I sat. At this point, my actions were making the situation worse.
Eric spit beside my foot, clearly agitated he’d been reprimanded. He tried to rile me. “You’re the one carrying the bastard, sweetheart.”
Sarge faced us. “Enough! Both of you!” The tone scared the shit out of me and I closed my mouth and glance toward Frankie’s body.
He was gone.
Forever.
Then, all the commotion started. Bane leapt from the chair tackling Sarge to the ground. Hampton grabbed Eric. Bane’s booming voice echoed through the cabin. “Maren, to the bedroom!”
I fell off the chair and crawled. Yelling, cursing and gunshots went off around me. Making it to the door, I looked back. Sarge and Eric were on the floor with Hampton and Bane standing above them. Hampton had blood dripping down his arm. I slumped in relief. They’d been subdued.
“Check him,” Bane commanded. As soon as the words were out, a gun was in Eric’s hand, pointed at me. I curled into a ball. Our baby. I have to protect our baby.
Bane cried, “Angel!”
Bang.
Thud.
I peeked my eyes open, checking myself. I was fine. Hampton kicked Sarge and Eric in the head, knocking them out cold. But, Bane wasn’t. Bane laid on the floor in a heap. I died a thousand deaths as the father of my child laid on the floor unmoving.
Please don’t do this to me.
“Bane! No!” I crawled over to Bane. I couldn’t lose him too. Not Bane. Not the father of our child. No!
I rolled his body over. Blood seeped from his shoulder. Banes eyes opened and landed on me. “Are you okay? How’s the baby?”
“We’re okay. You saved us.”
“Finally. I was able to save my family.” Family. We are a family? Where did we stand? I searched Bane’s face and only relief was there as he looked over me. His eyes landed on my stomach and he swallowed hard. Oh, how I wanted those words of being a family to be true. But, the memory from this morning in the bathroom flittered unwantedly into my mind and I couldn’t let my guard down.
Bane turned toward Hampton. “Are they secure?”
“Yes.”
“Good. The bullet went through. I need you to cauterize my wound. We need to see what these motherfuckers have on us and how deep it goes.”
Hampton moved to the fireplace where he put the poker in the red hot flames. Was he crazy? I interrupted, “Bane, you need a doctor.”
Bane’s hand came up to my face, “I’ll be fine. We’ll cauterize the wound. After we get what we need, I’ll go to a doctor. I’ve had worse.”
That thought sickened me. Hampton handed Bane some booze and he shook his head. “No, I want to be completely alert when I question them. I can handle it.” Hampton started to protest. “No! I need to be on top of my game. What did they have on you?”
Pouring rubbing alcohol on the wound, Bane didn’t wince. “They’d been using Security Branch on a few jobs and I caught on. Before I had a chance to warn you, they took Felicia. They had her for about a week prior to Discrete Encounters. When I gave you the signal, my guys confirmed they had my wife safe via my pager while I was in the bathroom with Maren. There’ve been several moving pieces to try and limit any casualties.”
My eyes drifted to Frankie’s dead body. Bane watched me as more tears fell. Bane nodded to Hampton. Hampton grabbed a blanket from the couch and covered his body. “Angel …” I looked back to Bane. “I need you to go to the bedroom while Hampton cauterizes the wound.”
“I—”
“I know you want to stay here, but please, the stress can’t be good for you or the baby. I’ll be in there in a second.”
Baby. I was still trying to comprehend we were going to be having a baby. I was pregnant. I hadn’t fully had a chance to comprehend it all. Kissing his forehead, I stood. Bane watched me until I disappeared behind the bedroom door. Sitting on the bed, I rubbed my stomach.
This is happening. All of it. Later, I’d have time to mourn the death of my brother. It was too much to process right now. Not ever knowing what happened to make him change when I turned eighteen will be hard. I always thought I’d be able to sit and have a serious conversation with him. Time changes things. It’s unpredictable.
I heard grunting from the other room and my teeth ground together. Bane was in pain. Pure pain. Moments later, burnt flesh permeated the air. The smell. Oh geez, that awful smell had my stomach roiling. Toilet, I needed the toilet. Barely making it, I expelled the water I’d drank. My throat burned as I stood and brushed my teeth. I finished and looked at my reflection.