180 Degrees-Tae & Vicky's Forever 03

I was on my laptop one evening, continuing to research Seattle. I think I was leaning toward this city more than any other. I liked the look of it...I liked what I read about the culture. And it was about as far away as I could get from New York without moving to another country...

These were the thoughts I was having when I heard the sound of someone climbing the stairs to my second floor apartment. I lived in a type of duplex. One apartment on the main floor, one apartment on the second floor...my apartment. I hadn't ordered any food (ordering take out was a headache when you didn't speak the language)...so no one should have been making their way up to my apartment. It could have been my downstairs neighbors. Perhaps there was an emergency...

I didn't risk it. I ran for the closet where I kept my go-bag and was running toward my bedroom, toward the terrace that led to freedom, when I heard the front door crash open, when I heard the sound of bullets slamming into sheet rock, wood, and metal....a piercing hot pain sliced into my side as I vaulted over the terrace's railing, landing on the soft ground a story below. I kept going, ignoring the sharp pain I felt in my side and in my left ankle. I kept running, thinking of the path I'd mapped out when I first arrived, hoping the thick, green bushes would hide me as the bullets followed. I felt no other sharp pains as I continued to flee, hopping over fences, scurrying through yards filled with flowers and toys...avoiding the yards I knew had dogs.

I was out of breath and feeling a little dizzy when I finally reached the second used car I'd bought. An old Honda that I'd stashed some distance from my apartment...just in case. I'd stopped by every few days to make sure the car hadn't been stolen and the engine would start. I was thankful for my diligence as I located the key in the small, magnetic lock box I'd put in the tailpipe. I entered the numerical combination quickly, removed the key, tossed my bag inside, said a prayer of thanks when the car started, and sped off into the night.

*

I managed to make it to a tiny little motel I'd located weeks ago, about two hours from Aguadilla and much closer to the San Juan airport. There was also an airport in Aguadilla, but I wouldn't risk staying in that small town. A black woman who didn't speak Spanish? For the right price, how hard would I be to find?

I kept trying to figure out how they'd found me? The text to Tae?

No. She would die before she sold me out...right?

So it was something else stupid I'd done. Maybe Florida? Or Texas? Maybe Benjamin had given them the name of the contact I'd met and they'd finally figured out my new name? Maybe they had tracked me to Aguadilla, where I'd rented an apartment and had furniture delivered under that name?

I wasn't sure. Couldn't be sure. Although if they had my new name, flying under that name would be a huge mistake. Not that I had an option...at least until I got back to the States...

And I knew all of these were important considerations...but more important was the fact that I'd had to limp all the way to the motel room, my ankle now twice its normal size...and the entire left side of my body was covered in blood.

*

I took a shower. Mostly to wash away the blood so I could get a better look at the problem. A hole, a small one, in the fleshy part right above my hip bone. It was bleeding...sluggishly. Even after I pressed a towel to it for over an hour, ignoring the hot, shooting pain...it was still bleeding. I knew this could not be good. When I twisted and turned to see if there was an exit wound...there wasn't one. Even worse. And my head was swimming from the pain, now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

I'd been shot. And the bullet was still in me. And I couldn't go to a hospital. And I didn't know anyone in Puerto Rico or speak Spanish.

I was in trouble.

Serious trouble.

And not knowing if I was making a huge mistake, not knowing if her phone had been compromised, not know if she was still interested in helping, I dug the pre-paid phone out of my go-bag and texted Tae.

Help. Shot. Bullet still in. Still bleeding.

I typed in the name of the motel and "PR"...and then passed out on the bed, a part of me hoping she would understand where I was and praying I had managed to press "send" before passing out.

***

"She's coming around."

I heard the voice from a distance...I didn't recognize it. A male voice, deep, a thick Spanish accent...nope, I didn't know it. But he spoke English, so that was good, right?

I slowly forced my eyes open...I wasn't in the motel anymore. It looked like a bedroom, even though there was an IV drip attached to my arm. There was a picture of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on one wall, a floral bedspread, a dresser with chipped paint, a chair beside the bed...that was occupied by a man. A woman was there also, an older woman who was examining the wound above my hip and changing the bandage. I winced when she dabbed some type of ointment on it before securing the gauze with medical tape. She said something to the man in Spanish and then left the room.

I turned my head to look at him...he wasn't tall or short. He was slim, but muscular. He had a thick mustache, kind, brown eyes, thick, rich, black hair...he was relatively attractive, although I'm not sure how or why that mattered.

"Do you prefer Vic, Vicky or Victoria?" He asked with a bit of sarcasm.

I just stared at him, not answering. Was he friend or foe? I had no idea.

"You're at my sister's house in San Juan. She's a nurse. We had a flight waiting to take you from the island, but you were too sick. The wound was infected by the time we found you. Do you know there are 14 motels with that same name in Puerto Rico? It took us two days to find you. It was probably a miracle you were still alive."

I still didn't respond, although my aches and pains agreed it was a miracle he'd found me alive. I took a moment to process the information he'd shared. So someone had received my text. How else would he have known how to find me? But...was this person with Don Carlos? Marcos? Tae? I still wasn't sure...And who was "we"?

"She awake? About fucking time."

I turned at the sound of that voice, a familiar voice, although not the voice I'd been hoping to hear. I regretted turning my head so quickly as nausea swam up and almost overtook me. Still, it was worth taking in that curvy, compact Puerto Rican body, the dark eyes and the smirk on her full lips. Jari.

"You fucking idiot. She told you not to run."

Jari. Which meant they were with Tae. I sighed...and tumbled back into unconsciousness.

*

I felt better when I woke some time later. The curtains in the room were drawn so I had no idea what time of day it was...or what day it was. No clue how long I'd been here. But clearly the fever was under control. I felt loopy, so the woman had me on some type of pain meds that dulled the ache in my side and my throbbing ankle. Jesus Christ, had I really been shot? I was still wondering how they'd found me. I thought I'd been careful. God, hadn't I had this discussion with myself numerous times before? I was always making a mistake, always one step behind the people after me...

"How do you feel?"

I turned my head much more slowly, given the nausea last time, to find Jari watching me with those familiar, dark eyes.

"Better. Where's Tae?" Neither of us was surprised that was my first question.

"Prison."

That forced me to shake the haziness from my head and stare at the woman beside me.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"They arrested her and Don Carlos about a week after you ran."

A week after...so who?...I glanced at Jari and she smiled slowly. She'd been the one texting me, not Tae. Well, that would explain the odd tone I'd detected in the texts. I closed my eyes for a moment. That meant Tae and her Grandfather had been in prison for about a month. Fantastic.

"What did they charge them with?"

"Fraud."

"Federal charges?" I asked, my heart squeezing just a bit. Federal charges would be worse...

"Not yet, but the FBI seems interested..."

I closed my eyes, this was not happening.

"But the D.A. seems more interested in getting their key witness back on board for the case against Marcos," Jari filled in.

That news gave me both hope...and depressed the hell out of me. Of course they would be more interested in RICO and homicide charges. But, I didn't want to join that circus again. WitSec? Being hunted more enthusiastically by Marcos' people again? I sighed...didn't sound like I had a choice.

"What'd Tae say?"

"She told me to stay the fuck out of it."

I nodded slowly, of course that's what she'd say. Always wanting to protect me. That was my wife. As if I would leave her, or her Grandfather, sitting in prison. Didn't matter if he hated me, I couldn't leave them there.

"How long before we can leave here?"

Jari smiled again, "I'll ask Nurse Ratched."

*

It didn't take us long to vacate the small house in a neighborhood that looked very much like the one I'd been living in for the last month or so. And as I felt the small, private plane taxi and then lift off, I had both a sense of dread...and anticipation. Dread because I knew this was another beginning to the nightmare I'd been dealing with forever. Anticipation...because I'd missed Tae. No matter what I'd been feeling, no matter my instinct to run...I'd missed my wife. Missed her terribly. Even if she was pissed with me, I wanted to see her, wanted to feel her against me, wanted those delicious lips pressed hungrily against mine...yup, I'd really missed my wife.

And for once...for once, I would be the one rescuing her. Just the thought of it felt really good.

***

They'd released my Grandfather two days earlier...an intentional plan on my part once the D.A. had reached out to me. He was still pissed, had barely spoken to me while we were inside...and yet he'd made sure I was protected. I was, after all, a former cop. That alone would have guaranteed me a death sentence while in prison. Especially given the contacts Miguel Cruz had on the inside. But Don Carlos had protected me...that gave me hope that we could get past this.

Now, I sat beside Jari in the back seat of the huge, luxury SUV she'd had waiting for me when I walked out of that fucking hellhole. I needed a fucking shower...and 24 hours of sleep in my own bed...and Vic. That fucking crazy, beautiful...pain in my fucking ass. I didn't know if I would shake the shit out of her or fuck her into a coma when I caught up with her. And I was a little surprised she hadn't come to pick me up...the thought made my chest tighten. Fuck. I turned to Jari.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

Jari hesitated...then sighed.

"The Marshals already picked her up. And we lost the trail. She's gone."

I closed my eyes, my heart thudding painfully in my chest.

Fuck.