Front Line Francis, page 58
“We should be able to wait it out here undisturbed,” Savage said. “They’ll either catch him or he’ll see the risk and get the hell out of Dodge.”
“What’s going on?” Nick asked.
I quickly explained what I’d discovered on my drive into Whiskey Bayou. Nick shook his head in disbelief.
“How does this stuff always happen to you?” Nick asked.
“It’s not like it’s my fault,” I said, throwing up my hands. “I was just trying to come to my wedding like everyone else. Savage told me the FBI was taking care of everything.”
Nick and I both turned to look at Savage, and he shrugged. “I’ve learned that things tend to not go according to plan when you’re involved. It’s why I had the extra agents stationed at all the entry and exit points around Whiskey Bayou.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you saying? I’ve already been told by Charles that I’m a pain in the ass.”
“Well,” Savage said. “He’s not wrong.”
The sound of gunfire had us all moving for cover behind the pews.
“It sounds like it’s coming from the rectory,” I said.
“You stay with her,” Savage told Nick. And then he looked at me and reached beneath his jacket, handing me his backup weapon. “Just in case.”
Savage took off toward the sound of gunfire and Nick moved me toward better cover. There was one of those moments where time seemed to slow to a stop. I heard more gunfire, and it was closer this time. And I just knew.
Fear rushed through me and Nick and I made eye contact. I could tell staying there was the last thing he wanted to do. I shoved at Nick. “Go,” I told him. “I can take care of myself. He needs back up. Go!”
I wanted to cry, but there would be time for crying later. I knew in my gut something was wrong. Savage was my friend and he’d also been my partner at times. We wouldn’t leave him to face the enemy alone.
Nick nodded and moved off toward one of the side hallways, and I went in the opposite direction. Toward Savage.
I could smell the blood before I found it. The halls were dark, and the only light was from the strings of light outside, sending odd patterns onto the tile. So when my fingers touched wetness, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what it was until I held my fingers up to the light.
“Oh, God,” I said, and my voice broke. I crawled through it, not caring that it soaked through my gown. And then I touched a sleeve. Then a hand. A hand that was still warm.
“Savage,” I whispered, looking for his wound. It was impossible to find. His front was soaked with blood.
The gunfire had stopped, and the only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears.
“Savage,” I said again, but there was no response. I put my fingers against his throat, searching for a pulse, and breathed a shaky sigh of relief when I found one. Barely. We were in the middle of a long hallway, and there was no cover, so I moved behind him and dragged him toward an open classroom door a few feet away.
I’d just gotten my body inside the door and pulled Savage’s torso halfway through when someone flipped on all the lights. They were blinding and I couldn’t see anything after being in the dark for so long. And then I heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
I had a choice to make. I could sit there and wait for Charles to find me or I could do what he’d least expect. I had nowhere else to go. I was trapped. I squeezed Savage’s hand one more time and crawled to the door with the gun in my hand.
The footsteps had come from the right, so I took a deep breath and counted to three. And I slid out into the hallway on my side with the gun pointed at whoever was coming. I was just in time to hear footsteps behind me, and I wondered if I’d made the wrong decision when there were two shots fired over my head. Almost on top of each other. The man running toward me stumbled as the bullets hit him, and then he came forward a few more feet when another bullet hit his chest.
Charles stared at me out of shocked, glassy eyes, and he tried to lift the gun in his hand, but another shot was fired that dropped him to the ground. Someone leapt over me and made sure Charles was dead, kicking the gun out of his reach for good measure. I met his gaze, thinking how close he’d come to death. How close we’d both come. His chest was heaving, and he was saying something, but I couldn’t hear anything but the blood rushing in my ears.
“Addison,” Nick said. “Addison,” he said again and knelt beside me. “Are you all right? You’re not hit, are you?” He was looking at the blood that soaked my dress.
I shook my head. “No, it’s Savage’s.”
I shook my head and real time seemed to come rushing back. I crawled back over to where Savage lay. More footsteps were running toward us, but Nick had already moved into action. He stripped off his tuxedo jacket and put pressure on the wound in Savage’s chest.
It felt like forever before the paramedics arrived, but I knew realistically it had only been a few minutes. We moved to the side so they could get to Savage, and then Nick scooped me up in his arms and held me while we watched them work.
“I’m glad you came when you did,” I said. “I was starting to get worried.”
“You took ten years off my life when I saw you slide into that hallway. Please don’t do that again.”
I wasn’t sure how long we sat there and watched the paramedics work. Someone came up and put a blanket around me. I guess I was shivering—the blood soaking my dress had turned cold..
“We’ve got him,” one of the paramedics called out. “Pulse and blood pressure are steady. Let’s move him.”
They put him on a stretcher and a cry hitched in my throat as he held up a hand. He was awake. I scrambled out of Nick’s arms and moved over to him. Nick was right beside me.
I grabbed his hand after they got him on the gurney and he opened his eyes to look at me.
“You’re a mess,” he said, and I burst into tears.
“Did I ruin the wedding?” he asked.
“You tried,” I said.
He almost smiled.
“We’ve got to move him,” the EMT said.
I nodded and tried to let go of his hand, but he held on tight. And then he looked right at Nick. “You’re a lucky man,” he said. “She’s a good partner.”
Nick nodded and tears streamed down my face. “It’s been a pleasure, Addison Holmes. If you’re ever in South Dakota, come by for a visit.”
“South Dakota?” Nick asked as they wheeled him away.
“Boy, have I got a lot to tell you.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight.
Chapter Twenty-One
I’m not sure how much time passed before we were moved to a different location. The party was still going strong outside. I could hear the crowd and wondered if they’d even been aware of what had happened.
I must have been in a state of shock, because Nick leaned down and said, “Do you still want to get married tonight?”
I did. I really did.
I nodded and he said, “Wait here.”
Before too long had passed Rosemarie came bustling in. I’d forgotten she was dressed like Kim Jong Un, so it was a little startling to see. Several agents gave her a wide berth as she steam-rolled toward them. She was carrying something in her hands.
“Yikes,” she said, looking me over. “It’s like a stage production of Sweeney Todd in here. It’s just terrible what happened to Savage. I heard he saved that agent’s life. Jumped right in front of him and shoved him to the ground.”
News traveled fast. I’d just been told that from the agent whose life he saved.
“Nick said the wedding was still on,” she continued. “Come on. We’ve got to make you presentable.”
She pushed me toward the back of the church, behind the sanctuary where there was a small changing area behind the baptismal. Kate and my mother came right in behind us, carrying a trash bag full of something.
“What’s all that?” I asked.
“I’m a wedding planner,” Rosemarie said. “I always have a backup plan. Or at least I will once I start my own business. I’m learning from experience right now, so I’m making things up as I go along. The good news is I figure if I can make this wedding come off without a hitch then there’s nothing I can’t tackle. This wedding is a doozy.”
My mother pulled out a pair of her sewing sheers and came toward me. If I hadn’t just been through a traumatic experience I probably could’ve dodged out of her way faster.
“Hold still,” she said. And then she cut my dress from the bosom all the way to the hem. The blood had started to dry in places, so the dress was stuck to me, and she and Kate tugged from each side until I was standing naked.
“I’d like to reach a point in my life where I stop being naked in front of people. When does that happen?”
“My mom snorted out a laugh. You’re a woman. That never happens. Wait until you have children. You’re all sprawled out on the delivery table, and complete strangers are walking in looking at your bits. When Phoebe was born there was an observation class of twenty men watching me. I swear half of them had never seen a naked woman before and the other half couldn’t grow facial hair.”
“That’s nothing,” Rosemarie said. “I had hemorrhoid surgery a few years back. Most painful thing I’ve ever done. By the time I went back for my post-op I was stripping out of my clothes walking through the waiting room of doctor’s office. He didn’t even have to ask me to crawl up on the table of all fours. I would’ve done it in the checkout line at Walmart if it meant getting some of that numbing cream.”
Kate had stayed silent and she had a thoughtful look on her face.
“What?” I asked.
“That’s a lot of blood,” she said, looking me up and down. “You’re covered in it.”
“It’s not like I’ve got a shower on hand.”
“Weeellll,” Kate said, looking slightly apologetic.
“Oh,” Rosemarie said. “Oh, my.” And then she crossed herself.
I didn’t know what was happening, but I didn’t like the looks I was getting. The three women came at me all at once, and they pushed me toward the narrow stairs that led up to the baptistery.
And then I stepped off into empty space and plunged into cold water. I came up sputtering. “Are you kidding me? I can’t bathe in the baptismal? I’m covered in blood.”
“Now that you mention it,” Rosemarie said, crossing herself again. “It seems kind of fitting. But just in case, why don’t you hurry and get out.”
“It’s freezing,” I said, teeth chattering as I made my way over to the ladder.
“Here,” my mother said. She’d managed to find the stash of choir robes somewhere and draped it over my shoulders.
“Wow,” Rosemarie said, looking into the baptismal. “That’s a lot of blood.”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “I didn’t think the water would turn red like that.”
“Maybe they’ll think it’s wine,” my mother said. “Come on. We don’t have all night. Those people out there are getting antsy. They won’t serve from the cake and ice cream truck until y’all get married. There will be riots soon.
They ushered me back into the changing area. My skin was pebbled and I couldn’t stop shaking.
“Damn,” Kate said. “That airbrush stuff really works. It still looks like it was just applied. That can’t be healthy for you.”
“Did everyone bring the backup clothes?” Rosemarie asked. “This is desperate times and desperate measures.”
My mom and Kate dumped out the trash bag they’d brought in, and out fell a pile of clothes.
“We had to scrounge what we could get in the clothes department,” my mom said. She held up a square of denim and a plaid shirt. “Nina Dempsey said you could wear her overalls. She brought them just in case.”
“That woman is all heart,” Rosemarie said. “What else is there? Did you look in my trunk?”
“Yes,” Kate said. “And we’ll talk about that later. We found your emergency overnight bag of clothes. Nothing in there will fit Addison.”
“What about my Snuggie?” she asked. “That’s one-size-fits all.”
“It’s also open in the back like a hospital gown,” my mother said. “There’s already one full moon out tonight. We don’t need to see another.”
“But it’s white,” Rosemarie said. “And it’s got pockets.”
I wasn’t sure what pockets had to do with anything, but the one things I did know was Snuggies were warm. And I wasn’t.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
“I’ve got an idea,” Rosemarie said, and she ran over to the closet where my mom had gotten the choir and baptismal robes. In another cabinet were the stoles Pastor Charles would wear when he was baptizing someone.
“It’s black,” she said. “But I hear people wear black to weddings now days.”
They wrapped me in the white Snuggie and wrapped the stole around my waist several times before tucking the stray ends underneath.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I think you’re going to get frostbite on your lady bits,” Kate said. “You’ve still got a lot of real estate showing back there.”
“I’ve got safety pins,” my mother said, rummaging through her bag. “I’ve always told you girls to carry an emergency sewing kit with you. This just proves my point.”
It proved the point that in more than thirty years of life, I’d needed an emergency sewing kit once. The odds were in my favor. But I was glad she had it.
She finished sewing me up, and I was pleasantly surprised with the final outcome. It wasn’t great, but it could’ve been a lot worse.
Kate was looking back and forth between me and Rosemarie. “I feel like we’re about to go to a meeting of fascist dictators.”
Nick knocked on the door and said, “How’d it go? Are you ready?” And then he caught sight of me. “Interesting choice.”
“It was this or your mother’s overalls.”
“She’s always thinking of others,” he said, and then he held out his hand.
He led me out of the church and we made our way toward the distillery. The sea of people parted for us this time and there were cheers as they realized the wedding was about to take place.
“They’re excited about the cake and ice cream truck. We had to put an extra security detail around it because people were starting to get violent. The booze truck has already run out. My grandfather sent for two more.”
“He’s a smart man,” I said.
“Yes, he was smart enough to bring his own bottle and avoid the lines.”
Rosemarie was already waiting at the top of the steps for us, her bible in hand.
“She reminds me of someone,” Nick said, and then he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. She looks like Dr. Evil.”
“Come on, you two,” Rosemarie called out. “I can smell the Italian buffet inside the distillery, and I need some lasagna in the worst way. You have no idea how hard it is to trick all these people into believing they didn’t hear gunshots.”
“How’d you accomplish that?” I asked.
“Because I’m a wedding planner. We plan for everything. When the agents and cops started running, no one paid much attention. But I knew some heavy stuff was about to go down when they moved Nick’s grandfather inside. As soon as the gunfire started I had the foresight to start the fireworks. It was really spectacular. It’s a shame you had to miss the show. And no one knew what was really going on.”
“Fireworks?” I asked. “Why did you plan for fireworks?”
“I figured it would be nicer to leave to fireworks exploding in the sky than being pelted with rice and birdseed. That shit hurts.”
Rosemarie held up her hands to silence the crowd. I was surprised it worked, but I figured everyone was probably confused why she was starting our wedding ceremony like it was the beginning of the Hunger Games.
Kate was to my left and Mike, Kate’s husband, was standing next to Nick as his best man. Despite the contentiousness of our two families, everyone was there, standing on each side of us as we were about to make a lifelong commitment—everyone but Scarlet—but I knew she was there in spirit. In the end, we might disagree, or get fed up with each other, or even hate each other at times. But we were family.
“Dearly, beloved—” Rosemarie began, her voice loud and strong.
“Hold on a sec,” I told her, and then I turned to look at Nick. I was going to tell him about the baby. I swear I was. But at the last second I chickened out. “I just wanted to say I love you,” I told him.
He looked at me kind of strange and then gave me a half-smile. “I love you, too.”
“Dearly, beloved—” Rosemarie said again.
“Sorry,” I said. “I just need another minute.” I turned back to Nick. “We’ve never really talked about having children. Do you like them? Are you opposed to them? What if we get some and we end up not liking them?”
The people around us were leaning in so they could hear what I was saying, and then I heard the whispers run through the crowd as the news traveled from person to person like a game of telephone.
Nick’s brows raised. “You want to talk about this now?” he asked.
“It seems like an important topic to discuss before marriage,” I said. “And we’re right here before marriage, so…” I swallowed hard. “So I thought we should talk about it.”
“Okay,” Nick said, patiently. “I think I’d like to have children someday. And I’d especially like making them with you.”
I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. “What about if we don’t like them or we’re not good at being parents.”
“Addison,” he said. “Relax. Think how many times our parents screwed us up, and we turned out okay. We’ll be great. And if one of them turns out to be like Aunt Scarlet we can always ship her off to France.”
I nodded and tried to smile. I was nervous. I just needed to tell him. Instead, I turned back to Rosemarie and said, “We’re ready.”
“Nothing like waiting until the last minute to discuss big ticket items,” she said. And then she looked at me pointedly, knowing I was a big chicken. But I didn’t stop her again.
