Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
We’d never been able to prove that Sidney set up the ambush that we drove into. We all had our suspicions, but without proof, the cops could do nothing about it.
I passed Sidney on the way out the door, heading to the ladies room, and I even managed the keep the disgust off my face.
Bitch.
Once out in the parking lot, I shivered at the bite in the wind. Today was cold for Texas at thirty degrees. With the wind blowing made it feel more like twenty. It was positively frigid compared to yesterdays seventy.
I was weaving through the cars to get to Gabe’s new truck when I happened to see Sidney’s Audi three spaces over from ours. I glanced at it quickly, but looked away again because I thought about keying it. Something made me look at it again, though. Veering off toward her car, I was nearly to the front bumper when it finally hit me.
Cora was strapped into her car seat. She wasn’t moving. It was colder than fuck, and she wasn’t even wearing a fucking coat.
Oh, Jesus help me.
“GABRIEL!” I screamed.
I put everything I had into that scream. It felt like a hot fire poker was shoved down my throat, but I didn’t stop screaming. I tried all four doors, but they were all locked. I looked around frantically for something to break the windows with, but could find nothing. Somehow, I found myself up on the roof of the SUV, and I was kicking the windshield with the heel of my dress shoes. I kicked it over and over again. On the sixth kick, the windshield cracked, but still didn’t break.
I found myself hauled down by a pair of unfamiliar arms, and I started kicking and screaming to get back to what I was doing, but stilled when I saw that Gabe had his Glock out prepared to break the window with the butt of the gun. He had the door open in seconds, and was in the backseat with Cora seconds after that. Gabe worked diligently, getting the baby out of the car seat in short order. Cradling her in his arms, he ran for the door to the courthouse steps. I could hear sirens in the distance, but disregarded them.
I ran after Gabe, and found him on his knees on `the floor of the lobby. Cora was cradled tight to his chest. His shirt was off, and he was wrapping his jacket around her back. I ran and dropped down to my knees. Mashing myself against her other side, trying to use the heat of my body to get her back with us.
The baby still wasn’t moving. She was so still, I feared Cora was dead, and bile crept up my throat. Gabe had a haunted look in his eyes, and I knew how he was feeling. Over the last four months of knowing Cora, I’ve grown to love her as my own. She even slept with us when she was staying the weekends at our house.
The paramedics arrived, and Gabe rode with the baby to the hospital. Seeing the two of them together made my heart kick. They looked so much alike it was uncanny. Once the stretcher was loaded into the ambulance, they took off out of the lot. Feeling like a zombie, I turned to head back into the courthouse and came face to face with Sidney. Not one ounce of remorse showed on her face. She didn’t even look at all affected. She had a small smile on her face even.
“I saw this happening a different way, but this works. For two years, I’ve resented him for what he did to me. Seeing that just made it all worth it. His stupid stepfather didn’t make it worth it.” She sneered before leaving through the maze of hallways that led deeper into the courthouse.
Max came bursting through the door not a minute after the Sidney left, and came straight up to me, pulling me into a tight embrace. Once his arms closed around me I lost it. I cried for that poor baby. I cried until I had nothing left to cry. Deep ugly sobs poured out of me. Snot, snorts, the whole nine yards. I prayed repeatedly that she would survive. Hoping beyond hope.
Her lips and face were blue. Her limp little body showed none of the signs of life.
“Max.” I said gruffly.
“Yea, honey?” He asked.
I told him what happened in the hallway, and what Sidney said only moments before he showed up. A veil came over Max’s eyes, shielding something. I didn’t know what, but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good. If he wasn’t my brother, I would have been scared of him at that instant. He pulled his phone out and called Sam, telling him everything that had happened in the last hour. Grabbing my hand, he took me to his bike, and we climbed on. The ride to the hospital was torture. I knew that our lives were about to change, and I hoped that little girl would be there as a part of it.
Ω
Gabe
I’ve gone through many things. I watched my father waist away from cancer. I’ve patched up men with their limbs blown off. Stuck my bare hands in wounds to stop bleeding. Witnessed one of my greatest friends die. Saved the life of a woman that meant the world to one of the people I loved. Killed four men while my wife was tied to the chair, scared shitless that she was about to die. Nothing and I mean nothing, compares to this. Seeing someone you love so deeply, so near the brink of death, was heart wrenching.
My Cora was fighting a losing battle.
I was in the back of the ambulance, close to the door. I was doing my best to stay out of the way, so the medics could do their jobs. They intubated her, and then started IVs in both forearms. They started her on heated drips to help bring her temperature up to a more stable level. Then they took her vitals, and monitored her levels. Nothing much they could do but drive to the hospital as fast as they could. The wail of the siren, the sharp honk of the horn, and the beeping of the monitors were nearly overwhelming. I wasn’t prepared for this.