Gail Barrett - A Kiss to Die for

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Staff Sergeant Sullivan Turner slumped against the wall in his best friend’s row house, the whisper of oncoming danger prickling his nerves. Not his problem, he reminded himself firmly. Fighting the bad guys hadn’t been his problem in months—nine long months, to be exact. Not since he’d returned to civilian life.

He knocked back a swallow of vodka, then rubbed his aching leg. Dusk crept through the empty room, shrouding the corners in darkness, but it did nothing to subdue his nerves. He dreaded the night, dreaded battling the memories that inevitably flashed back, reminders of the ambush that had claimed his buddies’ lives. And he especially dreaded confronting the failures he couldn’t erase, no matter how much alcohol he drank.

He closed his eyes, inhaling around the desolation gripping his chest, and willed the images aside. He couldn’t afford to go there. He couldn’t afford to picture their grinning faces and remember the deaths he’d caused. And he definitely couldn’t afford to envision his best friend Jason’s cocky grin, that instant when he’d turned around, preparing to launch another laughing insult at Sully just as his world had come to an end.

By some miracle, Sully had survived. But his survival hadn’t been a blessing; it was a curse. A curse that would plague him until the day he died.

Determined to hold off the flashbacks, he drained the bottle of vodka and hefted himself to his feet. It was going to be one hell of a night, his wounded leg already aching with a vengeance, unwanted memories bombarding him like those RPGs that destroyed his squad. He tossed the empty bottle onto the counter and twisted the cap on another, but a faint mewling sound made him pause. Frowning, he limped across the kitchen to the glass door leading to the patio, his steps thudding on the wooden floor.

A furry animal huddled on the step outside. Great. Just what he didn’t need—a cat. If he could call him that. He was the most pathetic creature Sully had ever seen, with one missing eye, flea-bitten ears encrusted with filth and a scraggly, crooked tail. His fur was mangy and gray. A shock of white stuck up on his ruff, matching his face and legs. He had a lame front paw, a limp that matched Sully’s own. His chest swelled with unbidden sympathy—a feeling he couldn’t afford.

“Go away,” he told the cat through the glass door. “I’m not taking care of you.”

The cat meowed and gave him a beseeching look with his good eye. Then the wind bore down again, ruffling what remained of his matted fur. He hunched his back, his thin body so undernourished, Sully was surprised he didn’t blow away. More kitten than cat, he decided. Lost and alone. Another misfit wandering the streets.

“All right,” he grumbled. “But just this once.”

Swearing, he shuffled back into the kitchen, his own stomach growling as he opened his last can of tuna—the sum total of his remaining food. But what the hell. The cat needed it more than he did. He cracked open the sliding glass door, nudging the cat back to keep him from slipping inside, and set the can on the ground.

“Don’t think I’m doing this all the time,” he warned him. “Don’t start hanging around, expecting handouts. I don’t need a damned pet.”

He shut the door. He didn’t need anyone to take care of—or another failure to add to the list. He’d already let everyone down enough.

Pushing aside thoughts of the needy cat, he crossed the empty room to the front window, his steps echoing in the gloom. The house had no electricity, no heat, no hot water. No furniture, except for the mattress Sully had hauled inside. Jason had cleared out before his last deployment, as if he’d known he wouldn’t be back. And for some unfathomable reason, he’d willed the place to Sully, his best friend since childhood.

The best friend who’d caused his death.

Sully braced his forearm on the glass and worked his jaw, trying to control the flood of regrets. Shadows bled across the pockmarked yard. Bare tree branches scratched at the gloomy sky. His sense of foreboding grew stronger, and he frowned at the empty street. He’d once trusted his instincts for danger. But then, he’d once felt invincible. He’d once believed in good versus evil, the glory and necessity of war.

No more.

The rhythmic thud of subwoofers made the floor pulse, rumbling through the lug soles of Sully’s boots. Tensing even more now, he skimmed the houses up the street, eyeing their peeling paint, their house numbers hanging askew, the weedy yards littered with trash. There was no sign of the approaching car, no sign of the gang that had been making inroads into the neighborhood. But he wasn’t fooled. The bad guys were out there.

And evil always won.

He shoved away from the window, but a motion on the sidewalk caught his eye. A woman hurried into view, her long woolen coat flapping in the wind, her thick chestnut hair whipping around her face. The woman who ran the teen shelter. He’d seen her from a distance a couple of times. But this close he caught the elegance in her slender frame, the graceful way she moved. She had clear, creamy skin, an open, appealing face. She was in her early thirties, he guessed, and wholesome in a girl-next-door sort of way.

Wholesome. Right. Just what the world didn’t need—another misguided do-gooder, idealistic and naive. A crusader out to save humanity.

He’d once been the same.

Well, he definitely knew better now.

A movement in the opposite direction grabbed his attention, and he turned his head. A teenager waddled into view across the street, heading the woman’s way. One of the pregnant teenagers who stayed in the shelter. Her swollen belly gave her away.

The vibrations deepened and rattled the window. Rap music now boomed out, the spew of angry lyrics throbbing through Sully’s skull. He shifted his weight from his aching leg, his nerves coiling tighter as he watched the street. A vehicle crawled into view, a black SUV with dark tinted windows, pimped out with flashy chrome. Gangbangers. He’d seen them cruising the neighborhood in the past few days, staking their claim to the territory, challenging anyone who stood in their way.

But this situation felt different. They were driving too slowly, inching down the street with lethal intent. Was a drug deal going down—or something worse?

What did it matter? This wasn’t his problem. He had no reason to get involved.

And yet... He stood motionless at the window, his attention riveted on the unfolding scene. The young kid crossing the street. The SUV steadily approaching. The woman from the shelter scurrying along the sidewalk as she rushed toward the pregnant teen.

He didn’t like this. His instincts were clamoring hard. He needed to get those women off the street pronto before someone ended up dead.

Kicking into gear now, he reached into his waistband and tugged out his Glock—a holdover from his army days. Then, keeping his gaze glued on the oncoming vehicle, he limped to the front door. He pulled it open and stepped outside onto the sagging porch.

The cold air brushed his skin. The heavy bass from the SUV thundered through his chest. The pregnant girl was halfway across the street now, her face registering fear as she caught sight of the gang.

The tinted windows on the SUV rolled down. The barrel of a rifle appeared, the shock of it halting his steps. An E-13. He couldn’t mistake the experimental weapon with its distinctive bullpup configuration, even from this far away.

And they were going to use it to shoot that kid.

Without warning, the shelter woman darted into the street, straight into the line of fire, and his heart careened to a stop. She didn’t have a chance. The gang would mow her down before she made it three more feet.