Tank (Moonshine Task Force Book 2)(44)

“Calm down,” Ryan crowds me, making it so I can’t see Blaze anymore. “Take some deep breathes and calm the fuck down. You can’t let this guy see you this worked up. He sees it? He’s going to use it. You have to stay calm and know your lady knows what she’s doing – she has training just like we do. Trust our team and know they won’t let anything happen to one of ours.”

I walk away because I know he’s right. Hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done in my life. Walking away and letting her stay on that sidewalk with him. The sun is beating down on this hot ass, Alabama day. I almost wish it were overcast and raining, at least then the sun wouldn’t be in our eyes and we’d all have a better chance of having a visual. The hotter this guy gets, the more apt he’ll be to go off book from how we think he’ll proceed.

“Is there anything you need, Leonard?” I hear the negotiator ask.

“Don’t wanna go back to that hospital,” he cries.

I can hear the despair and fear in his voice, and for a split-second I feel sorry for him. He’s been dealt an obviously shitty life card. He has an illness, one that needs treatment, but the illness doesn’t allow him to admit it.

“They won’t keep you Leonard, they’ll make you feel better.”

He shouts again, this time anger fills his voice. “They’ll give me those pills and I won’t feel like myself. I don’t like it when I don’t feel like myself. I walk around in a haze and days go by before I realize what’s going on.”

“You and I both know it’ll happen in the beginning, but after a few weeks you’ll be able to go back to your job at the Quick Stop. Don’t you miss your friends there?”

Everyone stops talking, and I let out the breath I’ve been holding before I turn around and look at the scene again. This time I’m as calm and composed as I can be – as I’ll get. My eyes focus on Blaze and my heart rips out of my chest. Anyone who doesn’t know her will think she’s got this together. Her fa?ade appears unaffected, but me, I see it. Her bottom lip is slightly trembling. She’s got her hands formed into fists, gripping the uniform material at her thighs. And that’s when I make my biggest mistake of all – I let myself look into her eyes.

It’s like a scene out of a movie. Between people, distance, and the intensity in the air, the two of us lock gazes. My stomach drops like it does on the first hill of a roller coaster, it’s somewhere down at my feet as I see the fear in her eyes. Tears are pooled behind the black stuff she uses to make her green eyes pop, and I want so badly to reach out to her and take her in my arms. Tell her this is all gonna be okay. I mouth to her I LOVE YOU, because I want her to know. We’ve been saying it a little here and there, it wasn’t this grand declaration of feelings. Nothing with us ever is. It was organic, and to be honest, I can’t even remember the first time I told her. All I know is one day she kissed me on the cheek as I left, told me she loved me, and I said it back. Everything with our relationship has been easy. Until today. Today I feel as if someone’s dropped an anvil on my head and it woke me the fuck up. We can’t continue to live in our bubble. Neither one of us have jobs that will allow us to.

Blaze nods, her bottom lip sticking a bit further out and I see her trying to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She’s a proud woman, and the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen in my life.

“It’s okay,” I say. “You’re gonna be fine, babe.”

People look at me, I can feel their eyes on me, but the only person I care about it is the redhead with the green eyes, looking at me like I’m a superhero for giving her a little bit of hope.

“Don’t do that,” Ryan warns me. “Don’t turn his attention on you.”

I would gladly take every bit of his attention. I’d trade places with her in a nanosecond. I rest my hand on the butt of my gun, ready to pull it if I need to. God, I want to. As a sniper, I had kills that I can never talk about, ones that left me upset for days, but this one – to save her – I would do it without any kind of hesitation.

Our hostage negotiator is talking to him again. “Leonard, aren’t you hot? It’s a hot day, let us bring you some water. If not you, let us bring the lady some.”

His hand shakes uncontrollably as he holds the gun to her head. I watch a trail of sweat as it runs from his forehead, down his cheek, and pools at his neck, getting soaked up by the cotton of his shirt. Damn right he’s hot, he’s tired, and he’s scared. He’s probably got the most amazing adrenaline high of his life, which means he’s the most dangerous motherfucker on the planet right now.

“I wanna go inside,” he announces. “There’s air conditioning, and she’ll be comfortable,” he runs a hand down Blaze’s neck, caressing the column, before he closes his palm around her throat. I almost roar with anger. Nobody touches her but me, not like that, not the way he is. I make another move, and this time Ryan loops an arm around my waist from behind, using his body weight to keep me from going at them.

“Take it down a notch, bro. You can’t do what you want to. I get it though, I get it,” he’s telling me, trying to calm me down. “The best thing you can do right now is cool off. If Holden sees this, he will pull you outta here so fast, your head will spin. Get your shit together.”