Page 25 of Protecting Hailey

I inhaled and exhaled slowly. I replayed my last words and realized why Will would have come to that conclusion. “Look, Will. I’m not good with words, you know that. Everything is fine. If you’re worried, speak to Hailey directly. But I’m going to get back to work now.”

“All right, all right. I’m sorry. Hailey hasn’t called to complain, so I must be reading too much into what you’re saying. It just sounded a little fucked up, man. But if you’re saying everything is under control, I believe you.”

“Thank you. How are Jake and Nikole?”

“Good. Jake texted. They just arrived in Bermuda and he sent a pic. Looks gorgeous.”

“You should take some time and go. You haven’t had any time off since we started this business three years ago, and I don’t think you ever did before then, either.”

Will snorted. “You’re one to talk.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. But I don’t like to travel. You do.”

“Used to,” said Will, and I wondered not for the first time what had happened to him. But like all my brothers, we didn’t like to talk about our past.

“Anyway, I just called to check in. Glad to hear you’re back on the job.”

“Thanks, brother. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

I hung up the phone and shut down my laptop. My lungs expanded on a deep breath and then I slowly released it.

Turning off the lights, I walked the perimeter of the house, giving it one last look before bed. I checked her bedroom last. It was the largest one in the house and the most densely furnished. She had a king-sized bed, a floor-to-ceiling closet that expanded an entire wall, a ballet pole where I assumed she practiced dance, a writing corner with a desk, and a music corner with a guitar and keyboard.

She murmured in her sleep and turned over, mumbling something about bacon. I smiled and shut her door.

Sitting on my king-sized guest bed, I removed my shoes and unbuttoned my shirt. After undressing completely, I hung up my clothes and lined up my shoes by the bed. Finding my toothbrush inside the glass jar I’d set up earlier, I pushed a smooth dab of paste onto the brush. I replayed the events of the day in my head while I brushed, then wiped the top of the paste clean, hung up my towel, and fell into bed. Sleep blanketed my mind and body immediately. The trouble was never falling asleep…

***

My labored breaths echoed in my ears as I ran through the vacant town. A soldier whispered on the radio, “I’m cornered here. Someone, please, I need backup.”

I grabbed my radio and pressed the button on the side. “I’m on my way. Hold on Jordan.”

The building was only ten feet away, but there was at least a twenty-five-foot gap between where I stood and where the fallen soldier was hiding. I was no use to him dead, so I pressed my body against the wall and slowly peeked my head out, looking for any snipers.

Slowly now…

I stuck my head out and was blinded temporarily by the late afternoon sun in the west. A bullet whizzed by my head and I threw myself back against the wall. My chest heaved, rising, and falling with every quick breath.

Sniper. Ten o’clock.

“Someone’s in here, hurry.”

I pulled out a mirror from my vest and angled it toward the sniper. He sat on a flat rooftop of a small building directly across from me. The window next to me was blown out, so I jumped through it and landed on the concrete floor. My boots hammered against the ground as I ran through the building and pulled out my rifle. My back against the wall and my lungs burning from adrenaline, I pulled out my mirror to locate the sniper again.

He was still in the same spot. Either he hadn’t noticed me leave or he knew exactly where I was. I was hoping it was the former. Crouching down onto the ground, I connected the scope to my rifle and pointed it out the open window. Through the scope, I realized the sniper was not alone. He had a spotter behind him. The spotter held a pair of binoculars to his eyes and moved them between the spot where I had stood earlier to where the other soldier was hiding. He was staring away from my building when I decided now was my chance to take the shot. But just as my finger tightened against the trigger, he spotted me. He shouted something and pointed in my direction.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang out.

The sniper went down and then the spotter next to him.

I moved my rifle back and forth, watching the top of the roof for any other movement or backup, but there was none.

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