Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (34 page)

“A vote, gentleman? We’ll go around; you say if you’re in or not.” JD declares, and this is it. This is what we need, if they all say yes, then the cavalry comes storming in.

“Yang.”

“I’m in.”

“Tommy G.”

“Me too.”

“Rex.”

“In.”

“Pk.”

“Same.”

“Playboy.”

“In.”

“Blade.”

“In.”

“Wolf.”

“I’m in.”

“Sonny.”

“Why not.”

“Ringo”

“In.”

JD smiles. I do too because all of that was caught on tape. I sit back and take a deep breath and prepare for the invasion. This shit is finally over. With all the evidence we have been compiling on these top 10 scumbags for the last decade, and now this, it will be more than enough to lock them all away for the rest of their lives. Other units have been dispatched to go in and arrest their crews. It’s going to be a fuckin’ pleasure to arrest JD, especially since I’ve learned everything he’s ever put my wife through.

“Excellent, gentlemen, I’m glad we all came to an agreement. Shall we enjoy some pussy, beer, and sugar?” JD declares just as I hear the door slam open. A stampede races up the stairs, and before I can blink again, the door to the conference room flies open and my team barges in, with Mack leading. Kash and Beamer closely behind, followed by several more agents with guns pointed at all of us.

“FREEZE!” Mack yells.

PK reaches behind his back and Beamer steps closer, raising his gun to PK’s face. “Don’t even think about it, asshole.” Beamer growls out.

Yang tries to make a move on Kash but Kash quickly disarms him and pins him against the wall.

“What the fuck?” JD shouts standing. I stand with him and aim my gun at him.

“I wouldn’t try anything smart, JD. You ain’t got a chance.”

“Cardoane.” He seethes. “How fuckin’ could you! I trusted you! You knew everything! You sold me out you fuckin’ motherfucker!”

“Almost ten years I’ve waited for this day JD.” I lower my gun and step to him. “Even more so recently since I found her again.”

He growls and I watch as all the pieces fall into place for him.

“Yep. I’m the one who got her out of this fuckin’ shithole weeks ago.”

The evil radiating from JD’s eyes makes me smirk, then he moves in a flash, landing a quick punch to my face and gut and takes off out the back door of the room.

“FUCK!” I roar and chase after him.

“Slyde, wait! Backup!” I hear Mack yell but I don’t listen, no fuckin’ way is this piece of shit getting away. I chase him down and tackle him outside the back door of the house.

“You fuckin’ bastard! Whatever made you think you could treat her that way?!” I yell and punch him in the face. “You made her run, you beat the shit out of her, and you never once appreciated the beauty you had in Hartley. You used her, you made her terrified, you let your men have her, when she did nothing wrong. She never once caused problems with the assholes here and yet you refused to protect her and you treated her like trash!”

“She is trash, Cardoane. Not worth shit! She’s nothing but a fuckin’ slut. I enjoyed beating the shit out of her. She deserved it all.” JD grinds out and maneuvers so that he’s on top his hands around my throat. “You’re weak, Slyde. You let some worthless pussy control your dick. I knew you had gone soft on me but I couldn’t figure out why. Now I know, and after I kill you, I’m gonna find her and finally get what she cost me. You lose, Cardoane.”

I manage to throw him off me and we both scramble to our feet exchanging more punches and body shots. All the rage I have ever felt for him comes out and I leave nothing on the table as we both beat the crap out of one another. I push him back far enough to reach for my gun, but a shout distracts me. 

*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG* 

The shots are fired and pressure mixed with hot burning pain explodes over my gut, my chest and my shoulder. I fall to the ground my head smacking on something hard with enough force for me to see stars and blackness to seep into the side of my eyes, spreading quickly. With a ragged breath and the last bit of energy I have I shoot my gun twice, I hear a cry of pain. I hear Beamer and Kash talking. I can’t see them; the blackness has taken over my vision. I can’t breathe as the pain continues to spread over my body.

Then I hear nothing.

Today’s the day. It’s all going down today. I didn’t sleep at all last night and I have been on edge all damn day. Leia has tried everything to keep my mind off of what is supposed to be going on and it’s not working. Every passing second my nerves get tighter. The minutes drag on while I wait for a phone call from Slyde letting me know it’s over. Or for him to come walking in that door to tell me the same thing. I don’t know what it is but something just doesn’t feel right and I can’t make it go away. I know its nerves and fear, but it won’t stop nagging at me. I’ve asked Mark at least a dozen times if he’s heard anything. Beamer checked in this morning, but that’s all we’ve heard. This waiting is torture and with every passing second the uneasy, nagging feeling I have gets stronger and I can feel myself working up into a panic attack. I have a momentary distraction as I give Ethan his bath and get him ready for bed. We read a couple stories before he falls asleep. Lying here next to him has always brought me peace, but the simple fact that there has been no word from any of them all day negates any peace I might find. Leaving a kiss on his head, I leave his room shutting the door and go to find Mark again. I find him in the living room, our gazes lock as soon as I walk into the room and my breathing falters.

“Beamer just pulled up.” Mark states as he hangs up the phone. My stomach sinks and the knots grow tighter.

“Just Beamer? Mark, what do you know?” I snap. He simply looks at me and my eyes fly to the door as Beamer walks in. His gaze lands on me immediately and I can just tell by the look on his face that it’s bad. Leia, I now realize is standing next to me, her arm wrapped around my shoulders.

“Hart…” Beamer begins.

“Just tell me. How bad is it?”

“He’s in the hospital. He was shot several times, mostly in the vest, took at least one bullet to the arm, and hit his head. He’s unconscious, and they have him surgery. We don’t know much else.”

“NO! No, no, no, no, no, no.” I cry out my legs going soft, I reach out and grab the counter to hold myself up. Beamer has me in a hug before I can steady myself. “This can’t be happening. We just found each other again. We just got married. I can’t lose him again, not like this. I didn’t get enough time. Ethan needs his daddy. I need him.”

“He’s too stubborn to leave, Hartley, and he has you and Ethan. He will fight like hell to get back to you two. I promise you.” Beamer tries to reassure me.

Taking in a few more deep breaths, I get myself under control. I need to be strong for him now; he has been my rock and is always there. It’s my turn to be that for him.

“I’m going to the hospital,” I state.

“Not even gonna try to stop you, but I’m driving.”

“Thanks, Beamer.”

“Of course, sweetheart. Grab your stuff.”

“I’ll stay here with Ethan.” Leia offers.

“Thanks, Leia, call me if he wakes up and won’t go back to sleep. I’ll call you once I know something.” I give her a hug.

“Don’t worry about us. We will be fine.”

“Mark, you stay here with them. Nobody leaves, and nobody gets in unless, it me, Kash or Mack. You got it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

I take a minute to stop in Ethan’s room and give him another kiss. He is fast asleep; he has no idea what is going on around him. He has no clue that he might lose his Daddy. He just got him, and he shouldn’t have to lose him so soon. Please, hear my prayers and don’t take Slyde away from us.

Walking back into the living room, Leia walks over to give me a hug. “It’s going to be OK. He’s strong; he’ll fight and be OK.” She whispers and I let a few more tears fall. OK, no more tears. Tears won’t make him better.

“I’m good.” I rasp and clear my throat and let her go, and then I turn back to Beamer. “Let’s go. I need to get to him.”

“Lock us out. Remember no one in or out.”

“Got it, Sir.”

“Leia call me or Kash if you need anything.”

“Got it. Take care of her.” I hear Leia reply, but I am already out the door.

Fifteen minutes later we are pulling up to the emergency room. I’m pretty sure Beamer broke every traffic rule and set a new time record to get me here and I’m grateful. Any longer and I would have crawled out of my skin.

I jump out of the car, and Beamer is by my side in seconds. I sprint into the ER. Beamer is right next to me, leading me up to the waiting room where Mack, Kash and a few other guys I don’t know are waiting.

“Any news?” I ask, staring at Mack.

“Not yet. They said the doctor will be out soon.”

“Mack, what the hell happened?”

“Everything was going along as planned. We went in, arrested all the leaders and top dogs, but JD managed to slip out. Slyde went after him without backup. By the time we caught up with them it was obvious they fought, Slyde managed to get a couple shots off and wound JD so he couldn’t get away, but Slyde was unconscious when we found him. You should know that JD is here too, but I swear you won’t see him and he won’t get close to you, any of you. He is under watch and we have guards posted at his room. He is in our custody.”

“I don’t care. I need information about Slyde!” I demand and I hear the door open and close behind me.

“Slyde Cardoane?” I spin around and see a doctor standing just inside the room.

“Yes.” I’m not sure my voice worked but I take a few steps toward him. “Yes, that’s my husband.”

“Mrs. Cardoane, I’m Dr. Phillips, would you like to sit down?”

“No! I would like you to tell me how my husband is doing.” I demand. Out of the corners of my eyes, I see Beamer and Kash move to stand at my sides. Beamers arm slips around my waist while Kash takes my hand.

“He’s out of surgery. He took about half a dozen gunshots to his gut and upper torso. But since he was wearing vest, he is just going to be badly bruised and sore for a while. He took a bullet to his shoulder but it was a clean shot, passed completely through and didn’t hit anything, which is good. We stitched him up and he will have to keep it steady for a few days and that’s gonna hurt too. He took a blow to the back of his head, looks mostly superficial but there is some slight swelling in his brain, which is most likely normal, but we really won’t know for sure until tomorrow morning. He is sedated to keep him immobile tonight. He is breathing on his own, he’s young and healthy, physically fit, as long as there is no further swelling in his brain, I don’t see any reason why he would not make a full recovery.”

“Really? Like a full recovery? As in he’s going to wake up and he’s going to be OK?”

“Yes ma’am, your husband should be fine, we will monitor the swelling tonight and if it goes down we will take him off the sedative, it still may take him an extra day or two to wake up, his body has been through a lot, it needs to rest.”

“Can I see him? Please, I need to see him.”

“Yes, you can. He is being moved up to a room now, and I will have a nurse take you there once he is settled.”

“Thank you, Dr. Phillips. Thank you so much.” I shake his hand, he smiles and leaves. I find myself being moved to a chair and I sit. He’s going to be OK.

“All right men, sounds like Cardoane is gonna live. So go home. Get some rest, nothing more we can do here tonight. Several of the guys grumble but they all stop by me to introduce themselves and leave their well wishes for Slyde. Beamer, Kash, and Mack of course don’t leave. Mack states he will go home once he sees for himself that Slyde is breathing. Twenty minutes later the four of us are being led up to Slyde’s room. I have to take a deep, steadying breath, trying to prepare myself for what I will see once I step inside.

Respectfully, the guys wait for me to enter first. Closing my eyes, I take one more breath and step into the room. I’m glad I took that breath because the sight before me makes it difficult to breathe. Slyde is lying in bed, covered in bruises. He has a bandage around his head, one eye is bruised. He’s not wearing a shirt, his shoulder covered in bandages and his arm in a sling lying across his waist. His chest and torso are black and blue. He’s hooked up to machines and has wires running from his un-injured arm. He’s perfectly still other than the steady rise and fall of his chest. My gaze locks on the movement of his chest, and relief takes over. He’s breathing, he really is alive. I stay focused on the fact that he is breathing as I’m lead over to the chair next to his bed by Beamer. Kash lowers the bed railing and I immediately take his hand in mine.