Electra Chapter 10 #2
I paced my small house. I was waiting for Rhodes to arrive.
My small amount of belongings deemed necessary were packed and ready to go.
I looked around the house and felt a wave of sadness wash over me.
I’ve been living here in South Ponte Verda Beach for two years.
Its relative proximity to St. Augustine had been one of the reasons I was chosen to check out the Horsemen. The other was more personal.
I knew that my other belongings would be packed up and stored for me, but it still hurt.
I hated to leave. Maybe this was a sign that it was time for me to move.
There was a whole lot of Florida left, or I might leave Florida altogether.
God knew it held enough pain for me to do it.
The only thing keeping me here was Rhodes and memories.
I took another circuit through the house.
As I returned from my final walk-through, a loud knock at the door greeted me.
Thank God, he was here. I rushed to the door, but took a moment to check.
I gasped when I saw it wasn’t Rhodes on the cement pad outside my door.
It was Swerve. What the hell was he doing here?
I was tempted to ignore him, but my earlier anger reemerged, making me unlock and yank the door open.
I glared at him. I noted vaguely that he didn’t have Dozer with him.
“What the hell do you want?” I snapped.
“I want to talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you, Swerve. You made yourself clear at the office. Let me make myself clear. Stay away from me. Now, leave. This is private property. And if your little friends are watching, tell them to leave, too.”
“Electra, I’m here alone. No one is watching you. I believe we have things to discuss, and I’m not leaving until we do. If you want to call your friend, then go ahead.”
I was tempted to slam the door in his face, but I decided to get it over with.
I was a masochist. Even if he hated me, I wanted one more chance to be near him and soak in the feelings he stirred in me.
It would be the last time it would occur.
I stepped back and gestured for him to enter.
As he rolled past me, I inhaled. There it was. He wore the cologne that I loved.
I closed the door and, like last time he was here, I slipped forward to move the chair out of the way.
I dropped down on my couch. I wasn’t offering him a drink this time.
I knew that despite wanting to be near him one last time, the pain of it would grow to be too much.
I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible before Rhodes came.
We didn’t say anything, just stared at each other. Eventually, I broke the tension.
“Say what you came to say, Swerve, then leave. I have things to do.”
“I want to ask why you did it? Why let your…friend talk you into spying on Wrath’s Recovery?
What made him think that we were up to anything underhanded or illegal?
You had to see early on that our finances are in order.
There’s nothing shady about what we do. Was it just Recovery he thought that about, or are there other plants in our other businesses?
I think you owe it to us to tell me and to have them removed.
If you don’t tell me, we’ll find them. Micro’s working on it as we speak. ”
I was torn. I should keep my mouth shut, but I hated leaving him and the club wondering. Instead of answering him, I asked a question of my own.
“Why do you keep harping on Rhodes being my boyfriend or lover? What difference does it make who he is to me? The focus should be on the fact that he’s an FBI agent, not on his connection to me. And for the last time, he’s not my lover or boyfriend. He never has been. He’s—”
While I was saying this to Swerve, I rose and edged closer to him.
He was angled forward in his chair. As my admission that Rho was never my lover and I was about to tell who he was, Swerve reached out and captured my hips.
I was jerked toward him, throwing me off balance.
I stumbled, grabbed the handles of his wheelchair to steady myself, and ended up sitting on his lap, facing him.
He practically lifted me there. As I gaped in shock, he gripped the back of my head and brought our mouths together.
I should’ve fought him, but I couldn’t. I wanted that kiss desperately.
As he hungrily consumed my mouth, using his tongue to lick and thrust while his teeth nibbled, I returned the favor.
My body exploded into flames at the first taste of him.
His mouth tasted like cinnamon, as if he’d been eating cinnamon candy.
I moaned when his hands slid up from my hips to cup my breasts.
I wish there were nothing between us. Clothing was overrated at the moment.
Who knew what would have happened or how long it would have lasted if we weren’t interrupted by frantic knocking and Rhodes yelling for me? “Ellie, open up!”
I struggled to clear my befuddled brain enough to think.
A growl of annoyance came out of Swerve.
He kept kissing me even when I pressed lightly on his shoulders.
Suddenly, my door came flying open and crashed into the wall.
I cried out and jerked away from Swerve, twisting to see Rhodes entering my house with his gun drawn. He wore a ferocious look.
“Let go of her, right this fucking second,” he bellowed at Swerve.
Swerve’s arms came around me and tightened. He glared at Rhodes. “Put your goddamn gun away. How dare you come in here with that thing drawn? You could’ve hurt Electra. What’s your fucking problem, Fed? We’re in the middle of a private conversation,” Swerve snarled.
“I’d never harm her. Ellie, come here,” Rhodes demanded.
Swerve’s hold tensed. “She’s staying right where she is. You can’t tell her what to do. Leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Are you ready? Where are your bags?” my friend asked.
Swerve stiffened and then glanced around. I knew when he spotted the luggage. He gave me an accusatory look.
“You said he wasn’t your lover. It sure seems like he is, if you’re packed to go away with him and he’s in here demanding I leave you alone like a jealous lover. I guess you can’t stop lying. I was an idiot to come here.”
As he finished speaking, he let go and pushed me away. I had to stand to stop from falling off his lap. He swung his chair around to head for the door. I let my pain loose.
“Go to hell, Swerve! You have no idea what those bags mean or anything else. And you, how dare you burst in here like a lunatic?” I yelled at Rhodes.
“We don’t have time for this, Electra. We’ve got to go. Let him go back to his club. You don’t want him mixed up in this,” Rhodes warned.
“I think it’s too late for you to worry about that. You targeted my club and the business I manage,” Swerve snapped.
“That’s not what—” Rhodes’s comeback was cut short.
His hand went up to his ear. Shit, he was wearing an earpiece. Someone was on the other end. Why would he have someone listening? I moved toward him, bringing me behind Swerve’s chair. Then I heard the roar of an engine and the squeal of tires out front. I shifted to see who it was.
Rhodes screamed, “Get down!” a second or two before bullets began peppering the front of the house.
Without hesitation, I lunged, twisted, and yanked Swerve out of his wheelchair.
He turned toward me as I did it. As we fell, I felt fire in my arm, but I ignored it.
My only thought was to protect him. When we hit the floor, I rolled us so I covered his body with mine.
Swerve attempted to push me off him, but I held on.
Rhodes was crouched next to the door. He was firing back. He needed help.
“Stay here,” I shouted in Swerve’s ear before I crawled off him and scrambled toward the chair I’d moved for Swerve.
Reaching underneath it, I tore free the handgun and magazines secured there. I crawled toward the window overlooking the front yard where the bullets were coming from. Reaching it, I used the heavy bookend nearby to break out a small pane of glass. As soon as it was gone, I returned fire.
I noticed a white, full-panel van outside with the side door open.
Three men were firing guns from it, and one was doing the same from the passenger-side window.
The next thing I knew, Swerve was on the opposite end of the window, shooting back after breaking out a pane there.
I didn’t have the time to tell him to get down.
One of the men fell out of the van onto the ground.
That wasn’t mine. A moment later, the guy I was aiming for fell.
Score. As I shifted to aim at the remaining two, they appeared to be arguing, but I wasn’t able to hear what they said.
Unexpectedly, the van took off. As they raced out of sight, I collapsed against the wall.
“Are you two okay?” Rhodes asked.
“I’m fine,” Swerve answered.
I was about to say the same when the feeling of wetness and pain in my left arm made me glance down. Blood was running down it. Oh, right, I’d been shot.
“Christ, she’s been shot!” Swerve bellowed, then he was commando crawling over to me. There was broken glass on the floor.
“Swerve, stop. There’s broken glass,” I warned.
“Fuck the glass. Are you hit anywhere else?” he asked urgently as he reached me.
“Shit,” Rhodes muttered. I heard him coming my way.
Swerve placed his palm over the bullet hole and applied pressure. I hissed. Rhodes tried to run his hands over my body when he got to me. I slapped his hands away.
“I’m not hit anywhere but there. I don’t think it’s serious,” I panted through the fiery pain.
“Get me something to tie around her arm. Quick,” Swerve ordered.
To my surprise, Rhodes did it. He was back in no time with a couple of towels. He folded one, and when Swerve removed his hand, it was placed against the wound. The other was used to hold it in place, with the knot tightly resting over the wound. It constricted my arm tightly. I moaned.
“We’ve got to get out of here before they come back with reinforcements. Son of a bitch, how did they find this place so fast?” Rhodes muttered.
“You brought this danger here. You leave. Who would be after her unless it’s to hurt you? She’s been shot because of you,” Swerve accused.
“Shut up. You have no idea what’s happening here. I don’t know if where you were going is still safe, Ellie. Shit, we need to hide you so you’re secure,” he muttered.
“Still safe? You were moving her because you knew she was in danger? What the hell?” Swerve snapped.
Tired of the conversation and the time being wasted, I spilled.
“They’re after me. I have enemies—those who want nothing more than to see me dead. And before you ask why, let me introduce myself. I’m Special Agent Electra Prescott, FBI.”
Astonishment morphed across Swerve’s face. Just as it did, I heard the roar of engines. Preparing to go out fighting, I shifted to get to my knees again. When I did, the room whirled around me. My hand holding my gun was shaky. I had to get my spare ammunition.
“Give me my bag next to the suitcases,” I asked.
“What else do you have in there?” Rhodes asked. I doubted he had much, if any, ammunition left.
The engines came to a stop outside. Too late. Tears filled my eyes. Not the way I wanted to die, but I guess you didn’t get a choice. Swerve raised himself using the console table under the window.
“Don’t shoot. It’s reinforcements. My brothers are here,” he announced with satisfaction.
Hearing that, I sagged against the wall. I was seeing dark spots.
“Swerve, are you in there?” a voice yelled. It sounded like Scorpion’s.
“Yeah, I’m here. I’ve got Boone and Electra with me. She’s been shot, and the enemy may be coming back with reinforcements. We need to get the hell out of here,” he yelled back.
There was swearing. I barely glanced up when my house was filled with bodies. The next thing I knew, Wolverine dropped down next to me.
“Electra, I need to see what we’re dealing with. As soon as I know we can move you, we’ll go.”
As he messed with the towels, I watched Scorpion and Butcher wheel Swerve’s wheelchair over and help him into it. As he settled into it, he was whispering to them. I was too tired to attempt to eavesdrop. I cried out when Wolverine pressed too hard on my wound.
“I’m sorry, honey, I’m trying to be gentle,” Wolverine assured me.
“Try harder,” I muttered, causing him to chuckle.
“Can I take her yet? We’ve got to move,” Rhodes said impatiently. He was keeping watch out of the window.
“Give me a few,” Wolverine told him.
Vaguely, I noticed that the huddle of Swerve, Scorpion, and Butcher had broken up, and they were coming to a stop in front of me.
“Wolverine, we’re moving out. You can work on her in the van,” Butcher informed him.
“What van?” Rho asked.
“The one that’s taking her with us. Swerve said she’s an agent, and those men who shot this place to hell are after her. You’re questioning if the place you plan to take her is still safe. Well, we can ensure she’s hidden and protected. We have a place for her,” Butcher informed him.
I perked up to hear where, and I wondered why they would offer to help. To them, I was the enemy. However, I couldn’t bring my troubles to them.
“No, you can’t. Don’t get involved. Let me go with Rho,” I said hoarsely.
“Like hell I will,” Swerve growled.
I opened my mouth to say more, but nothing would come out. I blinked twice. Why was the room becoming so dark? It wasn’t that late. Was it?
“Electra, honey, look at me. Listen to me,” Rhodes demanded. I tried, I honestly did, but as I moved my head, the darkness surrounded me. I heard swearing, and my name was called, but I wasn’t able to fight to stay with them.