Chapter Five~Derek

I wake with a start as a loud noise meets my ears. I look to see Amber still sleeping beside me. I quickly pull some pants on and tiptoe down the hall to see what the noise might have been. I get halfway down the hallway when I realize the noise, I am hearing is gunfire. I peek around the corner to the living room to see the other members of my unit in the middle of a firefight with members of the Silver Tongues.

I hurry back to the bedroom to wake Amber up as I try to fight off my fear of losing her. I tell myself I’m her protector and I am not going to let anything happen to her. I’m not going to lose her, she’s safe with me.

I run back into the bedroom and shake Amber awake. “Hurry put your clothes back on we’ve got to get out of here,” I say as I throw a t-shirt and jeans in her direction.

“What is going on, Derek?” She asks sleepily.

“You have to hurry and get dressed, honey. The Silver Tongues are trying to get in here to us,” I say as I pull my boots on.

“What?” She squeals as she hurries to pull her pants and shoes on.

“Listen to me very carefully, if you do everything, I say you will survive this. We are going to stay low and go out the back. We’re going to sneak around front and get in one of the cars. We’ll be fine once we’re in the car because they are armored. I’m going to get you out of this alive, Amber. I promise you baby,” I assure her as I grab her hand.

We duck down low as I pull my Glock from its holster and make our way slowly around the cabin. I see that my unit has the others occupied and it shouldn’t be hard to get to the cars unnoticed.

“Here we go,” I whisper as I pull her with me and make a run for it.

We are halfway to the car when we are noticed, and bullets fly in our direction. I pull Amber behind me and she screams as a bullet whizzes by our heads. I return fire as we reach the car and climb inside. I throw the car in reverse and back down the lane that leads to the cabin. The Silver Tongues chase us down the lane firing at us with no success. I whip the car around and head down the highway pushing my foot to the floor. I know they’ll come after us but I’m going to be out of sight before they reach the end of the lane.

I watch the mirror every few seconds to see if headlights appear behind us but every time I look, there’s nothing there. I double back and make sure I’m not being followed before I take the nearest exit for the interstate. I look over and see Amber crying, so I pull over to comfort her.

“Shhh, baby, it’s okay. We’re safe now. The place I’m taking you they don’t even know exists,” I assure her.

“They didn’t know about the cabin either but look what just happened. I’m never going to be safe again,” she says between sobs.

I pull her to me and soothe her as best as I can until she finally calms down. I pull back onto the road and head towards my home, St. Mary’s Georgia. I know she’ll be safe at my home there even though I am a bit nervous about letting her into my past as there are still pictures of my family everywhere. My mind drifts to them as I see Amber sleeping next to me and I feel the guilt try to creep back in. I tell myself it’s okay to be happy and Amber makes me happy.

I check behind us to make sure that we’re not being followed and use my secure phone to try and get a hold of my unit. I worry when there’s no answer but know that someone will contact me when they can. I keep driving even as I start to get tired. All I can think about is keeping my woman safe. My woman. That’s a phrase I never thought I’d say again. It felt good to think that way again. I never realized how lonely I’d really been until I saw Amber.

After the death of my family I’d immersed myself in work to forget about the pain of my loss, but it didn’t really work. I told myself I didn’t need a woman when I worked so much, but something about Amber makes me want to slow down and make a life with someone again.

As we pull into the driveway of my home, my secure line rings and I am relieved it’s the unit commander on the other line.

“I got her out safely sir and we are safe in a location I am going to keep to myself for now. I don’t want to risk anyone hearing it who isn’t supposed to. Are all the men okay?” I ask.

“We are all fine and I’m glad you two got out safely. Keep her at the new location until it’s time for the trial. I’ll keep in touch,” the commander says before disconnecting the line.

I was relieved my men were okay. Now, to make sure my woman is.