He goes down as the first bullet I fired tears through the left side of his back. I don't think twice about putting another one through his chest as he hits the ground.
I slowly approach the man as I scan my surroundings with my peripheral vision. There must have been another person in that car; both front doors were open.
That's when I see him, or his feet, rather; he's crouched in front of the hissing engine. As I approach, he stands but I put a round right between his eyes before he can even think about pulling his gun's trigger.
I check the pulse of the first man I shot and only find a lack of one. I kick his shotgun away anyway.
I don't bother checking the second guy. I tuck my SIG back into its holster as I hear the sirens approaching and see the red-and-blues in the distance.
I walk up to Spencer's window and look inside. She's crying but she's not seriously injured. She sees me and tries to open her door but is unsuccessful. I try too but it still doesn't budge, so she crawls over the center console to exit through the driver's side. I meet her halfway around the back of the totaled vehicle and I instantly pull her to my chest as she sobs.
Her arms are tucked between our chests as I whisper, "it's gonna be all right, gorgeous, they can't hurt you."
I press a kiss into her temple before pulling my jacket off and wrapping it around her shoulders.
What was a calm, unusually warm November night just became a nightmare.
The memory of watching Dennison's Suburban crash keeps playing in my mind. God, let him be okay.
Within a matter of minutes, the local police are all over. They're taking Spencer's statement right now and she keeps looking over to me. Dennison and Vanichkul step out of a cruiser that just pulled up and Dennison heads my way.
"Ashley," he says, pulling me into a hug. "Thank God you're all right. I was so fucking worried."
"Jesus, Aid, I was scared to death that you weren't okay," I reply into his chest.
"What happened?" Aiden asks, pulling back and looking over to the white sheets on the ground currently surrounded by officers, then to my SUV.
"They PIT manuveured me and I spun out and flipped it," I state. "I shot them before they could get to Spencer."
I'm suddenly swarmed by paramedics as they look over my wounds and check for a concussion, which is totally unnecessary. All right, I suppose there is blood running down my face and arm, but I'm fine. I'm led to the back of an ambulance, but I don't mind because it brings me much closer to Spencer.
"...and that's when Sergeant Davies shot him..."
I cringe a little. Spencer had to watch me shoot two people to death.
An EMT is saying that I don't have a concussion but that I need stitches. I don't care, I just tell them to give me the stitches now.
"Are you sure?" The man asks.
"Yeah," I say, irritated. "Just fucking do it."
------
I finally walk into my room around two AM. I strip off my clothes with a heavy sigh and head for the shower.
The water's hot and it causes my cuts to sting. I run my fingers over the exposed stiches on my forehead and fight the urge to cry. Spencer's life was two seconds away from being taken from her, and that's two too many seconds for my liking. I realize the incredible seriousness of the situation and I promise myself that no one's ever going to have the chance to hurt her again, even if I die trying.
I fell in love when I was sixteen, or so I thought until now. It dawns on me that what I had with Morgan was nowhere near what I already have with Spencer.
Fuck, I'm in deep, huh?
I turn the shower off and when I finish drying my body, I walk into my room to throw a tan uniform shirt and my favorite soccer shorts on. I lay down on the bed and turn the TV on. CNN soon becomes the current channel as usual.
"...the two unidentified suspects were gunned down by a Secret Service agent whose identity also remains unknown..."
Just then, my orange enV comes to life with Kyla's ringtone.
I answer with an, "I'm okay, Ky."
"Jesus, Ash, it's all over the news. Liz called and told me and I didn't know if it was you or not and I was freaked out--"
"Kyla, Aiden and I are all right, just a little sore and stiff," I reply.
"Thank God," she says. "I was really worried, sis."
I smile at my sister's honesty. There was a time when we couldn't even bring ourselves to speak to each other.
There's a soft knock on my door and Spencer walks in.
"Ky, I have to go. I promise I'll call tomorrow, okay?" I say into the receiver. I hang up after her response.
Spencer's now standing by the edge of my bed, playing with the hem of her shirt nervously.
"Are you okay, Spence?" I ask.
She's a little bruised here and there, small cuts checker her face and arms and her hand is bandaged, but she's looking radiant as usual.
She looks up to me and says, "I, um, I couldn't sleep."
I smile softly and lift up the covers. She smiles back and crawls into my bed. I mute the TV, scoot down and invite her into my arms. She lays her head on my chest and drapes an arm across my stomach. I'm amazed by how well she fits into my body.
I pull her closer and run my fingertips across her forearm. I press a kiss onto her forehead and say, "no one's going to hurt you. I promise."
She pulls back to look at me and I take the opportunity to run my fingers through her hair. "You're so beautiful, Spencer, you know that?"
She blushes and tries to bury her face into my neck. "Like you're one to talk, Ash," she whispers.
It's then that she runs her hand over the exposed skin of my stomach and she giggles when the muscles there contract involuntarily.
Good God, I didn't know that she could turn me on so easily. Okay, so I did, but still, the way she's tracing her fingertips over the small tattoo she finds is like an insta-turn-on.
"Kyla and I have the same one," I say before she voices the question I know is running through her mind.
She nods into my neck. "I'm really sore," she says.
"I take it you've never been in a car accident before?"
She moves to rest on her elbow and I'm already missing her warmth. She shakes her head.
"We were really lucky, Spence," I whisper, running my thumb across her cheek and down to her chin.
"Ash," she begins quietly, "you saved my life today...and I'm very grateful for that."
I smile. "I was just protecting you, babe, and I'll do that whether I'm assigned to do it or not."
She leans down and I'm stunned when she places a soft, but lingering kiss on my lips.
"Thank you," she says before laying her head on my chest again. About ten minutes later, her even breathing lets me know she's asleep.
When she crawls into my bed again the next night and the night after that, I don't object.
