Page 22 of Operation: Chosen

Eric swung his gun between the armed boys. “Stop. All of you.”

Connor and the others joined him, both surrounding the boys and staying out of the line of anyone else’s fire. “It’s time for you to get back in your car and leave. You will not be allowed back in.” Connor took over.

“That gate won’t stop us if we want to. This was just a test to see if we could and we can. You three better watch yourselves. Not one of you made the cut.” The boy shoved the pistol back into his waistband.

Two of the other three did the same, but one of them eyed Ali. He made a low growling sound and pulled up quickly and closed one eye as he took aim. “This is what you get for not listening.”

Eric pounced, tackling the kid before he could pull the trigger and yanking the gun from his hand. “Just get out of here. If you ever come back, we’ll see you off to jail.”

Letting them go didn’t sit well, but that was the only option if they wanted to keep trying to help Terrell and the other boys. Even if the other two didn’t want help, creating a life for Terrell would be worth the danger and effort. Terrell was looking at a life without the gang where he could live free, but only if the men of Wayside could keep him alive to experience it.

* * *

Tremblingtook over Ali’s body, and she raced back into her house. She’d heard the shots and hoped she could be of some assistance. Even as a JAG, she had to maintain the health standards she’d had to in the army, but she hadn’t ever been in a combat situation.

She pressed her palm to the door, hoping to catch her breath, when someone pounded on the other side to get in. “Go away!” she yelled, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. Nothing would help against a bullet, not even her door honestly.

“Ali, it’s me, Eric.”

Adrenaline drained from her body, and she lost all strength in her knees. She lowered to the floor and let the emotion take over for a moment. “I’m fine. Just let me be.” She needed to get over this, needed to be in control. She could handle herself if Eric would give her time to deal with what had happened.

“Let me in. I need to make sure you’re all right.”

She tried to get up but couldn’t make her knees work. If he was going to come in, he was going to see her weak. He’d have power over her.

“Ali. I need to know you’re okay.”

She gritted her teeth. “Fine, come in.” She crawled away from the door to let him through.

He opened the door and glanced all around, finally seeing her on the floor. His eyes widened slightly, and he lowered to the floor but didn’t come near her. At least now she had his attention, sad as that was.

“I’m fine. I just got an adrenaline overload. I’m not used to facing down kids with guns.” She rubbed the back of her neck. Her whole body felt overwhelmed and twitchy.

Eric slowly crawled toward her. She had to hand it to him, her husband never would’ve done that. He’d have considered putting himself in that position demeaning.

“What happened?” Eric asked.

Ali swallowed the bile stuck in her throat. “It was just too much.” She rubbed her wrist, even though it didn’t hurt. All the feelings reminded her of the time her drunk husband had hurled her across the room. That was the day he’d finally told her he wanted a divorce. That was also the day she’d decided to gladly give it to him since he’d treated her like her uncle had. All those years she’d lived knowing he was cheating on her, so the news had come as no surprise.

“I guess I haven’t been that scared in a long time, and it’s making me remember things I don’t want to.”

“I know. Looking back like you never do and all that.” Eric leaned against her sofa a few feet away and tilted his head back. He was so handsome with his lean body, toned arms, and crinkles beside his eyes. In the looks department, he had her ex beat soundly. He did in the behavior department too.

He gave her a frank look. “Want to talk about it?” He kept his voice soft, like he was used to dealing with women gripped by fear.

She didn’t. Absolutely didn’t want to talk about her past. Talking about her ex was almost as bad as talking about her uncle. Maybe she was drawn to men who would use her, abuse her, and abandon her? “It’s just history.”

“Sometimes talking about your history can help you go through it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have been scared out there, but you might as well use this experience for any good you possibly can.”

“Are the boys all right?” she deflected.

“Yes. All three of them are with Brendon and Gabby right now. Brendon and Gabby are working through the stress and finding out as much as they can. The boys in the car lied to Teddy and told him they were Jayzon’s brothers. They pretended to care and seemed worried, unlike they did once they got up here.”

“So, he’s locking the gate.” Great, she’d be locked behind even more doors. How could the great wide open be so closed?

“Now do you want to talk about it?” Eric pressed.

Her stomach knotted. “Fine, my husband was a jerk. The worst kind of jerk. He cheated on me as soon as we got home from our honeymoon. I never said anything because he knew that I married him for his money so I could keep going to college and so I could qualify for JAG. He married me for my looks and to improve his name. It took me ten years, but I did what I set out to do.”

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