As I watched for movement around the vehicle, I tamped down on rage unlike any I’d felt before. Four brothers killed with two more injured. Three new widows because of me. I’d been stupid to think we could do this job. No more. The BDMC were cutting our losses. I’d make sure Willow got safely to Houston, but once I did, I was going to turn her over to a professional protection service. I’d stay with her until the security was in place, but no more brothers were dying because of my mistake.
I stiffened as I saw someone step from behind the RV, but relaxed when I realized it was a woman walking with a small child. I returned to the waiting room. Willow was right where I left her.
“I’m going to go check on the coach. Stay in here and wait for me to–”
“No,” she said shaking her head. “You’re not leaving me in here alone. I’m going with you.”
“You’ll be safe here.”
“That’s what you said about the truck and my coach.” Her words were like a slap. They were true, but they still stung. “I’m not blaming you for what happened,” she continued without pause. “It’s not your fault, but whoever is after me is either crazy, desperate, or both.” She shook her head. “No. I’m staying right beside you.”
I considered a moment. She had a point, but I didn’t like walking up to the coach, unarmed, without knowing what we were walking into. On the other hand, there were probably a hundred cars in the parking lot the bad guys could be hiding in or behind, and I couldn’t search them all. I made my decision.
“Okay, but stay close.”
“Oh, you can count on that.”
I took her arm and all but frog marched her across the parking lot. I held her on my left, and sightly behind, so I could get that half-second look between the cars on my right before they had a clean shot at her. I was almost sick with dread as we hustled across the parking lot, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary. The amount of parked cars thinned as we approached the coach, and I began to relax slightly as the number of hiding places decreased.
“Holy, shit!” I murmured as I got a better look at the coach.
The coach as covered in what appeared to be hundreds of bullet holes and all the glass save the windshield had been shot out. The front of the coach was twisted and disfigured beyond recognition, a piece of something was rubbing against the right front tire, with others pieces dragging along the ground underneath.
“Sweet Jesus,” Willow murmured.
“Wait,” I said, parking her by the front of the coach. I entered and did a quick search, but the coach was empty. I returned to the door. “It’s clear,” I said, and she climbed the steps.
We both stood and spent a moment looking around. “My God,” she murmured again.
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s a wonder any of us survived.”
Every panel was covered with holes, the windows on the side opposite the entrance were also shot out, and the sun was creating little streaks of light from punctures in the roof. The contents of the cabinets were spilled into the floor and shattered, and something liquid had leaked out of the refrigerator. Not only was it a miracle that only Fish died in the coach, but it was equally amazing that the coach hadn’t been fatally damaged in our escape.
“Did you tell the cops about the pistol I gave you?”
“No. They didn’t ask. Why?”
“Where was it?”
“In my bedroom.”
“See if it’s still there.”
She nodded as moved deeper into the coach.
The cops had confiscated my pistol, along with the weapons belonging to Fish, Goose, and Big Dick, but I hoped that once they found the ones they were looking for, they hadn’t searched for Willow’s weapon. At least they’d given me my phone back.
“Found it!” she called from the back of the coach. “Right where I left it, in the drawer under the bed.”
“Good. Get it… and pack your stuff.”
“I’ve got to find Mafic first. I hope he’s alright.”
.
.
.
WILLOW
I heard Colt clattering around in the front of the coach as I looked in all the little hidey-holes I’d found Mafic in before. “Mafic?” I murmured. “Where are you, Baby?”
He didn’t answer and I worried he’d been killed in the gunfire, or he’d escaped through the coach’s open door. I was ashamed I hadn’t even thought of him until I was well into the interrogation, but the police wouldn’t let me leave to check on him.
“Mafic?” I asked as I opened the closet door, and nearly wept with relief when I saw the orange ball of fluff tucked back into the corner. “Mafic? You okay, Baby?” I asked as reached for him. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten into the closet, as I normally kept the door closed, and it was closed then, but there he was, and I was grateful. The closet was over the coach’s engine, and its bulk may have protected him. He growled, yowled, and hissed at me as he backed more tightly into the corner, obviously still terrified. “It’s okay, Baby,” I murmured as he swatted at my hands while yowling as I reached for him. I jerked back, afraid he was going to open my hand, but he kept his claws in. I reached for him again, and though he continued to warn me off with growls and hisses, but he finally let me pick him up.
I couldn’t stop myself and spilled silent tears as I cuddled and nuzzled him. I held him for a long moment until he began to relax. Sniffing, I put him on my bed as I gathered up my regular cell phone, which I’d left in the drawer beside the bed, my house keys, and a couple of other personal items. I tucked the pistol Colt gave me into my pants, picked up my cat, and returned to the front of the coach.
“I’m ready.”
He glanced at me with nothing but cat in my hands. “Nothing else?”
“No. Everything else stays with the coach,” I said as I picked up my laptop from the floor and slung it over my shoulder. There was nothing on it that wasn’t backed up to the server on the recorder truck, but I hoped it wasn’t broken.
He nodded once, and I smiled as he reached over to scratch Mafic’s ears. Mafic wasn’t picky, any lap would do, and I was glad Colt seemed to like, or at least tolerate, cats. “I’m glad he’s okay. Sorry about all this,” he murmured to the animal. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and tapped and swiped at it for a moment. I heard the phone purr.
“Sabinas Taxi,” a woman said.
“We need a cab, as soon as possible, at Doctors Hospital to take us to the airport,” he said.
“Certainly, sir. By which entrance should we pick you up?”
“Pick us up in the Emergency Room parking lot. We’re at the brown and tan RV, the only RV in the lot.”
“Emergency Room parking lot, RV. Got it. He should be there in about ten minutes. Blue Honda van.”