Special Delivery Ch. 06

Chapter 06 -- Drama and epilogue

From that point on, our relationship was much more symmetrical. We would all fuck each other, sometimes by ourselves, sometimes all together. It seemed to be working amazingly well, with everyone getting along and no signs of jealousy.

But things were about to take a surprising turn.

A few weeks later, I heard some kind of commotion from the front of the house. As usual, I was out back finishing up the last of the wood chopping. I knew Maya and Sophie were hanging out in the house together. In all our time together, we'd never had any kind of fight but I was sure I could hear screaming, and shouting.

Confused and worried, I hustled round to the front.

"...her alone!" I heard Sophie screaming as rounded the corner.

A heavyset man was standing by the rear door of a large van, holding it open with one hand. With his other, he was pointing a pistol at Sophie, who was just outside the house yelling at him.

Another man was dragging Maya by the hair towards the van.

At a moment like that, it's hard to predict how you're going to react. I could have frozen, I could have asked what was going on. But, what I actually did was see that one of the women I loved was being abducted and I charged into full primal rage mode.

The world seemed to move in slow motion. The man with the gun turned when he saw me in his peripheral vision. His eyes went wide and he swung the gun in my direction, firing off a couple of shots. I didn't even hear them as I brought my axe down on his outstretched arm.

My axe was sharp and I'm strong. The tool bit hard into his forearm, leaving a deep gash and, I found out later, shattering the bones. The gun went flying and he sunk to his knees in agony.

I swung again but had just enough control of my rage to hit him with the poll of the axe instead of the blade. This time, I clipped the side of his head and he went down in a heap.

I spun and faced the other man, who had now realised what was happening.

He kept hold of Maya with one hand and started reaching for a gun at his belt. Maya took the opportunity to stamp her heel hard on his instep. This hurt him enough to make him fumble the gun and then I was on him, beating and beating with the back of the axe until he released Maya and cowered on the floor.

"Mark, stop. That's enough" I heard Sophie shouting. It was enough to snap me out of my rage and I lowered the axe.

Sophie was just picking up the second man's gun, having already taken the first.

She handed one to Maya and pulled out her phone, already dialling the police.

"Mark? You're bleeding." It was Maya's voice but it sounded like it was coming from a long way away.

I looked down and saw a rapidly expanding bloom of red on my white T-shirt.

"Well, shit" was all I could say before the world went black

---

I woke in hospital. Maya and Sophie sitting on either side of my bed.

"Mark! You're awake!" I could see Maya had been crying. Sophie was more composed but she, too, looked relieved to see me with my eyes open.

"How bad is it?" I croaked.

"The doctors say you were very lucky. The bullet didn't hit anything vital. But an inch either side and it would have been lights-out. But you're gonna be OK. You'll need to stay here for a few days, but you should make a full recovery."

"What about those guys? Who the fuck were they? Are they... I mean did I...?"

"They are still alive, one of them was touch-and-go for a bit though. But you didn't kill them. The police are waiting to speak to you. I promised I'd tell them as soon as you woke up. I don't think you're in any trouble or anything but they need you to make a statement. They're waiting outside. I'd better go and get them."

Sophie left to find the police.

Maya grabbed my hand. "Mark, I'm so sorry; those guys were there for me. I was so scared you were going to die. What if they send more people?"

"Hush, I'm OK. It's all going to be OK. I'm sure the police will know what to do."

Right on cue, DI Andy Burrows walked in.

"Hi again Mark, looks like you've been busy since we last met."

"I guess so. Not my idea of a fun time though. You here to arrest me for assault?"

"Haha, Jesus, no! Might have been a bit awkward if you'd actually have killed them. Although, given the circumstances and the fact they were armed, even then you'd probably still be OK on self-defence grounds. But I'm glad you didn't, having those two in custody is the closest we've got to getting a lead on this gang for years. They had no ID on them, but they're speaking Romanian and interpol are confident that we'll be able to get some solid connections to follow up on."

"Well, good then. I guess. What about Maya? Are we safe? Are they going to send more people?"

"I don't think they'll want to risk it. From what we know of them, they are very professional. We think they only sent men to recover her because your neighbour's finances have been frozen due to his legal situation and he's not completed the payment. Having failed once to recover her, I think it's very likely they will write off the debt, rather than risk failing again and potentially giving us even more leads. So I think you're in the clear."

"Let's hope so, I'm not sure I want to live in fear of organised gangs breaking into my house in the middle of the night. So, what do you need from me?"

"Nothing for now. I just wanted to let you know the situation. I'll need you to make a formal statement when you are recovered. And you might need to give evidence at the trial. But all that comes later."

"Well, I appreciate you giving me the update."

"No problem, I'll be in touch. I hope you recover quickly. Take care Mark."

"Thanks man, I think I'm gonna be just fine."

Andy took a conspicuous look at Sophie and Maya - who were sitting either side of the bed, each holding one of my hands -- and gave me a sly wink. "Yeah, mate, I think you're right there!"

We were all chuckling as he walked out. Laughing hurt quite a lot so I was going to have to take that easy for a while.

"You know, ladies, when I saw those men attacking you, it really brought into focus how much I love you both. The idea of losing either of you... well, it doesn't bear thinking about."

The two women snuggled into me, being careful to avoid putting any weight on my injury.

"We love you two, Mark!" Sophie said. "And, I rather like you too Maya!" She added with a cheeky wink.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd get to fall in love." Maya said whimsically. "But here I am in love with two people! Double bonus!".

We lay in silence for a while, just enjoying being close to each other and all being alive.

After a while, Maya coughed: "Sooooo, is there anything we can do to help make you more comfortable?" The way she said it left me in no doubt what she was hinting at. But just to exaggerate her point, she slid her hand down gently to my groin. "These hospital gowns have very convenient access you know? And I always fancied playing doctors and nurses!"

"Jesus, Maya, you never stop, do you?" Sophie obviously couldn't see the same twinkle in Maya's eye that I could that gave away the fact that she was joking.

"Hurmph!" Maya pretended to be offended. "I guess you'll just have to get better quickly then so I can have my wicked way with you again."

That sounded like something I could commit to!

The End.