Page 22 of Trig

“Nine, we don’t have a lot of time. Listen. I need you to be very brave. I love you. Don’t be scared. Fight!”

Trig begins to back up quickly. He places me down while holding me up with one arm.

“Don’t do it, Trig,” Carmen yells.

“Dear Lord. If there are any angels left in this world, send one for Nine,” Trig prays.

Trig turns, shoots through the glass, and with force, pushes me out of the second-story window. It’s in these few seconds I imagine hitting the pavement, smashing my head against the cement while every bone in my body breaks. I feel nothing but wind through the fabric of my gown and hear nothing but the sound of my heartbeat. I feel like all my sins are weighing on me heavier now than ever before. Baptized by ice-cold water, I feel it smack my skin before I sink. It takes strength that I don’t have to rise above the water level, but I try with no success. I kick my feet and wave my arms, but I have nothing to give. Eventually I let my body float to the top, and with one last bit of energy I try to flip over but I can’t. Instead, I just watch the bubbles from my mouth quickly disappear from sight. I feel myself losing air, and in my final seconds, I imagine a different life for us. We’re married and happy. We have three kids and an ugly-haired mixed dog named Bacon, which we all love. Trig leaves for work and kisses me goodbye every morning. I bake shit up like Martha fucking Stewart and everything is amazing. We’re just a normal family, and if normal ever existed in our lives, this would be it, but it’s not real. This is, and I have to accept it. In my final moment, I just want to tell Trig one thing. I. Fucking. Love. You. I always have and I always will.

Chapter 5. It will only pain you more

Carmen is standing there with that look in his eyes. I turn my gun on him, but he already has his gun pointed at Mya’s head. He’s stroking her cheek.

“You shoot me. I shoot her, and my men that are coming shoot you. And by the looks of Nine, your woman drowns down there. No one wins tonight, Trig.”

I go into shutdown mode. I need every second to count here so I step forward.

“Whoa. One more step and I blow this little girl’s brains all over the wall.”

“I’ll give you me, if you let her go.”

“Give you? Trig, I own you. Do you really think you’re getting out of here alive? None of you are. You do know that, right?”

“You’ll have to catch us first, motherfucker.”

I nod to Mya to give her the go-ahead. She turns and punches him hard in the dick. I quickly motion her my way. Carmen groans out in pain, bends over, and drops one hand to his crotch. I take this vulnerable moment to shoot him. I fire off one bullet into his shoulder and another clips the side of his head. I watch as he falls to the floor. Mya, now at my side, clings to my leg. I can hear the sound of feet shuffling, which means big guns are coming down the distant hallway. I turn and grab Mya, hold her tightly to my chest, and then I run toward the broken window. We jump and pray that the Gods let us survive. I tuck Mya in as we embrace the fall. The water slaps the hell out of my back but we make it. I spring up above the water and take a deep breath, quickly swimming Mya over to the stairs while looking around for Nine. She’s not in the pool. She’s not outside the pool either. In her health, it’s impossible that she could get far. Someone pulled her out and that someone wants her alive.

“Shit!”

“Daddy?”

In frustration, I look at her for one second and then I quickly grab her hand and pull her up the stairs. Our clothes are wet and heavy and make it difficult to move as fast as I want. I pick up Mya, holding her on my hip, walking fast, still scanning for Nine. I start to turn the corner. A masked man has his gun pointed directly at me. I immediately reach behind my back for mine, but it’s not there. Probably in the pool. I’m fucked. All I can do is clutch Mya closer to my chest. I let out a long sigh.

“It’s been a long time, Trig.”

I’m confused and look the man up and down for any evidence of who he may be. My guard is clearly still up.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me.”

He removes his mask. My body relaxes and I let out a deep breath of relief. It’s Gabriel, another hitman who works under Carmen. We’ve done a few big projects together in the past, and he’s always hated our boss. I don’t know if I can trust him one hundred percent, but we damn sure have something in common. We both want to kill Carmen and be free.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

He looks up at me from the corner of his eye like I should know.

“I’m the transporter,” he says as he looks down at Mya and back up to me. “I didn’t know she was yours, Trig. Not until I overheard Carmen and Natasha talking. I hate this shit, makes me glad I have no kids of my own.”

I give a brief nod before I scan the area again, looking for Nine.

“You’re looking for the woman. Red hair, injured?”

I quickly look back at him. “She’s with me. She’s mine. Where is she?”

“That information comes with a price. A favor actually.”

I put Mya down and wave my hand as a gesture to hurry the fuck up with whatever it is

“I’ll show you where she’s at, but we all leave here together. That is the deal. There is power in numbers when it comes to these fuckers and anything can happen. Can’t kill us all, right!”

---