Heart's Desires (17 page)

              “Yeah, I actually do have a key.  I’ll just leave a voicemail letting Lorenzo know we’re here and waiting inside.”

              Charlie quickly called Lorenzo and left him a message while Jake called Mike to let him know what was going on, and to go by Lorenzo’s place to see if he was there, and to send backup to the club because something didn’t feel right.

                The couple made their way inside, and as they approached the back offices, Jake sensed something was completely out of place.  He abruptly stopped and put his fingers to his lips in a shushing motion, and Charlie started to ask what he was doing.

              Her eyes went wide.  She knew when her man was in stealth mode, and as turned on as it would normally make her, at this moment, she was more than a little freaked out.  Being at Premier and knowing that there might be someone lurking around made her heart rate speed up and her pulse race.

              Charlie nodded her understanding when Jake motioned for her to get behind him.  He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text, and then he held his hand out.  Instinctively, Charlie placed the keys to the office in his large palm.  Jake pulled his Glock from behind his back and motioned for Charlie to stay put. Upon seeing the gun, Charlie’s face grew anxious; her almond shaped eyes becoming wider with her growing fear. She knew that Jake would do anything to protect her, and that he knew how to use a gun, but she never thought they would be in a situation where he would actually
have
to use one

              Before he got to the office, Jake pointed at a little alcove for Charlie to stay concealed.  He wanted her as far away from danger as possible, but he needed for her to stay close just in case more than one person was in the building.  He could hear a faint noise coming from inside the office.

              Jake slowly and silently crept toward the office door.  Although it wasn’t quite dark outside, Premier was definitely dark enough inside to need the lights, but the lights weren’t on.  Instead, Jake saw a thin ray of light coming from underneath the door.  It was coming from a flashlight.  His instincts were correct; he and Charlie were not alone.  He didn’t want to alert the intruder that he was there, so he quietly put the keys away and checked the doorknob. It turned without a sound, and Jake slowly pushed the door inward. 

                As soon as the door was cracked enough for him to get a peek inside, he saw a figure dressed in all black behind a sleek desk, hunched over a file cabinet.

              The person whose back was turned away from the door was so busy trying to get into the file cabinet that they didn’t hear the door open, or notice when Jake discreetly slipped inside.

              By the time they realized that Jake was in the room, it was too late.  Jake had successfully snuck up on the intruder and placed the gun to their head.

              “Hands up, motherfucker!”  Jake growled at the intruder.

              The intruder slowly put their hands in the air.

              “Now stand and turn around slowly,” Jake stated in a low voice.  He still wasn’t aware if the person standing in front of him was working alone or not.

              The intruder stood to their full height and turned slowly, still holding their hands up.  When the person stood, Jake noticed that it was a woman, and she was petite in stature.  He still didn’t know who it was since she was wearing a large hood that hung over her face and covered her hair.

              “Are you here alo…”  Jake’s question was cut short when he heard a scream come from outside of the office. 
Fuck!!!  Heart!

              Jake moved quickly and, without a second thought, left the intruder standing there with her hands in the air.  Jake didn’t want Charlie coming with him just in case the intruder had a weapon, but without even knowing it, he ended up leaving her vulnerable anyway.  He would never forgive himself if she got hurt.

              With his gun still drawn, Jake moved swiftly and silently in search of Charlie.

              He found her crouched behind the bar, shaking.  Nobody else was around.  Jake rushed to get to her, and when he got closer, he realized just why she had screamed.  Lorenzo’s limp body lay behind the bar with blood staining the front of his shirt.

              Jake put two fingers to Lorenzo’s neck in order to find a pulse.

              “He’s still alive,” Jake reassured Charlie. 

              Charlie’s hands were shaking, and her usually vibrant chocolate complexion was now dull and washed out.

              “Heart, look at me,” Jake said sharply, gaining Charlie’s attention.  “Baby, get your phone and call 911.”

              “Ye… yes. Okay,” Charlie stuttered, her hands still shaking as she dialed.

              Jake searched Lorenzo’s torso and found that he was shot in the upper chest, and rapidly losing blood.  Jake found a towel on the bar and grabbed it.  He placed the towel over the wound and pressed down to try to help stop the bleeding.  He could hear Charlie speaking rapidly into the phone when he heard another distinct sound: footsteps.

              Jake rushed toward the noise; he was positive that the intruder wasn’t dumb enough to stick around when he’d left them standing there after hearing Charlie scream.  He knew that there was another entrance at the rear of the building, so he moved stealthily toward it with his gun still drawn.

***

              Justin broke away from his hiding place outside of the office when he heard the giant questioning Jan, but before he could make a move toward the back exit, he heard a blood curdling scream coming from the front. 
I guess somebody found Lorenzo’s body,
Justin thought with a shrug.  Now that Lorenzo was no longer a problem for him, and Jan was caught breaking into the files, Justin knew all he had to do was get out of there without being seen, and he could disappear from Texas without anybody knowing where he went.

              Justin moved as quickly as his feet would carry him without making a sound.  He stayed in the shadows, trying not to be seen.  He was following the signs that pointed toward the exit when he heard footsteps behind him.  Justin began to speed up at the sound. He was getting closer to the door.  He started to break out in a sweat, his heart was racing, and he was growing more frantic.

I have got to make it to the door. I will be home free if I can just get out of the building.

              “Justin!  Don’t you fucking leave me!” Jan screeched as she ran toward him.  Her hood had fallen off, and her face was flushed beet red. Her blonde hair was in disarray, and her blue eyes were wide and crazed.  She looked like a lunatic running behind Justin.

              Justin knew he had to slow Jan down so that he could get away.  He slowed his movements just enough for her to catch up to him, and then he whirled around and pushed her hard.  Jan went flying backwards, slamming into the wall. Her body slumped and slid to the floor.  He raised his gun to hit her in the head; she appeared to be knocked out, but he wanted to make sure.  Just when he was about to strike Jan, a shot rang out.  He froze, momentarily stunned by the loud bang.  He looked around in a frenzy, trying to see where the shot had come from when he saw the giant of a man standing at the end of the hallway with his gun trained directly at his head.

              “That was a warning, buddy.  I don’t miss my targets,” Jake growled.  “Put the gun down slowly and back away from the woman.”

              Justin did not want to get caught. 
I can’t go to jail for this. 

In a split second decision, Justin whirled around and fired his gun twice, diving towards the back door in a desperate attempt to get away.  The shots rang out loudly in the empty building.

              Jake had seen the move coming, so he dove to the side.  One of the bullets missed him completely, but the other one grazed his arm.  It only served to piss him off that much more.  Jake shot twice at the man who was trying so desperately to get away.  Both shots hit their mark: one in the leg, and the other in the arm. They caused the man to drop to the ground instantly, and sent his weapon sliding across the floor.

              Justin was still trying his damndest to get away.  He was dragging his body along the floor, the burning sensation from the bullet causing an almost unbearable pain, but he knew he couldn’t stop.  He had to get to the gun because that was his only chance.  There was no way that he could win a fight against this huge man, and certainly not with two gunshot wounds.  No, Justin knew that he had to kill or be killed.

              Justin could see the gun, and just when he reached for it, an unimaginable pain sprang from his hand.  The giant had reached him and twisted his hand so badly that at least two of his fingers were broken.  Justin was writhing around on the ground with a horrified expression on his face.  He howled in agony when Jake hoisted him up off the ground.

              “Shut the fuck up, you pansy.  You didn’t have any problems hittin’ a woman.  Take this shit like a man,” Jake growled through clenched teeth.

              Justin was still whimpering when Jake propped him limply against the wall. Just as Jake was contemplating knocking out the simpering man so he wouldn’t have to listen to his pussy ass whining, he heard the sirens.  In the mist of all the shooting, he temporarily forgot about Lorenzo lying behind the bar with a gunshot wound to his chest.

              Jake checked on the woman who was knocked out.  Her pulse was steady, but he knew she would have one hell of a headache when she came to.

              Jake still had his gun trained on the whimpering suspect when he heard a loud commotion and raised voices coming from the front of the restaurant.  He knew the cops, the paramedics, as well as his own guys had finally made it.

CHAPTER 29

              Charlie nearly had a heart attack when she heard the gunshots.  She knew in her heart of hearts Jake could take care of himself, however she couldn’t help but worry about her big Bear.  Just when the thought of him being hurt caused panic to rise, she heard his distinct baritone voice shout out a warning to someone that he didn’t miss. Charlie’s heart rate slowed a little, only to pick back up again at the sound of more gunfire.

              The 911 operator also heard the shots because he was still on speaker phone giving Charlie instructions about how to keep Lorenzo from bleeding out.

              “Are you in immediate danger, ma’am?”  The operator asked Charlie, his voice laced with concern.

              “I’m not sure. How long until the cops get here?”  Charlie asked frantically, looking around but still trying to stay hidden.

              “They will be there soon.  Two minutes max,” the operator responded.

              No sooner were the words said than Charlie heard sirens. The front door to Premier swung open, and officers wearing bullet proof vests with SWAT written across their backs, clad in all black, moved in quickly and secured the area. 

              Charlie didn’t make any sudden movements.  She simply held her hands up and yelled that she needed help.  The operator already relayed to the authorities Charlie’s location, so that she wouldn’t be harmed by mistake. 

              The paramedics rushed over, secured Lorenzo to a gurney, and attached an oxygen mask to his face.  They swiftly placed him in the back of the ambulance.

              Charlie stood frozen, watching them haul Lorenzo away, when she realized that she still hadn’t seen a trace of Jake.  She anxiously swiveled her head from side to side, trying to locate her Bear, but she didn’t see him.  There were so many people swarming the restaurant and she didn’t recognize anyone.

              “Charlie?” She heard a deep voice coming from behind her.  Charlie turned to see Mike approaching.

              “Mike!  Oh thank God!”  Charlie practically shouted in relief to see a familiar face.  “Have you seen Jake?  Is he ok? I haven’t seen him…”  Charlie spit the questions out in rapid fire succession.

              Mike held up his hands in a surrendering motion, and slowly moved toward Charlie.  He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.  “Charlie, sweetheart, it’s going to be ok.  Just take deep breaths and try to calm down.”  Mike knew that Charlie was in a state of shock, and spiraling fast. 

              “Charlie, look at me.  Take a deep breath, ok?  I just need you to focus on breathing for me,” Mike said again, looking directly into Charlie’s sweet face that was filled with fear and worry.

              Charlie did what she was told. She was doing her best to try to calm down, but her heart didn’t want to cooperate.  It was still racing a mile a minute.  She took several more deep breaths before she began to relax a tiny bit.

              “Have you seen Jake?”  Charlie asked again, but this time with slightly more calm in her voice.

              “Yes, he’s taking care of some things.  He will be fine.  You need to give your statement, and I will take you to the hospital so you can get checked out.”  Mike’s voice was even and calm, but it did little to help Charlie’s fears.

              “I heard gunshots, Mike. Was Jake shot?  You said that he
will be
fine
.
Is he not fine now?”  Charlie looked Mike in his eyes, wanting to see the truth in the depths of his baby blues.

              Mike sighed.  He knew that he needed to tell her the truth, but he didn’t want her to start to panic again either.

              “Let’s get your statement taken care of first, and I’ll take you to Jake myself,” Mike stated avoiding her questions.

              “Mike.  Just tell me…”

              Mike held his hand up, to stop all of Charlie’s questions.  “Charlene, it’s important that you do as I ask right now.”

              Charlie nodded her acceptance, but the beautiful features of her face were still colored with worry.

***

              Jake couldn’t believe that he had been caught so off-guard.  He never expected the shit-storm that he and Charlie stumbled upon.  He had never seen the man that he had to detain, but he would certainly find out all that he needed to know about him, especially if he were somehow involved with Angeletti. The man seemed more than desperate to escape Premier. Jake knew that he was the one who’d shot Lorenzo.

              As Jake stood, robotically answering the questions of the police, he finally got a good look at the woman who was wearing a hoodie. He immediately recognized her as Jan, the manager of Premier.

              Jake shook his head. 
I guess you really need to watch who you trust, especially when it comes to money.

              Once Jake was finished speaking with the police, he found Marcus, who was also talking with some of his buddies on the force.  Although they weren’t there in an official capacity, his guys had pulled some strings and were allowed on the scene.

              “Hey, Marc, I need to head over to the hospital.  Mike took Charlie to get her checked out, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

              “Alright man…”  Marcus’ words trailed off when he saw the blood coming from Jake’s upper arm.  He raised an eyebrow in question.  “Did you get shot?”

              Jake looked down at his wound.  “Grazed.  Just a scratch really.”

              Marcus nodded with a smirk.  “I guess you need to start working out more.  You’re getting slow.”

              Jake smirked.  He was glad his friend was making the mood lighter because the worry had to be coming off of him in waves.  “Yeah, whatever.”

              “I’m sure Charlie is fine, and get yourself checked out while you’re at the hospital,” Marcus stated, reassuring his friend.

              Jake nodded.  “Will do.  Keep me posted on the situation.”  Jake started to walk away, and then paused mid-stride.  He turned back to Marcus.  “Chase?”  He questioned, only saying her name just in case someone was listening.

              “Hospital,” Marcus answered, catching on to Jake’s meaning.

              Jake nodded and continued toward the door.  He knew Charlie was okay because he had told Mike to find her and make sure of that.  Mike had also texted him to let him know that she may have a mild case of shock, but physically she seemed fine.

              Jake strode into the emergency room with a sense of purpose.  After stopping at the nurse’s station and getting his wound looked at and cleaned, he found Charlie without any problems.  She was sitting on a bed and talking with a petite older Black woman in a white lab coat who Jake assumed was the doctor.  He looked around to find Mike leaning against a far wall with a frown on his face.  When Mike saw Jake, he let out a long sigh, and pushed off the wall.

What the hell is that about?

             
Mike walked toward Jake shaking his head.  “You got yourself a stubborn one.”

              Jake chuckled.  “She must be okay if she’s giving you the business.”

              “You have no idea.”  Mike shook his head again and started walking towards the door.  He nodded towards Jake’s bloody shirt.  “You get that checked out?”

              “Yep, I’m all patched up.  It was just a graze.”

              Mike nodded again.  “I’m going to see if I can’t find Chase.  She’s here somewhere.”

              “Ok, good.  We need to get a debriefing ASAP.  Too much shit went down that we weren’t expecting.  We need to know if there’s still a threat out there.”

              “Indeed.  I’ll hit you up as soon as I know something,” Mike responded thoughtfully.

              “Alright, and I will let you know what time the day after tomorrow we will need to meet at the office.  After the night I’ve had, I’ll need a day to recuperate,” Jake stated, looking exhausted.

              The men shook hands and did the half man hug before Mike exited the room in search of Chase.

              Jake looked at Charlie; she was sitting in stunned silence as the doctor relayed the unexpected news.  Everything that had happened today was too overwhelming, the shock of seeing Lorenzo shot, having to try to save his life, and finding out that Jan was in on the whole mess, and now this news was the most shocking of all.

              Charlie tried to focus so that she could try to ask questions, but her words seemed to be stuck in her throat.  Her mouth became dry, and her heart began to beat out of her chest.  She didn’t know how much more she could take.  She barely registered that Jake had come into the room.  He had a worried expression on his handsome face.  His face was the last thing she saw as everything faded to black.

***

              “Holy Shit!”  Jake yelled as he moved quickly to Charlie’s side when she passed out.  The doctor was still standing in front of Charlie when she fainted, so she was quick to react.

              The doctor was checking her vitals, and thankfully Charlie was still hooked up to the machines, so everything was fine except for her elevated heart rate.

              “Is she okay, doc?  What the hell is happening?”  Jake ran a frustrated hand through his blonde hair. 
This fuckin’ day just will not end!

              “Her vitals are good, so she will be fine.  She’s just in a state of shock, but with everything she’s been through today it’s to be expected.”  The doctor’s kind face brightened as she turned to face Jake directly.  “So I don’t mean to assume, but I’m guessing by the concern on your face that you’re the father?”

             
Father… wait.  What? 
Jake’s brain was scattered, and for the life of him he couldn’t put together a coherent thought.  He opened his mouth, trying to respond, but all of his words were caught in his throat. 

              The doctor took in the young man standing in front of her and her smile broadened.  He looked like he had been hit by a truck.  His shirt was ripped and bloody, his blonde hair stood on end all over his head, and his face had lost all of its color. 
First time dad.

             
“Father?”  Jake finally managed to croak out in a hoarse voice.  He cleared his throat as his brain regained some clarity.  “Yes.  I’m the father,” he said with a smile spreading across his handsome face.  He looked back at his beautiful Heart lying down on the bed.  He knew she was in shock from the news, but he also knew that there was no way in hell he would ever let her go.  Jake took his large hand and stroked the soft skin of her cheek. She looked so peaceful, but he knew as soon as she opened those beautiful hazel eyes that they would have a lot to talk about.