Dangerous trio 2 (3 page)

“Go with,” Noah cried to Dallas and watched helplessly as his lover took off after the man.

They made it down to Steve"s 4 Runner before Dallas grabbed the keys from his friend.

There was no way he should be driving. Dallas pulled out his cell and pushed his speed dial not really wanting to make this call, but Steve needed Calli.

“Hey there, big guy. Does your woman need more clothes?” Calli answered her phone teasing Dallas. When she met Bailey the other day, the woman had refused to take the clothes Calli brought for her. Of course, she was altering the majority of them because the other woman was so small. Her apartment was full of clothes waiting to deliver to Dallas and Noah"s loft. She had spent the last four days working on getting them ready.

For what the men paid her, she should have had her team working overtime, but they had assured her it was not a rush job. If she knew them, it was because they were keeping her tied to the bed convincing her to stay with them. God, how she envied the woman. She wished she could actually think like that.

Jolly and Steve had been after her for the last few years, but she had managed to keep them at arm"s length because she was not convinced a relationship like that could work.

After all, two men and one woman, there had to be some jealousy that would come into play; Calli would rather refrain from losing her friends. She did not have a lot to begin with, she had been a runway model for a few years, traveling all over the world, that kind of lifestyle did not promote close friends. When she decided to settle down and make a go of her designing business, she settled in Denver to be close to her family.

They were a pain in the ass, but she loved them. Calli and Noah had met one afternoon at a craft store, they had become fast friends and it led her to one of the closest relationships she had ever had outside of her family. She was six feet tall and gorgeous; most women did not want to be her friend since when they went out, all the guys would stare at her, competition sucked.

“Calli,” Dallas said softly and Calli dropped the dress she was working on. Dallas never sounded like this so something bad had happened. Her first thought was Noah again; the last time Dallas called her like this was to tell her Noah had been shot at the courthouse. Their group of friends had grown only to accept a few people, because none of them were very trusting and they loved their privacy. So when they found someone they trusted, all of them welcomed them into their small little group. Right now, it consisted of Dallas, Noah, Steve, Jolly, Calli, and Ginny, and of course Bailey. They all hung out together weekly and more often than not, they ate dinner at least twice a week together. They all liked the same things and felt comfortable around each other.

“No, Dallas, I don"t want to hear it.” She started and began gathering her things together, knowing that she needed to be ready to go to her friend"s side. “Okay, sorry, is it Noah? Bailey?” She whispered into the phone.

“No baby, Jolly.” He said and she screamed into the phone before dropping it and running for her door. She could barely think straight and knew she had to be with Steve, so she grabbed the keys to her car and raced out to the little sports car she had just purchased. Calli was classically beautiful and loved to stay on the cutting edge of fashion. She had short spiky blue hair that was dyed monthly to match the color of her eyes. Calli loved the glances she got when she went to a store. More often than not, it led to customers who were drawn to her style and personality. Though she got a lot of attention, she only had a few close friends because she hated the superficial people who only wanted to hang out with her because she used to be famous.

Calli reached for the cell phone she kept in her car, she never left home without it. It was a standing joke with her friends, she used to forget it and lose track of time in a fabric store. Many times, she had been late for dinner because she did not remember her cell, so they could call and remind her of the time. Steve insisted she get a Nextel with Jolly and him a few months ago so they could just beep her when she lost track of the time. The boys had been trying to take care of her more and more and until now, she had resisted. What would she do if one of them were gone? Calli had just begun to admit there was more to their attraction than just sexual.

“Steve?” She said into the phone.

“No sweetie it"s Noah, they left his phone here when they left. Call Dallas.” He said to her gently.

“Tell me. I am in the car, where am I going?” She said desperately to her friend.

“I don"t know. I only know Jolly was shot.” Noah said and hesitated briefly. She knew he did not want to give her the news over the phone while she was driving. Shit, that meant it was bad. She closed her eyes and laid her back on the headrest.

“Tell me,” she insisted.

“Just call Dallas honey, he should know by now where they took Jolly.” He replied.

“Damn it Noah, just fucking tell me!” She yelled into the receiver.

She heard the man sigh and she was not prepared for what came next. “Calli, Jolly called Steve and told him he was shot and wanted to say goodbye before it was too late.

He gave him instructions for him to take care of you. We heard the EMTs working on him but it didn"t look good. They did not think he would survive to the hospital.” She heard the words, but refused to believe them.

“No, not Jolly, he is too strong, they were wrong, besides he would not do that to us. He would not leave me and Steve.” She sobbed and dropped the phone. She heard Noah calling for her but refused to pick the phone up again. She sat in the parking garage crying and falling apart. It barely registered in her brain when she heard a knock on her window. She was startled when she felt the door open and Dallas was crouched next to her.

“Come on sweetie, let"s go, Steve is in the car. We need to get to the hospital.” He was saying to her.

“Did he make it?” She cried hoping Noah had been wrong.

“I don"t know. I just know what hospital they took him to.” Dallas said gently and pulled her from her driver seat and carried her to Steve"s 4 Runner. Steve was in the passenger"s seat staring straight ahead with tears running down his face. It made it more real when she saw his reaction, because Steve would never have been crying if Jolly had been fine. They each had very defined roles in their group. Dallas was the brain, the one they went to if there was problem with finances. Noah was the creative chef. Noah would make wonderful dinners for them all to consume when they got together, he reveled in making them new dishes. Steve was the sports fanatic; he had season tickets to all the sports teams in Colorado and made them all watch ESPN when he was with them. Ginny was the caretaker of the group. Calli was the free spirit, the one who came up with crazy fun ideas for them all to try. Jolly was the rock, the cornerstone, the one who they all leaned on when there was a problem and right now, they had no one to hold them together. She continued to sob as Dallas strapped her into the seat belt and returned to the driver seat.

In her fog of grief, she heard Dallas speaking into the phone to Ginny. She was his assistant, he was asking her to make the arrangements for Steve and Calli to be booked into a hotel by the hospital. He thought they would need a place to go if things were bad. If Jolly survived, they would want to be close anyway, so it was needed. He asked Ginny to book a suite so any of their friends could come too, should they be needed.

When he was done, Dallas hung up the phone and called Noah. He filled them in on what he knew and then set the phone down; he could have been in the car alone for all the noise the other two made. They were in shock. He was too, but he knew he needed to strong for his friends right now. He did not know what was going to happen to either one of them if Jolly died.

Finally, after what seemed like years, they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. He pulled into the emergency entrance. He expected to have to chase after the two, because they would rush into the hospital wanting to hear how Jolly was. Instead, they both sat there looking forward and not saying a word. Dallas took off his seat belt and looked at his friends.

“Steve, we are here.” He said to the man sitting beside him. He looked over his shoulder at Calli who was still sobbing quietly. She jumped when Steve finally spoke.

“I know, man. I can"t go in though. They are gonna tell me my best friend is dead. I can"t hear that.” Steve ground out.

Dallas nodded and got out of the car, telling them to stay put until he came back. Dallas walked through the emergency entrance and was met with chaos. There were men in suits flooding the lobby, screaming at the receptionist. He was shocked at the level of chaos. He pushed his way forward to join the mess. He heard the men asking about the female agent who had been wounded. The nurse was trying to explain to them she could not release any information until they called next of kin. She finally got through to the group to go to the waiting area until she could get clearance to talk to them. She turned to him and frowned. He knew she was ready to yell at him too, so he held up his hand.

“Ma"am I am looking for information on Jolly Vincent. I have his family outside, but they are a mess right now. Can you please tell me if he is still alive at least?” Dallas asked.

The nurse looked at him and read the desperation in his face. She sighed and shook her head. “Give me a minute. Who is listed as his next of kin?”

“Steve Wade and Calli Bergen.” Dallas responded because he knew Jolly was a stickler when it came to keeping his insurance info up-to-date. He watched the woman go into the emergency room, hoping she would at least be able to tell them something. He felt a hand slip into his, looked over and saw Ginny next to him.

“I have Calli"s Nextel. Noah and Bailey are waiting.” She whispered and squeezed his hand in encouragement.

They stood in front of the desk stiffly, waiting for the nurse to come back. He saw a doctor come out of the corner of his eyes and go into the waiting room filled with police officers and agents. After a few moments of silence, he saw the doctor walk back out again. He could not tell if it was good or bad news though because there was no other noise in the waiting room. He crept to the corner and looked around the wall. He could see, all the men struggling to keep control, they looked pissed and sad. He did not know whether that was a good or bad thing. He whispered to the man closest to him. “How is she? My friend was with her.”

“Surgery, she was hit three times and her seat belt caused internal bleeding. We have to wait. Yours?” He asked and Dallas told him they did not know yet.

Dallas felt Ginny pull against his hand and he turned in enough time to see the same doctor come out toward them, his eyes refused to give them any indication of what was to come. He shifted from one foot to the other waiting for the news his friend was dead.

“Mr. Vincent made it to the hospital alive. He was rushed to surgery because the damage was so extensive. I will tell you what I know, but before I do, I have to warn you it does not look good. He was shot at least five times at close range. His arm and leg on his right side are broken from the collision. He has lost a lot of blood, and was drifting in and out of consciousness. When he had a brief moment of lucidity, he asked the nurse to write a note to a Steve and Calli.” The doctor handed it to him and Dallas closed his eyes when he saw it was covered in blood. “I am sorry, the surgery team is doing what they can, but it will be a long time before we know anything. It would be best under the circumstances if his next of kin are close in case they have to make a decision. Mr. Vincent signed a DNR with his insurance agency. So no one will not have to make that decision, but there are many other things they may need to be decided.” Dallas nodded and lowered his head, trying to gather himself to be able to speak.

Thankfully, Ginny was here and she was amazingly calm and in control. She asked questions of the doctor and wrote the answers down. She then went back to the desk and gave them a list of numbers to call. She explained she was taking the next of kin across the street to the hotel, until they had more news. Ginny walked into the waiting area and extended an invitation for the agents to set up a staging area across the street at the hotel with them. She explained that Jolly had requested the female agent be taken care of like family. She then turned and led him out to the car. Steve never turned to look at them but Calli was staring at their faces, looking for any hint of hope.

Ginny put Dallas in the seat behind the driver and she took the wheel. She started the engine and stopped before pulling out, so she could tell her two devastated friends what was going on. “Steve, Calli, listen to me. Jolly made it here alive. He is surgery right now. He has a long list of injuries and the doctors are going to be working on him for a while. I booked a suite across the street, let"s go over, and get ourselves together before we come back. Jolly will be in surgery for a long time so they can fix everything.” She said softly and pulled out. Calli cried louder and leaned against Dallas. Steve still did not respond and Dallas was being to worry when the man finally released his grief, it was gonna be an explosion.

They made their way to the top floor of the hotel and Ginny took turns leading the two who had yet to speak. She knew Dallas was in shock too and soon he could crash because of the adrenaline rush. She talked to Noah; assuring him, she would take care of the three of them, and told him to take care of Bailey who was beside herself with guilt. Dallas spoke to Bailey softly, trying to assure her it was not her fault and Steve and Calli did not blame her. He focused on the positive. Then told her to work with Noah to get clothes and food delivered to the hotel for them, and the rest of the people who were keeping vigil at the hospital.

When they finally reached the room, Ginny took Calli gently into the bathroom and Dallas could hear her crying but finally talking to Ginny, he needed to get Steve to snap out of it. He watched as his friend went to the wet bar and pulled out all the bottles and started pouring them into glasses. He emptied the bar and had four glasses in front of him. Dallas watched as the man drank one after another quickly.