Chapter 10
Ries and Chris headed for the beach in the SUV. Carlos was a trained bodyguard driving to the docks. Ries took the gun Chris handed him, deftly checking the cartridge and then making sure the safety was engaged.
All three of the Kafatos brothers were excellent shots as well as proficient in various martial arts and fighting skills.
Ries watched the city pass by, processing the adrenaline rush of being in charge of a dangerous situation.
Ries wasn’t used to being the one people turned to in a crisis or dangerous situation; and yet, that’s exactly what had happened tonight.
Chris and the others had left the final decision up to him. It was a heady feeling, and one that Ries acknowledged he could get used to.
The air was thick with expectation and Ries felt a deep sense of unease the closer they came to the docks. He’d trained in the gym but never had he come close to having to use his training in real life.
The SUVs arrived at the docks and the security quickly exited the vehicles.
Chris looked to Ries for direction and he quickly delegated it back to his friend and head of security, grateful that Chris was willing to consult with him. Ries was relieved that he had someone better trained to handle the logistics.
Chris gave each man their assignment and they all dispersed, leaving Ries and him to take cover behind the guard shack at the edge of the pier. “We should be able to stay hidden there until it’s time to move. Are you ready?” Chris asked him in a hushed whisper.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Ries was silent as they trained their eyes on the dock before them.
As the sun began to glow below the horizon, several young boys started arriving.
Some walked, some rode their bikes, two older-looking boys even arrived in a vehicle.
They congregated silently at the edge of the dock, twenty feet from a security team member pretending to untangle his fishing nets.
Just as the sky lightened and turned from orange yellow to a brilliant white-blue, a man started walking towards the dock and the circle of teenagers.
Chris and Ries trained their eyes on the man who appeared to be their target.
He greeted the children so quietly they couldn’t make out his words.
One by one, he spoke to each child. He handed them a folded bill and they took off, no doubt on a mission to once again search the town for signs of Ries.
When all of the boys had been paid and dispersed, the man stood and then gazed intently toward the road, no doubt looking for Piotr’s arrival.
Chris touched the com in his ear and suddenly the dock broke out into chaos.
The pretend fisherman drew his gun but the target saw him and fired back, ducking behind a group of pylons as the security team returned fire.
“He’s got others with him,” Chris yelled, taking aim at a row of fishing shacks to their left.
The sound of gunfire was all around Ries, adrenaline pumping through his veins, as he stood up to take aim. He didn’t even think about it: his men were in danger and he had to protect them.
The wood of the guard shack splintered as bullets made their way through the structure, whizzing past Chris and Ries.
“Take cover,” Chris yelled, ducking to his left and running for a nearby sand dune that would shield him from the bullets.
Ries could feel his heart pounding in his head as he attempted to run for the safety of the dune.
His legs ate up the distance even as his feet slipped and slid in the sand. He was almost to his destination when fresh gunfire broke out and he heard the unmistakable sound of a woman’s scream.
Stephanie.
“Ries! Duck!”
Ries turned his head toward her voice, searching for her. His heart nearly stopped when he saw her barreling toward him.
Out in the open. Between him and the people shooting at him.
“Get down!” Ries screamed at her, changing his direction to intercept her.
Stephanie’s heart was in her throat when gunfire broke out. She was a dozen yards away from Chris and Ries. She was also in the perfect position to see a hidden shooter take aim at Ries and his security team.
When Chris ducked left and Ries stood up to go right, she held her breath willing him to make it to a point of safety. When the man she couldn’t see stepped out in the open and aimed for Ries, she acted instinctively.
He was running straight into the sight of an enemy shooter. A shooter Ries didn’t even know was there. She surged to her feet and raced toward him, screaming his name and hoping she could get to him before he stepped into the clearing that would surely mean his death.
When he turned toward her, she sped up, throwing herself at him and taking them both to the ground as gunfire rang above their heads.
Ries turned his body at the last minute, breaking their fall as they landed in a tangle of arms and legs.
“Stay down. There’s a shooter to my right,” she breathed against his ear.
Ries didn’t speak. She lifted herself up to look at his face and paled at the red circle on his shoulder.
“Oh, my God. You’ve been hit. Ries, talk to me.”
“Skata!” He growled through clenched teeth. “By the gods, getting shot hurts!”
Stephanie felt a sense of momentary relief upon hearing him speak, and the accompanying groan of pain as he attempted to shift their positions so that she was no longer lying on top of him.
Stephanie scooted off his chest, unable to take her eyes off his wound.
Shots continued to ring out around them. When dirt and debris close to their heads flew in the air, Stephanie quickly pushed and dragged Ries behind a large sand dune.
Salt grass provided them further cover but Stephanie was taking no chances. She stripped off her t-shirt and pressed it to his shoulder, hoping it was enough to slow down the bleeding.
When Ries laid his hand on hers, the stress and reality of the situation sunk in. She tried to hold herself together but promptly burst into tears.
“Please don’t die…”
Ries couldn’t stand the sight of Stephanie crying over him, especially as the shots rang out.
He hugged her close to his chest, murmuring words of comfort in her ear.
“Shush. Min klaíne. Stephanie, your tears are killing me. Please stop.”
“You’re shot,” she told him tearfully, her eyes not leaving the blood staining his shirt.
Ries pulled her close, blocking her view of his injury and biting back the groan of pain. “I’m shot, yes but not dead.”
Stephanie met his eyes but her tears just kept coming. Ries took a calming breath and hugged her close to calm her down. They were still in a dangerous position and with his arm injured, he hoped Chris and his team could neutralize the threat.
Ries could hear his men shouting. He wasn’t worried about rejoining the fight, he’d come close to losing someone who mattered to him.
That revelation took him by surprise. When he’d seen Stephanie running right into danger, he felt like his entire life was flashing before his eyes.
He’d been serious about her staying at the apartment and away from the danger, and yet, here she was facing it down fearlessly.
If she hadn’t tackled him, the bullet that struck his shoulder might have hit his heart or even his head. He wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for the girl in his arms. He hugged her closer, his heart beating wildly in his chest and his breathing coming in jagged gasps.
He willed his body to calm down but he couldn’t quit thinking that he’d almost lost her. He had not even had a chance to get to know her yet, and she could have been taken from him in a matter of seconds.
While the fight continued to rage around them, he was content to hold her close and savor the fact that for this moment, she was in his arms.
He could feel her heart beating a wild rhythm against his own, and their breathing was labored.
He pushed thoughts of the pain away and looked down at her as the reality of what could have happened swamped his thinking.
“You could have died,” he murmured against her temple.
She wrapped her arm around his middle a bit tighter and shook her head, “I was worried about you. When I saw that man aiming at you…”
“Shush, I’m going to be fine.”
“But you’re bleeding…”
More bullets flew over their heads and Ries simply tucked her closer to his side. “I’m going to be fine. Are you hit?”
Stephanie shook her head, her hair brushing his chin and he knew from here on out he would always associate the smell of cherry blossoms with her.
He pressed a light kiss to her hair and then pushed her slightly away from him, enough for him to sit up.
He could see his security team in action. After what seemed hours, the area grew ominously quiet.
“Something’s happening,” he told her, helping her sit up beside him and peering around the side of their hiding place.
He could see Chris and several others of his team making their way towards him and Stephanie. Several enemy shooters were slumped face down on the ground. It didn’t look like any of them had survived the attack.
“Ries?” Chris called out, his eyes scanning the dunes.
“Here,” Ries popped his head up, attempting to get up.
“Let me help,” Stephanie told him, getting to her feet.
Ries shook his head and then nodded toward Chris, “He can help me.”
Stephanie followed his nod and then started towards Chris. “He’s been shot and needs to get to the hospital right away.”
Chris looked concerned and hurried the remaining distance, squatting down next to Ries. “How are you doing?”
“I’ve been better,” Ries told him quietly.
Chris examined his shoulder and then nodded, “It is a clean shot, straight through which is good.” He tapped the com-unit in his ear calling for vehicles to be brought over to transport Ries to the hospital.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ries commanded. “Check Stephanie out. She was running towards me when I was shot.”
Chris nodded, “I saw her. I’m not sure if it was bravery or stupidity.”
Chris looked at Stephanie and Ries knew he was seeing the same thing – her chest was covered with streaks of glittering blood. “Where are you hurt?” Chris asked, reaching for her.
Stephanie moved out of his reach with a shake of her head. “I’m not hurt…”
“You’re bleeding,” Chris told her.
Stephanie looked down at her shirt. “It’s not my blood, it’s his” she said adamantly. “He needs a doctor. Now.”
Ries said nothing when Stephanie returned to his side, grabbing his hand as Chris helped him to his feet.
“Is the ambulance on the way?” she asked Chris.
“No need. We’ll transport him there faster. Ries said you might be hurt?”
Stephanie shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“Nonetheless, I want her checked out at the hospital,” Ries demanded.
“I’m…”
“You’re getting checked out.”
Stephanie looked at him for a long moment and then capitulated with a sigh, “Fine.”
The vehicles arrived and soon they were all headed to the hospital, leaving several men behind to clean up the area and deal with the local authorities.
“Did you get him?” Ries asked quietly.
Chris scowled and shook his head once. “No. He took off down the dock and sped away in a boat.”
“Did anyone get a good look at this guy?”
“Yes, but more importantly, he got a good look at us.”
Ries mentally supplied the words Chris refused to utter. The man had gotten a good look - at Stephanie.
Ries stared at Chris and then turned to look at Stephanie.
He’d wanted her to stay behind for this very reason. Her being at the dock had now possibly painted a big target on her back. Ries now had to worry about protecting himself and her. Given her propensity to wander right into the thick of things, it could be an impossible task.
They arrived at the hospital and were immediately taken back to a private examination room.
“Mr. Kafatos, the doctor will be with you shortly. Miss, if you’ll come with me,” the nurse indicated Stephanie to follow her, but Stephanie remained stoically by his side.
“I’m fine here,” she told the nurse.
“I want you to get checked out,” Ries told her quietly.
“I’m not leaving you,” she told him just as quietly. She stared into his eyes and Ries felt the earth move.
After a long moment, Ries nodded and then told the nurse, “The doctor can examine us both right here.”
“Sir, that is highly unusual…”
Ries turned to Chris with a nod, “Make it happen.”
“On it,” Chris told him, approaching the nurse and ushering her outside, leaving Ries and Stephanie alone for a moment.
Ries reached up with his good arm and brushed her hair back, “Why did you come down to the docks?”
“I didn’t want anything to happen to you. I thought maybe I could help…”
“I wanted you to stay behind so that you were out of danger, and yet, you ran right into it.”
“I saw that man aiming at your back.”
“And you saved me,” Ries said quietly, still processing that fact.
“You put yourself in danger. I don’t think I could handle it if anything happened to you because of me,” Ries told her, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and then turned it over so that their palms were nestled against one another.
The sexual tension that had been simmering just below the surface for the last several hours, threatened to burn brightly, if only they were in a different place…and his shoulder wasn’t pulsing in pain with each beat of his heart.
He wanted nothing more than to lay Stephanie down on the gurney beside him and see if she was feeling the same way he was.
“Sorry for the delay, Mr. Kafatos,” the doctor said as he arrived, breaking the magnetic pull between Ries and Stephanie. She let go of his hand.
Ries kept his eyes on hers, seeing the worry on her face, the way she bit her bottom lip, and each wince she gave as his wound was probed, cleaned, and stitched close.
Once the doctor was finished dressing Ries’ shoulder, he placed his arm in a sling and turned his attention towards Stephanie.
He gave her a cursory exam and declared her good to go.
She would have a few bruises but Ries was placated that she had suffered no real injuries.
Ries refused to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, declaring he had walked in and was determined to walk out under his own steam.
The nurses tittered nervously, none of them quite brave enough to challenge his authority. In the end, his assigned nurse merely followed right behind him with pursed lips, as he and Stephanie made their way to the door.
Chris was waiting with the vehicle and twenty minutes later they were at the rented apartment. Ries had never been so relieved in his life.
Ries pulled Stephanie straight to the master bedroom, telling Chris to secure the premises and to not disturb them until the morning. Now that the pain medication the doctor had given him was beginning to work, he needed to have a discussion with Stephanie.
Several things were about to change, and he only hoped she wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss.