Chapter 15 Machine
FIFTEEN
MACHINE
I’d been too late. That was all that kept running through my mind as I sat next to Badger’s hospital bed.
Her usually bright complexion was pale, with a grayish hue.
The unwashed ash could contribute to that, but my mind couldn’t get past how deathly still she was.
An oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth. Seeing her like this made my head spin.
My mind flashed back to my last tour in Iraq before I shook my head out of it.
I couldn’t let myself go there now. Not when she needed me.
I grabbed Jessica’s hand and leaned to press a kiss to all of her knuckles.
The familiar sparks ignited at our point of contact.
Any time I was around this woman, I felt a pull to her I couldn’t describe.
Seeing her like this opened a pit in my stomach.
The rescue mission at Dominos kept replaying over and over in my mind.
One of Ricci’s men had started a gas leak, and we were instructed to finish it, no doubt so Ricci could avoid the risk.
What we weren’t expecting was one of the patrons to be smoking a cigarette.
Everything happened so fast. The building went up in flames so quickly that we were almost way too late.
Patrons screaming, Evelyn’s team members blasted by debris, and worst of all, Badger stuck inside, choking on the smoke.
I don’t remember getting her out of the building.
I had gone in on instinct, needing to save the woman that I craved.
The woman that I needed in my life. My brain replayed the image of her lying deathly still on the parking lot pavement as I started CPR, breathing literal life into her until Kade’s paramedic contact showed up and took over.
Now we were in our makeshift hospital, medical staff buzzing around trying to make sure all of Evelyn’s team was okay. I craved Badger’s crass comebacks and snarky jabs right now. Instead, she lay there motionless. Her chest moving was the only indication that she was still alive and breathing.
Buddha stood at the foot of the bed. I hadn’t heard him approach. I let go of Jessica’s hand and rested my hands on my knees. He gave me a knowing smirk, but I wasn’t in the mood for any jokes.
“She’s going to be okay,” Buddha said as he looked at Badger. He turned to me with a concerned expression. “I can’t believe this is happening. When will Kade be here with Phantom and Arrow? He went to get them a while ago.”
I looked down at my watch. He was late, and I wasn’t sure why. But I knew better than to call when he was in the middle of something. If I didn’t hear from him in half an hour, I would go looking for him.
Not even two minutes later, I saw a van pulling up. My hackles raised, not knowing who the van belonged to. I shot up from my seat and ran out the door with my gun in my hand. I crouched down and aimed at the multiple shadows that I knew were a threat. I heard Buddha’s footsteps behind me.
“Machine! For fuck’s sake! It’s me!” I heard Kade yell.
“My bad!” I quipped back.
I stood up and watched as Kade opened the van’s rear double doors. Evelyn immediately pounced on Kade, screaming as she punched him. I moved fast, ripping her away from him. She kicked her legs out, fighting me.
“You fucking monster!” she screamed at Kade.
Whatever had just happened, it wasn’t good.
“Easy, Evelyn,” I said, attempting to soothe her anger.
“Let me go, Evan!” she growled out.
“If I let you go, do you promise not to go into attack mode and let us explain?” I asked her in a pleading tone. She didn’t respond. “Evelyn?”
“Yes,” she gritted out, her death glare still pinned on Kade.
I released her and stepped to the side. After taking a step back, I was able to fully assess the situation. Evelyn was covered in blood, her face bruised and discolored. Anger surged through me.
“What the fuck, Kade? What the fuck happened to her?” I yelled at him.
Kade’s whiskey-brown eyes met mine, and I knew that something terrible had gone wrong in our plan. His nostrils flared, his eyes drilling into Evelyn. He ignored my questions.
“Follow me, Evelyn.” He didn’t leave room for argument as he walked toward a large warehouse that seemed to be abandoned.
I knew that tone and knew that I needed to keep my mouth shut, even though the anger inside me was bubbling up. Kade held the metal door open for me. We remained silent as we walked through the building. The smell of antiseptics and cleaning products invaded my nostrils.
Evelyn turned around to face Kade and me after taking in the warehouse that we had turned into a medical facility. This allowed us the ability to make sure that everyone got the care they needed without law enforcement getting involved, and we had the contacts to do it.
“What is this?” she asked as her lip began to quiver.
Kade’s eyes softened as she looked at her. “I’m not the monster that you think I am.”
Before he could continue, Buddha called her name and scooped her up into his arms.
“It’s going to be okay. Shhh,” I heard him whisper into her ear. He placed her back on the ground and cupped her cheeks before looking behind her at Kade and me with a confused expression. “Where’s Arrow?”
“He’s… he’s gone…” Evelyn said softly.
My heart sank into my stomach at her words as I looked at Kade. His hands were in fists, and his jaw was set. That was all the confirmation that I needed. Buddha stormed around Evelyn and cracked his fist into Kade’s jaw.
“What the fuck did you do?!” he yelled as he swung again.
This time, Kade dodged the swing before punching Buddha in the gut. Evelyn and I lunged forward, pulling the two apart.
“I want to know what the fuck is going on, Romano!” Buddha roared.
I glared at him, my own anger flaring to life, but I could understand his rage. I hadn’t known Arrow very long, but I did know he was the glue of the broken team before me. I looked at Kade, who was fuming, and I knew I needed to get him to calm down before something even worse happened.
“You need to calm down, campagno. They need to know what we are doing here,” I whispered to him.
Kade’s chest heaved, his expression animalistic. “If I wasn’t fucking getting sucker-punched every five seconds, I would explain what the fuck happened!”
But as Evelyn turned to face us, she swayed on her feet and began to pass out. Buddha leaped forward to catch her and hurried her to the empty hospital bay. As nurses started working on Evelyn, I gestured for Buhdda to follow me out of the bay.
“I need to know what happened,” Buddha demanded, rage crossing his face.
“I know you do.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Give Kade a moment, and we will find out what happened.”
“He was my best fucking friend!” Buddha shoved his fingers along his buzzed hair, tears filling his eyes.
My heart broke for him. I knew far too well how it felt to lose not only a teammate, but also a best friend. But I couldn’t allow the visions that threatened to torture me to break through. Kade needed me. The Elite Team needed me. And most of all, she needed me.
Kade walked over to us with a panicked expression. He let out a curse in Italian under his breath before standing in front of Buddha.
His expression was pained as told us what had happened.
My jaw clamped so tight my teeth started to hurt.
Fucking Anthony Ricci. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
Aaron wasn’t supposed to get caught in the crossfire.
He wasn’t supposed to go after Evelyn. He knew the plan; he knew Kade was on top of it.
I took in my best friend, and for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
He wasn’t scared of anything usually, but what happened today had gotten to him.
Buddha stormed away. I gave Kade a knowing look, and he nodded at me.
I could tell by the way his eyes kept wandering to Evelyn that he needed to be beside her. I felt the same urge to be with Badger.
We parted ways, and I resumed my vigil next to Jessica’s bed, resting my head on her hand. I needed her to be okay, because if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t be either.