Sworn to Be His ( The Archer Family 3)

Jade glanced in the direction of the shot and saw Derrick there, perched behind his car door like it was a shield.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Keep going. I've got their tires." And just like that he got the first one, puncturing it with a single shot. The other followed in quick succession and sparks shot out from under the car as they tried to propel themselves forward and the rims met the asphalt.

"I'm not leaving you here," Jade answered, then swerved to the other side of the street, taking a second to aim before knocking out the third and fourth tires with two quick shots.

"They're still armed. They're coming for us." Derrick said, and then the muffle of his voice over the radio was replaced by the blaring of his voice on the street.

"Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up."

Jade watched, her breath held, as Zac climbed from the driver’s seat with his hands in the air. The man in the passenger seat followed suit, and then at last the third man came out clutching his gushing wound.

"Get down on the ground." Jade called over her own speaker this time and all three men laid down slowly, carefully.

She couldn't believe it. It hadn't been easy, of course, but she didn't think it would be this simple to end things. She let out one long breath then stepped out of her car cautiously.

Another sound like car backfiring filled the too-quiet street. She glanced at Derrick, needing to know that he was all right. And he was. He was staring at her, his mouth open, shouting something she couldn't hear.

And just as quickly he was fading and blurring as the quiet turned into a buzzing. It filled her whole head, consumed her. Then it was warm. So very warm. First in one spot and then lower, spreading out through her whole body until it was one giant bonfire.

Looking down, she saw the blood. Just inside her arm. A few inches closer and it would have been her heart.

But maybe it was her heart. It was all too blurry to tell. To dark. So dark.

Then, all at once, it was completely black.

* * *

Derrick hadn't left the waiting room all night.

Whether that was because the hospital staff pitied him or because they were simply too scared to cross his path, he didn't know, but he was grateful for the time regardless of the reason, and even now it still wasn't enough.

Until Jade woke, they'd leave him here, trapped like an animal and dying to see her, the regret threatening to eat him alive.

It had been so close. A few more inches and she might have...

He couldn't think about that. It was bad enough that he had to live with the image of her crumpling to the ground as he shot her gunman and called in backup. Bad enough that he hadn't gotten there in time to save her.

His phone rang and for a moment he considered ignoring it, but reluctantly he pulled it from his pocket and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello," he said.

His sister's voice answered him, confused and not a little concerned. "What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You sound like someone just punched you in the stomach."

"It's Jade." He struggled to say the rest, and before he got the chance Andy piped in.

"She didn't like this plan? That's no problem. I got a new one. I've got some PR contacts out there and—"

"No, no. I didn't even get the chance to try and win her back. Not yet, anyway." He scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd totally forgotten about the flowers, the whole

thing he'd planned to do. The second he'd heard the strain in her voice, it was like everything else had failed to exist.

"So what's the problem, then?" Andy's voice brought him back to reality.