The next thing I know an alarm is screaming. I cover my ears as Richard gets off me, throwing the knife down on the floor as he reaches for a gun.
My fingers are instantly back on the rope around my ankle, but another blow to the head knocks me over, right off the bed, so most of me is on the floor, but my one ankle is still tied to the damn post.
And then… shouting. Voices yelling. Nolan, and someone else, and Richard. Guns are going off, and a bullet hits the concrete wall just off to my left.
I sit up as best as I can and reach for my ankle as the men yell threats and shoot at each other.
There’s a loud thumping of feet above my head somewhere. People are here. Many, many people. A whole army of people from the sound of it.
“Ivy!” Nolan yells. “Get down!”
But I’m so close. I’m so close. Just one more knot and—I’m free!
Richard is suddenly next to me, pulling me up by my hair again. I grab his balls and pull so hard, I get a sick, sick feeling in my stomach. His gun goes off and a sharp pain shoots through my body.
I scream, but he falls, and I fall, and then I ignore the pain and scoot under the bed. I crawl for my life as a warm pool of blood puddles underneath me.
Chapter Forty-Seven - Nolan
The guy shoots straight. I’ll give him that. The bullets are flying. Pax has disappeared. Hit, or waiting, or hell, maybe he thinks my girlfriend isn’t worth dying for.
I think she’s worth dying for.
Ivy screams, and when I peek my head out from behind the corner, I see the man fall just as another shot goes off. This time Ivy’s scream is serious. It’s a scream of severe pain and I know she’s been shot. More bullets fly at me as I make a break for the bed. Ivy’s fingertips are reaching out from under the bed, and I pull her out, sliding her along the smooth concrete floor, and then jump up on the bed and I don’t even bother thinking twice.
I shoot that motherfucker in the head.
A second later there’s cops everywhere. Not just deputies, but men in tactical gear. Rifles longer than my arm pointing at me. Red laser dots dancing on everything in the room.
You will always be a target, Nolan. Don’t ever let them get you.
But I’m not their target tonight.
So I drop my gun and slide down on the floor next to Ivy. She’s bleeding and she’s crying, but she’s still alive. And that’s the only thing that matters.
Chapter Forty-Eight - Ivy
Nolan’s bright green eyes are the first thing I see when I wake up. The hospital room is cold and the air smells funny. But he’s there and that’s all I care about.
“Hey,” he says, brushing some hair away from my eyes. “How you feeling?” He looks tired. And he’s wearing dress pants and a t-shirt that says Property of Massachusetts State Police on the front.
“What happened?” I ask, trying to sit up as Nolan urges me to lie back. “Where’s Richard?”
“Richard? You knew him?”
“He was my ex-boyfriend. The boring one.”
Nolan’s smile lights up my whole life and when he laughs, I laugh with him. Just before I start to cry.
“Hey,” he says, slipping into bed with me. His arm slides under my back, gently, so he doesn’t disturb my sling. “It’s OK. You’re OK. They removed the bullet and stitched your arm all up. You’re fine, Ivy. You’re gonna be fine.”
“He was going to rape me, Nolan. He was—”
“Shhh,” Nolan says. “Stop. It’s over. OK?” He looks me in the eyes and then kisses me softly on my lips. “All that stuff is over now.”
And then he lies back with me, rests his head on my pillow and places his hand over my heart.
“We’re gonna start fresh, Ivy Rockwell. So just relax. I’ve got this.”
Chapter Forty-Nine - Nolan
“So…” Match says. “Big doin’s, huh?”
“You’re next, asshole.”
“Nah, not me. I’m fine just the way I am. You and Perfect can keep your newly domesticated lives. I’m just fine with the way things are.”
“Never mind that shit,” Perfect says. “We have a problem.”
“A big problem,” Mysterious says as he cleans his gun on Perfect’s dining room table. “A very big fucking problem.”
Ivy and Ellie are out shopping. We’re here on official Mister business, but the girls don’t know that. Ivy’s arm is healing nicely. She might need another surgery or two to remove bone shards if they become a problem, but she’s OK. She’s good. We’re both good.
“Where the fuck is Corporate?” Match says. “He’s late. Why is he fucking late?”
“I told you he wasn’t gonna show. He’s got some big deal going on. Said he’ll read the Cliff’s Notes when he gets back.”
“Well, that’s fucked up,” Match says. “If you’re a target, then we’re all targets.”
“Where the fuck is Claudette?” Mysterious asks, never taking his eyes off the gun.
“I dunno,” I say, frustrated. “I’ve had people looking for her since she missed the funeral.”
My father died. Just two days after all that shit went down at the Martha’s Vineyard house. We hadn’t been close for years and even though it would make a nice story to say we patched things up in the end, we didn’t. He was in a coma by the time I got to the hospital in San Diego. I’ve been to more hospitals in the last two weeks than I have in my whole life.