Moth(70)

He snarls, followed by a loud cackle. “Look at you, always being the hero. Does your girlfriend know how many lives you weren’t able to save? Does she knows about Maria and how you burned her to death?”

I stare into Nina’s eyes. “That’s not true. Nina, don’t listen to him.”

“Her blood is on your hands, just like your precious girlfriends. I’m going to make you suffer longer this time. It’ll be a shot you’ll never recover from.” I hear the gun fire, but my reaction isn’t fast enough. While she tumbles to the ground I dart forward trying to catch her. He’s shot her in the neck and the blood is shooting out all over the place. I put my finger in the hole and notice it’s a through and through. I’m concerned he’s hit her artery and she’ll bleed out in a matter of seconds. I block both the entry and exit wound, while I pull my gun and start firing around me. I don’t see Alizar duck out of the building. Everything disappears as my only focus falls on Nina.

She’s struggling to talk. I hear blood gurgling as she fights to breathe. I’ve never felt so helpless in all of my life. “Oh shit. Oh God. No. No, this can’t be happening. Hold on, babe. It’s going to be okay. This isn’t the end.”

She’s beginning to fade away. My eyes are burning and I’m struggling to keep it together. I don’t care if someone comes into the shack and shoots me dead, because I don’t know how I’ll be able to live with myself after this. I don’t want to. In such a short time she’s grown on me. I don’t know how it would ever work, but I at least wanted the opportunity. Now all hope is lost. I’m watching her die in my arms and it’s like a knife being shoved deep into my heart. “Please hold on. You’re going to make it. Don’t close your eyes, Nina. Please stay with me.”

She raises her hand and strokes it over my face. “Sorry,” she manages.

She’s coughing up blood and there’s nothing to do but sit and watch. I pull out my satellite radio and scream the coordinates of our location asking for assistance, but it will take a long time for help to arrive. She doesn’t have that long. “Don’t apologize to me, babe. You’ll be fine. It’s just a flesh wound.”

“Moth,” she coughs. “I…” Her eyes close. I’m rocking back and forth still holding onto the two holes in her neck. The door swings open and I see House standing over me. He’s taken back at the sight and I hear him yelling something out into the yard. The sound of a helicopter is coming in. Had they already arranged for this? Is Alizar getting away?

I can’t comprehend what’s going on. I’m too focused on Nina. She’s lying lifeless in my arms and I’m losing my shit. I want to kill someone. I need to, but I can’t let go. I won’t.

Then I see it. A small door pops up from the floor and out comes Malone. She takes in the environment and sees Nina. When she turns to me she only tells me what I need to hear. “We got him boss. I’m going to need help getting his body out of the tunnel. He was halfway back to the house when I discovered it. He took two blows but managed to make it through the tunnel on the way back to the house. We did it. That f*cker is dead.” I hadn’t been able to aim. I’d shot blindly

My team works on securing the perimeter, capturing the surviving employees and seizing any and all evidence they can find, all while I remain holding Nina. They’ve gone over the protocols enough to know how to do them without me. I’m still holding onto hope that she’s not gone, though there hasn’t been a single breath, not one movement from her limp body.

House comes to my side when medical crews arrive. They take in the situation and arrange for me to let go of the bullet wounds. Blood spats out as one of them takes over what I was doing. They’re calling out medical terms and getting her body on a gurney. I can hear the chopper running in the distance and know they’ll cart her off to a local facility. I have tunnel vision while this is happening. I can’t take my eyes off of her lifeless body. Covered in blood and filled with an unimaginable pain, I shove my way through the people until I’m climbing into the chopper. Nothing will keep me from this, not even the operation I’ve spent the last two years exhausting myself with.





Chapter 23


It’s been two days.

I haven’t seen or heard from anyone in my crew, probably because we’re all in a world of shit for acting on our own recognizances. I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of this, and possibly lose my position within the agency, not that it matters anymore. I’ve seen my life flash before my eyes and have nothing to show for it. I’m in my thirties without children, without someone to share my life with, and without hope that it will ever happen.

Nina coded twice on the way to the nearest hospital. They had a pulse back when we arrived, and they immediately took her into surgery. I was lead to a waiting room where I sat for countless hours without word whether she was dead or alive. Finally a nurse came and got me, but the news wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

I was guided to a hospital room where I found her on life support. Her neck was fully bandaged so it just looked like she was sleeping, instead of fighting for her life. I took a seat in the chair next to her and waited for a miracle to happen. The clock ticks. The days start to blend together, but there’s no change. The chances of her recovering are bleak. I’m faced with a grim reality while I pray to a God I haven’t given enough recognition to. I don’t deserve a miracle. I don’t even know if I expect one, but I still ask anyway.