Page 69 of Ace
Savannah could hear Eden’s fingernails tapping impatiently all the way from Florida while they waited for Tucker to travel from Champion Stables to McGinty’s.
‘You’re going to need QuikClot and pressure bandages when you get there,’Isaiah advised.‘He’s in bad shape. Chest wound. But something else is going on with him. I can hear it in his gut and in his lungs. Okay, yeah, I get it. Yes, I know. You’re no pansy-assed civilian. Just the same, I’m sending real medics to your location to transport this time. They’re on their way. ETA in fifteen, can you be there by then?’
Savannah couldn’t find the words to express her gratitude to these people she didn’t really know. These same three professionals were working in tandem to rescue Keller. If it were one of their lives on the line, he’d be doing the same. He’d be just as cool, calm, and steady, ready to charge into battle and do all he could.
The same wicked self-doubt that assailed her before crept back into her mind asking,‘What could Keller possibly see in you? Get out of his way. Let him be all he can be. You’re not fit for Washington, DC, girl.That’s where he belongs. Not you. You’re nothing but poor Southern trash.’
Girl?For the first time, Savannah listened to the unique intonation behind those nasty words. She’d heard it before, at the Waffle House and earlier today when she’d blocked Keller and his team during the shootout. She’d been raised by her beloved Gran Mere to be positive and kind and cheerful, yet today she’d succumbed to an uncharacteristic bout of self-pity that she would not stand for.
‘Who are you,’she asked the demon who’d been sneaking around in her head, lying to her, making her think she was less of a human being for loving Keller.‘RJ? Is that you?’
She sensed immediate withdrawal as if someone had slammed a door. Aware and forearmed now, she told Eden,‘I need your help.’
‘You got it, sister. What’s up?’
Sister.That special word brought a rush of tears to Savannah’s eyes. She’d always wanted to be more than just a cast-off child, but to be someone’s sister? It was more than she’d expected.‘I… I’ve been shadowed.’
‘You’ve got a troll,’Isaiah stated.‘Sorry, but I sort of scanned your mental synapsis while we were talking. You’re right. I’m not sure who the guy inside your head is, but he’s not nice. Could he be the warlock your Gran Mere told you about?’
Of course, Isiah would’ve seen that. He also had uncommon sight.
Gran Mere’s final words flowed back into Savannah’s mind like molasses in summertime,warming her as only her great grandmother’s gentle kindness could. It felt as if she were actually there in the bedroom with her, whispering again,‘Let me go, Savannah. Look for the wild rose that grow best deep in the bayou. Watch for the warlock. He holds a black magic in his heart that only you can overcome. You hold the key to bring him down, my dearest. Whatever happens, be fearless and strong. Be the blessing the world needs more than it ever needed me. Hold fast to the rose.’
‘I’m fairly certain RJ is the troll who’s been shadowing me. That’s his style, whisper lies when you’re most vulnerable. But he’s no warlock. Gran Mere used to say he was more of a pipsqueak than a man. He’s smart, but he lacks sight.’
‘And you’re already the blessing the world needs, but who’s the rose?’Eden asked.
‘I think we all know who,’Isaiah whispered.
Savannah understood then.‘Keller. He’s the rose, because…’That night in her boat. He’d been relaxed. Calm. Laid-back but possessed with an other-worldly type of calm. Out of the corner of her eye, she’d watched how his chest had swelled with every deep breath he’d taken. How languid his muscles had become. He’d relaxed. For that singular moment in his hectic FBI world, he’d been utterly at peace and serene and—home. Keller not only enjoyed the unique tranquility of life in the bayou, he drew power from it. It was his safe place.
And her Secret Agent Man talked with trees. The clues had been there all this time. Keller Boniface wasthe wild rose that grew best deep in the bayou. She couldn’t speak it. Yet her heart screamed it.Keller. I love Keller and I’ll die for him, too.
‘Well, okay then,’Eden said brightly.‘Now, let’s focus on Tuck getting to Keller in time, then, you bet, Isaiah and I will hunt this troll down for you and we’ll nail his ass.’
Obviously, she and Isaiah had heard everything, even her memories, but Savannah didn’t care. Keller already knew she loved him.A sob choked out of her throat. It hurt knowing she’d done nothing to deserve these federal agents care and understanding, yet here they were, Keller’s friends, ready to die for—
‘Your friends,’Isaiah corrected.
‘You don’t have to deserve love to receive it,’Eden murmured confidentially.‘I think you already know that.’
‘I do.’Because I love Keller despite the wall he’s built to keep me out.
‘Come on now,’Isaiah soothed.‘Be fearless and strong like your Gran Mere said you—’
‘Will you guys knock it off?’Tucker bellowed.‘I’ve got him, Savannah. I’ve got Kell. He’s cold and he’s weak, but this man’s too damned proud and too tough to die, so stop whining. He’s Army for God’s sake. He’s been through worse crap than this little shitty hole in his chest.’
Savannah winced. She hadn’t been able to tune in on Tucker but she saw him clearly now. The man was an imposing sight, sitting on the ground like an angry giant, his legs straight out, and Keller’s top half proneacross his lap. Tucker’s hands and fingers moved by rote over the wound in his chest as if he’d doctored other men before.
‘Something else is going on with him, Boss,’Isaiah cut in.‘It’s in his gut and lungs. I can hear it.’
‘Copy that,’Tucker answered.‘He’s not breathing right.’
Tucker’s face glistened with sweat, and his heartbeat thumped loud in his chest. He and several other FBI agents had run all the way from his SWAT vehicle to where Sand Dollar still stood swaying on unsteady feet. Keller lay unconscious, his head to the side, his eyes closed and oblivious to his rescue.
‘He’s going to make it,’Eden whispered encouragingly.‘Have faith in that man of yours.’
‘I do,’Savannah replied even as she bit her lip. He was so gray, and there was so much sticky, wet blood on his chest and arm. And that thing Isaiah detected in his chest. She heard it too. Was she too late?
