Spencer : Wrath of a woman scorned

I've been known for ruining lives. But never innocent ones. My job the past year was to go on undercover missions, make friends with people, lie to them, and arrest them. Justice shall be served.

A lot of those missions were dangerous. I've been shot at, attacked with knives or any hard objects for that matter, kicked at, taken hits to the face, to my body. Yet I survived them all; it was difficult to take a Carlin down. But this… this mission had been the worst, the most painful. There were no physical blows. It was the internal beating to my heart that broke me. The worst part was that I did it to myself.

I occasionally stole glances at Ashley, but she refused to look my way. She was leaning with her head against the passenger side window, her eyes lifeless as she stared ahead of her.

I knew that I'd screwed up. What I didn't know was how to fix it. Kyla had to have found out somehow that I was a cop. That, or she'd planned this way in advance. She needed a scapegoat, and something to get Ashley to willingly leave the States. I realized that I was that 'something'. Like I've used them, she'd used me too.

I squinted at movement on the road ahead. Accelerating slightly, we came closer to what seemed like… two Honda Civics and a very angry truck driver. My guess was that Clay used to drive the third Civic.

The commotion in front of us got Ashley's attention too. She sat up straight, watching the scene intently.

Things didn't look good. I sped up even more and finally caught up behind Kyla, who was driving next to the truck. Madison was up ahead. And Aiden… was stuck on the passenger step of the truck, dodging gunfire from the driver.

"Shit," I said to no-one in particular. It was the only time Ashley turned to look at me. Her expression turned from anxious to fuming in the seconds it took me to phone Chelsea and call it in. I explained the hijacking, I explained Kyla's alibi, and I explained that Clay was missing. I didn't dare look over at Ashley while I ratted her family out.

Kyla was trying to get closer to the truck to let Aiden jump off onto her car. But what she didn't realize was that Aiden's hand got tangled up in the harpoon cable. Chelsea had informed us that the hijackers used this weapon to shoot out the windscreen of the trucks, and for one person to then get onto the vehicle. Somewhere along the lines things went horribly wrong for them today. It felt like a small drop in the bucket compared to what went wrong between myself and Ashley.

I had to think fast. Kyla wouldn't be able to get Aiden off the truck – she was alone in her car. Madison was trying to slow them down as much as possible, but if anything went awry, that truck would simply drive over her car with the speed it was still going at. Think Carlin, think!

"Ashley!"

She jumped and looked at me. Her eyes were clouded over with hatred, fear and concern. At least she still cared about her family.

"I need you to take over! I need to get onto that truck!"

She looked at me like I was mentally unstable now. "Are you out of your mind?"

There wasn't time for arguing. I grabbed her phone from her hands and dialed Kyla's number.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Ashley! I told you to stay put!" Kyla hollered into the phone.

"Kyla! Get in front of the truck with Madison to slow him down! We'll try get Aiden off, he needs help – he's stuck!" I didn't give her time to reply. I dropped the phone on the floorboard and sped up, flashing my headlights behind Kyla so she could get out of the way.

It was going to be tricky. The truck driver kept shooting at Aiden with a pump-action shotgun. Every bullet that didn't hit the body of the truck, came flying straight at our car. Our lives were in as much danger as Aiden's was. For a split-second I considered leaving them all there to get Ashley out of harm's way.

But she was already maneuvering over to grab the steering wheel and take my place. Once she was almost on my lap – which rendered me mush when her skin touched mine – and then yelled at me to move, I did, and slid out from underneath her. My heart was pounding in my chest, in my ears, in my head. Adrenaline shot through me, the heart-ache of not touching Ashley anymore spreading through my veins.

I dropped into her seat and flipped the switch on the dash console for the Supra convertible's roof to lift. We were going at such a speed that the force of the wind ripped it off the moment the roof was halfway backed up. Well, that's sorted then. I indicated for Ashley to speed up and move closer to the truck.

I didn't know what gave me more courage, the adrenaline or fear. We were dangerously close, the Peterbilt's front wheels almost the height of our car. Bullets kept flying our way, and Ashley wasn't any safer without the roof now. I reached out to Aiden and our hands touched slightly, but he was still stuck in the harpoon cable.

The only option I had left was to jump onto the truck with Aiden and untangle him. I hoped Ashley would stay put and not leave me behind with the madman behind the wheel. I'd probably deserve it if she did.

"Stay put!" I yelled over to Ashley over the noise of the truck and cars, wheels, and wind. And the shotgun spraying bullets all over.

She looked at me like I was crazy, and for a very brief moment, I thought I saw concern in her eyes. It gave me the courage I needed, even though I knew I imagined what I saw.

I took the leap.

I grabbed onto the door, one hand clutching tightly to the side mirror, the other flat against the door. There was enough space for my feet on the little step, but it didn't put my mind at ease. Not while we were traveling at 70 miles per hour and being shot at. I quickly assessed Aiden's arm. It was bad. Circulation was cut off. The cable practically mauled his arm. And he had sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. At such close range, I was surprised that he was able to hold on for so long.

I untangled the cable from Aiden's arm, hoping, praying, that he'd have sense to hold on to something with his other hand. He was losing a lot of blood. I glanced back at the Supra next to us, and my eyes locked with Ashley's. It was a heart-breaking moment. I'd never see adoration and love in those chocolate brown orbs ever again.

The moment passed, and I knew it was now or never. With my one hand still clutching tightly to the side mirror, I maneuvered Aiden's injured arm over my shoulder. He needed his good hand to grab onto the car.

"On the count of three, we jump, okay?"

Well, he didn't really have a choice. It was jump or die.

A stray bullet shot past my hip. I felt all life draining from me – that was a close call. Shock was an interesting thing.

"One…"

Aiden grabbed on tightly. It was difficult to keep us both up with only one hand supporting our body weight.

"Two…"

Ashley glanced at me, as if knowing we were going to make the jump. She lined up the car perfectly.

"Three!"

It happened so quickly, yet, for that second we were in the air, my life flashed before my eyes. I never said that this didn't scare me.

Aiden crashed into the back seat. He was safely in the car. I held on for dear life, my lower body hanging over onto the trunk. I was curious to know just how upset Ashley was with me.

But she started slowing down.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the urge to heave. Stuntmen definitely got paid a lot more than cops if this is what they did for a living.

Minutes later the humming in my ears subsided, and I realized we'd stopped. The truck was gone, and the two black Civics pulled over next to us on the side of the road.

I didn't expect the carnage in front of me. Kyla pulled Madison out of her car, blood everywhere. She got hit. Aiden was bleeding all over my car. Kyla was hysterical while Ashley looked on in silence, probably in shock.

I shook myself out of my own stupor, and started reacting. I knew what I was about to do was going to be the end of it. I reached down in my car, searching for Ashley's phone on the floor. I had no idea where mine was.

"Yeah, this is Officer Spencer Carlin, badge number three-five – "

Kyla froze. Ashley looked smug. Aiden cried out in agony, and Madison wheezed painfully.

"I've got two trauma victims, gunshot wounds…"

The fear that I might lose my life I had moments ago, was nothing compared to the fear numbing me right now. Kyla stepped closer to me, her death-stare quite frightening. She was going to kill me.

"Yes, location… I called it in, about twenty minutes ago… speak to Sergeant Chelsea Lewis…"

Every confession over the phone had Kyla's anger change shades. Her death-stare was now something I couldn't describe. She wasn't only going to kill me, she was going to hurt me, and then kill me.

My eyes caught Ashley's behind Kyla, and finally it dawned on me. This is what Ashley wanted. This moment, where her sister would take her pain away for her – take me, who caused all that pain, away for her.

My heart broke all over again. But I didn't have time to process it. A fist met my face. My ribs. Face again. It was painful. But the heart-ache still prevailed.

The only thing that slowed down those punches were the sound of sirens. And a medical helicopter, ready to make an emergency landing. Kyla let go of me. The disappointment on her face stung. I really thought she'd known by now.

The sirens were getting louder. Reinforcement was close. I wanted to cry from relief.

And then cry because it wasn't over yet. Steady hands held a handgun, pointing towards me. Towards my face. Kyla Davies would never miss. Her finger was on the trigger, safety already off.

We could now hear the police cars – their engines, screeching wheels. The wind picked up violently, announcing the landing of the helicopter.

Kyla had seconds left to finish this. I knew she wanted to run. Ashley gently took the gun from her, and whispered to her to go. It was still pointed at me, now in shaking hands. I understood now just how much I hurt Ashley. I wanted to beg, not for my life, but for her to stay innocent in all of this.

I never felt the impact. A bullet grazed my shoulder but so much adrenaline pumped through my veins I never even faltered. The only thing I felt was confusion. Ashley deliberately missed…