Hold On To Me

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The gunshot exploded though the room with the force of a cannon. Simone screamed. Mitch slammed into her, knocking her off her feet. Her spine hit the concrete floor; her head snapped back and cracked against the unforgiving ground, sending pain shooting across her scalp. Mitch landed on top of her.

She opened her eyes to a flurry of red. She wasn’t sure where she’d been hit, but there was blood. A lot of blood. Then she saw Mitch’s face above her, contorted in pain.

“Mitch?” She struggled out from under him. “Mitch. No. Oh God. Mitch?”

“Son of a…” He grunted, rolled off her, and landed on the concrete floor. Blood oozed from a wound in his side, already seeping through his jacket.

Simone yanked his coat back and pressed her hands against the wound, frantic to stop the blood. Mitch’s eyes fell closed. He hissed in a breath and winced.

“Stay with me, do you hear me?” Her chest squeezed tight, so tight she could barely speak. “Mitch?”

His head rolled on the floor. Simone pushed down on the wound. “I need help.” There was so much blood. Oh, God… There was too much. “I need help, dammit!”

Murdoch sighed somewhere behind her. “His number was up the minute he called offering that deal. But I was ready to live up to our bargain until tonight. You hear me, Mathews? I was going to just delete my name from those e-mails and let Dobbs take the fall, but I can’t do that now that she knows. She’ll always be a liability, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that liabilities are best dealt with swiftly.”

Simone focused on Mitch’s face. Love and heartache exploded inside her. “You idiot,” she whispered. “You made a deal with him for me? What were you thinking?”

“Was thinking…about you,” Mitch managed, having trouble breathing. “I didn’t know…it was him,” He lifted his hand and set it over hers against his wound.

Simone knew that. Tears filled her eyes. She knew he’d never do anything but try to protect her. She’d been so stupid about so many things.

“That’s really romantic,” Murdoch said. “Too bad you two were doomed from the start.”

Mitch squeezed Simone’s hand, opened his eyes, and rolled them to the left. And without turning her head, Simone glanced the direction he indicated.

He’d kicked the box toward her when he’d thrown himself in front of that bullet. Steve’s gun was inches away.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Links clicked into place in Simone’s mind. She calculated the distance, the angle, the time it would take to grab the weapon. Her chances were slim, but she wasn’t going to let Mitch die without a fight.

“I know,” she whispered back.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway, followed by voices. Mitch let go of her hand. When Murdoch turned to look toward the door, Simone didn’t hesitate. She let go of Mitch, lurched for the gun, turned, and fired.

The bullet caught Murdoch in the shoulder. He grunted and fell back against the wall. Simone fired again, not even sure where she was aiming. Another gunshot rang out, this one not from her gun. Mitch’s raspy voice echoed, then he slammed into her again, taking her down to the ground.

Her hand hit the cement floor, and the gun went flying. A crack echoed from across the room. More voices. But Simone couldn’t see what was going on. Mitch was on top of her again, only this time he was like dead weight. Immovable.

“Mitch.” Panic pushed her muscles forward. She fought against him but couldn’t get him to move. “Oh God, Mitch!”

“Tate.” Ryan. That was Ryan’s voice. “Help me.”

Strong hands lifted Mitch from her. Simone scrambled to her feet, then gasped when she realized Mitch had been hit again, this time in the shoulder.

“Holy shit,” Kendrick muttered.

“Call 911,” Ryan yelled.

Kendrick whipped out his phone and started talking frantically. Across the room, Murdoch was out cold against the far wall, his gun yards away on the ground. Ryan tugged off his jacket and shoved it against the wound in Mitch’s side. “Simone, hold this here while I try to get at his shoulder.”

Simone’s bloody hands pressed against Mitch’s side.

“Son of a bitch.” Ryan yanked at the sleeve of Mitch’s shirt. “If we hadn’t gotten stuck behind that accident on the 101, we would have been here long before this happened.”

Simone tried to see what Ryan was doing, but everything was blurry. All she knew was it was bad. Mitch wasn’t answering. He wasn’t even moving.

“You sure have a knack for finding trouble,” Ryan muttered. “You know that, Mitch?”

“Ryan.” Simone stared at Mitch’s chest, a new sense of fear rushing in. “He’s not breathing.”

Ryan’s fingers froze against Mitch’s blood-soaked shirt.

“Buddy? Oh, don’t do this to me right now.” He leaned over Mitch to listen for his breath. Fear filled his eyes when he leaned back. “It’s not your time, do you hear me?” He squeezed Mitch’s nose, tilted his chin up, then blew a breath into his mouth. Shifting down, he felt along Mitch’s chest, clasped his hands together, and pressed down, starting CPR compressions. “Kendrick? I need that ambulance, now, dammit!”

“They’re almost here.”

Sirens sounded outside.

Fear closed Simone’s throat. She couldn’t lose him. Not now. She didn’t know what she’d do without him.

She reached for Mitch’s hand, lying near his side, while Ryan kept at the CPR. “Mitch? If you can hear me, hold on to me, okay? You promised you would.” She choked back a sob. “You promised, and I’m holding you to that one. Please, please, please, just hold on to me.”