ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (106 page)

CHAPTER TWO

The way that Michael was trained had kept his mind alert and ready for just about anything.  It was the only reason why he had survived the initial bullet by moving just a fraction of an inch away from the impending danger.  He probably would have gotten away entirely, except he had to deal with protecting Officer Coleman from something that she was not prepared for.

“I need you to follow my orders to the letter.  I’ll provide cover fire and you go into that café and head for the back door.  I don’t think that whoever is shooting is going to be able to get us from that angle.  They’ll have to move.  It’ll give us time to make a strategic retreat.” Aria could see that this man was not used to somebody calling the shots.  He was hesitant to leave her, but she could see that he was at least listening.

There were already two holes in the table showing some light through the opening.  It was obvious that the shooter was trying to gauge their shot for maximum efficiency.  This would be exactly what he would do under less than normal circumstances.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea that I leave you out here.  If you have another gun, I would be able to provide you with cover.” He got this very disturbing look in response, almost like he was talking in a foreign language.  “I know that it’s not standard protocol to give up your service revolver, but maybe for this one time you can think outside the box.” He could see that this was not going to work and that she was hell bent on following the rule book.

“You heard what I said.  Don’t make me repeat myself.” She was using her training, going by the book; yet, she had this funny feeling that the book was going to be thrown out, before the end of this.

Shrugging his shoulders, he was seeing that she was going to be stubborn about it.  It seemed more prudent to get out of the line of fire than to argue the point. 

Michael had a better idea than leaving her to fight this battle alone.  He took a hold of the table covering them and found that it was light enough to move it and police Officer Aria Coleman towards the door of the café.

The shooter must have figured out what they were planning and decided to take an educated guess of where they were hiding behind the table.  Another shot rang out.  The bullet hole went through the table like butter.  It came out on the other side and embedded itself into the pavement right near them.  The smoking crater where it had struck was now showing a small fragment of the pavement now broken from the impact.

“Officer Coleman, I think that we can both get out of here.  I don’t think it’s necessary for you to stay behind, as some sort of Guinea pig or bait.” He had weighed all the options, looked at it from every angle and came up with a reasonable solution for both of them.

They had the table in front of them and Michael reached up quickly to open the door of the café, before diving inside.  Another bullet came screaming looking for a victim, but found only the glass and the floor of the café shop.  Michael had rolled out the way and was now underneath the window.

          Michael saw a young Asian couple huddling by the counter.  They were holding each other in a comforting way.  “I don’t suppose that your land line is working?” He got a vehement shaking of the head in response.  The man was wearing an apron.  It was obvious that he was the one that was behind the scenes in the kitchen.

When Aria came through the door, there was no gunfire, which gave credence to the suspicion that this person was after Michael.  She was half expecting to feel hot lead entering into her body.

Through the dust of the window, Michael saw a red line moving.  They were using some kind of laser scope to find the target in question.  He found them to be inaccurate.  He liked to use his own eyesight and not something that was artificially made to make things easier to kill.  Hypocritical, considering that he hardly ever got close enough to his targets to know them.

“I think that we’re on our own, Officer Coleman.  This couple has already informed me that the land line is dead.  I’ve seen this kind of technology before, but I really haven’t seen it used in a residential location.  I would say that it was a CIA design, but I can’t be entirely sure about that.  I might be able to find out, if I were to reach out to some old acquaintances.” Michael could see that the officer was sweating and that her chest was heaving with each breath in desperation to find a way out of this.

“This person really does want your head on a platter.  I don’t suppose you’ve seen any signs of somebody trying to come after you in the last few days?  I’m only asking, because this seems personal, like a vendetta that they won’t let go, until you are dead.”

“I’ve already thought of that and I’ve gone over every detail of my life in the last few days.  Nothing is out of the ordinary.  The only thing I did that was different was go to a psychologist.  Don’t give me that look.  Just because I went to see a therapist, doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my mind.” Michael liked Aria, but he didn’t know how much, only that she had caused him to feel alive again.  He liked to feel useful and lately he had lost touch of what made him deadly.

“Aria pointed towards the couple, indicating to them to stay exactly where they were.  Michael was the one that this person was after and apparently they had a conscience.  They were not going after innocent bystanders.  If the shooter did kill somebody by accident trying to get to their target, then they probably wouldn’t lose sleep over it, however they were human enough to take some necessary precautions to prevent innocent lives from being lost.  Aria turned towards Michael and found that he was already on the move.

Staying away from the windows and doors, he skirted the tables by crawling on his hands and knees.  He was heading for the exit that was this shining neon light that was beckoning them to safety.

Pushing open the door, he was immediately accosted with spices from some of the dishes that were now simmering on the stoves.  The rest of the staff were on their knees, all of Asian descent and most likely relatives or immigrants.  This fine couple had decided to give them a fighting chance for the American dream.

Reaching up, Michael palmed a knife and stashed it into his green army jacket.  He would have liked to have a gun, but at least for the time being he had something to defend himself.  He didn’t feel comfortable about letting Aria take all the risk, especially when it was his life that was being hunted.

“Stay down and don’t move, until we’re gone.” It appeared that everybody spoke English, or at least they understood it enough to you know that Michael was trying to help.  He felt the grease on his fingers, as he slowly made his way to the exit sign in the back.  He saw that it was ajar and most likely some of the staff had used this particular exit for smoke breaks.

“Just keep going.  I’m right behind you.” She had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers.  This man was acting and not thinking, which led her to believe that he had some unique training that probably had the armed forces signature all over it.  The way that she saw his eyes darting from one end of the street to the other made her believe that there was a definite connection between him and the shooter.  It was almost like he was able to predict when the next shot was going to come.

“It’s a bit of a risk to go out into the back alley like this, but I don’t think we have much of a choice.” Thinking quickly, he grabbed two of the jackets at the back door.  He took out the wallets and extracted the cash.  He saw the credit cards and he knew that there was a possibility that he might be in need of some necessary provisions.  If this person was, as good as he thought they were, then he really had to make every allowance for being on the run for a considerable amount of time.

Right now, he had this need to disappear and the best way to do that was to become somebody else entirely.  Getting up on his feet, he used some of the grease on his fingers to slick his hair back.  He snatched a pair of glasses off the top of one of the lockers.  He put them on and found that they were a bit strong for his liking, but if he were to lower them slightly, he could give himself a new look.  The glasses had changed the angular shape of his face.

“What are you doing?  We don’t have time for this.” She was handed a scarf and a brown leather jacket that went down to her knees.  Wearing it would cover her uniform.  “I’m not wearing this.”

“You can either wear it, Officer Coleman, or you can walk out there and let the shooter see you.  They may not shoot you, but why take the chance.  I think it is a good idea that I go the rest of the way on my own.  I don’t need you to be weighing me down.  I move quicker with nobody on my heels” He was only trying to help.  What he got was a defiant look that made his blood run cold.

“I can’t let a civilian stand in the way of danger.  My job is to protect innocent lives and that includes you.” He put on a gray coat with fur lining along the top.  It was getting chilly in the mornings and there was always that layer of frost, just before the sun burned it off and began a new day.

CHAPTER THREE

The shooter had a pretty good idea of where they were going, but getting into position wasn’t going to be easy.  He was wearing a dark coat, something that was keeping those on the street from seeing where the shots were coming from.  The red dot from the rifle surveyed the area, but did not come up with a reasonable facsimile of Michael.  He wanted desperately to put one between his eyes.

Aria and Michael were thinking along the same wavelength.  They moved stealthily behind the building, before jumping the fence and moving along the back property away from the street.

“You haven’t asked me, but my name is Michael Marsden.  I’m sure that you would’ve gotten around to it eventually.  I would say that we are far enough away that we can go our separate ways.” He tried to move away from her, only to hear the metallic click of a pair of handcuffs being affixed to his wrist.  He was temporarily shocked by this latest turn of events.

“I’m placing you under protective custody.  We need to find a vehicle, but for the foreseeable future, you are now in my custody.  I don’t know what you got yourself wrapped up in, Mr.  Marsden, but I can’t allow you to stand out here alone and unprotected.” He wanted to tell her that he had the knife, but he didn’t think that would go over well.

“I really don’t think this is necessary.  You’re a bit green.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but sometimes being naïve can get somebody else killed.”

“I may have just got out of the academy, but I’ve been around police officers all my life.  Any time that somebody was playing cops and robbers, I was always a cop serving the citizens and making sure that the criminals found themselves behind bars.” Aria did not like his condescending attitude, but she couldn’t stop staring at his body.  Even the two bulky jackets were not taking anything away from the man himself.

“This is not make believe.  This is real life.  If you insist on coming along, then you need to let me reach out to somebody.  He might be able to help, although I don’t think he’s going to be all that happy to see me.  Let’s just say that we didn’t end on good terms.”

“Why, was there a woman involved?” She saw his facial expression and was able to read between the lines.  There was definitely a woman, but isn’t there always when there is something that is coming between friends.

“I really don’t want to dignify that with a response, Officer Coleman.” Thankfully, the blood had stopped, but the bullet was still in there, or at least it felt like it was.  It was possible that it had gone through and through.  “Let’s find someplace to lie low and maybe call for that backup that you wanted, so badly.” She had her police radio mic up by her neck.  She tried it one more time, but found that there was still only static.

“I don’t get it.  We are well away from the scene of the crime.  I should be getting some kind of service by now.” They moved into some side streets, keeping away from the main roads and the possibility of detection from the person that was trying to hunt them down.

Michael was doing what he could to keep the blood droplets from attracting attention.  He had used some napkins from inside the café to stick it up underneath his jacket.  He noticed the crimson color of those napkins, but he did feel that the blood loss was not, as significant as he once thought.

“I think that we’re going to need a doctor to look at that.”

“Going to the hospital is out of the questions.  Besides, my friend is a field medic.  I might be able to kill two birds with one stone.” He did not like feeling trapped and he had this momentary vision of sawing off her hand to get loose from the shackles that were now binding him.  She had limited the way that he could react, but without the necessary tools, there was no way to get away from her.

He glanced in her direction and found her form to be pleasing.  There was a moment where she looked at him and made him feel like a man.  He tried to hide that secret shame, hoping that his underwear would keep the fact that he was excited by not only her, but also by the adrenaline rush.

He had always felt that way during a kill and would need some form of an outlet to get rid of that excess energy.  That most often fell on the shoulders of the working girl.  A sexual component helped to alleviate that jittery feeling.  It gave him the peace of mind that he was looking for.

The further they went into the neighborhood, the more shady things began to look.  That was the kind of atmosphere that was going to work for them.  Those that were in a particularly interesting drug trade had no problem leaving their doors unlocked.