Closer (The Unit #1) Read online

  Emma wasn’t tied or seated, she was just thrown into the back of the moving vehicle. Perhaps she could reach up and put her arm around the driver’s neck. The man in the back of the van with her was hanging on and not really paying attention to what she was doing. She began to move, but the man reached out to stop her by grabbing her ankle and pulling. Emma wiggled free and rammed the heel of her foot into the man’s nose causing him to cower in pain. She moved quickly behind the driver and reached her arm around his neck. She clenched her arm with all her might, locking it with her other arm, as the man pulled at her trying to remove her choke hold grip. She didn’t let go. No one was taking this information from her. She felt the other man pulling at her leg, but didn’t look back. The driver was starting to lose consciousness from the chokehold. The passenger was trying to steer the van so they didn’t lose control. The driver, in a last ditch effort, fired the gun under his arm and through the seat causing the other guy, who was now steering, to jerk the wheel. The van spun and toppled over. It rolled twice before coming to rest on its side. Michael, Rob, Steve, and Tony were at the side of the van the second it stopped moving. Tony pried the back of the door open to see Emma lying there on the side of the van, blood pooling around her body. The passenger grabbed all of the confidential materials from Emma and jumped out of the van and took off down the street. Before the men could get to him, he had carjacked a vehicle and sped off down the highway. The men quickly decided that Emma took precedence. They carefully extricated her from the van and gently laid her down on the highway. Tony checked the driver, but he was dead on impact.

  “He got away,” Tony told Michael.

  Michael couldn’t hear; he couldn’t see; he couldn’t even think. His world stopped. He only knew one thing: his Emma had been shot.

  “We have to get her back to your house, Rob,” he shouted to Rob.

  “Let me in to see,” Rob calmly insisted.

  Michael was cradling Emma’s lifeless body in his arms. Rob reached for Emma, but Michael shook his head back and forth through his tears. A heart-wrenching sob escaped Michael’s throat. Rob knew his friend was losing it. He was close to losing it himself last night.

  “I need to examine her, Michael. Give her to me,” Rob demanded, reaching out to remove Emma from Michael’s arms.

  This time Michael let her go. Rob laid her back on the concrete and rolled her to her side.

  “Look, an exit wound,” he exclaimed to Michael.

  Michael could taste the bile rise in the back of his throat. He was going to be sick. He stood and made his way to the other side of the van before he lost everything he had eaten in the last few hours. After wrenching, he came back to Emma a bit more focused than he had been just a few minutes ago.

  “How bad? Give it to me straight,” he demanded of Rob.

  “She is going to make it. It is mainly a flesh wound, but I need to get her back to my house, now,” Rob stated. Michael thanked God his Emma was going to be okay.

  “How do you know she didn’t damage any organs?” Michael asked Rob as he bent down to pick Emma’s lifeless body up into his arms.

  “I don’t and I won’t, not until we get back to my house. Put her in the back of my car,” Rob commanded as he got in the driver’s seat.

  For the second time in so many days, Michael climbed back into the back seat with an injured Emma, cradling her body against his chest.

  « Chapter Seventeen »

  They pulled into Rob’s street and parked their cars. Michael got out of the car and reached in to retrieve Emma’s unconscious body.

  “Why isn’t she awake?” he barked at Rob as he carried her to the house.

  “Her body probably shut down from the pain. You remember how painful it is to be shot,” Rob answered as Michael held the door to his home open for him.

  Michael walked to the couch and laid his porcelain doll down. He went into the kitchen and came back with a dry dishcloth. He wanted to stop the bleeding, so he pressed the absorbent cloth to Emma’s wound.

  “Emma, Baby, wake up,” he cajoled.

  She was firmly in the land of darkness. She couldn’t hear or feel. Michael kept firm pressure on her wound until Rob came into the room with his first aid kit.

  “I need in. I’m going to check her and then stitch her up,” Rob told Michael as he moved in front of Emma’s body. Rob poked and prodded; still Emma remained unconscious. “It’s better she’s out, man. That way she won’t feel anything,” Rob reassured Michael. Michael paced back and forth while Rob got out his suture kit.

  “Think of it as a flesh wound. She is going to be fine. The bullet totally missed all of her organs. The only thing you will have to watch for is infection from the stitches,” Rob said, trying to calm a very agitated Michael down. “Look. See how it just went through the extreme right side of her body,” Rob told Michael as he pointed to her side.

  “How long will she be out,” Michael asked worried about Emma’s lack of consciousness.

  “I hope she’s out until I get her stitched up,” Rob assured Michael in a calm voice.

  “What can I do to help? I have never felt so helpless in my life,” Michael pleaded with Rob.

  “Just calm down and relax before I have to treat you for a heart attack,” Rob said to his friend, trying to lighten the situation.

  Rob was always extremely calm under pressure. They all were, but when Michael had seen Emma lying in a pool of her own blood, he lost it. He thought he lost everything. He had finally found the one woman to calm his ravaged soul and she had almost been taken away from him—twice.

  “Will she need to go to the hospital?” Michael asked furrowing his brows. He couldn’t let her go to the hospital, not with so many different people after her. How would he keep her safe from the CIA agent if she were admitted to the hospital?

  “No, I think after I get her stitched up and get her a shot for the pain, she should be just fine. She will be up and moving tonight, she just may be a little tender. So take it easy on her, eh?” Rob said to Michael smiling at him with a knowing expression.

  “The only thing I am going to be doing with her is taking care of her every need,” Michael said, exasperated at the thought of her being shot.

  He remembered the pain he felt when he was shot in the back. The bullet entered under his right shoulder blade. Thank God, it was a through-and-through, but the pain was still intense. He didn’t pass out, but he wasn’t complaining when they shot him full of morphine to dull his senses. He had been able to get up and move around within a day, although it hurt like hell. He knew Rob knew his shit and wouldn’t lie to him about Emma’s condition. If Rob said they had to take her to the hospital, they would. Although, he wasn’t sure how that would work. Rob assured Michael she should wake when the pain subsided. What was she thinking, grabbing the driver the way she did? She is damn lucky because this whole situation could have been a lot worse.

  Michael watched in agony as Rob pulled the sutures through her skin with the U-shaped needle.

  “I finished the front. I only needed to put five sutures in. Help me roll her onto her side, so I can close the exit wound,” Rob asked Michael.

  Michael and Rob carefully rolled Emma onto her side placing her arms above her head so they were out of the way. It took Rob a few minutes to close up the exit wound. It was just as small as the entrance wound. Thankfully she had been shot with a low caliber pistol.

  “The bleeding has stopped. Let’s let her rest on the couch until she wakes. Then we’ll move her to the guest room,” Rob said to Michael who was now seated on the edge of the couch gently stroking Emma’s hair from her face.

  “Lizzie, man. What the fuck are we going to do?” Rob said as he ran a hand through his short hair and roughly over his bearded face in agitation. It was taking too long to get to her and the longer they waited, the more she had to endure. “They’re not going to keep her alive forever. What if that was the terrorists who grabbed Emma? They have all of the information. Do
they even need her now? What is it that will keep Lizzie alive?” Rob articulated to Michael while pacing a hole in the new, plush rose color carpet Lizzie just picked out a month ago.

  Michael hesitated, the words coming slowly from deep in his gut. He didn’t want to have to say this to his best friend, but Rob needed to hear it. He had to start to prepare for the worst because if it was the terrorists, then Lizzie’s chances of survival were slim.

  “I know, man. If it was the terrorists, then I am not going to lie to you; it doesn’t look good. If they don’t need Emma, they don’t need you. You know what that means for Lizzie,” Michael said regretfully to his best friend.

  “I can’t lose her, man. I saw the way you reacted to finding Emma today. I know you have feelings for her. I am in love with Lizzie, man. She is my life,” he desperately looked around as if he just realized the horror of the situation.

  Rob turned, tears streaming down his cheeks. It couldn’t be too late. He had to remain positive, or he would lose his mind.

  “Is the Hummingbird fully operational?” Rob asked Michael with hope in his heart.

  “Emma said there was a flaw in the design, and it was that flaw that kept it from working,” Michael informed Rob.

  “Then there is a chance they still need her to fix it,” Rob said, hope filling his heart.

  “It is certainly possible. Emma is the only one who knows how the Hummingbird works. It was her invention,” Michael said, noticing Emma’s fingers twitching in his hand. He looked down at her and saw her eyes were still closed.

  Emma could hear voices, but had trouble opening her eyes. God, did her right side hurt. She didn’t know where she was or why she was in pain. She tried opening her eyes, but they were heavy like she was in a sound sleep, yet she could hear him—she could hear Michael. What was the last thing she remembered? She was trying to keep that asshole from shooting at Michael. She had her arm wrapped firmly around his neck and then nothing. She had no idea where she was. Still she just knew Michael was with her. That fact calmed her racing heart. She tried again to open her eyes but couldn’t.

  She heard Michael, “Emma, Baby. Wake up. It’s time to open your beautiful eyes. Come on Emma, let me see you.” She struggled to do as he asked. The light blinded her, and she quickly shut her eyes again. “I saw her open her eyes!” Michael exclaimed to Rob. Rob approached and stood beside Michael’s on the couch. They both were staring expectantly at her face.

  “Come on, Emma. We need to talk to you,” Michael whispered, hoping beyond hope she could hear him. She did hear him, and she wanted to open her eyes, it was just that the light hurt.

  “The light,” she coughed with a dry throat.

  How long had she been out of it she wondered? Michael got up and flipped the light switch making the room fall dark save the lamp. Sitting next to her, he brushed the hair from her face and took her hand in his. “I made it darker for you, Baby. Come back to me. Open your eyes,” Michael implored. Emma opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was his very worried expression.

  “What happened?” she asked Michael as she struggled parting her lips.

  “We were hoping you could tell us,” Michael said, smiling as he visibly deflated in front of her, releasing his held breath. She was awake and talking. “Thank you, God,” Michael prayed silently. “What’s the last thing you remember?” Michael asked her, stroking her hand.

  “Why does my side hurt so badly?” she asked Michael as she tried to sit up.

  Michael put a firm hand on her shoulder and kept her from sitting. “You were shot,” he groaned at the memory of her lifeless body.

  “Where am I?” she continued, confused. She looked around a familiar living room. She noticed the mauve draperies hanging at the bay windows.

  “You are at Rob’s house. He stitched up the bullet holes those bastards put in you. Are you in a lot of pain?” he winced, hoping her answer would be no.

  “It’s not too bad, just a throbbing ache,” she responded, hiding her true pain from him, knowing how he would react.

  “Why did you try to overpower the driver?” Michael asked Emma.

  “Because he was shooting at you,” she said in all seriousness. “Plus, there was no way I was going to go again quietly,” she said resolutely.

  Michael admired her determination and courage. It hit him then—she risked her life for him. If he didn’t love her before, he did now.

  “The driver you had in a choke hold, shot you through the seat of the van. The passenger got away with all of your notes and the prototype,” he told her waiting for her reaction. He knew how much this project meant to her.

  “He got everything?” she moaned, devastated at the thought. “Who was it? Can we get it back?” she questioned in quick succession.

  “We aren’t sure who tried to take you.” Michael hated telling her he didn’t have an answer.

  Tony walked into the room, relief evident in his eyes as he gazed at a very alert Emma. “I ran the tags on the van, but they came back stolen,” Tony told the group in the living room. “Without a starting point, I don’t have much to go on.” They already knew where the terrorist were holding Lizzie, so Ahmed would be of no further help until they got on the road. For all intents and purposes, they had hit a dead end.

  “Emma, we are going to rescue Lizzie, and we want you to stay here with Tony and rest,” Michael asserted as he bent forward to kiss her lips gently. “I can’t risk anything else happening to you,” he told her matter-of-factly.

  He was going to have to come clean about what she meant to him, but that would have to wait. She was safe now, and he knew Tony would protect her.

  Michael stood and asked if he could speak to Tony in the kitchen. Tony followed. Michael placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Tony, I know you wanted in on this mission, but I really need you here to watch over Emma. I can’t do what I have to do if I am worried about her safety and other than Rob, you are the only one I would trust leaving her with,” Michael insisted.

  “I know what she means to you, man. It’s written all over your face. In fact, I thought we were going to have to give you the morphine when she was shot,” Tony said in his light-hearted manner. “Are you sure you, Rob and Steve can handle this on your own?” Tony asked his friend.

  “We don’t have a choice. People are after her. I doubt they know she is here at Rob’s, but in case they do, I need you here, armed to the hilt, ready to shoot any motherfucker who tries to walk in that door,” Michael said pointing to the door off the kitchen.

  “I got you, man. I’ll keep her safe,” Tony insisted, all kidding aside.

  “Thank you. I will owe you for the rest of my life,” Michael said. He looked Tony dead in the eye. Michael then drew his brows together and thought of his life without Emma in it. Tony could see his eyes start to glisten.

  “Don’t worry. You have my word, I will die before anything happens to your girl,” Tony reassured Michael holding out his hand. Michael took Tony’s hand in his and pulled him in for a one-armed hug.

  Michael walked back into the living room to tell Steve and Rob that Tony would be staying with Emma. He was surprised to see Emma sitting up. Her face was contorted from the pain she was in, but she wanted to be strong for these men who risked their lives twice now to save her.

  “Tony, you are going to have to make sure she rests,” Michael said, smiling at Emma.

  “I’ll do my best,” Tony bantered. He winked at Emma. He admired her strength.

  Emma really wanted to be there for Lizzie, but her current condition made that next to impossible. She would have to remain planted where she was if she hoped to recover quickly. She thought back to her actions in the van. She didn’t know where she found the strength to kick that man in the face and bust his nose, nor would she ever understand how she managed to subdue the man driving. She was just thankful all of the men were safe and in one piece.

  Emma couldn’t help feeling despair over losing her life’s work. She f
ought the feeling with everything she could because Lizzie was now the priority. She wouldn’t allow her head to even think of losing the project forever. Michael would get it back. She had to have faith. Admitting that her project was gone forever was something she wouldn’t even entertain because it would destroy her. She had to remain strong for Michael. She had to worry about Michael’s safety now. He would be infiltrating a terrorist cell. Didn’t she hear that they usually booby-trapped their hold ups? She couldn’t rest as long as Michael was out there in danger. Thank God he was out of the military, because she didn’t think she could handle him constantly putting himself in danger. But what if that is what he wanted for himself, once all this was over? What if he no longer wanted her? Her heart was already involved. Maybe, if she gave her head a chance, it could talk her heart out of loving him. Emma noticed the moon through window just as a cloud began to cross it and reveal it was almost full.

  « Chapter Eighteen »

  Emma wasn’t sure what time it was when she awoke on the couch. “Michael,” she whispered into the dark living room. She looked to the window in the front room and saw the full moon beaming back at her. Within a second, Michael was next to her side.

  “What is it, Emma? Do you need more pain medication?”

  “Yes, I hurt. I also would feel better if I could lie down flat and not be propped up by so many pillows.”

  She looked at Michael’s furrowed brows. She could tell he was worried about her. She needed to ease his worry so he could get some sleep. The next two days would be dangerous for him.

  “Why don’t we go to the bedroom Rob offered earlier, and you can sleep lying flat.” Michael ran his hand through her auburn hair. He stroked her hair several times, and she felt herself relaxing.