Page 15 of Shield of Love

The bitch shot me!

“That was a warning,” she informs me, clearly not getting how warnings work. “The next will be aimed higher.” The volume in her threat lets me know there’s a decent size distance between us, though I’d prefer more.

I have to keep going. If I don’t, she’ll definitely shoot me again or hand me over to the really bad guy. At least if I continue running, I have a chance. With the majority of my focus on the area, I sneak glances at the phone, hoping I’m calling Thayer as I intend to. When he answers, his voice has a thread of panic in it, the crack in my name audible as he about screams it when I don’t immediately respond.

“Li-ian!”

Trying to preserve my breath – if I survive this, I need to work on my cardio – I give him short bursts of input. “Carlton. Crazy. Shot. Me. Almost. At. Road.”

My English teacher would cringe at my incomplete sentences, but they can stuff it. I know how to speak correctly; I just don’t have the time right now. Too busy fleeing for my life and all that.

Hashtag priorities.

“We’re almost there.” He pauses. “Stay safe.”

Trying to, I want to remind him, but I bite my tongue. Instead, what I do attempt to say is, “Thayer, I lo…”

“No,” he interrupts. “You tell me to my face. We’re not doing this.”

“We’ll discuss this later,” I huff, dismayed he ruined my big moment.

“Which I fully plan for there to be,” he declares. “I’m going to kill her,” he mutters.

“Get in line,” I tell him. “Carlton got here first.” How am I able to joke?

I hear Willis snort, Thayer snarl, and a branch snap behind me. Leaving the connection active, I put the screen to sleep, shove the device in my pocket, and push myself harder.

Reaching the street, I go on instinct and a faint memory of Thayer having to turn right to get into the driveway to make my decision to make a left to get out of it. I see what I pray are headlights coming my direction, but they’re too far away to be sure. With my concentration broken, my ears don’t catch the footsteps coming up, but my body sure as hell feels the impact from tackled.

“Gotta admit,” Carlton hisses in my ear from her position on my back, “didn’t think you had it in you.”

I really shouldn’t taunt her, but what have I got to lose at this point? “I’d say likewise except I never liked you.”

She pretend sniffles. “Now you hurt my feelings.”

“Psychos don’t have any.”

Her elbow digs into my spine and I flinch at the pressure. “Oops.” Carlton flips us over and stares at my face. Grabbing my chin in a painful hold, she explains, “Look, it’s nothing personal against you. You just happened to be the means to an end. Your end, actually.”

“This won’t work.”

“It already is,” she tsks. “The only people here are you and me. I’ll act appropriately saddened by the events that occurred, the wound I’ll receive leading credence to my side of the story, and you’ll disappear.”

“As Mark Twain once said, ‘Nothing spoils a good story more than the arrival of an eyewitness,’” Thayer chimes in with perfect timing. His appearance shocks her – and me – so much that I’m able to push her off me and scramble to my feet. I immediately get behind Thayer, my hands fisting his shirt in an attempt to convince myself he’s really here and I’m not imagining it. “I’ve got you, sunbeam,” he reassures me.

Willis steps in, gun aimed at Carlton just as Thayer’s is, and bends down to turn her over and handcuff her. “He could be out there,” I warn my rescuers, hoping they understand who he is without needing an explanation. My adrenaline rush is crashing, my body overwhelmed, and I start to slither to the ground. Thayer, somehow sensing this, reaches his arm out and wraps it around me, securing me against his back.

“You have the right to remain silent,” Willis informs her, “and you should take it because I don’t want to hear anything from you. But,” he continues, though I stop listening. Not that I can hear what he’s saying anyway. My heart is racing, seeming to pulse in my ears.

“I’m going to sit down now,” I state, then promptly do so. Uncaring of what’s underneath my butt. Thayer shifts to stare at me, surprised I escaped his tight hold. Honestly, I feel like a noodle, so it’s no wonder he couldn’t contain me.

A quick peek at Carlton shows she’s not going anywhere, which reassures Thayer enough to crouch in front of me. “Baby?”

I much prefer when he calls me sunbeam.

“Uh huh.”

“We need to get to the house. We’re unprotected out here.” I nod, or think I do, though I’m doubting I followed through as Thayer is still watching me expectantly. Raising my hand, I give a thumb. He helps me to my feet, propping me against him for stability. “I need my hands free,” he says, reminding me of the first day we met.

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