The bullet hit her body and she jolted, the look on her face apologetic. She fell in a heap at my feet as the shock of the last few seconds made my entire body tremble.
My mother came back from the dead to save my life.
Lightheaded, I sank to my knees and stared at her body, reaching out to touch her when she slowly began to fade. There was a cry across the room as the bullet I fired hit Devlin in the neck and he was thrown against the far wall, blood pulsing from the wound as he clutched at his throat. His eyes grew wider and then he slumped over, sinking to the concrete.
Finally, the bastard was dead.
Looking up, I found Mack over by Cara and R.J. He wasn’t paying attention to me or Devlin. How odd. The last few seconds were a blur of impossible occurrences.
No one else saw my mother appear. Not even Mack.
Not a sing
le person noticed how time seemed to slow down as she stopped the bullet meant to kill me and then sped back up again to its normal speed. My hand met nothing but air as it landed on the ground and the green mist completely evaporated.
The only thing in the vicinity was the shiny bullet that rolled to a stop. There wasn’t any blood. Nothing marred its perfect surface. I picked it up and shoved it into my front pocket, realizing the warehouse was no longer as loud as it was before. No more gunshots, only the voices of the RICO agents, the police, and my RRMC brothers.
Leaning back against the wall, I held onto my gun and tried to ignore the trembling of my body in response. There was no doubt my mother had done the impossible. Somehow, some way she had manipulated the timeline in order to intervene at the exact moment I was about to die.
Which meant Patty Harding saw my death when I was only a little boy and she had intervened before her own death over fifteen years prior. She chose to save my life rather than her own.
The ultimate sacrifice.
Chapter 18 – R.J.
The sound of consistent beeping was the only noise in the room. Eyes closed, I focused on the sound as I gradually awakened from a deep sleep. A soft hand was holding my own as a small groan escaped my lips. Felt like I had been sleeping for weeks. Sand kept my eyes sealed shut and the fog in my head made me feel disoriented. I had no idea where I was or why I was there.
“R.J.? Can you hear me?”
Cara?
The muscles of my body felt sore and unused. It was a challenge to make my body obey but I managed to squeeze her hand in response.
“Oh, R.J.”
Her voice sounded hoarse like she’d been crying. I didn’t like it when she was sad. Cara had far too much of that in her past. I remembered now. Everything came rushing back and my eyes finally opened, blinking a few times before they focused, and her beautiful face came into view.
“My Cara,” I whispered gruffly.
“You need water.” She wiped at her cheeks and then lifted a cup with a straw to my lips. I sipped a couple of times and then nodded as she set the cup back on a nearby table. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come back to me.”
“Always. Nothing could keep me from you.”
She smiled, reaching for my hand again. “You’ve been in a coma for a couple of weeks. The doctors said you would recover but I wasn’t so sure.”
Weeks? What the fuck?
“I guess I had a few bullets, huh?”
She didn’t seem to like the reminder. “You saved my life.” Cara pressed a kiss on top of my hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re mine, remember?” I tried to wink but I probably just looked like a mental patient. “We already covered that subject.”
“Well, I know that I love you and I won’t ever leave your side. You’re stuck with me, R.J.”
I liked the sound of that.
“That’s good because I’m making you my ol’ lady. And just so you know, I’m not stopping there. You’re gonna marry me, Cara. I won’t take no for an answer.”