Healing Hearts 8: Teach Me What Love Is Read online

  “I got feelers out, people doing their thing. Where are you? No one can see or hear you?” she asked him.

  “What the fuck do you think? I’m in my car, alone. This is bad.”

  “I know. I wish I was informed about this guy sooner.”

  “You’ve been laying low and recovering so no one would ask questions. How did you make out with the make of the vehicle and the contact with the feds?”

  “I have my people on top of things. We’ll find that car by use of equipment your local department would never have access, too. We also are using some satellite technology to monitor cell phone usage, which takes a little time but now that I have cell numbers…” He could hear her typing and then she growled.

  “I have a wide radius as far as location goes. Five miles, anywhere in that range and I need to pinpoint it.”

  “That doesn’t sound good at all,” Caden said.

  “It is good because it means they aren’t out of the area.”

  “But if they were and were traveling by car you could use your gadgets to track them by satellite faster?”

  “Well, it’s a little more complicated than that but…wait, this can help. I’ll get this to my sources and through the feed to Agent Gary Point. It will be a map of the area. Look at possible locations these guys could hide a car in or switch vehicles after holding up for a bit. They may think the heat is on too much and want to lay low for several hours until it dies down.”

  “Or Faith’s gunshot wound is so bad that she’s dying and they’re panicking.”

  “Let’s hope not.”

  “Okay, baby, thanks for the help.”

  “Be careful, Caden, and be ready. Whatever comes through to Agent Point, do it and move quickly.”

  “Got it.”

  Caden ended the call and got out of his car. He was proud to have April in his life. The shit they went through had been fierce and to learn her true identity and keep it a secret was a burden but it did seem to be a blessing today. Faith and her men would never know who was helping to find her and rescue her, but Caden and his brothers knew and he would be sure to thank her and love her thoroughly when this was all over.

  * * * *

  Faith felt sick. She couldn’t even pull back as Andrew held her in his arms and stroked her body. She just lay there still in his arms, uncertain of her destiny. She was shaking, her heart racing and she wondered if she might die. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she thought of Rocky, Paulie, and Hendrick, and how much she truly loved them with all her heart. She wanted to see them again. To hold them again. This wasn’t fair. Andrew was taking everything she loved, she worked hard for and he was destroying it and forcing what he wanted onto her.

  “Don’t cry, baby. I’m going to get you fixed up.” He pressed the shirt tighter against her side as the car slowed down. “Is Basile ready for her?”

  “No, not yet. He is getting things set up in this building but there are people here. It’s not his regular setup but he can get the help he needs and an actual surgical room and not need to worry about clean up. He needs a little more time to get paperwork and make it look legit.”

  “Fuck. She’s bleeding so much, and her coloring is bad. She’s losing strength.”

  “Well, you’re the one that fucking shot her, not me. We’d be out of here by now,” Greg barked at him.

  “What is this place?” Everly asked.

  “It’s a clinic, but also has offices for administration or something. He’s on the third floor of the building so we’re going to have to probably use the stairs. The less people who see you bring her up the better, so there aren’t questions and no one calls the cops,” Greg said. He pulled into a parking spot by a set of trees.

  “I don’t like this. Out in the fucking open,” Greg said.

  “We have no choice. She needs medical attention.”

  “I’ll bring you to the side entrance and park there. At least it’s blocked. Then when you bring her up, Everly and I will work on another vehicle to use. Preferably something inconspicuous and with tinted windows,” Greg said.

  Faith listened. Maybe there was a way to remain at this medical facility. Like maybe she could act like she was worse off. Her mind was fuzzy now and she felt cold. She shivered.

  “Fuck, she’s going to go into shock.”

  She shivered a little harder. He stroked her jaw and cheek. She winced at his touch, it hurt so badly.

  “You made me strike you. You brought all this on yourself. If you just fucking cooperated and took my calls, answered my texts, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

  “I hate you,” she whispered and he clenched his teeth but she didn’t turn away. “You can see it in my eyes how much I despise you, can’t you, Andrew?”

  “Okay, he said to take the stairs. We’ll find a car.”

  Andrew slid to the side as Everly got out and opened the side door. She locked gazes with Everly. “It will work out, and we’ll be together, be a family in Mexico,” Everly told her.

  “I’d rather die,” Faith whispered and Everly’s eyes widened.

  “Get the fuck in now.”

  Andrew carried her in his arms with a duffle bag on her. “Hold that if you can.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Our ticket to getting you the best medical care and quickly, plus a means to a new life as husband and wife.”

  She gulped as every step he took up the staircase caused pain.

  She was scared, and she hated this man for doing this to her. As they got to the third floor he looked out the door and she could hear voices but she was growing weaker.

  “Put her here. Nurse, start the IV,” she heard a male voice say and then her shirt was cut and she knew she was on an operating table. There were two women there with him in white and they started doing preparing a tray of medical tools, and adding something to a syringe.

  “This is pretty bad. I don’t know if there’s any internal damage. It looks to have gone clean through.” She moaned and grunted in pain as he moved her around.

  “Give her morphine and I’ll stitch this up.” The doctor looked at Greg as she felt her body begin to float and then no pain at all.

  “A quick job or perfection? It will cost ya, Andrew,” she heard the doctor say and then Andrew said something about money.

  “Twenty minutes,” she heard. Andrew cupped her cheeks.

  “You’re so beautiful and strong. We’ll be done and on our way shortly. Just relax, let the drugs ease your mind and the pain and I’ll take care of you, baby,” he said and pressed his lips to hers. She didn’t even fight him. Then she thought she heard cursing, and gunfire, but she wasn’t sure. She forced her eyes open, looked down to where the wound was and there was blood, gauze covered in blood, some stitching but her skin was open. She felt nauseous. “You can’t leave. You aren’t finished!” Andrew yelled.

  “The fuck I can’t,” the doctor yelled and then Andrew shot a gun, the women screamed and ran. She heard a door slam closed and then things moving around. She was stuck on the table and tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “They aren’t taking you away from me, Faith. You’re mine and we’ll die together.”

  * * * *

  “This is personal, and we’ve been searching for hours and I know the three of you are pissed off and ready to take this asshole out but you have to do it the right way,” Kinchley said to Paulie and Hendrick as Rocky stood by them.

  Hendrick looked at Kinchley. “We’ll keep our heads but the longer he is in there holding her hostage while she is injured then her chances of living lessen. We have to move.”

  “We’re getting intel on the room, and we need to evacuate that building and get the civilians out first then start negotiations,” Kinchley told them.

  “Let’s do it,” Kernan said and they suited up and began to help evacuate the four-story building.

  “Go get our woman. Bring her back safe and alive,” Rocky said to his brothers and their team of men.

/>   “Will do,” Hendrick stated and they took off toward the building.

  As Hendrick and his men swept the first two floors, they watched the people and saw their fear as they exited. He didn’t know what he and the team would find upstairs. If this guy Andrew would lose his mind and decide to kill them both, going out in a blaze of glory. He had seen it before in other hostage situations. He was trying not to think about those outcomes but it was hard, especially as it was their woman who was being held hostage and she was already injured.

  As they came to the staircase on one side of the building, other police were on the right side and other staircase. The elevators were blocked so that the stairs were the only escape route. He could hear the helicopters flying above the building, providing air support, and even the radio contact as SWAT and police were stating that there was no sign of Faith or Andrew.

  Then they heard about the feds grabbing Greg and Everly.

  “We got them. They stole a car and were heading down the highway when police spotted them,” Conan told Kinchley and them. Hendrick could hear it all through his mic.

  “We got people coming down now from the third floor. Watch your asses, this is the floor we believe they are on because of the surgical rooms,” Kernan said in warning.

  As they swept each room and directed civilians to leave, they came around the corner and saw a doctor on the floor bleeding.

  “Help me. He took the woman and went up the staircase with her,” he said to them. They radioed it in and were careful to make sure no one was in the room as they went through.

  “Her shirt,” Paulie said to him, and Hendrick clenched his teeth.

  “We got him, you guys head up and meet Gurrino’s team,” Ranger said as he and a team of troopers along with federal agents followed them.

  “Fuck, there’s a lot of blood, and looks like an IV was used on her,” one of the guys said as they looked around the operating room.

  “Let’s move,” Paulie commanded and they headed out to the staircase then up another floor. It felt like it was taking forever when they got to the fourth, met the other SWAT team and then heard screaming. As they looked, a group of women were running.

  “There’s a man with a woman who looks dead. He headed to the roof,” the woman told them.

  “Let’s go.” Hendrick and the team took the stairs to the roof as Kinchley radioed in to the helicopter and the team on the ground. Just as they made it to the door they heard the update.

  “Got him in our sights. The woman doesn’t look capable of standing up. He has her in front of him with his back against a large metal utility box.” They heard the information coming in over their ear pieces.

  When the gunshots were heard they opened the door slowly.

  “He’s shooting at the helicopter,” they heard.

  “I’m going to kill this fucking guy,” Hendrick whispered.

  “We need to evaluate the situation, make our way onto that rooftop without him seeing us,” Kinchley said to the team.

  As they opened the door, shots were fired and they had to get back.

  “Fuck. We need another way out there.”

  “The windows on the floor below. We can climb up the sides towards the front. Ask the pilot in the helicopter where the view is hidden from the shooter,” Hendrick said.

  “Okay, let’s move and if the shot is available, take it. He’s at the end of the line and we don’t know if he’ll kill them both,” Kinchley said.

  Hendrick looked at Paulie and at the others.

  “That’s our woman. Any of you get the chance before we do to take him out and not get Faith hurt more, then do it,” he said and they all nodded and Kinchley did, too. They were in this together.

  * * * *

  “Faith, you have to stand up.”

  “Can’t. The morphine,” she mumbled and he lifted her up, held her close and kissed her lips and her neck. He was sliding his palms along her body and her breast and she couldn’t even lift her arm. She cried.

  “I never should have left you. I should have taken you away when I had the chance.”

  “Give up, Andrew. Please, I need a hospital.”

  “No, I’m not giving up. We’ll die here together. That guy you were with will never have you because you’re mine. He couldn’t protect you. I can,” he said and pressed his mouth to hers. She lifted her hand and shoved it against his jaw but she was just too weak. She was fighting against a drug meant to make you feel nothing and sleep off the pain.

  “You are completely surrounded. Give up now.” The echo of a voice over a speaker system could be heard above them. The sound of a helicopter indicated where it was coming from and then her body jerked as Andrew turned, pointed and fired his gun at the helicopter. The helicopter went back and as she nearly fell to the ground and he lifted her back up. She saw the men in black coming toward them. They were hiding behind some of the larger utility boxes on the roof. SWAT, maybe? Her men Paulie and Hendrick?

  She couldn’t see much more because she wasn’t wearing her glasses. She needed them for distance and so she wasn’t sure what to do. She needed to distract Andrew so he wouldn’t look that way. Her head was pounding. She was fighting the drugs and her side was still bleeding. The doctor didn’t finish the stitches.

  “Andrew,” she whispered and he held her in front of him, her back to his chest. His lips went to her neck, his one hand held the gun and the other cupped her breast. The duffle bag of money lay a few feet away from them. He wanted to take her away from here. He was willing to die, to kill her if it couldn’t happen. She wasn’t giving up. She had to fight to live, to survive and have the life she deserved with men that taught her what love was.

  “Yeah, baby.”

  She swallowed hard and forced herself to hold his gaze despite hating this man.

  “Did you know at the time how much I loved you?” His hand stopped caressing her breast and he lifted her sideways in his arms.

  “What?”

  She stared at him and blocked her eyes, trying to focus and speak, but she could tell her words were slurred.

  “I…you broke my heart when you beat me.”

  “Don’t. Don’t, Faith. I was a different person,” he said to her.

  “You shot me. How are you different?” she asked him and she slid lower, hoping it might give the police the opportunity they needed to shoot him.

  He lowered with her.

  “You got in the way. You protected that guy.” He gripped her cheeks and she stared at him.

  “That’s what you do when you love someone. You protect them with your life,” she said and his eyes widened and he roared, pulled back and struck her across the face. She fell to the ground and as he came at her multiple shots fired. His body jerked and he fell to the right.

  The helicopter was back up above and she heard her name.

  “Faith!”

  She rolled her head to the side, the blurred blobs of black and then uniforms as they came closer and surrounded her came clearer and clearer.

  Some went to Andrew but Paulie and Hendrick were by her side.

  “Holy shit, baby. Thank God you’re okay,” Hendrick said and she could hear yelling. They were calling for a paramedic. The others were down on the ground and she felt Hendrick’s hands on her face.

  “You’re all battered and beaten. We’ll get you to a hospital so they can patch you up and make sure that you’re okay.”

  “Rocky? Is he okay?” she asked.

  “Of course he’s okay, you fucking saved him,” Paulie chimed in as she felt bandages being placed against her side and Hendrick was checking the bruising on her jaw and cheeks.

  “Paramedics are here,” she heard someone say and it sounded like Kinchley.

  “Where is she?” She heard Rocky’s voice as the paramedics wheeled a gurney toward her and then Rocky was on the ground.

  “Thank God you’re okay,” he said and swallowed hard.

  “We need to talk about whose job it is to protec
t whom,” he said to her as he kissed her lips and then pulled back.

  “I told you I would do anything for you, Rocky. For the three of you,” she whispered, then closed her eyes and they spoke but she didn’t hear them. She was just too tired to do anything else. Her men were safe, and Andrew was no longer a problem. Nothing else mattered.

  Epilogue

  Rocky held Faith in his arms as they stood by the boats and waited for the supplies to be loaded. Miller and his brothers organized a cruise on their yacht for all the friends, and it would be Faith’s first outing since getting shot two weeks ago. He covered her hand with his that was up against his chest. His other hand was over her hip, right below where her stitches were, and Hendrick and Paulie were helping to load up coolers. It was a gorgeous summer day, and they were all grateful for obvious reasons.

  “Well, let’s get going. We want to enjoy a full day on the water and some fun activities, then sunset later on,” Miller said to them.

  “With cocktails to toast,” Emma stated as Rocky helped Faith climb aboard and then everyone else was walking around checking out the boat before they set sail. As they did and left port, Rocky, Hendrick, and Paulie held Faith between them as they looked out at the water, They caressed her hair, kissed her bare shoulders and told her how much they loved her.

  “This is so beautiful. Every day is a blessing, guys, you know that, right?” she asked.

  “Oh, we know that. Faith, and it’s been a blessing since you said yes to being our woman. We love you so much,” Paulie told her.

  “I love you guys, too.”

  “How is your stomach feeling now? Better than when we first got up?” Hendrick asked her.

  “Much better.” She smiled and then Emma approached with one of the crew members carrying mimosas. They started passing them around and Rocky saw Faith decline. He squinted at her.

  “I thought you liked those.”

  “Oh, I love them, but I won’t be able to have them for a while,” she said as she looked at them and held their gazes.