Page 39 of Gunner

Chapter 18

Gunner arrived backat Eidolon around seven-thirty. He hadn’t wanted to come in, but the information Bás had given him needed to be passed on to the team so they could make a clear plan of how to proceed. Shooting a quick text to Lacey asking if he could come by later, he felt terrible for messing her around. After all, she was giving him a chance nobody else had.

Her instant reply made him smile, and the tension in his shoulders eased. Walking into the gym, he saw Blake, and not wanting to get into things with him turned on his heel and started to walk away. He hadn’t seen Blake since the incident a week ago, and that suited him fine. Jack had called and made it clear that as far as he was concerned his place on the team was still there for him.

Gunner wasn’t so sure. Eidolon ran so well because they were like family. They fought, but the trust that nobody could break was there. He no longer had that, and what was more, he didn’t feel it either—at least not from Blake. He understood it, but until they cleared that up, he’d left making a decision about his future on hold.

Blake had reached out to him, but he’d let it go to voicemail not wanting to engage when he felt so raw himself. He knew Blake had been looking for him too but wasn’t ready to face him. Alex had finally found him in the Litch, drunk off his ass and gotten him a hotel room to sober up in. Gunner was still staying there now although he’d never admit it.

“Gunner, wait up.” He wanted to ignore the plea from his former friend, but he owed him this at least. Gunner didn’t really blame Blake, had this been Lacey he would have lost his mind. Stopping he waited for Blake to jog up to him. He had his kitbag over his shoulder and had obviously been using the gym earlier. “I don’t have a lot of time.”

“I understand. I just wanted to say how sorry I was for my behaviour. I still struggle with what happened to her and knowing I wasn’t there. It’s no excuse but for what it’s worth, I know you couldn’t have made a different choice. I have sisters, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them. It was an impossible situation, and I only wish we could go back and we’d known about her.”

Gunner wanted to stay mad but in the face of such a genuine apology, he couldn’t. He looked away and blew out a breath. “Look I get it. I do, and honestly, I would be the same. I don’t care that you lashed out at me, I’m fair game, but Lacey isn’t.”

“Understood. We good?”

Blake held his hand out, and Gunner looked at it before taking the peace offering. What Blake said was right; he’d allowed this to happen by withholding Milla’s existence from his friends. Had they known, this wouldn’t have happened. He could’ve put proper safety protocols in place like the other men had for those they loved.

Gunner took Blake’s hand, a weight lifting as he shook it. “We’re good.”

“Thank God. The couch is getting old really quickly.”

Gunner’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Pax still mad?”

“You wouldn’t believe it. Grace can hold a snit better than anyone I know.”

“A snit? Don’t let her hear you call it that or that couch could become permanent.”

“Yeah, good point.”

Gunner laughed as they walked into the hallway and then they heard a commotion from the war room and both men were running as the sound of gunfire came over the comms. Rounding the corner, he saw Lopez and Decker at the terminal, but it was the sound of Waggs’ voice coming through that made his blood run cold.

“We’re pinned down by gunfire and can’t get to the house. We need back up, stat. The house is burning, and Lacey is inside.”

Before the last word was out, Gunner was moving without thought, his only instinct to get to the woman who meant more than anything to him and was inside a burning building. His gut clenched as he jumped in the hummer used for tactical situations. He was about to gun the engine when the door opened and Blake jumped in with weapons and an oxygen breather.

“Thought we might need these.” Gunner was glad to have someone thinking with a clear head. The entire journey took less than eight minutes, but it was the longest eight minutes of his life.

He could hear the updates coming through from Liam and Waggs and was relieved when they said the gunmen had left, driving off and leaving two of their men stranded. Gunner knew Waggs would go for the house and try to save Lacey.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw the haze of orange in the sky as he drove towards her house. The sounds of fire engines and emergency vehicles in the distance hardly reached his consciousness as he pulled the car to a stop and saw Waggs walking out of the front door covered in soot and dirt with a lifeless Lacey in his arms.

Gunner felt his heart fall through a hole in his chest as he raced to her, gently taking her from Waggs as Blake helped get Waggs to the ground where he began to cough up a lung. Lacey was covered in blood and dirt, but she had a pulse. Blake turned and placed the oxygen mask over Lacey’s mouth, watching her colour and checking her pulse with his fingers against her neck. The steady thump of her pulse reassured him that she was okay, but she’d inhaled a lot of smoke.

Fire crew and paramedics arrived and took over giving her oxygen as they got her onto a gurney and transported her to the ambulance. Gunner didn’t let go of her hand, not wanting her to wake up alone and afraid.

The chaos around him dulled, his only focus Lacey. “Come on, Cosmo, wake up and show me those pretty eyes.”

Jack arrived on the scene and walked over to him. “She okay?”

Gunner looked to the paramedic seeking reassurance.

“She will be. Looks like she hit her head, so she’ll need a CT scan and an MRI to check her out and maybe a day or so to clear her lungs. But we’ll know more when we get her to the hospital and she wakes up.”

“Keep me updated.” Gunner nodded as Jack walked away to take charge of the tricky situation involving his men.

Lacey began to move as the ambulance drove toward the hospital, fighting the oxygen mask on her face.