Mr. Dark 2 (Tamed #2)(17)

Now, I could have talked more. I could have dropped the guns. But one of the main personal rules of my training is that once you're in the zone, you just go. I felt that familiar, welcome coldness drop over my emotions, and I went with it. Squeezing the trigger on the Glock in my left hand, I put a round in the head of the man on Shaun's left before my right hand even cleared my other Glock from its holster. It is one of the secrets of my success, I'm not only almost totally ambidextrous with my hands, but with my eyes as well. I put a round in the thigh of the second bodyguard while my right hand snapped into place, firing as soon as I could. There was an instant when Shaun could have gotten the drop on me, while I was shooting his guards. If he had just raised his pistol in that split second, he could have gotten a shot off at me. Instead, he hesitated, torn between shooting me and trying to use Tabby as a human shield, and in that hesitation I had him dead to rights. The round took Shaun in between his eyes, the 9mm hollowpoint turning the back of his head into a giant bloody flower petal of bone, hair and skin. It took less than two seconds.

I whirled and dove while Sophie flattened herself on the floor. Rolling over a table in front of me I came up firing, catching one of the corner men before he could get a shot off at me. The second man was smarter, moving before trying to fire, and it took me an extra three seconds to find him and put a round into his shoulder. He spun, crashing over the railing to fall to the club floor below, head first. The dry twig sound of his neck snapping told me all I needed to know.

Suddenly there was a boom behind me, and I spun, both pistols ready, but it was already over. Sophie huddled on the floor, the pistol type shotgun I'd given her tight in her hands, smoke rising from the barrel. I'd never seen or even heard him, and he crashed to the floor, the deer slug obliterating most of the right side of his chest.

It was only then that sound came back into the world, and I realized the high pitch screaming in my ear wasn't my overtaxed nerves going nuts, but Tabby screaming hysterically. I swept the room with my eyes, then ran over and knelt next to Sophie. "You all right?"

She looked at me, her eyes calmer than I expected them to be. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. Get Tabby, I'll cover the room," I said, kneeling next to the man who had snuck up on me. I was curious, I hadn't had someone sneak up on me in years. Sophie started off, and I caught up, making sure the back of the club didn't have any more nasty surprises, then checked Shaun's body, taking his cell phone out of his right front pocket. Tabby was still in hysterics until Sophie pulled her into a hug, and between the two of us, we carried her out of the club. She passed out on the way to the truck, which I was grateful for. It made transporting her easier since she was already in a state of shock.

* * *

It was more difficult two weeks later. "You're sure about this?"

It was the third time Sophie had asked Tabby since bringing her home. We were in her apartment, and while I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, I was still armed. There was no time I'd left the belfry in the two weeks that I wasn't carrying something. We'd brought Tabby there, trusting her to keep the secret, to give her a chance to recover and adjust to the situation. I'd then spent the last week giving her a crash course on how to survive if organized crime was interested in you, and how to cover your tracks. Finally, I'd placed a few calls, and made a few inquiries to try and give her a bit of security in other ways too. Still, I agreed with Sophie. Tabby should have taken a vacation, preferably one of multiple months at least in a city far away. Europe would have been nice.

Tabby looked at Sophie in exasperation and smiled. "You know, just because I don't have Rambo for my boyfriend doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. Besides, you know what Mark told them."

It was true, I had used Shaun's cell phone to give Sal Giordano a call, warning him to stay away from Tabby, and that he'd made a big damn mistake doing what he did. I hoped that it would put a bit of caution into the Confederation, and have them spend more time trying to find me rather than going through Tabby. Still, I am only one man, and I couldn't protect her all the time. No matter how many times I tried to tell her though, she wouldn't listen. She was going to stay in the city.

"Tabby, I can't promise I can be here, but if you need me, you know the number to call." I'd bought half a dozen burner phones with some of the cash I had on hand, and had given her one with another of the numbers programmed in. I could ditch it whenever I wanted if I needed to. "Just remember, if you want to just talk, use your normal phone. Sophie's cell still works, it's been scrubbed."

Tabby nodded, only a bit exasperated with me. "I know, I know. Mark, you've been giving me lessons on how to survive for a week and a half now. I got it, really."

On the way back to the belfry, Sophie reached over and took my hand. "She will be, you know. She may come off at a total ditz, but Tabby's got a decent brain inside that cute skull of hers. By the way, thank you for turning her down when she hit on you, even though she was just teasing me."

"She's not my type," I said. We reached the bell tower, and climbed the stairs. Once in the tiny room that had become our apartment, I pulled her into a deep kiss. "You are."

"For that I'm still confused, but very happy," she replied, her soft kiss matching the softness of her skin and body as she molded her body against me. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"