Page 98 of Parker
Joel lies motionless on the ground. Drayton stands above him, aiming the weapon directly between his eyes. An evil smile crosses his face. He’s speaking to the unconscious man below him like he’s giving an acceptance speech at an awards dinner or something. His face is animated. He's enjoying having power over his nemesis.
I scan the warehouse, looking for something, anything I can protect Joel with. There’s nothing. It feels hopeless.
Ebony appears from a small office in the opposite corner of the building and runs to Drayton’s side.
“Stop,” she screeches, grabbing his arm. “I wanted her dead, not him. Don’t kill him.”
Drayton shrugs her off, and she falls to the floor. High heeled shoes kick at his ankle, and he turns the gun on her. She cowers away, throwing her hands across her head to protect herself. He fires a shot. No scream comes; he must have missed. “Know your place, bitch,” he growls.
There have been no gunshots in the past few minutes, and the shouting outside has stopped. We can hear Drayton and Ebony speaking as their voices float across the empty hall.
“I decide who lives and who dies.” Her eyes pop wide. “Now sit there like a good girl while I finish the job.”
He turns the weapon back on Joel.
“No,” I scream as a single shot rings through the air.
Drayton crumples to the floor. Ebony wails in fear, crawling into the night on her hands and knees.
Boyd steps into the dim light from the darkness outside, his gun trained on the fallen man. I watch on as Drayton’s life seeps away, blood oozing over the concrete. He’s dead. My breath catches. He’s finally fucking dead.
***
Joel was rushed straight to the operating room. The bullet nicked a blood vessel, and he needed emergency surgery.
I sit with my head in my hands, my elbows resting on my knees. Imelda’s hand strokes up and down my back as we wait. Boyd paces the room.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Nicky?” he mutters for the thousandth time. “You’re not damn invincible.”
“Leave her alone, Boyd,” Imelda scolds. She’s trying to keep the panic from her voice, but it’s there. She’s worried for her son. Terrified by the idea that she may lose him.
“You could have gotten yourself killed,” he says, focusing on me. “There is a reason you have security. There is a reason we tell you to keep us informed of any threats.” He glares at me.
I see now that Boyd loves Joel like the son he never had. Tonight has shaken him badly.
“Ignore him,” my mother-in-law mutters under her breath. Her silent support is essential tonight, my unexpected ally in the dark.
“I’m so sorry,” I say. Tears have been running down my cheeks for hours. “I thought they were going to kill Evan.”
I look to my son sleeping soundly at my feet in his car seat, completely unaware of the hell we’ve all been through. My heart lifts and falls. If he loses his father tonight, it will be my fault.
I’ll never forgive myself.
After five hours, the doctor enters the room. “Mrs. Parker,” he asks, and Imelda and I nod in unison.
“He’s stable. You can see him now.”
***
Joel
White light penetrates my eyelids. There’s an annoying constant beep playing in my head.
“He should wake soon,” a male voice says. “We’ve reduced the sedative. He’ll be drowsy but should be coherent within a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” my mother replies.
Doctor? Where am I?
