Panic
Thomas gazes out his window and a movement catches his eye in the building across the street from him.
He looks to find the eyes that haunted his dreams.
He stares for a moment when a sharp explosion rocks the building.
Thomas’s mouth falls open in shock as he sees Alexandra slammed against a wall from the force of the explosion.
He sprints out the door, tearing through his house at inhuman speeds.
He starts the car and accelerates to the max, skidding to a stop in front of the abandoned building.
There he sees Adams and Seabury with James.
Seabury grins. “We knocked her out. Who would have thought it would have been so easy? For some reason, she had an open shot on you. But she didn’t take it. Wonder why.”
And Thomas sees red.
But he forces himself to calm down. “Bring her out.”
Adams scowls. “Why? Let her bur-”
“Bring. Her. Out.” Thomas says slowly, eyes hard as stone.
Adams glares at him but enters the building, Seabury trailing behind.
“And why are we saving her?” James asked.
Thomas knew he knew.
“Leverage on Washington. Who knows what he’d do for his precious little girl?” Thomas says smoothly, lying through his teeth.
They both knew the truth, though.
Thomas watches as Seabury emerges from the building, holding Alexandra’s gun. Adams follows, Alexandra’s limp body in his arms.
“Leverage on Washington? Smart,” Seabury says, throwing the gun in the trunk of Thomas’s car.
“Let’s get her to the medic wing in the market or something,” Adams said, his hold on the hurt woman none too gentle.
By market, they meant the Black Market obviously. Selling ammo, arms, body parts, people, and animals from all around the world. And all right under the police’s nose.
Though no police officer was stupid enough to want to dig into that business.
The Mafia and police had a deal.
They ignore one another to live peacefully.
And if someone overstepped a line, no one on the other side was afraid to shoot.
“I’ll keep her with me. Washington has spies everywhere. They won’t be able to get into my house. I’m reinforcing this one while I go back to Monticello. I’ll take Alexandra with me,” Thomas drawls, checking his nails.
James nods his head in approval. “Smart way to keep her hidden.”
Seabury and Adams shrug and nod.
The two were great in their field, but neither was very smart.
“I’ll take her,” Thomas says, seeming uninterested.
The way he took Alexandra made it look rough and uncaring, but truly it was a very gentle hold.
Thomas swallowed the lump in his throat at seeing the usually bright woman so unresponsive.
He puts her on the back gently.
“Don’t need to be so gentle,” James said, uninterested, as he made his way to his car.
“We don't want her to die. Then the leverage plan is useless,” Seabury responds.
Thomas gets in his car. “Sam gets it.”
Seabury scowls at the nickname but leaves with Adams in tow.
By the time Thomas gets to his house, Maria was there with paper strewn around her and Sally had her emergency kit ready with James on his couch.
James stands when he sees him with Alexandra in his arms.
Sally quickly takes the unconscious sniper from him and gets to work.
Thomas flops on his couch, all the tension from his body draining.
Maria, Sally, and James had been with Thomas from day one. He trusted them with his life and they did the same.
The three of them were the only people Thomas truly trusted.
“I got the negotiation papers ready,” Maria says, holding out a letter.
Thomas skimmed through it.
He raises an eyebrow. “This isn’t a negotiation. It’s a peace treaty.”
Maria huffs in irritation. “Think about it. Most of our people are with or going to be with most of Washington’s folks. Might as well make peace. Besides, we could destroy the west side Mafia run by George King but only if we work together.”
Thomas hums. “I approve.”
James returns from the kitchen with wine and glasses.
He pours everyone but Sally some.
She didn’t drink on the job.
“Because it’s smart or because you like Alexandra?” Sally questions from the table.
She had just finished wrapping Alexandra up and was injecting pain and sleeping drugs into her system so she wouldn’t be in pain when she woke. It was also so Sally could be there when she woke up to replace the bandages.
Thomas chokes on his wine but covers it with a graceful cough.
Maria snickers as she gathers her papers.
James hides his smile behind his glass.
“I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about, Sally,” Thomas says, tilting his nose to the air.
Sally snorts. “Yeah, and I’m stupid. You like her, Thomas. This is about more than just the mind-blowing sex.”
Thomas blinks. “Mind-blowing sex?”
Sally shrugs as she cleans up. “She’s bi, I’m a lesbian, we connected and it happened.”
Thomas’s lips curl down in distaste as Maria asks, “Who bottomed?”
Sally raises an eyebrow. “Do I look like I bottom?”
Maria slowly nods her head. “I wonder how much convincing it would take for Peggy to let her into our bed.”
Thomas’s grip tightened on his glass.
Sally takes the wine glass from James. “Not much. She’s also poly and a sub.”
The glass shatters in Thomas’s hand.
The glass shards embed themselves in his hand and wine and blood trickle down his hand.
Sally groans as she once again opens her kit.
“Don’t like her, huh?” James says as Sally takes tweezers to pull the glass out of his skin.
Thomas doesn’t flinch as Sally poured alcohol over his numerous, deep cuts.
“Fine. I think of her as someone with slight importance to me,” Thomas says as Sally wraps his hand.
Maria gazes at him skeptically. “Right. ‘Slight importance’ he says while breaking a fucking glass in his hand.”
Thomas glares at them.
“Ok, fine, out,” Thomas snaps, shoving them all out.
The three laugh.
“Thomas,” James says before he leaves.
“Yes?” Thomas responds.
James looks him dead in the eye with more seriousness than Thomas had ever seen.
“Be careful with that one. She will do what it takes to survive.”