Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury (best books for students to read .txt) 📗

I can barely hear it. He pulls me back to his chest.

I can’t force myself to look away from Dominick, his expensive-suited corpse lying in a pool of his own blood, a grim reminder of what I’ve done. What I had to do to save Jonah and my mom. And myself.

I search the recesses of my heart for regret, guilt, horror. Nothing. I’ve just killed my dad, the man responsible for my life. And all I feel is . . . relief.

~*~

Jonah

“You guys okay?” Blake walks up from my truck to the steps of the cabin where Raven and I sit.

As soon as I could, I dragged Raven out of there. It was the only way to get her to stop staring at Dominick’s dead body.

I haven’t left her side, except to run in and clean Dominick’s filthy blood off my face. The makeshift tourniquet I pulled together with a ripped sheet has my head clearing.

“Better. We’re starting to get our hearing back.” I run my lips along the top of Raven’s head, breathing in deep. “You make the call?”

“Yeah. Made it on my way to the truck. They should be here soon.” Standing on the lower step, Blake leans against the banister. “Need anything?”

I give Raven a squeeze. “Baby?”

She shakes her head.

Milena is sitting on a rock nearby, but she keeps her distance, probably not sure how Raven feels about her. What she did tonight redeems her in my book. I owe my entire life to Milena. But ultimately, forgiveness is Raven’s to give.

Minutes tick by before sirens and bright lights descend on us. An ambulance, fire truck, and a handful of police cars pull up to the cabin. Paramedics and cops unload in a hurry until we’re surrounded by uniforms.

“Mr. Slade, I’m Kevin.” One EMT that rushed out from the back of the ambulance meets us on the steps. He pulls back the fabric of my shirt to examine my shoulder. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah. Take care of her head. I’ll wait.” I motion to Raven who is slumped against my good side.

Kevin sidesteps and pulls back Raven’s hair to check out her forehead. “Ma’am, are you injured anywhere else?”

She glares at me, but doesn’t argue. “No. Just the cut on my head.”

A smile pulls at my lips. I look forward to a lifetime of dirty looks from her.

“All right. Mr. Slade, let’s get you into the ambulance and get some IV fluids started. I’ll have Roger come and take care of . . .”

“My wife.” I glare at Kevin. “Make sure Roger knows.”

The sound of Raven’s giggle is better than any pain medication.

“Yes, sir, ‘Assassin’. By the way, great fight tonight.” The eager EMT is a fan. Good to know.

“Yes, it was.” I lock eyes with Raven. “Best fight of my life.”

Kevin puts his hand out to help me up. I’m tired and dizzy from blood loss, but this guy looks like a noodle in scrubs. I shake him off and push to standing. Oh, shit. Gripping the handrail, I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the vertigo away. Raven presses into my side, using her body as support until my head stops spinning.

She walks me down the few steps to the dirt. I pull her in for a hug before we’re dealt with by our assigned EMTs.

The angry mark above her head is no longer bleeding. I run my knuckles down her cheek, grateful that a cut is all they got on her. “Get your head taken care of.” I kiss her longer than I should for the audience we have, but fuck ’em.

A team of EMTs rush into the cabin. Roger scurries up with some kind of a field medical kit and gets to work on Raven’s head.

I drag my body to the ambulance where Kevin asks me to climb inside.

“Mind if you treat me out here?” There’s no way I’m letting Raven out of my sight. It should be comforting being surrounded by cops, but with Dominick’s far reach, I need to stay alert.

“Oh, I don’t—”

I spear Kevin with a glare that has him nodding.

“Yeah, sure thing, ‘Assassin.’ I’ll just pop a stretcher up here.”

“Thanks.”

Kevin moves some equipment to just outside the ambulances back doors. He moves around my shoulder doing some shit. I don’t pay attention, but instead keep my focus on my girl. I pull my eyes away from her to watch them wheel Dominick’s sheet-covered corpse from the cabin. Vince is next. It looks like they’ve got him awake and talking. I should have aimed higher.

A cop with a note pad asks me questions. I answer them until he’s satisfied and walks away. He moves to questioning Raven next. Milena jumps to her side.

“Hey, man. How’s the shoulder?” Blake plops down next to me at the back end of the ambulance.

“It’s all right.” I’m not concerned about my fucking shoulder.

Both Milena and Raven talk and nod as they most likely retell the night’s events. I wish I could hear what they’re saying.

“She’s going to be okay, ya know.”

I don’t take my eyes off my girl. “How do you know that? She just killed someone.”

Blake shrugs. “Cops said they’d been looking for something on Morretti for years. The guy’s operation was locked up tighter than a Royce Gracie shoulder hold. This little situation was the Golden Goose taking a big fat dump right in their laps.”

I don’t say anything, but God, I hope he’s right.

“Guess ole Vinnie started singing like a canary the second they got him conscious. Fucker gave away everything. Even told them he roughed up Guy and stole his cell phone.”

“He roughed up Guy? Is he okay? Wait, does Raven know?” I watch Raven. Her body language is relaxed. They must be finishing up.

“Yeah, he’s good. A few bruises and a gnarly concussion. That’s how they got Raven out of the arena. They sent her a text from Guy’s phone. Fucking assholes. Threatened to kill him if she didn’t cooperate with Candy.”

The name grates on my nerves. “And what about her?