t have a skull fracture, that the brain isn’t swelling, bleeding, or any number of reasons. I would recommend one if I were the doctor seeing her.”
Elliot nodded. Alright. He could handle it. He just felt so fucking helpless. Again. But that time, it was different. He was there for her. He’d made a difference in the events that had happened.
A nurse he hadn’t seen before knocked on the wall, turning both his and Driscol’s attention to her. “Dr. Stapleton, two men from Guardian are here saying they need to talk with your patient.”
“Let them back, please,” Driscol said, taking off the gloves Elliot had failed to notice him putting on. “I’ll stop back and check on you and Maya after all the tests are done. At that point, I’ll be able to explain what’s happening and why.”
“Thank you.” Elliot extended his hand again.
Driscol shook it and then squeezed. “Come over for dinner and bring your lady.”
“My lady?” Elliot frowned.
“Oh, I’ve seen that look before. You can’t pull the wool over my eyes. You’re in love with that woman.” Driscol chuckled.
“I haven’t known her long enough to be in love.” Elliot frowned. In love with Maya? Could he be? Fuck yeah, he could be. Probably was cemented in that emotion, but he wasn’t sharing that with anyone but her.
Driscol laughed. “How long does it take to fall in love?”
Rob stood at the curtain with Silas. “For those two? I think maybe a day. Love at first sight or damn close to it.”
“That sounds about right.” Silas's shit-eating grin was on full display. “Hey, Driscol. How’ve you been?”
“I’m good. I won’t complain. Elliot, I’ll leave you in capable hands. Give that time to heal up, and then you can remove those bandages. I’d replace them for the next week or so just so it doesn’t break open and bleed.”
“We got a message from Ross. Please contact Archangel as soon as possible.”
Elliot blinked in surprise. “Why?”
“Dude, I don’t know. Do I look like I have the pull to question my boss, let alone the boss of all bosses?” Rob turned to look at Silas. “Do I look like I have a death wish?”
“Sometimes.” Silas shrugged. “After you finish your call, you need to give us your statement about what happened. We have a couple of bodies in the morgue that require an explanation.”
Elliot nodded. “Give me five.”
“We’ll give you as long as you need.” They moved away from the cubicle but stayed in the emergency department. Elliot pulled out his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. “Are you okay?” Archangel asked.
“Yes, sir. Just a graze from a bullet.” Elliot wasn’t downplaying the injury. It was what it was.
“Thank God. You realize if you get damaged in any significant fashion, our entire family will fly to whatever hospital you’re at to stand vigil.”
Elliot laughed. “Why?”
“Why?” Archangel echoed. “You’re family, Elliot. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that. My children call you Uncle Elliot. You’re a big brother to Faith, and you made it possible for me to do my job. I couldn’t have done anything if you hadn’t been there to take care of my family and me.”
Elliot swallowed hard. He knew he felt that way about the family, but knowing it was reciprocated was a hell of a pile of emotions. Good emotions he wasn’t sure how to process at the moment. “Thank you, sir. I wasn’t aware.”
“Then you need your head examined.” Archangel laughed. “Do you need more assistance with this case? Do you have enough resources?”
“Con is all I need right now, sir,” Elliot said. “This case has tentacles, and every time we think we have one identified and stopped, another emerges.”
“I understand. You have the full capacity of Guardian behind you. Do whatever it takes, my friend.”
“As long as it takes, sir.”
“Will you ever call me Jason?”
Elliot laughed. “Yes, sir. Someday. But today is not that day.”
Jason laughed. “Take care of yourself.” The line disconnected.
Elliot smiled and looked at the phone. Well, hell, he didn’t expect anything like that to happen, ever.