Chapter 13 #3
The man closest to Eddie pulls a gun out, and I pull the trigger without hesitation or guidance from Audrey. I know I have given my position away to the sniper, but I have to simply hope the sniper isn’t a phenomenal shot who can reach us from this far.
A second guy goes down from a shot from someone on our team while I shift my gun up and grab the bolt handle.
I hear a shot near us, but the sniper is off by at least ten feet since the distance between us is so great.
I know I need to take down the sniper before he takes another shot and leave the others to the three who are below.
“Two o’clock, ridge. See the red rock at the tip, to the left the sniper is tucked between the jagged peaks that are narrowing,” Grayson says hurriedly.
“Contact,” I respond, gun ready.
Audrey quickly calls out the wind and I adjust accordingly before taking the longest shot I’ve ever even tried.
I’m already prepared to shoot a second time before it even hits because I’m well aware I’m not going to make this shot on my first try.
Hell, probably not even on my second, but maybe he’ll draw back if I get close enough.
“Contact,” Audrey says, and I watch the man’s head snap back as he hits down on his back.
Unable to even hesitate, no matter how surprised I am, I shift back to the others, but the three men are all down. Even so, I don’t dare look away. I can’t drop my focus until I’m positive that no one is hiding and waiting for a moment of distraction.
“Sniper is down. Status?” Grayson asks Devon.
I can’t hear what they’re saying but I have my weapon ready.
I watch as Eddie drags Tate back while Devon runs out into the open where he grabs the gun and the money then hurriedly darts after them.
Once I’m positive there’s no one else out here, I let myself draw back and discover that my heart is beating out of my chest. It was calm and steady while I took my shots, but now that I’m moving, I realize how much adrenaline is pumping through my body.
“Move,” Grayson says as he puts a hand on my back and gives me a gentle push toward the truck. “Quickly.”
We rush to the vehicle, but the others beat us there. Someone’s already thrown the dog into the back of the truck as we slide into our seats. As I reach for my seat belt, I see blood smeared across the seat.
“Tate, did you get shot?” I ask anxiously.
“I’m fine. Just grazed my arm but nothing serious,” he assures me.
“That lucky coin of yours didn’t save your ass?” Eddie asks.
“Hey! It would have been a whole hell of a lot more serious if it hadn’t been for Cal. I’m confident we wouldn’t have had a full truck leaving this place if it wasn’t for him.”
While what he says makes me feel good, it also makes me feel anxious. It’s like there’s so much riding on me to do well. And if I fuck up, I could lose these people who mean so much to me.
“What the fuck was that?” Eddie asks. “Why did they shoot? This was supposed to be easy.”
“Well… I mean… Cal made it easy,” Devon responds, clearly not as freaked out about it as the rest of us are.
“It’s not a joke,” Eddie says, serious for once in his life. “What the fuck went wrong? Why did they shoot? Has our identity been exposed?”
“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine,” Devon assures him. “They just wanted to fuck us over so they could keep the weapon and take the money. It was either greed or someone who was trigger-happy and fucked it up for the rest of them, and they aren’t going to live to regret it.”
“That was a damn good shot, Cal,” Eddie says.
“Thank you,” I manage, heart still running absolutely wild.
“And he didn’t think he’d make a significantly closer one,” Audrey says.
They’re all cheering over it, and I’ve plastered a smile on my face while they laugh and guess the distance of the shot. But Grayson, noticing I’m a bit off, reaches over and squeezes my leg. “You okay?”
I give him a nod, even though I feel a bit jittery. “Yeah, of course.”
He watches me for a moment, like he can read my thoughts even though I’m doing my best to pretend to be as jovial as the rest of them.
They don’t let up, either. They spend the entire drive to the hospital talking about what could have happened.
Eddie starts claiming he could have made that shot while Audrey reminds him how bad he is with a rifle.
Then Eddie changes his tune to claiming that he could have single-handedly taken them all down even if I hadn’t been there.
We all know he’s giving us shit just to rile us up, but everyone falls for it and gives him shit right back.
Once at the hospital, Tate is taken inside to get stitched up, and Grayson pulls the dog out of the back of the truck.
“What are you doing with him?” I ask. “Especially looking like that.”
“I’m going to see if a vet clinic will take care of him and then hire someone to ship him to me or something. Who fucking knows,” Grayson says. “You want to walk with me?”
“Yeah,” I say as I join him.
We walk in silence for a minute before he glances over at me. “You sure you’re okay? You don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not… lying. I’m just… I’m fine, thank you.”
He’s quiet, like he’s taking his time to comprehend my words. “You don’t have to be alright. Taking a life isn’t easy.”
Hesitantly, I nod, and we continue walking, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
We’re still silent when we reach the vet clinic.
I go in with him, but I stand back as he explains to the vet what’s going on and agrees to pay for whatever they’re planning to do with the dog until he figures out how to get the dog to him.
When he’s done, Grayson meets me outside where I’m watching the cloudy sky starting to darken.
“I’m sure someone out here would adopt him,” I tell him. “Won’t it be hard for you to get him home?”
“I’ll figure it out,” he says, sounding determined.
I’m secretly quite happy about it because I’d really like to see the dog again. “Okay.”
“You still good?”
“Yeah… thank you. It’s not the first time I’ve taken a life… I’m handling it alright because I know that what I did kept the people I care about alive. If I hadn’t reacted quickly, it might not have been a short hospital visit. One of us could have been hurt so much worse or even died.”
He squeezes my arm. “You’re right. There are so many other ways that could have gone.”
We walk about half a block before I turn to him and finally manage to spit it out.
“Are you going to pretend the other night didn’t happen?” I ask, trying not to sound hurt.
“Was thinking about it,” he admits, which is definitely discouraging.
“Why?” I ask, unable to keep the hurt at bay. “If it was a mistake, just say it was a mistake and stop pretending like it didn’t happen at all.”
Grayson takes a deep breath. “I know… and I was going to. I tried to, but I can’t seem to convince my brain it was one. Honestly, I don’t know if I can be in a relationship right now. There’s just… I’m not sure I’m at a good point in my life to do so.”
“Is it me, then? You’ve had relationships before,” I say, wanting him to be honest if it is me so I can just be done.
“I know, but not a damn one of them went well. I just… I get so fucking wrapped up in my work that I never dedicate time to the relationship like I should. Now there’s talk of me being transferred, and you’re here…
and I just… I like you, Cal. I don’t want to ruin what we have right now.
If we did this… I’d want to be at a point where I could dedicate myself to more than just work. ”
“How long will you be gone for?”
“I don’t know. And that’s what makes it so damn hard. Will I be there a year? Or five years?”
“You’re not interested in leaving the military and settling down?” I ask.
“Honestly? No… so if we got serious… would you just get dragged all around as I moved here and there? Or stay where you were and we’d see each other on occasion?”
I want to tell him that I can do long distance, but he knows that. He’s not giving me the option because he doesn’t think it’s fair to me.
“For now, can we just keep going with things the way they are? And then… if things work out, they do, and if they don’t, I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”
I nod. “Yeah. Sure.”
Grayson smiles at me. “I’m going to be so good and not ruin this between us.”
“Good in whose eyes? Good in my eyes was you pinning me against the car and kissing me,” I mumble.
“Fuck,” he whispers.
I chuckle but promise him I’ll keep my hands to myself… for the time being, at least.